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(+)+(+) S.M.I.L.E(sm)
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(+)+(+) Setup Minimization Improves Line Efficiency
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(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
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(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
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(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
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NOW AVAILABLE-A NEW EDITION OF "MY LIFE AND WORK" by HENRY FORD WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOHN R HENRY

Click here to order
http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=32476

SOME THOUGHTS ON...
MY LIFE AND WORK by HENRY FORD


"I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one--and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."

-Henry Ford

This is what Henry Ford set out to do in 1908 with the Model T. He not only set out to do it, he did it. The Model T was the most successful car in history. At one point, almost two thirds of all cars on the road were Model T’s. Between 1909 and 1927 Ford sold over 15 million of them. During this time, he cut the price from about $950 to under $300. Ford had a vision of how to do this. This vision goes today by the name of “Lean Manufacturing” and we think of it as something new that we have borrowed from the Japanese.

It’s not. Henry Ford realized a century ago that much of what is called “work” in many manufacturing plants would more accurately be called “waste”. The waste occurs in many forms.

-Cars were originally built in one place with workers walking around the car and moving from station to station. Ford realized that walking was non-productive. As he said:

“The undirected worker spends more of his time walking about for materials and tools than he does in working; he gets small pay because pedestrianism is not a highly paid line.”

The first step forward in assembly came when we began taking the work to the men instead of the men to the work. We now have two general principles in all operations--that a man shall never have to take more than one step, if possibly it can be avoided, and that no man need ever stoop over.”

-Much material was wasted and Ford was almost manic about reducing this. One example is that in punching out radiator caps, they wound up with a small brass disk that they treated as scrap. A bit of redesign later they were fabricating another part using that same “scrap” disk as the blank.

-I especially liked him on excess paperwork: “We had been collecting tons of statistics because they were interesting. But statistics will not construct automobiles--so out they went.”

-Ford believed, correctly I think, that only automation could eliminate drudgery and make people more productive. Only be becoming more productive could workers be worth more and hence paid more. His view, stated repeatedly, was that a man should never do any work that a machine could do. He was constantly looking for ways to improve the machinery.

-Ford realized that the only way to make a truly high quality (Quality=Absence of Variation) car, or any other product was via precise measurement of every possible variable. He used the most precise gauges available, even buying the Johansson Gauge Company of Sweden so he could have Carl Johansson (inventor of the Johansson gauge block) on his staff. One story is that the only 2 people who could walk into Ford’s office unannounced were his son Edsel and Johansson.

-Most importantly Ford recognized that even with all of the above, without the right people, motivated to perform their best, all he had was an empty building full of useless machinery. Ford did not care who a person was or their background, all that mattered was the willingness and ability to do their job. He was hiring handicapped before that was the fashion. He hired without regard to race and religion. I don’t think he has ever gotten the credit he deserves for this.

Ford made no secret about how he ran his business. He wrote 3 books on it. His first, “My Life and Work” is the best and most useful. The other two “Moving Forward” and “Today and Tomorrow” are valuable as well. While you are at it he also wrote a book on Thomas Edison “My friend Mr Edison” that is interesting.

In addition to writing, he was open in allowing tours of the factory and always willing to answer questions about his success.

Ford’s ideas worked in other settings as well. He applied them in enterprises as diverse as a public hospital, an industrial school, a railroad and shipbreaking. There is nothing magic about them. They are mostly just simple common sense. Or perhaps, given the failure to implement and follow up on them by American industry (Including Ford Motor Company) since, they are uncommon sense.

In short, there was and is no excuse for not implementing his ideas universally. But they were not. Except for some fairly low quality, photocopied versions of “My Life and Work” and “Moving Forward” they have been out of print for 70 years or so. Productivity Press at www.productivitypress.com has a nice edition of “Today and Tomorrow.

The books may have been out of print in English but they have never been out of print in Japanese. The Toyota Production System that we all hear so much about is mostly copied from “My Life and Work”. Rumor has it that Toyota requires every engineer to read it.

I have read at least 100 books on lean over the years. Some good, some not so good but almost always learning something interesting. When I finally found “My Life and Work” I was completely blown away. It makes all the other books worthless by comparison. I could not believe that it was out of print. I have recently remedied this. I have brought out a brand new edition, completely reformatted with a modern binding in a conveniently readable size. I even wrote an extensive introduction explaining why this book is so important.

You can purchase it by clicking: https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=32476

Quantity discounts are available.

NB: I will probably get some comments about what a horrible person Ford was so let me respond in advance. Yes, in many ways he was. That in no way diminishes the good ideas he expounds in this book. Read the book and implement the good. By all means feel free to write me though. I welcome all feedback, good or bad.

TIP OF THE MONTH...
WALL WASHERS

Some manufacturers have a need to wash down walls and ceilings as part of each changeover. This is often done with a sponge and squeegee on a pole. It may need to be repeated several times with detergent, clean rinse water and perhaps even a final rinse with purified water. On a recent project I did, this took a considerable amount of time and I began looking for better ways.

One idea I had was to look into equipment used for commercial washing of windows. This turned out to be not quite what was needed but did lead me to a company called Tucker USA at www.tuckerusa.com They make systems designed for washing signs, billboards, building exteriors and the like. It consists of a sponge/brush on a pole. Cleaning solution is fed through a hose in the pole to the brush. There is a second hose for the rinse that provides a spray for rinsing. These are Tucker’s Exterior Maintenance systems and the direct page is www.tuckerusa.com/model_x.htm In a long conversation I had with them it sounded like it would work well for our room cleaning application.

As always, if you contact them, I would appreciate mentioning where you heard about it.

My client has not yet implemented it but it looks very promising and the cost is reasonable. If any readers have used this or a similar system, could you please contact me at johnhenry@... to let me know how it worked out? If and when they do  implement it, I will post an update.

Best,

John R Henry CPP

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