BLOG
BLOG
2022/06/07 | Time to read: 4 min
Sandeep Abraham is a customer success manager at Drishti.
Quality measurement in manufacturing requires scientific thinking. Products and processes need to be measurable and comparable in order to determine their relative place. Scientific thinking gives us the tools and means to approach products and processes in such a way that we can observe objectively and iterate appropriately to improve measurements on the scale of our choosing. In this way, we seek to solve problems and improve processes by following known procedures and introducing hypothesis testing with regard to limited variables in a process. In order to pick specific variables to test we need to ensure that controls are in place so that the variables remain limited. Standardized work is one of the most foundational and important ways in which controls are implemented in manufacturing.
Standardized work is an important driver of increased quality within an organization. If standardized work is not established, efforts like root cause analysis take longer and are often resolved less decisively than when standardized work is in place.
Standardized work ensures that each process is done the same way, every time, by every worker. Because the basis of standardized work is that it represents the current best way to perform a task, it stands to reason that deviations from that process are more likely to result in quality issues.
With live streamed and recorded video, Drishti can help manufacturers streamline a root cause analysis process. If a defective unit is discovered, they can use Drishti to pull up video footage of that unit’s entire assembly lifecycle, watching the steps as they are performed and noting any abnormalities such as long or short cycles or steps, or steps performed out of sequence. Because Drishti can pinpoint those potential problem areas, the quality engineer and team can focus on whether a defect was introduced and take immediate steps to rectify the problem while simultaneously putting preventive measures in place.
Ergonomics
With processes standardized, it is possible to find the most streamlined material placement in order to be most efficient, comfortable and healthy for the workers in place. Identifying potential ergonomic concerns and setting up stations to be comfortable and efficient for workers is exponentially easier when the process is standardized and Drishti can flag deviations for further examination.
HELLA: Uncovering ergonomic concerns
Drishti was able to help its customer, HELLA, a tier one automotive supplier, in understanding where its true bottlenecks were and improving health and safety for workers. The HELLA team believed it knew which station was the bottleneck station, but upon installing Drishti cameras, they learned that the real line slowdowns were occurring further upstream.
At one station, the configuration required workers to left a part from the left side of the station with his right hand, requiring a repetitive twisting motion for each assembly. What wasn’t clear in day-to-day operations became obvious when collecting data over hundreds of cycles. HELLA both increased throughput and improved worker conditions, with a return on investment in under six months.
Training best practices
When implementing a process change or setting a baseline for new standardized work, the organization must commit to training the standardized work system to staff and planning refresher training at regular intervals.
While implementing standardized work, it is important that there is a joint effort between the process team and the workers. Anyone who is a stakeholder in the process should have an opportunity to give feedback. Too often, organizations rely heavily on the feedback of those not directly involved in the process. Remember, the worker should lead the standardized work process. By incorporating feedback from those actually doing the work, the process is better from the start.
The workers hold key insights for continuous improvement, since they are the ones carrying out the process.
Show and tell: Video-based training
In training a task, it’s important to both tell and show the process. Telling alone is not enough to gain all of the special knowledge in a full sequence of steps. Ideally, the process will be shown, explained, able to be read and also (in a full implementation) re-trained on demand using a solution like Drishti, in which the whole sequence of steps is available via video and broken down accordingly.
Drishti also allows supervisors to tag videos that demonstrate good and bad practice, making it easy for them to recall a library of examples to show the worker.
Future verification
After training is complete, it is important that the trainer checks back in with the trainee at periodic intervals to ensure that the process is being done correctly. Using Drishti, trainers can spot-train on the line using video footage of the worker, similar to when an NFL quarterback watches the playback after an interception or touchdown to learn what went wrong or right.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is AI-powered video worth?
For more information on standardized work, how to implement it and how to upgrade it read our eBook.
