The Cost of Air

During a training visit in Japan, we were touring a factory. Our guide showed us a system in the training room connected to pipes and fitted with valves of various sizes.

“What is this used for?” I asked.
He opened one of the small valves. We heard a faint sound of escaping air.
“This,” he said, “is the sound of an air leak of this size, and this is how much it costs the company per hour.”

Then he opened a slightly larger valve. The sound grew louder. The figure he quoted grew too.

Next, he opened an even larger valve. This time the sound was much stronger, and the cost was now truly painful.

“So how do you use this?” I asked.
“We bring operators into dojo training on a regular schedule,” he said.
“We play these sounds to everyone repeatedly. We are trying to build a habit loop in people’s minds. And we can see that it works.”

This is where one of the greatest strengths of lean thinking becomes clear:
In lean philosophy, employees are expected to do more than simply perform the work.

They are expected to see waste, feel its impact and be troubled by it.

Rules are necessary, but it is difficult to turn rules into lasting habits when we do not see their purpose. Once an employee understands the impact of an air leak, that hiss is no longer just an ordinary sound.

This was precisely the approach that impressed me in the training:

Seeing the problem.
Feeling the problem.
And refusing to accept the problem as normal.

So how do we develop leaders who can build this awareness? First, by seeing the loss on the shop floor together. Then the leak should be recorded, responsibility assigned and a safe intervention arranged by the authorised maintenance team. Training creates value when it turns observation into a regular problem-solving behaviour.