Chapter 5
One-Piece Flow Is the Ideal
Taiichi Ohno taught us that one-piece flow is the ideal. In school when you have
the right answer for the test you get an A. The right answer is one-piece flow.
So just go out and implement one-piece flow and you are doing lean. What
could be easier? In fact, Ohno also taught that achieving one-piece flow is
extremely difficult and, in fact, not always even practical; he said:
In 1947 we arranged machines in parallel lines or in an L-shape and tried hav-
ing one worker operate three or four machines along the processing route. We
encountered strong resistance among the production workers, however, even
though there was no increase in work or hours. Our craftsmen did not like the
new arrangement requiring them to function as multiskilled operators....
Furthermore, our efforts revealed various problems. As these problems became
clearer, they showed me the direction to continue moving in. Although young
and eager to push, I decided not to press for quick, drastic changes, but to be
patient.Ohno learned to be patient and deliberate about reducing waste while moving
in the direction of one-piece flow, also called “continuous flow.” Products that
move continuously through the processing steps with minimal waiting time in
between, and the shortest distance traveled, will be produced with the highest
efficiency. Flowing reduces throughput time, which shortens the cost to cash
cycle and can lead to quality improvements. But Ohno learned that one-piece
flow is fragile.Create Connected
Process Flow
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