Tools Management

How do you manage tools? Amy Erickson offers these suggestions.

“The best tooling management programs are those that are very visual, simple to use (no computers) and designed by the people who use the tools themselves. If management tries to force a system, then you will also have to force compliance. Getting the users involved will produce a better solution. Also, if done properly, this activity is a lot of fun and will help build a sense of team within the shop. You will be amazed how some people will step up and volunteer to help lead this.

“Ask your teammates how much time they spend each day looking for tools or waiting for others to finish. Then ask to charter a representative team of the tool users to help solve this problem. This time really adds up, one small company (about 10 in the shop) that is a member of our consortium discovered through a simple time study that they were spending about $35K/year in labor just walking around to get stuff!

“Show some examples of 5S initiatives at other companies. If possible, do a short field trip to other area companies that have strong 5S programs and let your people talk to their people about how much easier life is when your shop is organized.

“With the team, walk through the shop and collect all the tools. This will be very disruptive to production, so you will need support from management. Faster and better results come when everyone is involved. Make sure everyone understands why you are doing this, if they don't understand how it will make them uncomfortable and less likely to participate willingly.

“Once all the tools are collected, determine which tools are only used in one specific area, vs which tools are shared by multiple areas. Make a list of any tools that are broken, out of calibration etc and assign them to someone for follow up.

“Break the team up and have one team work with the area specific tools that will be stored in the work area, and one team work with the tools that will be stored in the common area. Have each team brainstorm solutions to the following questions:
Where is the best place to store the tools to minimize walking?

“What is the best way to get the tools to the work area to avoid strains (Carts? Buckets?)

“What is a visual way to show where each tool goes and what is missing? (shadow boards, marked shelves, etc) Color coding tools that are specific to certain areas is also helpful in preventing them from "wandering" If the team sees a Blue wrench in the Red work area, they know it shouldn't be there.

“When a tool gets taken, how can we easily determine who has it? (I saw a really neat way to do this at one of our companies. Within the shapes on the shadow board was a piece of magnetic tape. Everyone had 3 magnetic tags with their name on them that were color coded by work area. When someone took a tool, they simply slapped one of their tags up on the board to indicate that they had it, and removed it when they returned the tool.)
How can we easily report tools that are broken or out of calibration? Who is responsible for follow up? (Dry erase board and "Jail" shelf is good for this-if it is simple to use and has clearly defined responsibility for follow up, people will use it. No blame environment is important here, too. If tools are getting broken frequently, Why? Is it the wrong application, Are we stressing cost over quality, does the operator need more training on how to use the tools?)

“Are there any tools that are always used together? Are there any tools we need more of? Have the team prioritize the list, apply costs and see if you can buy them a few at a time. Many companies have a "tooling budget" and they let the shop decide how to spend the money. (a good way to get management support for buying extras is to track the time spent waiting for tools and turn that into $. A phrase I like to use is "10 minutes a day adds up to a week over the course of a year, think of how much extra product we could build if we had an extra week each year"

“How will people checking out the tools know how to use the system? Visual work instructions focusing more on pictures and less on words are most effective.
Once we have implemented our ideas, we need to focus on sustainment. How can we check to see that tools are returned at the end of each shift? (Checklist, Rotating audit, supervisor check at the beginning of each shift, any of these will work if supported by the team) The first 30 days are the most critical. There needs to be a clear understanding that EVERYONE (including engineers who stop by to "borrow" something for a minute) must respect the rules of the system.

Source: Amy Erickson, NWLEAN: Digest Number 1745

The Last Planner System

Hal Macomber suggests this method of keeping score of project work.

“If you aren't measuring, then you can't know if you are improving. We've come to learn that on projects reliability of planning is more important than productivity of work groups. But are you measuring reliability? No! Start now.

“Measuring reliability is a simple process. Start by meeting with your team on an everyday basis for just a few minutes. I recommend doing this at the end of the day. Schedule the meeting for 5 minutes. During this meeting you have one question. "Did you finish what you promised to finish today?" The only allowed answers are "Yes" or "No". Record the answers on a graph. The graph doesn't need to be fancy. Flip chart paper will do. Add to the graph each day. Record the result for your team as a percent. 5 tasks finished out of 7 promised to finish is 71%. Plot that on a graph. No credit for progress or for performing work that was not promised. The point of this exercise is to improve planning reliability.

“Check back next week for uncovering the reasons for unreliability.” (1)

We call this PPC – percent of planned worked completed but maybe we should call it ‘percent of promised work completed.’ It’s not about honesty or about hoping the work will get done. This is about having a process in place to make sure the work is ready to be done and but about knowing what one can deliver. PPC measures the planning system not the person.

(1) Source: Reforming Project Management - Bloglet, June 30, 2004.

A Tip for Home

This web site has some great instructions for how to clean a room (as in your son/daughter’s bedroom). There are lots of 5S related ideas and just good common sense. It’s something to share with your young adults and children

Visit site

Learning Opportunities

You may be interested in attending one of these training seminars by Dennis Sowards:

Sept. 27, 2007 – Lean is Not a Fad Diet – it works in construction too! – Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy at pipetrust@qwest.net
Oct. 22, 2007 – Lean Works in Construction – an update of recent research - Las Vegas, NV SMACNA National Convention, contact: smacna.org
Oct. 25, 2007 – Performance Measurement - How to Use Measures to Manage and Improve Performance - Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy at pipetrust@qwest.net

Other Lean Events:
Sept 27–28 - Introduction to Lean Construction - Seattle – Sponsor: Lean Construction Institute. Visit Click here for registration and details.

Sept 27-28 – Lean Accounting Summit – Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL. See this website for details

A Quick Thought

Continuous process improvement helps us understand what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong and what we can do to improve.
-- Bryan Bergsteinsson, VP Lexus

For more information about Lean applications to construction and especially the 5S’s contact Dennis Sowards at his office at 480-835-1185 or his cell at 602-740-7271 or at his web site: www.YourQSS.com