Masaaki Imai, author of Gemba Kaizen (McGraw-Hill Education, 1997), introduced the concept of the value-adding “bang,” the exact moment at which a process adds value for the customer. He meant the moment at which an official stamped a document, but the same concept applies when a stamping or punching machine transforms the work. Cycle time before and after the bang is nonvalue-adding, and this includes setup and handling as well as waiting and transportation. Speed archery demonstrations that minimize the setup times between the value-adding “twangs” similarly demonstrate the concept of motion efficiency.

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