In the Toyota Production System, help is provided when Andon is pulled.
“Help” is essential but equally important is how.
The first key point is that over-helping is not good. There was a factory with a team leader who did the subassemblies and piled up work-in-process stocks. The team leader claimed that the workers did not have time to complete the subassembly, so we studied together. The cycle time did not exceed the takt time. Then, the team lead claimed that sometimes they exceeded. So, we problem-solved. I explained that stocking work-in-process is not a solution; we need to understand the root cause of fluctuation. Once we stabilized the process, the team lead should focus on Kaizen to improve the process.
Over-helping is the same as spoiling in parenting. I do not intend to say I am an expert in parenting, but I learned as I grew with my kids that over-helping isn’t good. The other day, my three-year-old wanted to tie her shoe laces. Since we had plenty of time, she tried. In the end, after ten minutes or so, I did help her since she asked. I am not saying I helped her at the right time. I was thinking about over-helping. If I help her too much, she won't learn the necessary skills and will become highly dependent. If I don’t help, we will waste time. Parenting is complex.
Compared to parenting, operations has an excellent guide to over-helping—the standardized work. We should only help if they are behind on standardized work. This should also give the worker ownership of “help.” The help is provided only when the worker needs it. Of course, there might be situations where the worker forgets to call for help, but generally, the help should be provided based on pull, not push.
If we understand that “help” should be based on pull, we need to think about how quickly to respond to the pull. This means that the team leader (the helper) can observe directly. We must be careful not to create physical obstacles that prevent the team leader from direct observation, as such barriers delay the response time. A layout that is similar to this thought is one in a kindergarten. The room is designed with more miniature furniture, allowing students to move around and providing enough visibility for the teachers. This direct visibility will enable teachers to observe and build trust from the students that they are under good care. Such concepts should be transferred to the operations shop floor. Some examples are prohibiting the stacking of materials above some heights or aligning machines to secure a visible area. Such a layout concept that is easy to help has to be considered not just colorful light signals.
When it is time to help, there are several methods of help.
The first method is substitution. The help is pulled, the team leader takes the caller's place. This help method is proper when workers need to go to the bathroom or relieve fatigue. Another case is when the worker needs to learn the skill by observation. The worker must know this is a learning opportunity in such a case. This opportunity is often not fully recognized by either side, and the opportunity is wasted. It is a pity to see that helping is happening but the worker is just standing around waiting, which is happening in many places.
The other method is parallel. When help is pulled, the helper can take responsibility for the problem or start the next unit. By working in parallel, the process temporarily can handle the problem and the production. Here, the team leader should take the problem, but depending on the level of the operator, they could choose to work on the next unit while the operator tackles the problem. This is a step towards training problem-solving. Either way, the benefit is that we do not impact the output performance. That doesn’t mean there are no problems. The number of such help needs to be counted and problem-solved. According to my coach, such help methods require processes to absorb fluctuations without allowances. Allowances will hide those fluctuations, but Andon help-pull will highlight those issues.
We can design these help mechanisms, like Andon lights and help methods, but these depend on the people who use them. I have visited many plants where they claim that operators are resisting lean. As I learned what had happened, people started sharing the truth. They were introduced to the Andon or help chain concepts. So, they pulled the Andon and called for help. After a long time, the supervisor came, and he yelled, “Why did you pull the Andon?” The mentality was still the old way. We need to think about training to help and welcoming the call. Without the mindset change, the Andon light might do more harm than good. To add one more point, we should consider how many problems a team leader can handle. A typical team leader has about 4 to 6 processes to cover. At any given time, a team leader can handle one problem only. And, helping is not the only responsibility. This means that the probability of a problem happening is very low. The Andon system or help chain is not running in an environment where firefighting is the norm. It runs in very standardized conditions. We should stop the line if the problems exceed what they can handle.
Help is science. There is a lot more to think and improve.