Water
Spiders can make your manufacturing breathlessly insanely fast. Find
out more about this brilliant Lean strategy and use it to your
advantage.
The term Water Spider actually gets its name from
the Whirligig Beetle shown here. Water Spider is a funny term, but
understanding what Water Spiders are and using them at your company can
mean serious improvements.
The Whirligig Beetle is known for
being a very fast swimmer and they are also notable for their divided
eyes which can see both above and below water.
So the lean term water spider means a person who is responsible for performing a
wide range of tasks which allows workers to perform "value-added" tasks
without distraction.
During a surgery, all of the attendants that assist the surgeon are a lot like water spiders.
They allow the surgeon to perform the value added tasks without distraction.
Water Spiders can be used in a similar way at your company.
If production workers who actually
add value to the product are forced to find their own parts, tools, supplies, or paperwork,
they will be
distracted from their real work which is adding value to the customer
and they will be performing non value added tasks.
When workers are not adding value, they are not being productive, therefore productivity drops.
Many people consider the water spider to be only a material handler, but in
actuality the water spider must be a multi skilled and well-trained
person.
A Water spider is responsible for making the rounds and supplying parts to all production workers that need them.
When
a changeover is needed on a machine or on a production or assembly
line, they assist with that changeover making it as fast and smooth as
possible.
They also provide tools and materials to the production workers.
And they provide any additional help needed to maintain Standard Work and to keep the flow going.
The water spider has a routine and knows all processes thoroughly enough to step in if needed.
At Toyota, performing the role of a water spider is a prerequisite for supervision and management positions.
So how can water spiders benefit your company?
Water spiders will allow your direct labor employees to focus their attention
on producing a quality product quickly without distractions.
Production workers will be able to focus solely on adding value to the product and
no longer be performing non-value added activities.
Production workers will be able to produce at a much higher rate.
Driving more dollars to the bottom line for a happier healthier company.
Your productivity before water spiders may have looked like this but after
you implement water spiders, it will look like this.
Increased productivity shortens lead times which will make everyone happy.
And your throughput will increase dramatically.
Customers are always happy when their lead times are decreased, quality is
increased and costs are lowered. They will also be able to recognize
the lack of waste on your shop floor.
Do you want your business to be breathlessly insanely fast? What more could you ask for
in a Lean tool? Water spiders may be considered to be overhead, but
they will be the best overhead you have ever spent! At Xtreme Lean, we
love helping small to medium size companies thrive through training
employees and implementing Lean solutions. Please contact us and let us
know how we can help your business today!
Dave is the Executive Vice President of Xtreme Lean Consulting.
He has over 42 years experience working with senior management teams in planning and implementing growth and profitability initiatives, with an emphasis on driving market share through efficiency and extraordinary customer service. Dave is a well organized professional with strong conceptual and practical skills. He has a proven ability to identify a company's market-driven improvement needs, and then use Lean/continuous improvement techniques to increase performance and earnings.
