GE Shingi-Kaizen event

This week I participated in a Shingi event at the GE Zenith plant.   This is my second Lean event but the first one that I was on a designated team.  It was really amazing to see how by observing, moving things around and setting up new processes can have such a significant impact on output.

My team was tasked to improve a key production line.   This line had been set and producing for the past 20+ years.   Immediately we saw that it was not single flow or linear.   So we made it so!  The team made a lot of changes such as taking away old materials and setting up a 2 bin system with kits.  There were a host of other issues that also resulted in many new processes.  It will be interesting to monitor the progress and see if we did have a long-term impact.

This event showed me that all processes should be continually evaluated and improved upon.   I also learned that every production line should be single piece flow, the operator should never leave their station and a "U" shaped production line is the most ideal.

I enjoyed this week and hope to participate more Lean events in the future.

Sensei teaching the group on Lean

Beginning to implement changes by making the stations line up

Making this process single flow

Making my first kit for the line

New process beginning to take form 

One of the many meetings that I had with the Sensei