What is Kamishibai ?? Yes , Kamishibai !!

 

    Many of you may have heard about Lean which through organizational
 culture and sort of tools helps organizations in everyday life to identify
 waste and continually improve their process, but this you may already
 know ...       
   But what does Kamishibai have to do with it?  
  Or rather what is Kamishibai?         
  This tool came up at Toyota and its main objective is   to encourage company
 managers (and directors..)    to be present on the factory floor, together with other   employees to check at first hand if everything is going   as it should be. 
This technique is historically referenced   to paper theater (originated in the 
12th century in Japan   and it was used to educate children from figures drawn  
 on colored papers, aiming at the simple teaching of some history)  
 This tool makes internal auditing so simple and intuitive that anyone,   
educated or not in business practices is able to analyze whether or   not 
everything is going well; as well as in Japanese paper theater,   which aimed 
to educate children and older people on relevant topics   in the culture and 
politics of the region.      Despite the complicated name, the tool is very simple,
 and it is just   a visual board (it is not a Kanban) , where it is possible to perform   management through audit activity cards within the   manufacturing area.   
   Among the benefits I can name a few:         
- Communication - Many managers do not like to   leave their rooms to 
walk on the factory floor (are often too busy)  . In this way, they stop
 talking directly to those who know   most about the strengths and 
weaknesses of the processes,   the employees. Using kamishibai, each
 manager will have a   day, when they should take a quick tour of the
 production   environment and ask some simple questions for employees, 
  allowing them to see for themselves what needs to be   done in each sector. 
- Facilitates auditing - Simplifies and improves   the audit process so that
 it is better taken into account   and actually improves the required points
 of production.   
- Inserts values into employees - It is not intended   to identify employees
 who are making mistakes, in some   companies there is still a culture of “who 
is to blame”, the   main objective is to train employees to visualize problems  
 and how to solve them. It also requires zero tolerance to   wasteful problems 
in an environment where it is not 'who   is responsible' but 'what is the problem'.
 where the goal   is not to hide but to have a systematic identification and  
 resolution, because problems are considered opportunities   for gain.     

They no longer see factory managers as

strangers and have them as colleagues

who have a common goal, to improve

work processes and techniques.