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2022. 5. 26. | Time to read: 4 min
Apremeya Manjunath is a Process Improvement Analyst for Drishti.
When a new technology or methodology is introduced to a business, adoption can be challenging. You need people to buy in and adhere to new processes. The apprehension comes from people’s natural inclination to stay with familiar practices, thus feeling low risk and safe(whether it is or not). Often, a major part of the adoption curve is familiarity with new terminology associated with something. Once the language is adopted into our normal lexicon, the new technology begins to become familiar and many apprehensions are alleviated. This is true of both adopting a shiny new tool or of adopting a new process.
Drishti is a tool that empowers people and allows organizations to gain insights from their assembly lines. Drishti uses AI-powered visions systems on the shoulders of an organization’s standardized work system to measure, train, and expedite root cause analysis. In implementing Drishti and standardized work it is important that the language surrounding standardized work is understood.
When considering standardized work, and working with a technology provider, it is important to align on operational terms. Drishti uses a specific set of terms that align with standardized work when implementing its own products on a workstation; many of these are standard to manufacturers, though they are not by any means universal. Before we move on, let’s take a moment to align on terminology.
[screenshot of Drishti line balancing chart (below)]
Takt time: Takt time is the rate at which the product needs to be produced in order to satisfy the customer demand.
Note: It is not uncommon for organizations to view each workstation in an assembly line or each major process in the build of a product as the basis for takt time. Drishti views takt time as the target time within which each individual step has to be completed in order to meet customer demand.
[screenshot of Drishti line variability chart (below)]
Cycle time: In standardized work, each major process is broken down into a number of steps. There may be several job breakdowns in a process. For the purpose of standardized work, the total time for all of the major steps in a job breakdown is referred to as station cycle time. Each individual step may have its own time, as well (called action time, below).
Production cycle time refers to the time it takes to produce a unit at the end of the line, which can be measured by the MES scanning a unit going out to packaging. Drishti has the capability to show both "production cycle time" and "station cycle time."
Standardized work focuses on cycle time for each process which, ideally, is a summation of the time in each of the steps plus any waiting times or movement time it takes for a product to enter and exit a workstation.
Why does cycle time matter?
Significantly long or short cycles that deviate from a normal range are indicators that more attention should be paid to that cycle. Did the worker finish the cycle 10 seconds early because she forgot to complete a step? If so, quality issues could be a concern with that unit. Did the cycle take 15 seconds longer than usual because the worker was waiting on materials? If so, is there a materials flow issue that could be remedied further upstream?
Because Drishti provides video footage of every single cycle, clicking on long or short cycles can quickly show manufacturers why a cycle was deviant, and whether more attention to that unit, worker or station is warranted.
Action time: Within every cycle is a set of individual actions that, when performed in sequence, make up standardized work for that station. Each action should take a certain number of seconds or minutes to perform.
Action sequence: The order of actions matters! When standardized work is properly defined, it lays out not just what should be done, but also in what sequence. It may not seem to matter whether a worker starts all four screws, then screws them all in at once with the pneumatic screwdriver, or screws each complete piece individually. But if standardized work is written properly, the thinking is that one of those two options is more efficient than the other, and therefore the preferred method.
Why do action time and sequence matter?
Similar to cycle time, long or short actions are indicative of potential further attention needed. A short action could have been done incompletely, while a long action may mean the worker is poorly equipped with the proper tools to complete the task, for example. Tasks performed out of sequence can be indicators of quality or efficiency issues.
Why terms matter
Drishti was built on the foundation of standardized work, and uses these terms within its portal. Drishti’s solution provides the constant vigilance and measurement capability of an efficiency engineer and can view and measure the cycle time of each step as well as the overall cycle time of a process in real-time and report on any deviations from the expected standardized work performed. What’s more, the video is available for reference to troubleshoot and identify the root cause should an issue repeat itself.
Whether or not an organization decides to implement Drishti on their line, they need to be familiar with the terms in order to effectively systemize standardized work, particularly the measurement terms. With the understanding of takt time, cycle time, action time and action sequence, standardized work systems and documentation become consistent and meaningful.
For more information on standardized work, how to implement it and how to upgrade it read our eBook.
