If you’ve worked with any piece of technology, you will know how complicated they can be, especially if there is an issue with them. Imagine if you had a car without a check engine light or a cellphone without a low battery warning. You’d have a very difficult time figuring out what’s wrong without these signals. That’s where Andon comes in!
What is Andon in Lean manufacturing?
Andon is a powerful visual management tool used in Lean manufacturing. In the manufacturing environment, Andon uses visual cues to alert employees that there is an issue on the production line.
In some cases, these visual cues may be triggered manually by an employee that identifies an issue, and in other cases, the production process can be set up with automation that can trigger visual cues when the equipment detects an issue with the process.
These visual cues are extremely valuable because they allow the employee to respond immediately to any issues that may arise in the production process. This ultimately eliminates excess waste in the process which directly supports the values of Lean thinking.
🤿 DIVE DEEPER: Learn more about the 5 principles of Lean manufacturing in my article here.
Although Andon was invented to promote efficient manufacturing processes, you can use the same principle of Andon in all areas of life.
In this article, we will explore the different types of Andon and their benefits, examples of its use in manufacturing as well as daily life, and some tips to successfully implement an Andon system.
What is the meaning of Andon and who invented it?
Andon is a Japanese word meaning “paper lantern”. Toyota was the earliest manufacturer to use Andon as a system to signal issues in a production process.
Andon also fits within the concept of Jidoka which was originally created by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota. The idea behind Jidoka is that it is more efficient to stop a production process as soon as an issue is detected because this allows you to investigate and resolve the issue on the spot.
If you do not do this, you may have higher throughput in the short-term, but you will ultimately have a less efficient process because the same issues will occur again and again.
What are the benefits of Andon?
1. Empower employees
Andon empowers employees to make quick decisions by making it their responsibility to respond immediately when they are alerted to an issue on the production line. This will ultimately give employees a sense of pride in their work, since they will feel as though they can have a larger impact on the success of the business.
Also, employees typically won’t shut down a manufacturing process due to fear of getting into trouble for delaying production. Andon not only gives employees the power to shut down a process when an issue arises, it requires them to do so. Ultimately, shutting down a process as soon as an issue appears will eliminate massive amounts of wasted material and time in the long-term.
2. Reduce costs and downtime
This leads to the second benefit of Andon which is that it reduces costs and downtime. As stated in the last section, stopping a production process immediately when an issue occurs will lead to lower costs and downtime overall. If you are able to identify and eliminate an issue quickly, you will mitigate its overall effects on the final product.
In particular, there are 8 wastes of Lean manufacturing that represent the primary sources of wasted material or time in a process. Using Andon will help to drastically decrease these forms of waste.
🤿 DIVE DEEPER: Do you want to know more about the 8 wastes of Lean and how you can identify and reduce them in your life? If so, check out my article here!
3. Improve teamwork
The next benefit of Andon is that it improves teamwork. Andon alerts employees that there is an issue in the production process, but it is up to the employees themselves to resolve the problem.
In many cases, this will require effort from a cross-functional team. To ensure that the problem is resolved swiftly and thoroughly, every member of the team must be able and willing to quickly jump to action and work together smoothly.
4. Increase productivity
Andon also helps to increase the overall productivity of a process because it forces employees to address issues on the spot.
Although it can seem counterproductive to shut down a process every time there is an issue, you will save massive amounts of time in the long-term if you address issues as soon as they pop up rather than allowing their effects to continue.
5. Standardize and improve product quality
Another benefit of Andon is that it improves process standardization and product quality. When you address the root cause of production issues immediately, product quality will become more consistent and improved.
Over time, Andon will allow you to continuously improve a process until production is most efficient and problem-free.
6. Improve customer satisfaction
Finally, Andon will also improve customer satisfaction by ensuring your product is manufactured efficiently and with high quality. Therefore, you will be able to add significant value to the customer by meeting their volume demands and product standards.
What are the different types of Andon?
There are several different types of Andon systems that can operate either manually or automatically.
The Andon Cord
The Andon cord is the most common type of manual Andon system. In this case, the employees need to manually signal when they detect an issue. For example, this may be pull cords (hence the name “Andon cord”), buttons, or switches located throughout the production line.
If the operator detects an issue, they can manually trigger the Andon system which will alert others to the problem. This alert may come in the form of a warning light or an audible alarm. Then, process experts, such as supervisors or engineers, can respond to the issue and help resolve it.
The Andon Light Stack
Another commonly used Andon system is the Andon light stack. Most light stacks will have three colors (green, yellow, and red) to represent the current state of the production process, but some light stacks may also contain the colors white and blue.
The table below gives an overview of the meaning of each of the Andon colors.
| COLOR | MEANING | REQUIRED ACTION |
|---|---|---|
| Green | There are no issues. The process is running smoothly. | No action is required. |
| Yellow | An issue has occurred. | A process expert, such as a supervisor or engineer, should respond and help correct the issue in a timely manner. If they do not, the process will stop. |
| Red | The process has stopped due to an issue. | Investigate and address the issue before restarting the process. |
| White | The production run is complete. | Begin the next scheduled production run. |
| Blue | A defective unit has been detected. | Resolve the quality concern in a timely manner or the process will stop. |
For example, if an issue is detected on the production line, the yellow light on the light stack will illuminate. This is essentially a call for help which will alert the process experts that they need to help resolve an issue.
The colors on the light stack can be triggered either manually or automatically depending on how the system is set up.
For example, in a manual system, such as the Andon cord discussed in the previous section, the light stack may illuminate yellow when the operator pulls a cord to call for help.
In an automatic system, the production line will typically have sensors that will detect if the equipment isn’t operating correctly. If this is the case, the Andon light stack will illuminate yellow to alert the employees of the issue. If the issue isn’t resolved and the process stops, the light stack would then illuminate red.
The Andon Board
The final common type of Andon is the Andon board. An Andon board will typically show an overview of the production line and the status of each section throughout the process.
For example, if an Andon cord is pulled at a certain section, that section will illuminate with a warning light on the display to alert others of the issue.
This fosters a sense of transparency and accountability in the workplace because all employees can immediately see the status of the entire production process in a single glance.
What is an example of Andon?
Example of Andon in manufacturing
Let’s say you work in a production facility that manufactures toothpaste. During the toothpaste packaging process, there are nozzles that fill the toothpaste tubes with toothpaste. The following could be an example of an Andon system for this process
- One of the nozzles that fills the toothpaste tube is clogged which is causing some tubes to be empty.
- The issue is detected and the Andon system is triggered.
- In the case of a manual process, this would mean that an employee saw that the nozzle is clogged and they pulled the Andon cord to alert other employees.
- In the case of an automated process, this could mean that the equipment has a sensor that detects the flow rate of toothpaste through the nozzle. Once the system detects the issue, it will automatically alert the employees.
- Once the Andon system is triggered, the yellow warning light will appear on the light stacks and/or Andon board.
- The process experts will see this alert and quickly go to the station with the issue.
- Once the process experts arrive, they may realize that this issue cannot be resolved while the line is running.
- The process expert will then stop the system and the light stack and/or Andon board will illuminate red.
- The maintenance team is called over and they are able to repair the clogged nozzle.
- The operator restarts the production line, and the light stack and/or Andon board once again illuminate green.
- The process expert records the incident and the steps that were taken to resolve it for future reference.
- A cross-functional team may also come together to discuss the root cause of the incident in order to prevent any future occurrences of the same problem.
Examples of Andon in daily life
Beyond the manufacturing setting, there are also many Andon systems that we deal with in daily life. In general, any type of visual warning that prompts you to take action to resolve an issue is an Andon system.
Some examples include:
- The warning lights on a car dashboard, such as the check engine light or tire pressure light.
- A red light on a printer that alerts you that you are out of paper or ink or that the paper is jammed.
- The iPhone battery symbol which turns red when your battery falls below 20%.
Tips to successfully implement Andon
- Clearly define what issues require an Andon signal for help.
- Strategically position Andon systems, such as light stacks and Andon boards, so that they are visible to all employees.
- Make sure you always have a clear reaction plan when an issue occurs. For example, your car has a manual that tells you exactly what you need to do when a certain light appears on your dashboard. You should have the same system in place for any process.
- Get the operators in the habit of calling for help. Operators should not be the only ones addressing issues since then they may be hidden to the rest of the team and never be fully addressed.
- Define who is responsible for responding to Andon signals. This should be a process expert, such as a supervisor or engineer.
- Ensure that process experts always respond to an Andon signal or else operators may stop alerting you. This will cause issues to remain unresolved in your process.
- Track all Andon calls and the solution to each issue for future reference.
- Overcome the negative stigma around stopping the production line. Sometimes you need additional downtime to address a problem and promote continuous improvement.
- Reward people for using Andon systems instead of punishing them for added downtime. These are situations when you can resolve issues and prevent future downtime.
- Understand that Andon systems are an extremely valuable source of information to drive continuous improvement which is critical for any process
🤿 DIVE DEEPER: Want to know more about why continuous improvement is so important? Read my article here!
Conclusion
Overall, Andon is an extremely powerful visual management tool that makes it instantaneously clear when an issue occurs in a process. Therefore, Andon is a critical tool for Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement because it gives employees the power to immediately identify and resolve issues as they arise.
By using Andon in manufacturing or your daily life, you will be able to efficiently resolve issues which will ultimately lead to higher productivity and throughput over time.
Can you think of any other examples of Andon in your life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
