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Tips and Insights
Articles Relating to Visual Work Instructions
Over our 30 years of explaining, we've accumulated a wealth of
valuable information that doesn't fit neatly under our website
tabs. This body of knowledge includes tools we have
developed, approaches that have worked well, approaches
that have failed, and a large amount of miscellany that could be called
"accumulated wisdom" or, perhaps more accurately, "battle scars."
We welcome questions and suggestions for new topics.
Quick Reads:
Measured Training Results
Our client had a problem with unscheduled downtime.
Work Instructions for Multilingual Workplaces
English-only instructions are no longer sufficient in many factories.
Maintenance Procedures Need Work Instructions
Irregular maintenance of production and testing equipment is a hidden source of product variation.
Spend Less, Get More with Simple Visual Job Aids
Why do we ask so many questions? Because in the process of answering them, important information can surface . . .
Articles Regarding Writing:
Four Essentials of Effective Work Instructions
A work instruction is a tool provided to help someone to do a job correctly. This simple statement implies that the purpose of the work instruction is quality and that the target user is the worker.
Always Revising Work Instructions?
You Can Get Rid of the Headache!
In many factories, the task of revising work documents is a constant and costly effort that’s accepted as the norm—it’s just the way things are. But it doesn't have to be.
Illustration Articles:
Handling Repetition in Work Instructions
Technical procedures often involve repetition. Whether the sequence is exact repetition or involves successive steps that appear identical but are not, repetition poses potential for error.
Visual Work Instructions: The Impact on Quality Metrics
It can be extremely challenging to determine what percentage of success comes specifically from an implementation of visual work instructions, especially when combined with other Lean/quality initiatives, but Explainers has found several metrics worth sharing with you.
Usability Articles:
The Thingamajig and the Wallabaloo:
No Matter What You Call Things,
Work Instructions Need to Work
From industry to industry, from company to company, even from department to department, terminology for the same little widget can vary wildly.
Multimedia Articles:
Multimedia Training Materials without a Hitch
Renee shares the comedic similarities between a Hitchcock movie and Multimedia Training Materials which allows viewers to explore the information through a variety of formats including text, graphics, video, images, narration, music, sounds and animation.
Aliteracy Articles:
You Can't Make Me Read That!
Conditional aliteracy includes those people who possess satisfactory reading skills but find themselves in conditions that make reading text-heavy material unappealing or impossible. When work instructions aren't written for the end user, employees tend to skip the reading and try to figure it out themselves.
