Regulars / Continuous improvement | 41Operation executives need to review current layout plans, making “We can’t let the disorganization room for more raw material storage. Every time you move raw material you risk damaging rolls and this adds to waste. Better to of raw material in our facility review the layout and make the plans for the area that is needed. impede our response to our Converters remind me they are short on space and developing a storage plan is diffcult. customer’s demand”As a site preparation activity, I generally recommend a 5S kaizen in the current warehouse and storage rack areas. The beginning of works the same way and can be reflled from the supermarket area. this process is to ‘Sort’ using a red tag method to identify items Due to the current fuctuations in availability, it may be a good mothballed over the years. The red tag signifes disposition is idea to implement a ‘spike control’ card in the process. Production needed and the items can be removed permanently. Every facility control can be forewarned of a large spike in demand for a I have toured has old furniture, old materials, old inks, and old particular raw material from the quoting group or sales updates. tooling taking up valuable real estate that could be redeployed By simply adding a spike card into the fow, the procurement team to help with the current material management needs. There is no receives a notifcation to increase initial storage areas for the time to push unnecessary items to the back of the shop; they have product. In a visual-managed operation, nothing is completed in a to go. There is a new demand for space and it is cost-effective to vacuum. In a Kanban system, the visual signals, as well as identifed organize this space to be productive. The supplier variability today areas, are part of the management process. As leaders of Gemba, is driving this need and addressing it will help your organization they can see the voids and signals making everyone accountable at maintain productivity to stay focused on the growth opportunities all times. this year. We can’t let the disorganization of raw material in our A converter can build the basics of inventory management using facility impede our response to our customer’s demand and we Kanban. Kanban can be used to set up reorder signals for ink, plate don’t have to wait to implement a more productive material roll tape, packaging materials and many other high-use items. management process. A Kanban process can be an anchor to equipment maintenance programs as well. Material availability is going to be sensitive through the remainder of 2022. Converters need to accept this and Paul Brauss, former CEO of Mark Andy and take on material management activity that puts in place business a past board member of TLMI, is a consultant processes that are stable, instead of the fre drill activities that and executive coach. See Braussconsulting.com, typically accompany a short-term problem. and buy his book at amzn.to/2NFzXkBA visual management process with 5S as an anchor is important. Apr - Jun 2022