Production Analysis Board
A display—often a large whiteboard—located beside a process to show actual performance compared with planned performance.
The board in the illustration shows the performance of a process on an hourly basis with planned versus actual production. When production does not correspond to the plan, the problem is recorded and a cause is sought.
Note that a process regulated by pull signals rather than a preset schedule will record the amounts requested by the next downstream process, which may vary from plan during a shift or day, and compare the requested amounts with actual production.
A production analysis board can be an important visual management tool, particularly as a firm begins its transformation to lean production. However, it is important to understand that the appropriate use for the production analysis board is as a problem-identification and problem-solving tool and not, as often is misunderstood, as a tool for scheduling production. The tool also is sometimes called a production control board, a progress control board, or—more appropriately—a problem-solving board.
