{"id":1218,"date":"2015-01-09T13:02:47","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T18:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=1218"},"modified":"2016-02-19T13:50:59","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T18:50:59","slug":"training-within-industry-twi-the-foundation-of-standardized-work-continuous-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/training-within-industry-twi-the-foundation-of-standardized-work-continuous-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"Training Within Industry (TWI) – The Foundation of Standardized Work & Continuous Improvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

In September 1990, my colleague and I participated in a technical training program for instructors held at the Panasonic Overseas Training Center and the Production Engineering College in Osaka, Japan for a period of two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Waiting for the Shinkansen bound for Osaka<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

During that time, we were newly hired technical training instructors at the Panasonic Regional Training Center located in Singapore. Our key roles were to educate and train the company’s supervisors, engineers and technicians within the ASEAN region in shop-floor manufacturing excellence.<\/p>\n

During the first week in Osaka, we attended the Introductory Training Course which was similar to an orientation program for new hires.<\/p>\n

From the second week onwards, the training shifted to a more technical focus. The training program included the assembly of an electrical controller complete with wiring and final testing; fabrication work such as filing a metallic block to achieve a desired surface flatness; programming a Scara robot and Cartesian robot for assembly operations; delivering skills instruction, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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A smile for the camera while the robot executes the program<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Although those technical training practice sessions could have easily been conducted in a local polytechnic or university, what impressed me was the very systematic coaching approaches and patience demonstrated by the Japanese instructors.<\/p>\n

There was a very strong emphasis on getting the techniques and skills right – something that was missing from my secondary school technical education in Singapore.\u00a0 As students then, we could get the job done, or almost, to meet the drawing specifications, but how we all got there were lots of variability in the techniques and from student to student.<\/p>\n

For instance, in the filing workshop practice, we were taught how to hold a file properly using both hands.\u00a0 The instructor explained that the wrist and elbow had to be parallel to the floor throughout the filing process.\u00a0 That was critical as the aim of the filing skills training was to achieve a certain surface flatness.\u00a0 In addition, our feet had to be positioned at an angle of some 17 degrees from the center of our body to facilitate the filing process.\u00a0 And that was not all, our upper body had to gently move back and forth in rhythm with the horizontal movement of the arms.<\/p>\n

In contrast with my secondary school days, the workshop instructors simply glossed over those key points.\u00a0 We could hold the file any way we wanted – one hand or both hands.\u00a0 We could stand in any position we preferred. I recall someone even stood with one leg because he was feeling tired standing for half the day!\u00a0 What was foremost in our minds then were to get the work assignment completed as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

Initially, I did not quite appreciate the training until we learned about\u00a0TWI – Training Within Industry<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>after the workshop practice session.\u00a0 What the Japanese instructors taught us were all there in the\u00a0TWI Job Instruction<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>program.\u00a0 As summarized in the Job Instruction card below, there are four systematic steps on how to get ready to coach as well as how to deliver the coaching.\u00a0

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TWI Job Instruction Pocket Card<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
By simply following the four steps, supervisors can be better assured of a job that will be done correctly, safely and conscientiously by production operators.\u00a0 Hence, TWI is the foundation of\u00a0Standard Work<\/b>\u00a0in the journey to achieving the vision of a Lean enterprise. As we all know, standard work is important in ensuring process stability and it also serves as a baseline for kaizen or continuous improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of my key takeaways was the\u00a0Job Breakdown<\/b>\u00a0where the trainer identifies:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the important steps of a task or process,<\/li>\n
  2. the key points such as quality and safety aspects, and<\/li>\n
  3. reasons for the key points.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
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    Job Breakdown Sheet highlighting the Important Steps, Key Points & Reasons<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


    \n<\/span>A few of my clients have informed me that after completing a TWI workshop, one of their goals is to apply the Job Breakdown structure to enhance their company’s Quality Manual.\u00a0 They realize that their company’s ISO9000-based document control is not necessarily based on the original intent of the TWI programs but was just developed for the sake of certification.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    One advantage of the ‘Important Steps’ (or ‘Major Steps’) is that by organizing a coaching session around some key steps, it helps the trainees to focus on the significant areas of the job and facilitates them to learn quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the real world, operators often do not understand what they are doing.\u00a0 Doing work by simply following the what’s and how’s in many poorly written SOPs without understanding the why’s is one of the reasons we have waste in our production processes and a lack of innovative ideas from employees.\u00a0 How often have you come across SOPs that were written from the user’s perspective?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Another important area of TWI application is in\u00a0Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)<\/a><\/b>. In the deployment of autonomous maintenance, operators have to perform the equipment cleaning, lubrication, inspection and bolt tightening in the right way.\u00a0 Just exactly how much lubrication is required when the SOP says “apply lightly”, and how tight should a loose bolt be tightened without damaging the internal threads?\u00a0 TWI techniques will go a long way to eliminate these issues.\u00a0 In addition, one-point lessons can be made sharper with the understanding and application of the TWI system.<\/p>\n

    In fact, TWI is not new.\u00a0 TWI was established in 1940 in the United States by the National Defense Advisory Committee. Although the name is not as “sexy” as Lean Six Sigma, Toyota actually adopted it in 1951 and the rest is history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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    Overview of TWI<\/a><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Tactical Lean and Six Sigma lose its impact over time because people do not sustain the changes for various reasons.\u00a0 As\u00a0Lean\u00a0Six Sigma\u00a0Green Belts or Black Belts, I am sure you know what I am talking about – implementing the Control plan in a DMAIC project is one thing, but sustaining it is quite another.<\/p>\n

    Today, as Lean practitioners revisit TWI, we begin to see that it is the answer to the missing link in Lean implementation \u2013 translating Lean Thinking into a positive and continuous improvement culture, standardized work and a safe workplace\u00a0by providing a systematic approach to sustain changes and continuously improve by:<\/p>\n