Time Prism A Powerful Support Tool Visualization/KAIZEN/Skill Transfer
Kaizen-now a global term used in manufacturing and service industries and taken to mean continuous improvement‐is at the heart of Time Prism, a Japanese Kaizen software tool that uses video footage in the analysis and improvement of processes.
Time Prism allows anyone to effectively find bottlenecks in a process and then eliminate them.
Time Prism is a powerful tool in the support of Kaizen. And with the use of video, it enables personnel with limited Kaizen experience to improve production processes in the absence of experienced Kaizen professionals.
But Time Prism is not only for inexperienced personnel. This is because it also has advanced features that experts in Industrial Engineering (IE) can put to good use.
Time Prism can be used in a whole host of manufacturing and processing industries as well as in education and service industries. Further, it can be used by companies of any size, from large corporations to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Time Prism is a tool that can be deployed across a broad range of applications.
Time Prism's range of uses is extended with functions that also allow video to be used for highly effective training and information dissemination.
In addition, Time Prism is designed to be an effective tool not only for improving processes but also for improving quality control.
Time Prism can yield even better results when it is used in conjunction with the principles of motion economy (*1), the four principles of ECRS (*2), and the Five Whys. Moreover, by using Time Prism as a tool for on-site improvement, it is possible to cultivate a Motion Mind (*3), which is a mindset in which personnel are aware of every movement made by the workers and machines involved in a process.
(*1) The principles of motion economy can be classified into three groups:
1. Method of operation,
2. Work place, and
3. Tools, equipment and machinery
(*2) The four principles of ECRS are
Eliminate,
Combine,
Rearrange,
and Simplify.
(*3) What is a Motion Mind?
If, for example, the time required to complete a given task differs depending on the worker, this may be attributed to personal attitudes, but more often than not, the difference is really due to the ways different people actually move. Motion Mind is having a mindset in which one is aware of the different ways people move and then using this to modify the motions of a worker so that the way a given task is performed is improved.
