Spread a solution to other teams (yokoten)
Take what solved a problem in one team to the others that have the same one, instead of each solving it all over again.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- It does not recur every month
- Elmira today
- Helps
- Frequency
- Per project
- Who does it today
- Lead
- Version
- Elmira Manager
What hurts today.
The solution stays in one team’s A3.
Each plant solves the same thing on its own.
Nobody follows whether the other teams adopted it.
Yokoten is spreading sideways what worked: if one line cut its waste by setting the sealing temperature, the other lines with sealers should know. Whoever leads improvement picks the solutions worth it, documents them, looks for the teams with the same problem and supports their adoption. It is almost never done: the solution stays in one team’s A3, and each plant solves the same thing on its own.
Done today with
- Expert
- In-person meeting
- On the floor
- Paper and whiteboard
- Spreadsheet
- Email and chat
- Slides
- BI dashboard
Each step, today and with Elmira.
On WhatsApp, Elmira tells you which other teams have a similar goal at risk, gives each one its action to adopt the solution and tells you how they are doing. With the Value Office, the solution is documented in its story.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Choose the solutions worth spreading | In-person meeting, Expert | Your call |
| Document it so another team understands it | Slides, Paper and whiteboard30 min – 1.5 h | Comes with the value office |
| Find the teams with the same problem | BI dashboard, Expert30 min – 1 h | |
| Give each team its action to adopt it | Email and chat, In-person meeting15 min – 45 min | |
| Support the adoption in each team | On the floor, In-person meeting1 h – 4 h | Still by hand |
| Follow which ones adopted it and whether it worked for them | Spreadsheet15 min – 30 min |
The conversation
- Carolina, Operational Excellence lead
Elmira, in Packaging we cut the waste by setting the sealing temperature. Which other teams have a waste goal at risk or critical?
Of the teams I can see, two: Assembly, with “Cut Assembly’s waste” at risk, and Packaging South, with “Reduce Packaging South’s waste” critical.
- Carolina, Operational Excellence lead
Packaging South has the same sealers. Paula Vera should show them how we did it, by the 30th.
Create the action “Show Packaging South how to set the sealing temperature”
Goal: Reduce Packaging South’s waste
Team: Packaging South
Responsible: Paula Vera
Due on October 30, 2026
- Carolina, Operational Excellence lead
Approve
Done: I created the action “Show Packaging South how to set the sealing temperature”.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of problem solving
- Gather the problems people on the floor reportWhat is said in the hallway reaches nobody.
- Spot the problems in the indicators’ deviationsPeople react to every number that drops, and none gets solved.
- Keep the list of open problems and their statusThe list lives apart from the plan, and goes stale.