Canon Production System (CPS)

9 Wastes To Be Eliminated & 6 Guidelines of Canon's Suggestion System

Waste Categories and 9 Wastes To Be Eliminated

1. Work-in-process. Stocking items not immediately needed

2. Quality. Producing defective products.

3. Facilities. Having idle machinery and breakdowns, taking too long for setup.

4. Expenses. Overinvesting for required output.

5. Indirect labor. Excess personnel due to bad indirect labor system.

6. Talent. Employing people for jobs that can be mechanized or assigned to less skilled people.

7. Motion. Not working according to the best work standards.

8. Product Design. Producing products with more functions than necessary.

9. New-product run-up. Making a slow start in stabilizing the production of a new product.

6 Guidelines of the Canon's Suggestion System

1. Always show a positive response to suggestions for improvement.

2. Help workers to write easily and give them helpful suggestions about their work.

3. Try to identify even the slightest inconvenience for the workers. (This requires very good superior-subordinate communication.)

4. Make the target very clear. Example: How many suggestions do we need this month? Which area (quality, delivery, manpower, etc.) do we need to work on now?

5. Use competition and games to arouse interest, such as displaying individual achievement charts.

6. Implement accepted suggestions as soon as possible. Give awards before payday.