ABSTRACT
Visual production control innovatively introduces a role for communication between human beings and the logistical system in industrial planning. This chapter describes the practical procedures that permit application of visual production control approach. These procedures are organized in six stages: Building a consensus, defining priority objectives, decentralizing the decision-making system, creating visual schedules, choosing simple methods and displaying the results. Kanban is a good example of visual production control because it relies on a system of cards arranged on a board. What makes kanban a visual control system is not the techniques employed to display data. The vital aspect is the form of the worker's accessibility to logistical information. Ernault Toyota's machining shop is especially relevant because, unlike kanban, it does not involve a wholly visual decision-making system. Ernault Toyota's system for visually displaying production starts for machined parts includes a graph that records performance levels for the unit on a regular basis.
