Case Study: 5S Training and Lego 101

A Philadelphia, PA machine shop reached out to Prosit to implement several lean initiatives on their shop floor, measure the results and educate the workforce on sustaining the progress.

5S training was selected as the first initiative to implement.  The leadership of the company was very supportive of the 5S effort, but, during the process, Prosit discovered an underlying issue that needed to be addressed. They realized the supervisor in charge was doing the vast majority of the 5S work without providing opportunities for the operators to be involved.

This was creating a divide on the shop floor between the responsibilities of the supervisor and the operators. The supervisor felt he was not getting the support needed to sustain the 5S improvements and the operators felt the supervisor (and company) did not trust or value their input.

Prosit worked with the supervisor and operators to identify ways to collaborate better, share the workload and increase buy-in as the results improved.  One of the ways Prosit proposed to leadership utilized the simulation kit called Lego 101. It is a one-day exercise with periods of teaching after each of the four rounds of simulation.

Prosit finds some clients move faster than others and the overall duration can be shortened to three hours for a minimum of six or a maximum of sixteen people. An additional two people can be used on each team as “facilitators” or “lean consultants”. They will be documenting improvement opportunities as well as doing some time studies while the simulation is going on.

Overall, the Lego 101 simulation is an excellent way to introduce anyone to the lean principles. It shows the true meaning of an assembly line and how we can eliminate the 8 wastes in any production environment. The supervisor and operators quickly understood the 5S benefits and process steps using the Lego 101 exercise and marked improvement has been realized on the shop floor since the training was completed.

Prosit also makes a point that lean is not black and white, it is malleable and can be used in numerous ways. The aim is always to help teams work better together toward their common goals established by the client.

Contact Prosit for 5S training and consulting, utilization of the Lego 101 simulation kit or for assistance with any other lean consulting services.