Yamazumi Boards are a tremendous visual method for improving business processes. They are simple stacked bar charts as deployed in the most advanced Japanese factories. The vertical bar represents time, and there's just one column for each business process. The bar is coloured in and segmented using a simple but effective formula -

1. The steps that add real value are highlighted in green.

2. The steps that are required by the process but do not truly "add value" are colored orange in the Yamazumi board.

3. The waste in the process - the blockage or failure mode - is marked in red.

There's a good Yamazumi Board example for a print shop at http://www.yamazumiyourlife.com. Here the problem highlighted in red is a breakdown in the printing machine that requires time and energy to fix. The value added element - the printing - is surprisingly short.

Yamazumi boards have four great advantages - they are simple, public, inescapable and accurate. They encourage a determined focus on the bottlenecks in any business process. Goldratt's theory of constraints tells us that we get maximum benefit first from working up to, and then eliminating, the bottlenecks in any process. Six Sigma tells us that we should focus on the vital few inputs that determine the output. The Pareto, or 80/20 principle, argues that 80% of the result comes from 20% of the causes. Well all these approaches are correct, and in each case Yamazumi boards are the strong visual metaphor that can power all these business techniques.

Yamazumi charts effectively reveal the "hidden factory" in every process - the sheer waste of internal and external failure costs that comes from rework, covering up for errors or dealing with customer complaints or warranties. So they are really a signpost to saving dollars.

There are special software packages that can help you use Yamazumi charts, but I prefer to use Excel. The process of creating a chart is simple. Ask yourself - what is the one process at work or business issue that, if solved, could revolutionize my productivity? Use a Y-board to visually map that process so you can see where the bottleneck really lies. The great thing about data is that it lies far less than intuition, or gut feel. And when all that data is spread out before you in glorious technicolor, it can scarcely fail to spur you to action.

Think about applying Yamazumi logic to your own business and personal life. How much of your working day adds real value (green), how much is simply routine maintenance (yellow) and how much is actually wasted (red)? The answers may astonish you. You can discover how to apply Yamazumi logic further at Yamazumi Your Life.

(c) WestOcean 2009

photo credit: abductit