Methods & tools

What is Andon?

Andon is a visual (and often audible) signalling system that shows the state of operations in real time and lets any employee call for help or stop the process when problems arise. Classically: a cord or button at the line and a light board above it.

Andon’s power lies in the response, not the lamp: the signal obliges a manager to come, see and help within minutes. Without that obligation, andon becomes decoration, and employees stop pulling the cord.

Giving employees the authority to stop the line is culturally demanding — but it is precisely what moves quality responsibility out to the source.

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Related concepts

Jidoka

Jidoka — often translated “automation with a human touch” — is the principle that processes stop themselves at deviations, so defects are never passed on. Jidoka is the second pillar of the Toyota Production System alongside Just-in-Time.

Daily Management

Daily Management is a system of daily, structured routines — board meetings, target follow-up, escalation and gemba walks — that make deviations visible and handled within 24 hours. It is the nervous system of operations: this is where problems are discovered while they are small.

Visual management

Visual management is arranging the workplace so that normal state and deviation can be seen with the naked eye in seconds — marked places, min/max levels, colour codes, andon lights and operations boards. The goal: anyone can see the status without asking or opening a system.

From concept to practice

The methods only work when they are anchored in daily routines and leadership behaviour. The operations check shows in 4 minutes where your operations stand — and what the next step is.

Take the operations check