Creating an “Isolated Island” Is a Crime

There is a crime that is surprisingly common in manufacturing.

It is not stealing.

It is not fraud.

It is creating an isolated island on the shop floor.

In Japanese manufacturing, there is a powerful expression:

「離れ小島を作るな」— “Do not create isolated islands.”

An isolated island is a workplace, process, or person that becomes disconnected from the rest of the system.

It may look efficient.

It may even look highly independent.

But it is dangerous.

What Does an Isolated Island Look Like?

Imagine a production line where one machine is placed away from everything else.

Nobody works nearby.

Nobody knows exactly what is happening there.

Problems are handled by one person.

Information does not flow naturally.

The operator becomes the only person who understands the process.

Soon, the process becomes a world of its own.

That is an isolated island.

And it is not limited to physical layout.

A department can become an isolated island.

A quality engineer can become an isolated island.

A maintenance team can become an isolated island.

Even an individual employee can become an isolated island.

Whenever people, processes, and information are separated from the system, we have created an island.

Why Is This a Crime?

Because manufacturing is a system.

The purpose of the system is not to make individual departments efficient.

The purpose is to create value for the customer.

When we isolate a process, we destroy the connections that allow the system to improve.

The operator cannot easily see what happens before or after the process.

Problems become somebody else's problem.

Information becomes delayed.

Abnormalities become invisible.

And improvement becomes difficult.

The most dangerous part?

The island can look efficient.

One person can operate the process.

One machine can produce thousands of pieces.

One department can achieve its own targets.

The numbers may look good.

But the system may be getting worse.

Automation Can Create Islands Too

This is one of the great misunderstandings about automation.

We often think:

Automation = improvement.

Not necessarily.

If automation separates a process from the rest of the flow, it can create an isolated island.

A highly automated machine may require fewer operators, but if nobody can see its abnormalities, nobody understands its problems, and nobody can respond quickly, we have simply created a very sophisticated island.

TPS does not ask:

“How automated is this machine?”

It asks:

“How does this process contribute to the flow?”

That is a very different question.

The One-Person Process

There is an especially dangerous version of the isolated island: one person doing everything.

It may appear to be the ultimate form of efficiency.

But think about what happens when that person is absent.

Who knows the process?

Who detects abnormalities?

Who teaches the next person?

Who improves the work?

Who challenges the current method?

What happens if he retire or quit?

When knowledge is concentrated in one person, the process becomes dependent on an individual rather than a system.

That is fragile.

TPS Is About Connection

A good production system connects: People → Processes → Information → Problems → Improvement.

When something goes wrong, the abnormality should become visible.

When an abnormality becomes visible, management should respond.

When management respond, they should learn.

When they learn, the standard should improve.

That cycle requires connection.

An isolated island breaks the cycle.

Don't Optimize the Island

One of the biggest mistakes is optimizing individual processess.

“Let's make this machine more efficient.”

“Let's reduce the labor here.”

“Let's increase this department's productivity.”

“Let's automate this operation.”

“Let’s set a spesific KPI for this process.”

All of these sound reasonable.

But before improving the island, ask:

Why is there an island in the first place?

Perhaps the problem is not the machine.

Perhaps the problem is the system surrounding the machine.

Perhaps the best improvement is not to make the island more efficient.

Perhaps the best improvement is to eliminate the island.

“Do Not Create Isolated Islands”

This is why I believe “Do Not Create Isolated Islands” should be treated almost like a manufacturing law.

Do not isolate processes.

Do not isolate people.

Do not isolate information.

And above all:

Do not create an organization where people can become successful while the overall system becomes worse.

A factory is not a collection of independent islands.

It is a connected system.

The moment we create an island, we create a blind spot.

And every blind spot is an invitation for waste, quality problems, delays, and missed opportunities for Kaizen.

So when you walk through your factory, look for the islands, which will generate many Muda.

Ask:

Where have we disconnected processes from each other?

Where has information stopped flowing?

Where does only one person know the truth?

You may discover that your biggest problem is not a bad process.

It is an isolated island.

And creating that island may be one of the most expensive “improvements” you have ever made.