The Running of the Red Dye

When an inspector stands at the end of the production line and looks at the #1 unit of product, he says, “How many seconds ago did it go through the other 200 sensors?”. To answer this question, System One conducted a time study at the facility we were working with. We did this by pouring red dye into the mixer when our team was waiting and watching at each location to see when the red dye passed through.

Each person had a stopwatch and time stamped the record when the red dye passed through that part of the process. So now when the organization looks at the inspection station for the #1 unit, they know exactly what was happening at the time it was made. Once the data is “unlocked”, opportunities became very visible.