I first came across O.S.K.K.K or as I like to call it, OSKx3 in a book by Greg Lane. The concept is a less well traveled mechanism within the lean manufacturing toolbox. This particular book, which I will link at the end, is the only reference I have ever come across utilizing the technique. I have seen some references to it, brief explanations, yet no practical explanations of what the system is and how to use it.
The acronym stands for "Observe, Standardize, Kaizen flow & process, Kaizen of equipment, Kaizen of layout". The activity structure is intended to occur in this order as actions related to layout tends to be expensive where as observation is not. A huge component of this system is approachability. It is intended to drive practicality over doctrine. Small organizations especially cannot make the time necessary for large scope efforts. OSKx3 is perfect for small to medium business. Large operations can use it too, I would suggest it is done by business unit with a high level plan to maintain alignment.
So what?
I am writing this because I think it is an amazing tool and you should know about it. The book is titled "Mr. Lean Buys and Transforms a Manufacturing Company", written by Greg Lane and released in 2010 CRC Press. I stumbled upon the book in the company library in 2015. There was a professional development/reading initiative at the company and I was working hard to promote it to others, so I was reading everything in that room I thought looked moderately interesting. In the ten years since I encountered the book I have expanded my reading list into other genres and found higher level references. Even so, I believe this is one, if not the, best practical examples of real lean manufacturing and business principle execution that exists. I' re-reading it right now, and I still think so. I will do my best to articulate the why behind my opinion in the rest of this post. First thing, I want to go over what the system is so you can see what I'm talking about related to why I appreciate the book and this technique so much. The process is arranged from least to most expensive to help you start simply.
Observe
Exactly what is says, do this. Observe your systems. If you are a new operation and some amount of structure is forming, watch and write down how things happen. The first QMS I ever wrote was all observation and documentation.
Importantly, do not fall into the trap about "we are only doing this is area 'x'". You must do this throughout the organization. Front office? Observe it. Shipping dock? Observe it. Production line? Observe it. Get your documentation going.
Standardize
I have zero doubt anyone who gets one iota into the observation step will fail to discover potential improvement. When you get to standardize, consider best practices...this will bleed into the first Kaizen step. And you should still do so. Don't observe a blatant issue and then codify it. There are no rules against going out of order if you have justification. So standardize those systems you have observed and continue to observe them. 5S is a good example for this step of standardization practices.
Kaizen x3
Kaizen Flow & Process
Following your actions to standardize, the best place to start is flow and process. If we're talking about the front office, perhaps we will build a method to handle invoices to improve efficiency. Look at the processes and remove wasted time and motion from them here.
On the shop floor, should something happen before another thing to improve flow? Update the process to support the change. Then observe again. A good example is here. Observe, standardize, then kaizen flow and process was crucial to the material handling system improvement I discussed previously.
Flow charts as a mechanism to understand where improvement is possible are a great tool here. I would also recommend a spaghetti string map too. Something to help you understand the travel path of people and things.
Kaizen Equipment
Improve your equipment situation. This doesn't mean new equipment. It can mean you amend your maintenance system. Perhaps your machine change over time could use some improvement. You should have a few ideas by this point from the previous steps. Doing 5S for the workstations may have uncovered items you may need duplicates of for each workstation. Get them.
I would mention this is a great time to consider your operational contingency capability. What might you have to backup other capabilities if there is a problem? Don't allow something as simple as a tool holder shut down your entire operation.
Let's not overlook simplification too. As an effort to reduce changeover times, it may come to light you can standardize what tool holders you have in CNC lathes. With the same tool holder in every machine you have removed one step in several changeovers. Look at common tools. This path can take you back up to observe to identify how machine programming can facilitate simplicity on the production floor. This is all time well spent.
Kaizen Layout
Layout is my favorite, so of course it is typically expensive. The good part here, is when you have a great layout, the other components of this system come together faster. Unless you have the time and resources to throw at layout adjustments, I would only do mockups to start. If you've watched the movie about how McDonald's started and became a huge corporation, you have seen their mockups to build the burger production system. for layout change-level Kaizen, mockups like those are essential. Mockups can be many different things, 3D modeling is easier than ever to do. You may even be able to facilitate a VR type system to do your layout work.
Whatever you do, spaghetti string and flow map the layout changes. Do at least three attempts at your floor plan. The first version is usually bad, though it can be informative. If you are this deep into your OSKx3 project, you should have data about your system capabilities. Make sure you are not adversely affecting your system capacity for the layout change. Once you have gotten through this once, start again. This system is intended to be a continuous process, use it.
Related Structures & Inspiration
OSKx3 is essentially a PDCA cycle in multiple ways in different areas. I believe it is somewhat more useful as PDCA lives in the lean acronym box and therefore can be ignored when people aren't familiar with it. Too often we don't begin our improvement journey if we don't understand or the language is intimidating.
This system has been the best mechanism I have found to get real change going, especially in places where knowledge of quality practices is absent or in short supply. If you'd like to get the book and dig into it for yourself, check it out on Amazon.
OSKx3 & Start. Somewhere.
Start. Somewhere. is heavily influenced by this system. The lean concepts live in my system. The most important component I took from it was simplicity. Simple to do. Simple to use. Simple to keep doing. If we cannot even start, it doesn't matter how smart or capable or good we are. We have to be able to start.
If you'd like to explore how OSKx3 and Start. Somewhere. can help you with your business, reach out. Schedule a free consultation below. I can't wait to get started with you.
