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I love using Nascar examples for lean training — quick changeover (external setup and pit stops), visual controls (the gauges on the dash all point straight up when things are right), and here is a standard work example:
“Mr. Miller expects tire changers to get five lug nuts off in 1.2 seconds. The jack man should haul his 25-pound aluminum jack from the car's right side to the left in 3.8 seconds. For tire carriers like Mr. Dowens, the key is the time it takes to ‘index' a 60-pound tire, or get it from resting on the ground to mounted on the car. Seven-tenths of a second is acceptable.”
They also use video analysis to identify deviations from the standard work. I love this attention to detail.
“The seven team members then gathered around Mr. Miller and a video screen. The time, 14.30 seconds, was OK. Mr. Miller watched the video frame by frame and then spotted something: One tire carrier had his feet too far apart, which left him using only his arms, not his legs, to index the tire. The next two attempts were better. The fourth was clocked at 13.57 seconds. “We're still leaving a little on the table,” Mr. Miller said.”
Here is another article.
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Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean.
Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.