Kamishibai Boards

Joseph Niederstadt was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in the early 1950s. Saginaw depended heavily on the automotive industry, as did many towns during this time period. Industry was booming and mass production was well on the way. The automotive industry employed tens of thousands in the area, providing a standard of living for those working in the factories that few have ever seen or probably will ever see again. Like many others in the area, Niederstadt started work in a General Motors factory with the goal of making money and providing benefits for his family yet to come. He never realized that it was the beginning of a career in manufacturing that would span beyond 30 years. His experiences include furnace operator in a foundry, where one job was to rebuild the lining of an electric induction furnace 20 feet from the surface using a 90-pound jackhammer in over 100 F temperatures. Later, Niederstadt worked at the Chevrolet Motor Division and Delphi as an assembly line operator, as a water spider on an assembly line, then supervising machining, assembly, after market operations, quality control, production control and logistics, labor relations, Lean core team, supplier development, and international assignments. During this progression, he has never forgotten his roots as an operator and has always strived to make the work environment better for the operator. Niederstadt has lived through the transition from mass to Lean production, from the do as I tell you mentality to a team-managed work system, from massive inventories to Just in Time (JIT) philosophies, from run all you can every time you can thinking to PULL systems (characterized by smaller batches, quick responses, to customer demand, and smooth product flow), from dedicated equipment to flexible cells, from hangeovers that took days that now take minutes, and the list goes on and on. He has been taught by several Senseis from Toyota and some of the best Lean people at other globally

The Kamishibai process is one of the simplest, but most effective, methods of visual management a company can put into place. It is self-managing, meaning you do not need sophisticated ‘systems’ to manage the process and has inherent built in layered audits. Joe Niederstadt does a great job of explaining how to use this tool. More importantly, he explains how to take this tool off the production floor and apply it in transactional processes in your back office or support functions. Follow this blueprint and you can create sustainable Lean processes in your organization.—Tim Conrad, Director, Operational Excellence, Gates CorporationKamishibai is a great tool to implement a continuous improvement culture in any organization, and there must have been many books or white papers published on it so far, but very few of them are being written by an actual practitioner who has implemented this tool on his own. I have seen how Joe was instrumental in deploying Kamishibai at Gates India as Head-Operational Excellence-Asia Pacific. Joe’s enormous experience and profound knowledge has enhanced the authenticity of this book. I am extremely delighted that he is putting his invaluable experiences into words for the benefit of the thousands of young talents in the industries, which are keen to embrace the Lean Philosophy. I am sure the audience will find this book extremely helpful to comprehend the concept as Kamishibai and to roll it out in their respective areas.—Chiranjib Biswas, VP of Finance Lean Practice & Organization Optimization, Royal Bank of Scotland, IndiaI spent 20 years working for the Gates Corporation from 1988-2009. We had always felt that we were a good manufacturing company but it wasn't until we embraced a holistic approach to Lean that we could 'see' the path to become a great manufacturing company. As President of Gates Corporation from 2007 to 2009, we accelerated our efforts on our path to being a great manufacturing company. Once the foundation is strong for Lean it becomes more important to have the factory communicate and become visual to make it 'easy to see' Lean.The disciplined use of Kamishibai boards allows a factory to speak to the eyes of all employees. In his new book, Joe has been able to simplify the understanding of Kamishibai boards and as a result he has removed any of the hesitations and fears that arise during the change to lean. Joe is also able to provide a disciplined and yet calm approach to making audits a natural part of seeing a factory, a management team, and a business to confirm all actions needed to succeed.—John Bohenick, President, SKF Sealing Solutions

• Introduction to Kamishibai. Formatting the Kamishibai Card. Who Should Use the Kamishibai System. Examples for the Who Should Use the Kamishibai System. How the Kamishibai System Works. Kamishibai for TPM. Trifolds. Other Business Applications. Summary. Index.