Visual Management is a business management technique that communicates important information in the physical workplace. It is a system of information displays, visual controls, labels and signs, color coding and other markings instead of written instructions.

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Visual Management
The Main Components of an Effective Visual Management System

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Definition
A business management approach that communicates important
information in a visual and real-time manner .
Visual Management 2

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Definition
It is a system of labels, signs, markings, information displays, and visual
guides instead of written instructions.
Visual Management 3
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Consists of simple visual techniques that are placed at the Gemba.

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Definition
Lean organizations rely heavily on visual management to detect
abnormalities, reinforce standards, and ensure stability and safety are
maintained in the workplace.
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A Lean leader should ensure that
these visuals are useful and are
being used constantly.

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Definition
A good illustration of visual management are road signs, traffic lights and
lane markers on the road.
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The messages they convey are so clear that when you see a traffic light for example,
you know exactly what you should be doing.

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Definition
Research shows that people tend to learn and process information more
visually.
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Our brains simply respond better and
faster to colors, shapes, patterns,
graphics and pictures.

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Uses
Just as road signs are easier to understand than written signs, workplace
visuals are easier to understand than written instructions.
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Therefore, effective workplace visuals can have a positive impact on safety, productivity,
quality, and on-time delivery.

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Uses
The aim is to enable anyone working in the workplace to be able to assess
the current situation at a glance.
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This should bring the workplace to the point where all problems, abnormalities and
waste to be immediately recognized.

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Uses
Workplace visuals can play an important role in job training by eliminating
the need for constant supervision.
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Employees would need less
supervision because they understand
the standards, see the results, and
know exactly what to do
Employees need visuals that show what is expected from them and to keep them
informed about production status and customer needs.

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Uses
Visual management can also be used to . . .
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Share goals and
ideas
Promote safe
behavior at work
Indicate safety
risks
Report team and
Kaizen progress

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Benefits
When problems and deviations are visible and apparent to all, immediate
corrective action can be taken.
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This will increase the efficiency
and effectiveness of the
processes.

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Benefits
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Increases the awareness of error
conditions and waste
02
Replaces difficult to understand
paperwork
03
Improves compliance to health,
safety and environmental regulatory
requirements
05
Reduces the opportunity for
miscommunication
06
Improves the communication and
handover between different shifts
07
Eliminates the need for time
consuming meetings
08
Reinforces continuous
improvement
09
Eliminates confusion and creates
stability to the environment,
equipment and work performed
01
Improves employees’
involvement and morale
04

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Benefits
Serves as the key sustaining force for many lean techniques.
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5S
Standard work
Pull
production
Total
productive
maintenance
(TPM)
Visual
Management
Quick
changeover

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Benefits
Especially important during the early phase of Lean implementation.
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Many organizations start their
Lean journey with visual
management to help uncover
hidden waste and
abnormalities.

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Types of Visual Controls
Visual management includes a wide range of visual controls that help
making all workplace elements and processes more visually apparent.
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STATUS
Visuals to display the
status of processes,
projects, production,
productivity and
performance
INSTRUCTION
Visuals to
communicate SOPs,
work-related
information, and
workplace
organization and
maintenance activities
INFORMATION
Visuals to show
identity, directions,
strategy, customer
expectations and
compliance
requirements

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Types of Visual Controls
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Useful Questions . . .
STATUS
What is the status
now?
What is happening
against what should be
happening?
Is there any waste in
the process?
Are there any issues or
problems?
INSTRUCTION
What should I do?
When should I do it?
How to do it correctly?
How to do it safely?
How to organize this
area?
How to store this
item?
When shall I reorder?
INFORMATION
Where am I now?
Where am I going to?
Who works here?
What is this machine?
What are customers &
regulatory needs?
Is the area, behavior,
or condition safe?

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Types of Visual Controls
Many techniques and principles rely on visual management.
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INSTRUCTION
Work-related instructions
5S TPM
Standard
work
INFORMATION
Safety
Visuals
Signage
Marking
Posters &
banners
STATUS
Performance metrics
Kaizen
progress
Ideas &
projects
Andon
lights
Benchmark &
best practices

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Safety Visuals
Safety visuals are important to keep the facility safe and environmentally
friendly.
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They play an important role in
reducing injuries, incidents, near-
misses and occupational diseases by
reducing unsafe behaviors and
conditions
They alert employees and visitors to potentially hazardous locations and situations.
Safety
Visuals

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Safety Visuals
Think of the manual of an airplane . . .
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Safety
Visuals

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Safety Visuals
Safety signs and markings often use bright coloring to attract attention.
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Danger
!
Warning
!
Caution
!
Notice
Using bright colors such as red, yellow,
orange, and fluorescent shades ensures
that signs and markings can be easily
spotted even from a distance, in low-
light conditions, and at night
Safety
Visuals

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Safety Visuals
Safety signage, hazard warnings and safety instructions should be provided
at the point of need.
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Providing safety information directly where it is needed helps to minimize confusion,
potential errors, and can effectively prevent accidents or injuries.
Safety
Visuals

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Safety Visuals
It’s important to properly identify the locations of fire protection equipment,
safety showers, eye wash stations, personal protective equipment, and first
aid stations.
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Identify when and where to use
personal protective equipment
Safety
Visuals

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Safety Visuals
All disconnect switches for every electrically powered equipment should be
clearly marked.
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Clear markings prevent accidental operation, allowing for rapid identification
during emergencies and ensuring that power can be shut off promptly to prevent
further damage or risks
Safety
Visuals

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Signage
Wayfinding and directional signage help people find the way around.
They direct people from point to point and confirm the progress along a
route.
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Signage

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Signage
Warning signs alert about certain activities such as do not enter and no-
smoking signs.
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Signage

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Marking
Proper marking of the different elements in the workplace is important to
avoid mistakes and increase efficiency and safety.
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Marking of materials and finished goods
Marking of emergency lanes and exit routes
Marking floors and aisles
Marking of machines, equipment & production lines
Marking of offices, rooms, work cells and storage areas
Marking of pipelines and valves
Marking

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Marking
Marking of machines, equipment and production lines by coloring and
labeling each.
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When machines and equipment are clearly identified, it becomes easier for employees
and trainees to associate each with its specific purpose or function.
Marking

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Marking
Marking of offices, rooms, work cells and storage areas.
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This enhances workplace efficiency and facilitates easy navigation for employees.
Marking

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Marking
Floor marking is used to improve the layout of the workplace and mark
critical safety and security areas.
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Marking

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Floor Color Coding Standards
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These colors are widely accepted and comply with international standards.
Aisle ways and traffic lanes Material or product held for
inspection
Scrap, rework, and red tag
areas
Raw materials Finished goods Work in progress
Physical and health risk
areas
Areas to be kept clear for
operational reasons
Areas to be kept clear for
safety reasons
Marking

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Marking
Pipe marking communicates all the necessary information about the
pipelines in the workplace.
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Labels can also be posted on the pipelines
Marking
Arrows are used to indicate
the flow direction while colors
often indicate the nature of
the content.

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Pipeline Color Coding Standards
These colors are widely accepted and comply with international standards.
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Toxic and
corrosive
fluids
e.g.,
hydrofluoric acid
Fire
quenching
water or other
fluids used in
the fire
fighting
system
Water
e.g., cooling and
boiling water
Flammable
liquids and
gases
e.g.,
hydrogen
Combustible
fluids
e.g., acetic acid
Air
e.g., compressed
air
Marking

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Posters and Banners
Using of posters and banners can reinforce business goals and values and
promotes awareness of safety and wellbeing among employees.
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TIM
WOODS
Posters &
Banners

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Work Related Instructions
It is recommended to post visual work-related instructions and trouble logs
at every machine.
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Work-
related
Reduces the need for verbal or written instructions
Provides immediate guidance to operators
Accessible to workers who may have language barriers
Promotes a culture of transparency and accountability

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Standard Work
A strong visual management system seeks to promote consistency and
create process stability.
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Standard
Work
Standard work visuals help
minimize production errors and
ensure activities are always
performed by all in the most
efficient and effective way.
Visual management should be built on standardized work

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Standard Work
Standard work visuals includes procedures, work instructions, check sheets,
checklists, flowcharts, schedules, photos and one-point-lessons.
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Standard
Work

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Standard Work
A good practice is to post process specifications and standard operating
procedures at each machine or workstation.
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Standard
Work

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Standard Work
Visual controls are often used in conjunction with color standards to
enhance clarity and workplace communication.
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Standard
Work
17 18 19 20
7 8
13 14
5 6
11 12
9 10
15 16
1 2 3 4
Zero lost cases
1-2 lost cases
More than 2 lost cases
Example - A map for the areas which have the most safety incidents that resulted in
lost time

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Standard Work
The best visuals are those that include photos and drawings, and those
that are placed at the point of need.
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Standard
Work
Good Can Pin Hole Body Dent Neck Scratch
Visuals of good and
bad parts are used to
improve defect
detection

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5S
The 5S methodology involves many visual management practices that can
help creating a more organized workplace.
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5S
The 2nd step of the 5S
methodology ‘set-in-
order’ promotes the use
of colors and labels to
clearly mark storage
locations. Scrap 1 Scrap 2 Scrap 3
REJECT PARETO STACK
5S also promotes the use of many inventory management techniques to define
inventory levels and reorder triggers.

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5S
The min-max system is one of the simplest visual methods to control
inventory mainly for low-volume items.
It suggests setting upper and lower inventory limits for each item.
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5S
Max.
Min.
Reorder
point
MIN-MAX SYSTEM
PART A PART B
An order should
be placed when
the minimum
level is reached

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5S
In the two-bin system, the items are stored at two different bins.
The first is intended for supplying the current demand and the second for
supplying the demand during the replenishment period.
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5S
TWO-BIN SYSTEM

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5S
Another example of using visual management to improve workplace
organization is posting photos about how an area should be organized to
remind people of the standard.
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5S

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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
TPM visuals can be effective in identifying and preventing abnormalities
from turning into failures.
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TPM
If something is not normal, we
want to make that as apparent as
possible!

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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Marking gauges, oil levels and lube points are examples of visual controls
that enable employees to easily detect abnormalities and out-of-
specification conditions.
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TPM

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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Color coding can be applied to gauges and other measuring devises to
visually monitor whether process parameters remain within acceptable or
safe ranges.
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TPM
BEFORE AFTER

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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Colored sleeves can be used to identify all the tools within a particular kit,
team or area.
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TPM
TEAM 1 TEAM 2
This will help reducing the time spent looking for lost tools, which will reduce repair
time and repair cost.

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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Transparent machine guards and covers will enable to see the running
process of the machine, and as a result, the machine will be stopped less
frequently.
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TPM

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Area Boards
An area information board is used to post visual information regarding the
status of an operation for a specific area.
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Area
Boards
Laminated
A4 size sheets
Whiteboard
Area information
board
They should be placed at visible locations to promote team engagement.

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Area Boards
It is useful to communicate status updates to ensure all employees are on
the same page.
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Area
Boards
It is not just a kind of wallpaper but a real team collaboration tool, and should be part
of the daily management process.

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Area Boards
Daily meetings can be conducted in front of the board to discuss the
previous day’s issues and plan for the work ahead.
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Area
Boards
Reviewing the board regularly is very
important for the meetings to be
productive.
Data should be collected on a daily
basis to update the board.

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Area Boards
Information on boards should be fresh and up-to-date including schedules
and customer requirements.
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Area
Boards
LIVE
A good visual board is an ALIVE board!

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Area Boards
These stand-up meetings can also be useful to facilitate handovers in multi-
shift operations.
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Area
Boards
Plot the data of each shift independently
SHIFT-A SHIFT-B SHIFT-C

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Area Boards
All aspects of an operation can be discussed during the meetings.
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Area
Boards
Safety
Quality
Cost Production &
Productivity
Teamwork
Customer
CI Projects
Innovation

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Area Boards
What to post?
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Area
Boards
Quality
Consider also posting news, notifications, announcements, policy changes, events,
accomplishments, records, ideas, best practices, etc.

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Area Boards
Remember that status visuals are used to display the status of projects,
processes, production, productivity and performance.
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Area
Boards
STATUS
Performance metrics
Kaizen
progress
Ideas &
projects
Andon
lights
Benchmark &
best practices
PERFORMANCE
PRODUCTION
PROJECTS
PERFORMANCE
PROJECTS

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Area Boards
Area information boards can be used to display . . .
Visual Management 57
Area
Boards
Benchmark
information
Kaizen
progress
Best practices
and lessons
learned
Operational
records
The status of
improvement
projects
Other
teamwork
activities

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Performance Metrics
A workplace without a display of performance metrics is like a car without a
speedometer. You may know where you are going but you have no idea
when you will reach your destination.
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Metrics
Performance metrics should be displayed in a visually appealing way to allow people to
get insight into how the operation is performing.

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Performance Metrics
Benefits of Visual Performance Boards . . .
Visual Management 59
Metrics
Presents the
performance of a team,
department, process &
business
Directs the team
discussions around
priority areas
Creates a sense of
purpose and drives
motivation
Serves as a
communication tool for
others outside of the
team

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Performance Metrics
Customized performance charts allow to compare actual performance
against target.
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Metrics
This can be shown on daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis

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Performance Metrics
Performance information should be meaningful, easy to understand, free
of technical terms, accurate and up-to-date.
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Metrics
Everyone must be able to understand
the message.
Keep them as simple as possible.

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Performance Metrics
Real-time visual dashboards are used to improve production control.
They make it easy to identify error conditions and allow to quickly respond
to issues that would influence productivity.
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Metrics

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Performance Metrics
Production Summary Boards are used to monitor the output of an
operation and see if it meets customer demand.
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Metrics
They may also display other information such as efficiency, Takt time, etc.

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Performance Metrics
Production summary boards should be visible in the workplace, and
everyone should be able to see where production stands.
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Metrics
This allows production and
maintenance teams to quickly
resolve process issues that
may occur during production.

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Performance Metrics
Process-related metrics need to be displayed near the machine or work
cell.
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Metrics
While general plant metrics need
to be posted in a central location
where everyone can see it easily.

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Andon Lights
Andon lights are powerful visual tools which are installed on production
machines to indicate their current status.
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Andon
Since they are visible from a distance, they are very useful in bringing immediate
attention to problems as soon as they arise.

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Andon Lights
For example, a light may turn on to indicate a shortage of raw materials,
awaiting parts, or the need for maintenance.
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Andon
The system can include means to stop the process, so the issue get resolved.

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Andon Lights
Each color represents a particular state of the machine or production line.
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Andon
Operation is
normal
Operation is down
(no order,
maintenance,
cleaning, quality
checks, etc.)
Operation is down
for unknown
reasons and
needs further
investigation

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Tips to Create an Effective Visual Management System
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Use the colors and standards
that are being used
consistently
Let the teams help creating the
visual controls and boards
Decide where you need to
implement visual management
Determine the type of
information that needs to be
conveyed
Decide who are your target
audience
Create a guide that describes
the key elements associated
with the visual management
system
Remember that your goal is to
make the area more
informative
Decide who are going to be
involved in the implementation
effort
Mark floors, add signs, label
storage areas, post standard
work, create visual boards, etc.
Include reviewing the visual
controls in your Gemba walks
Design and use a checklist to
evaluate your visual controls

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Tips to Create an Effective Visual Management System
An effective visual management system . . .
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Displays customer
needs & expectations
Shows identity and
directions
Easy to use and
understand
Displays
performance targets
and results
Relates to the
strategy of the
company
Communicates
standards and
instructions
Makes abnormalities
apparent
Links to action

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Summary
Visual management is not just making charts and metrics visible on a wall!
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It is a real-time system of marking and
visuals that allows teams to respond
promptly to signals to solve issues and
support the production process

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Further Information
It is very common to conduct Kaizen events where the focus is to enhance
the visuality of a specific process or work area.
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For example, organizing the workplace using 5S, stabilizing how work is performed
using standard work, or stabilizing equipment performance and reliability using TPM.

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Further Information
Visual management is a collaborative process, and people engagement is
key to the contribution they will provide later.
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Listen to people, involve them, and let them own the visuals.

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Further Information
If people from outside the area are updating the boards, then it will be
seen that management are owning them.
In this case, don’t expect anyone to read the boards or even care what’s in
them.
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Further Information
Visual management can also be useful for support functions in the
production environment (such as accounting, sales, engineering and R&D)
and in the service sector.
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Further Information
Examples in the Service Sector . . .
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The queue counter
display in a bank
A sign indicating the
different types of waste
disposal bins in a hotel
lobby
A sign indicating
cleaning in progress or
wet floor in a washroom
in a shopping mall
The signs in an airport
that direct passengers
to the luggage claim
area

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Further Information
A Kanban provides a visual method of inventory control and uses color-
coded cards to support a pull system.
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DOING
TO DO DONE
PROGRESS TRACKING BOARD

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Examples of How to Eliminate Waste using Visual Management
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Minimize the non-use of skills by
visually sharing problems and working
together to solve them.
Eliminate excess inventory by
improving visibility of storage.
Reduce motion by ensuring all parts
and tools are accessible and
recognizable.
Eliminate excess inventory by
improving visibility of storage.
Reduce defects by quickly responding to
Andon signals.
Prevent overproduction by visually
displaying production actuals and
targets.
Prevent excess transportation by
labeling and marking locations and
paths.
Reduce waiting by visually defining work
sequence.

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Example from a Production Environment
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2 Andon lights
1 Safety sign
4 Machine identity
3 Floor marking
5 Visual instructions
6 Gauge marking

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Kamishibai Board
A Kamishibai board is a visual management method that is used to manage
routine activities in a workplace.
It can be used to audit safety and security measures as well as to confirm
that standard work is being undertaken by all employees.
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In its simplest form, it consists of a board
and multiple cards that displays selected
activities to be performed.

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Kamishibai Board
Typically, each card is red on one side and green on the other to indicate
whether the activity has been completed or not.
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WEEKLY
DAILY

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