Visual Workplace, Visual Thinking

At last, a book that explains Workplace Visuality as a comprehensive strategy for eliminating waste (Dr. Galsworth calls it Motion), sustaining lean gains, and unifying and aligning the work culture.

As winner of the 2006 Shingo Research Prize, Galsworth's full-color book, Visual Workplace/Visual Thinking, positions the Technologies of the Visual Workplace where they belong--as a powerful partner to your company's journey to excellence and a crucial ally of lean.

The outcome is dazzling bottom-line results and a spirited, unified and aligned work culture--a workforce of Visual Thinkers.

Galsworth delineates the progression of visual methods that build a fully-functioning visual work environment: Visual Order, Visual Standards, Visual Displays, Visual Metrics, visual problem solving, Visual Controls, visual pull systems, and Visual Guarantees/Poka-Yoke devices/).

With 25 albums of actual visual solutions--over 200 full-color photographs--and 50 charts and frameworks, this book explains what it means to transform a company into a visual work environment--where timely, complete, and precise information enables the workforce to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.

Visual Workplace/Visual Thinking is Galsworth's acclaimed Visual Thinking seminar in book form--and much, much more.

Review

This book is an expression of the excellence alluded to in the title. It has beauty and practicality in a perfect marriage.

Spinning one's wheels trying to get a job done without needed answers and without appropriate equipment: this is an experience that is all too common. It wastes time and energy but, just as importantly, it causes unnecessary frustration and demoralization of personnel. Dr. Galsworth explains how to organize a workplace so that each person has the tools and information needed to accomplish the required tasks.

The secret of the Visual Workplace is that, not only does it lead to increased productivity and quality, but it also creates an environment where personnel feel respected and empowered, where indeed their ideas and insights are utilized and valued. Employee turnover declines and coming to work becomes enjoyable. Enlightened self-interest on the part of management means a harmonious, well-thought-out arrangement of objects and people. This is good feng shui on every level.

With its glossy pages and high-quality paper, the book feels good in the hand. There are fascinating photos of job implementations at well-known and international companies. Various management paradigms are illustrated with clear diagrams. It is fun just to flip through the pages.

Although I am a Dean in an acupuncture school, I found Visual Workplace of great interest. Its organizational concepts, such as ways to reduce "information deficit", were as applicable in our small school as they are in huge factories. By Sara R. Kane.