Andon (manufacturing)


In manufacturing, the term andon refers to a system which notifies managerial, maintenance, and other workers of a quality or processing problem. The alert can be activated manually by a worker using a pullcord or button or may be activated automatically by the production equipment itself. The system may include a means to pause production so the issue can be corrected. Some modern alert systems incorporate audio alarms, text, or other displays; stack lights are among the most commonly used.
“Andon” is a Japanese loanword originally meaning paper lantern; Japanese manufacturers began its quality-control usage.

Details

An andon system is one of the principal elements of the Jidoka quality control method pioneered by Toyota as part of the Toyota Production System and therefore now part of the lean production approach. It gives workers the ability, and moreover the empowerment, to stop production when a defect is found, and immediately call for assistance. Common reasons for manual activation of the andon are part shortage, defect created or found, tool malfunction, or the existence of a safety problem. Work is stopped until a solution has been found. The alerts may be logged to a database so that they can be studied as part of a continual improvement process.
The system typically indicates where the alert was generated, and may also provide a description of the trouble. Modern andon systems can include text, graphics, or audio elements. Audio alerts may be done with coded tones, music with different tunes corresponding to the various alerts, or prerecorded verbal messages.

History

The concept/process of giving a non-management worker the authority to stop the production line because of a suspected quality issue is often attributed to W. Edwards Deming and others who developed what became Kaizen after World War II. Many attribute Japan's rise from wartime ashes to the world's second largest economy to their post-war industrial innovations: