The Benefits of Visuals

In her book "Visual Workplace, Visual Thinking," Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth states that effective implementations of visual workplace systems have resulted in the following dramatic improvements:

• 15% increase in throughput
• 70% cut in materials handling
• 60% decrease in floor space
• 80% decrease in flow distance
• 68% reduction in rack storage
• 45% decrease in number of forklifts
• 12% decrease in engineering cycle time
• 50% decrease in annual physical inventory time
• 96% decrease in defects

The impact that visuals can have on productivity, cost, quality, on-time delivery, inventory and equipment reliability is truly enormous. Learn more about Visual Workplace in Lean Manufacturing.
Other benefits include:

• On-the-Job Training Support. With millions of baby boomers hitting retirement, manufacturing facilities will face a serious on-the-job knowledge loss in the years ahead. Facilities need to become visually instructive workplaces where information is embedded in the environment. Visuals can serve as just-in-time reminders to help employees work effectively, efficiently and safely.

• Enhanced Learning.An important fact that provides the basis for visual workplace is that people gain 75% of what they know visually, 13% through hearing, and 12% through smell, touch and taste. Because people tend to learn by seeing, workplace visuals play an important role in job training and ensuring that workplace standards are adhered to.

To better understand the benefits of visual communications, think about the visual devices used on our roads and highways:

• Lane indicators guide our path
• Traffic signals control flow at intersections
• Street signs provide direction
• Parking spaces instruct us where to store our vehicles when not in use

These visual communications are so embedded in the environment that we hardly even notice them, but their function is critical to the smooth and safe flow of goods and people along our roadways.

Visuals are just as important in the workplace! The impact that visuals can have on productivity, cost, quality, on-time delivery, inventory and equipment reliability is truly enormous. Learn more about Visual Workplace in Lean Manufacturing.