Everyday Lean: Aluminum Foil

snopes.com: Aluminum Foil Locking Tabs

Here's an interesting example of “Everyday Lean” that I never knew about. Have you ever been frustrated by pulling on a roll of aluminum foil (or plastic wrap) and having the roll pop out of the container?

The boxes for these are actually designed with a little method for keeping the roll in the box – a physical method is more effective than “being careful.”

Click on the link above for some further explanation and a few photos. It's not rocket science – that's why I love this example. This is designed into the product, but we can use this to think about opportunities to error proof our processes – at work, not just in our kitchens at home.

Does saying “be careful” really work? If this were a workplace and the roll popping out of the box were a serious problem, would we post signs, cautions, and exhortations for our employees, or would we error proof it?