The document summarizes the current condition of a manufacturing process. It includes: 1) Customer demand details such as takt time and planned cycle time versus current performance. 2) Characteristics of the current process such as variability in output cycles and operator work steps. It identifies bottlenecks. 3) Equipment capacity details showing some machines cannot support the planned cycle time. 4) Calculations showing the necessary number of operators versus the actual number, and that some operators are underutilized. 5) Outcome metrics graphs demonstrating the line must run overtime to meet demand.

1. Necessary Number of Operators (if the process were stable)
• Calculate number of operators
Equipment Capacity
• Can the automatic equipment support the planned cycle time?
•
•
How close are we to our current machine capacity limit?
What is the fastest Pc/t the equipment can currently support?
® ©
No Yes
Customer Demand and Planned Cycle Time
• Customer takt
• Planned cycle time
• Number of shifts currently running
Characteristics of the Current Process
1) ) Get to know the process by sketching a block diagram of it
- What are batch sizes? - Where does WIP accumulate?
2) ) How much does the process fluctuate?
- Time and graph 20-30 exit cycles of each operator's work
- Are each operator's work steps the same from cycle to cycle?
3) ) Note other details about the current operating pattern
Step

Outcome Metrics
• Graph (a) output per shift, (b) overtime and any other desired outcome metrics
© Mike Rother / Improvement Kata Handbook
1

2. GRAPH OUTCOME METRICS
This addresses the question of how well the process
is delivering and performing over time

(1) Output per Shift (2) Overtime
Additional outcome metrics include
productivity, quality, labor cost, etc.
© Mike Rother / Improvement Kata Handbook
2

3. WHAT INFORMATION IS IN A CURRENT CONDITION?
How the
game is
currently
played
The score
as of the
last game
Target Condition
• A current condition should include these four categories of
information.
3
Current Condition Now:

4. Customer Demand / Line Pace
• Takt Time = 30 seconds
• PC/T = 22 seconds
• Gap = 27%
• Running 2 Shifts + overtime
• 10 changeovers per day
Process Characteristics
• Output cycles vary +91%/-18%
• Operator work steps vary
• 4 operators
• Operator 4 cannot consistently
meet Pc/t
• Line does not meet Pc/t
• WIP (as shown)
Equipment Capacity
• Op 90 cannot meet Pc/t
(see chart)
Necessary Number of Operators
• 3.2 operators / 4 actual
• Operators 1, 2 & 3
are underutilized (see chart)
Outcome Metrics
• See graphs
• Line must run overtime
TT
5
10
90%20
25
35
10
Pc/t
of Pc/t
15
Machines
40 70 90 110
Operators
40
I
5
pcs
I
2
pcs
I
12
pcs
I
22
pcs
Range of observed cycle times
Lowest repeatable
observed cycle time
Summary Example
4
Current Condition
INITIAL CURRENT CONDITION
Process
Date

5. 5