The Visual Factory
Light It Up for Quality!
Why Visual Management?
How Do I Turn the Pump On???
Visual Management = Clarity
Make it clear
■ What to do
■ That it was done correctly
■ If something went wrong
■ What needs to be improved
The Visual Factory Goes
Even Further
Visual management (5S, etc.)
Illumination
+ Indication
Visual Factory
Five Steps to the Visual Factory
1. Illuminate the work area
2. Use light-guided assembly
when possible
3. Communicate process
status to operators
4. Communicate status to
supervisors
5. Communicate plant-wide
status
Light Up the Gemba
■ Gemba means “the real
■
■
■
■
place”
Proper illumination drives
up quality by revealing
defects
Start by choosing an
illumination level (lux)
Lux = lumens/m²
Example: 1000 lumen
light over a 2 m² work
surface = 500 lux
Light Up the Gemba
■ Lux level required:
■ The Illumination Engineering
Society recommended levels:
Condition
Clear Daylight
Overcast Daylight
Lux
Application
Recommended Lux
10,000+
Warehouse
100
1,000
Work Area
150
Hallway
100
General Assembly
1000
Twilight
10
Detailed Assembly
2000
Full Moon
0.1
Fine Inspection
5000
Clear Daylight
Overcast Daylight
Hallway
Twilight
Light Up the Gemba
■ What is color temperature?
– The temperature of a black body
radiating a comparable hue to
the LED color
– Higher temperatures (eg., 5000°K)
are bluer (cool white)
– Lower temperatures (eg., 2500°K)
are yellower (warm white)
■ Why is it important?
– Cool whites produce more contrast
in general
– For color-based inspections, the
color temperature will be specified
such as D50, meaning Daylight
5000°K
What About Light Consistency?
■ The Illumination
Engineering Society
recommends no more
than a 3:1 ratio of light
intensity
■ You can get a quick read
of this with a Lux meter
app on your iPhone
■ See Megaman Lux Meter
Why Use LED Lighting for
Work Areas?
■ Flicker-free light
■ Highest efficiency (3 x lumens/W)
■ Long life (50,000 hrs)
■ Non-hazardous materials
■ Compact size
■ Higher color temp
Use Light Guided Assembly
Use Light Guided Assembly
Use Light Guided Assembly
Use Light-Guided Assembly
Banner Offers Four Levels of Guide Lights
Simple
Indicators
Indicators
with Buttons
Indicators
with Sensors
Indicators with
Sensor Arrays
Communicate Status within
the Work Cell
■ The problem with traditional indicators
is that they require a panel or enclosure
and end up mounted away from the
operator’s direct view
■ Banner indicators are
designed for direct machine
mounting
■ They can also be moved and adjusted
for continual improvement
Communicate Status within
the Work Cell
Human Factors Engineering
■ According to principles of Human Factors Engineering,
visual indicators should be:
– Conspicuous - mount them where they make sense,
not simply where the electrical enclosure happens to
be mounted
– Unambiguous - indicators should be
free of color when in the off state
Depending on the
ambient lighting, it’s
not immediately
clear which lights
are on and off
■
Only EZ-LIGHTs can provide this.
– The color goes to gray when
the light is off
■
Reduces “visual clutter”
Communicate Process Status
at the Cell Level
■ Banner tower lights and
beacons are
pre-assembled, so they
can be deployed quickly
■ Because they are
LED-based, there is no
need to take them apart
and replace bulbs
Use Wireless to Communicate
Status Plant Wide
■ The sender and receiver
of information are often
separated by long
distances
■ Wireless solutions are the
fastest and most costeffective way to make the
link
■ Continuous improvement:
“Decide carefully;
implement quickly.”
The Visual Factory Links
People to the Process
■ The Visual Factory
is the foundation of
all quality systems
■ It enables Kaizen,
continuous improvement, by
assemblers, supervisors and managers
■ Banner has the widest array of
Visual Factory solutions available
Thank You
Questions?