A “Lean” Christmas Story
by
Donald L. (Don) Smith, Chairman LED Education Committee1
Twas two weeks before Christmas and all through the house, gifts were waiting
to be wrapped by my spouse.
As is usually the case, at this time of year, I became harder to find, because of my fear!
Fear you might ask, of what could that be?
I’ll tell you my friend, what it is that I fear,
I fear that that the words “Some Assembly Required”, is what I will hear!
I have to admit that when our children were small, I sometimes dreaded the last minute, late night, assembly marathon that seemed to happen every Christmas, because much like the products manufactured in American factories back then, the gifts I was assembling were not designed for easy assembly. You had to deal with; components that didn’t quite fit together, components that could be inserted in multiple ways, components that were attached together using a variety of fasteners and joining techniques, requiring the use of several different tools, and following instructions that were frequently difficult to understand.
But then along came quality improvements, and Lean processes that were making things better. In the context of assembling Christmas gifts, one Lean methodology comes immediately to mind, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA1) pioneered by Doctors Geoffrey Boothroyd and Peter Dewhurst, in the early 80’s. The DFMA methodology stressed designing components to reduce complexity and minimize the possibility of assembling things incorrectly, while reducing the variety of fasteners and tools required for their assembly. Having this methodology in place greatly facilitated the “Leaning” of extant manufacturing operations, and helped process designers simplify, and “Lean”, new processes as they were developed.
Now, if only the companies that design and manufacture the “Some Assembly Required” Christmas presents would use Lean concepts, like DFMA, when they design and build the products they’re going to sell as “Kits”, it would make things a lot easier for the parents, and grandparents, that attempt to assemble the gifts. Well, it turns out that some of them have!
This year, my wife and I bought a “Some Assembly Required” wooden doll highchair for our youngest Granddaughter. We bought it from a company called, Melissa & Doug, Inc.2, and in my capacity as “Grandpa”, I was obligated to do the assembly work. I could not have been more pleased with the design of the highchair. The kit contained 11 prefinished wooden component parts, 12 fasteners (all the same), 1 set of instructions (5 clearly defined steps with detailed diagrams) and the single tool required for assembly (an Allen wrench).
The entire assembly process took about 20 minutes. It would have taken me less time, but I was sure there was a “trick” I was missing that would require disassembly and reassembly. However, I was wrong. It was just as simple, and straightforward, as it appeared!
It’s nice to know that the “Lean” message is getting out there and making a difference!
Don Smith3
1 You can reach Don at
2For more information on Design for Manufacture and Assembly, visit http://www.dfma.com
3To see available products, visit http://www.MelissaAndDoug.com