Level production (heijunka)
Spread the volume and the product mix evenly over time, so the plant does not live between peaks and valleys.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- It does not recur every month
- Elmira today
- Not covered
- Frequency
- Per project
- Who does it today
- Senior, Lead
- Version
- Elmira Senior
What hurts today.
The plant swings from overtime to idle people.
Sales promises what the plant cannot level.
The heijunka box is dropped at the first emergency.
Making big batches as orders arrive pushes the plant from overtime to idle people. Leveling means looking at demand and the product mix, setting a cycle that repeats each product in small batches, building the heijunka box that spreads the orders into even intervals and tuning it with planning and sales. A senior or a lead designs it, because it changes how the whole plant is scheduled.
Done today with
- Expert
- In-person meeting
- On the floor
- Paper and whiteboard
- Spreadsheet
- Company system
Each step, today and with Elmira.
She does not: leveling production needs specialist analysis and agreements with planning and sales.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Analyse demand and the product mix | Spreadsheet, Company system1 h – 3 h | Still by hand |
| Set the cycle that repeats each product | Spreadsheet, Expert1 h – 3 h | Still by hand |
| Build the heijunka box that spreads the orders | Paper and whiteboard, On the floor1 h – 3 h | Still by hand |
| Agree on it with planning and sales | In-person meeting1 h – 2 h | Still by hand |
| Adjust it when demand changes | Spreadsheet, Expert30 min – 1.5 h | Still by hand |
The conversation
No example conversation: the Obeyaka web app does it, or it comes later.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of lean tools on the shop floor
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