Lean Labelling
IMPLEMENTING LEAN
Lean Labelling
The general concept of Lean Labelling is a way of providing information within the workplace. This could be showing a standard of how something works, or providing the answers to frequently asked questions for a particular process. They should all follow the same basic standard appearance so that people know that these posters or labels are informational and important.
A good practice is to give them a “Lean Label Number”, essentially a code in the corner of each label. This is helpful when a label needs replacing due to wear and tear, or another employee wants a copy.
We have some templates for Lean Labels of A6, A5 and A4 size in our Free Lean Resources – These are the templates we use ourselves!
Example
In the toy factory, a member of the painting team wants a list of all the colours that they have.
This will be for quick reference when they are getting the correct paint for the job.
A Lean Label has been made for him showing all the colour options they have, as well as the codes they come under.
He has placed this directly next to his workbench so that the answer is always close to him.
Another member of the paint team has seen this and wants a copy for his desk.
He asks the office to print another of “LL339”, quoting the Lean Label Number, and within a day, he has one too.
Example 2
Another example would be on the operation of a piece of machinery.
There are 3 different settings that are used for 3 key jobs when producing the wooden cars.
To save the operator memorising this, and to make training new employees easier, a Lean Label is made.
This Lean Label describes the 3 settings with visual guidance on how to set the machine up for each setting.
