I’ve driven past the building pictured below well over a dozen times. It appears commercial in nature, but with the lack of descriptive visual controls, I had no idea, until now, what it is.
Commercial signage typically provides folks with more insight into the name and type of business. The lack of ABC information was driving me a bit crazy…which of course made me think about the self-explaining attribute of effective visual controls.
Among other things, gemba-based observers should be able to understand, unassisted, what a given object, process or system is. If relevant, a visual control should also share the subject’s purpose, and related operating rules, including a definition of the normal condition (and often, what to do in response to an abnormal condition).
…Back to ABC. Turns out it’s a liquor store (a.k.a. “package store”). Seems that in North Carolina, the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission controls the sale of alcoholic beverages in the state. There’s a bunch of ABC stores throughout the state.
It certainly was not self-explaining.
How many mysterious ABC’s do you have in your plant, office, lab or hospital?
Related post: Visual of the Visual?
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#1 by Dave Fernandez on February 11th, 2011
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Mark, great post. Creating a visual control is not the challenge, creating easy, simple visual controls is so simple but so hard.
#2 by Dale Savage on February 11th, 2011
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You have hit on a very important subject. I am sure that those who work for, or are regular patrons of, the ABC stores are quite aware of what the name means. However, others like yourself are left wondering. As a result, many people would never just stop in to look around.
The same thing can easily happen at our facilities. We become accustomed to our “alphabet soup” of abbreviations and industry terms and then expect everyone to know what we mean by them. This assumption could result in people making mistakes because they fail to understand what the expectations are.
#3 by Matt Wrye on February 11th, 2011
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I have been to North Carolina and seen the ABC stores. Amazing how confusing it is.
Our operations need less ABCs. This includes our office areas and processes that are done on the computer systems that are hidden. We have to make everything more visual. It allows for discussion and understanding between groups when everyone can understand what is normal and what is not.
Matt Wrye recently posted..Lean Manufacturing at Meggitt Polymer
#4 by markrhamel on February 11th, 2011
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Hi Dale,
Excellent point. The gemba is usually complicated enough. Less alphabet, more transparency is the way to go. I can’t imagine that newer employees, within a poorly visually managed area, can really grasp what’s going on and what’s important.
Best regards,
Mark
#5 by markrhamel on February 11th, 2011
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Hi Matt,
You’re right on. Computers, for the most part, are the antithesis of visual. They are powerful machines, but have replaced visual artifacts like files and cards. As a result the office workplace often “speaks” less than it did 20 years ago, when one could at least have some insight into the flow of work (or lack thereof). It’s seems a bit crazy to folks when we suggest that they create and track certain things (activity, status, etc.) on white boards and the like. It seems like muda, but it increases visual control, accountability and facilitates teamwork.
Best regards,
Mark
#6 by markrhamel on February 11th, 2011
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Hi Dave,
Thanks so much for the comment. You’re right, visual controls are easy to create (even a caveman can do it…). BUT, creating effective visual controls is deceptively hard. And, as we all know, there’s a lot of PDCA that has to go into creating good visual controls. It’s rare that we get them “right,” the first time out.
Best regards,
Mark
#7 by Bart Shoaf on February 14th, 2011
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Mark, I admit, at first I didn’t see the problem — because I’m a Virginian, and our ABC stores are similarly marked. Virginia’s governor hopes to allow liquor stores to be privately owned, which would probably improve the marketing/signage. Might help VA cut some costs, too. (An old army buddy used to call it “American Boys College!”) Thanks for helping me see the gemba from the eyes of a newcomer.
#8 by markrhamel on February 14th, 2011
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Bart,
Thanks for the comment and the VA perspective! During my undergrad days, there was a pizza place called ABC Pizza. We thought the name was lame, but at least we knew they probably made pizza there.
In any event, thanks for serving our country.
Best regards,
Mark
#9 by David M. Kasprzak on February 16th, 2011
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Hi, Mark,
Once again, good food for thought. the post reflects 2 problems, I think: One is the “You just have to work here” stuation where communication only makes sense if you are fully immersed in the culture of the communityr something as large as the population of an entire state, or as simple as a small department within a larger company, people in those communities have their own lingo, and will tend to view others who don’t understand it as ignorant outsiders.
The other problem stems from a need to have people come and look. If you make something fairly appealing, yet vague, they’ll come over and see what it’s all about. While this works well in retail, this sort of self-promotion also works in the workplace, unfortunately. Often, vague signs are used to get people to come over and read the finer print, in order to show little more than someone made the sign. This tends to occur in situations where rote compliance is valued over effective communication.
As you say, however, simple and effective communication is the key. If that becomes the foundation for all signage efforts, a lot of the uncertainty can probably be avoided.
David M. Kasprzak recently posted..PDCA doesn’t stand for “Perform Doubtless- Confident Acts”
#10 by markrhamel on February 17th, 2011
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Hi Dave,
Excellent comment and great insights. Thanks for sharing.
Best regards,
Mark