Andon is not an emergency brake.

Andon is not an emergency brake.

The other day, I was riding the Subway. In this subway, there is an emergency sign.

According to this sign, we should not pull the emergency brake in case of a fire, a medical emergency, or a police situation. I am not sure when we should pull it. The fact is, someone does pull this brake, since news of a subway stop due to the emergency brake is common.

In case of an emergency, we should contact the train crew. That is the message of this sign. However, it is not clear how to contact the train crew. There is an intercom somewhere in the train cabin, but it was not visible to me. The location depends on the type of cabin you are in. In an emergency, we need to find a way to communicate with the train crew.

This subway sign reminded Andon.

🔹 Andon is not an emergency brake.

There is a belief that the Andon stops the production line immediately. If so, it would be like a subway that stops randomly. I have seen a case where the first cabin reached the station, but the rest did not. The random stopping makes this tricky. For example, what is the best evacuation route? In this case, the safest way to get out was to move to the front cabin and get off at the station platform. But for those in the later cabins, it must have been difficult to understand why they needed to move to the front.

This is the same in production. Unless there are safety issues that require everything to stop immediately, the Andon does not stop the line. If production stops every time it is pulled, the others have to stop at an odd point in their work. Then this stoppage will become a distraction. To avoid this, TPS stops at the fixed position at the end of the standardized work.

🔹 Andon signals the need for help

An Andon signal indicates that a process needs help. This is similar to the subway. In case of an emergency, contact the train crew. For production, contact the team leader. These train crews and team leaders should have more training than those who need help. They should come and assess the situation to decide the best approach to handle it. Their judgment should be safer and more effective in the situation.

🔹 Clear method of contact.

The biggest difference of the Andon is that the contact method is clear.

It is easy to write a rule that says, in case of an emergency, contact someone with knowledge. Yet in such a situation, making contact is difficult. The person is already under stress, which limits judgment. Most likely, in case of an emergency, you have limited access and mobility. The contact method must be easy to use and readily available. Anything beyond that is a risk.

The contact should also be simple. There was a factory where they placed the Andon with multiple colors. One for quality, one for materials, one for maintenance, one for engineering, one for medical emergency, etc. Although such a light system might look fancy, it will not serve the purpose. Why should someone in need of help decide who should come? Also, why should someone with less experience decide who should come? The decision on how to handle the situation should be left to more trained personnel. As we say in Japan, “A drowning man will grab a straw.” When we are in trouble, we want to reach out to something simple, hoping it will help.

🔹 Welcome to the call for help.

The biggest difference is that by stating the contact method and making it more visual, you make the call for help feel more welcoming. If you check into the hospital and stay there, they will most likely give you a call button to summon a nurse. At the hotel, they will tell you to call the front desk. These are part of the welcoming procedure.

This kind of welcome is rare in production. I know there are cases where people were yelled at for pulling the Andon. Another said there is no one to respond on the shop floor, so why bother? It is not just the presence of the light that makes a difference. It is the attitude toward the light that matters. It is always necessary to thank the helper for letting you know that something happened and to show that you care about the call for help. Also, if we don’t problem-solve or Kaizen the situation, people will eventually stop calling for help.

Again, Andon is not an emergency brake. It should be pulled more frequently. Unless we welcome it, it will become a meaningless sign.