Andon (アンドン, あんどん, 行灯) is a manufacturing term referring to a system to notify management, maintenance, and other workers of a quality or process problem. Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, "making by hand" is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale The centrepiece is a signboard incorporating signal lights to indicate which workstation has the problem. The alert can be activated manually by a worker using a pullcord or button, or may be activated automatically by the production equipment itself. The system will include a means to stop production so the issue can be corrected. Modern alert systems will incorporate audio alarms and text or other displays.
An Andon system is one of the principle elements of the Jidoka quality-control method pioneered by Toyota and now part of the Lean methodology. Autonomation describes a feature of machine design to effect the principle of jidoka (自働化 used in the Toyota Production System (TPS and Lean manufacturing In Engineering and Manufacturing, quality control and quality engineering are involved in developing systems to ensure products or services The Toyota Production System (TPS combines management philosophy and practices to form an integrated socio-technical system at Toyota. Lean manufacturing or lean production, which is often known simply as " Lean " is the practice of a theory of production that considers the expenditure It gives the worker the ability to stop production when a defect is found, and immediately call for assistance. Common reasons for manual activation of the Andon are part shortage, defect created or found, tool malfunction, or the existence of a safety problem. Work is stopped until a solution has been found. The alerts may be logged to a database so that they can be studied as part of a continuous-improvement program.
The system will typically indicate where the alert was generated, and may also provide a description of the trouble. Modern Andon systems can include text, graphics, or audio elements. Audio alerts may be done with coded tones, music with different tunes corresponding to the various alerts, or pre-recorded verbal messages.
Usage of the word originated within Japanese manufacturing companies, and in English is a loanword from a Japanese word for a paper lantern. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the andon (行灯 the bonbori (雪洞 the chōchin (提灯 and the tōrō (灯篭
References
Liker, Jeffrey (2004) "The Toyota Way" New York:McGraw Hill ISBN 0-07-139231-9
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