The production situation under the traditional individual combat mode
On an assembly line, there are a total of 10 workers, and their daily working hours are 8 hours. Initially, this assembly line adopted a single - worker production model. In this model, each worker independently undertakes all the assembly tasks of a product from start to finish. It's as if each worker is a small independent factory, fully responsible for the entire assembly process of the product.
However, one day, a worker stopped working for 1 hour due to certain reasons. From an individual perspective, this 1 - hour work stoppage was equivalent to affecting 1/8 of his daily output. After all, he worked 8 hours a day. Working 1 hour less naturally meant a reduction of one - eighth in his output.But when we broaden our view to the entire group level, the impact of this 1 - hour work stoppage on the total daily output was only 1/80. Since there were 10 people on this assembly line, and the total output was composed of the combined output of each person, the impact of this one - person 1 - hour work stoppage was evenly spread across the entire group.
In such a situation, neither the team leader, the supervisor nor the boss showed excessive concern. In their view, the impact on production, which was 1/80, was really insignificant and just a minor matter. Moreover, this situation didn't occur only once. It was the same the next day, the same in the following month, and even continued in the second and third years. Everyone thought it was an acceptable minor issue and didn't pay enough attention to it.
Production crisis under the assembly - line operation mode
Later, in order to improve production efficiency, the assembly line was changed to an assembly - line production model. In this model, each worker only needs to undertake 1/10 of the assembly task for a product. It's like a precise production chain, where each worker is a link in the chain, closely connected and interdependent.
However, the same situation happened again. Another worker stopped working for one hour due to some reason. Different from the individual - work mode, in the assembly - line mode, other workers also had to stop working for one hour. Since the work of each worker is closely linked, if there is a problem in one link, the entire production line cannot operate normally. The one - hour stoppage instantly increased the impact on the collective output to 1/8. What seemed like a negligible individual stoppage in the individual - work mode has become a major problem affecting the entire collective output in the assembly - line mode.
This time, the situation was completely different. The squad leader began to panic, the director also got anxious, and the boss was almost going crazy. Because such a loss in production volume was no longer a minor issue that could be ignored; it directly affected the entire production schedule and the enterprise's efficiency. Therefore, the enterprise immediately held a meeting to specifically discuss how to solve this problem, and it was required that the problem must be solved thoroughly, and similar situations should not occur frequently anymore.
The recurrence and ultimate solution of the problem
After the meeting, the situation improved. The next day, there were no more shutdowns on the production line. However, in the second month, the same shutdown problem occurred three more times. In the second year, it happened a total of five times, and once in the third year. Nevertheless, the enterprise didn't give up and kept looking for solutions, strengthening management and supervision. After the fourth year, this kind of shutdown problem never occurred again. The production line resumed stable operation, and the output was also guaranteed.
Inspiration from Lean Production
From the production case of this assembly line, we can draw a profound inspiration. In life and work, we are often able to handle major challenges brought by powerful opponents such as lions and tigers quite well. Since these challenges are obvious and threatening, we will concentrate our efforts to deal with them. However, seemingly insignificant small problems like flies and mosquitoes often catch us off guard. Although their harassment may seem unremarkable, it will continuously drain our energy and resources.
The concept of lean production is to "magnify" these seemingly insignificant small matters. It emphasizes that leaders should play an active role in guiding all employees to participate in problem - solving. In this way, small problems can be nipped in the bud, preventing them from accumulating into major issues.Moreover, lean production is not just about solving existing problems. It also encourages enterprises to "look for trouble on purpose", that is, to actively discover potential problems. By continuously optimizing the production process and management methods, the overall competitiveness and production efficiency of the enterprise can be improved.