International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management

Individual Involvement and Intervention in Quality Improvement Programmes: Using

the Andon System
Robert J. EverettAmrik S. Sohal
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Robert J. EverettAmrik S. Sohal, (1991),"Individual Involvement and Intervention in Quality
Improvement Programmes: Using the Andon System", International Journal of Quality & Reliability
Management, Vol. 8 Iss 2 pp.
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 Quality
Individual Involvement and Improvement
Intervention in Quality Programmes

Improvement Programmes: 21
Using the Andon System Received April 1989
Revised May 1990
Robert J. Everett
Lemaray P/L, Melbourne, Australia
Amrik S. Sohal
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Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Introduction
In the wake of intensive domestic and international competition, particularly
from Japanese manufacturers, many Western manufacturers have been
establishing their own programmes to reduce manufacturing costs and improve
quality, reliability and delivery performance.
Many originally claimed that the Japanese success was due solely to quality.
However, this is an over-simplification of the Japanese success, as is now
becoming apparent. A comparison of a typical Japanese manufacturing
organisation with its Western counterpart (see Table I) shows the ways in which
the Japanese have achieved world class manufacturing excellence[1]. The
comparison begins with the fundamental strategic rationale of an organisation
and follows through into the operational areas such as quality and inventory
control. As can be seen from Table I, quality systems and/or methods occupy
a relatively small part of the Japanese manufacturing system. This is indicative
of the fact that the Japanese, through their key strategy of consumer orientation,
tend to meet their customer quality expectancy level during the design phase
of the product development cycle. There has also been for many years a heavy
emphasis on process capability and manufacturing in small lot sizes so as to
be able to meet changes in market requirements. This requires flexibility and
in turn places the tactical emphasis of the quality system on prevention rather
than detection.
The lessons for Western organisations have not been lost — far from it.
Stemming from dire necessity, there has been a marked change of attitude
among many major corporations. Various revitalisation, restructuring and "turn-
around" programmes have been launched, some co-ordinated and others, owing
to petty rivalries between operating divisions, disjointed.
Despite the difficulties, many such programmes of change are well under

During the preparation of this article, help by way of advice, support, encouragement, criticism
and material, including facts and data, was received from too many people to mention here. Their International Journal of Quality &
Reliability Management, Vol. 8 No.
co-operation is gratefully acknowledged. Without their help this article would not have been 2, 1991, pp. 21-34, © MCB
written. University Press, 0265-671X
 IJQRM way in Western organisations and it would be impossible to catalogue them all.
8,2 However, a general pattern, particularly concerning the quality improvement
component of the change, does seem to emerge, and this consists of three
initial steps before benefits begin to come through:
(1) Recognition of the importance of quality (at senior management level)
22 and the need to do something about it.
(2) Development of a quality improvement programme.
(3) Implementation of the programme in which employee involvement is a
key element of success.

Japan (Toyota Motor Company) The West (General Motors)

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Market price - cost = profit Cost+profit = market price

Market sets price
Reduce cost by eliminating waste
Minimum inventory
Small lots — representative mix
Respond to order by SMED*
Use Kanban to pull "ordered" material
Visible simple process control
100 per cent process inspection
Operator foolproofing
Root cause analysis
Eliminate buffers
Table I. Operator sets own standards
Comparison of
Japanese and Western Authority to stop the line
Manufacturing * Single Minute Exchange of Dies
Systems[1]
Cost increase to customer
Economy of scale
Large stocks in system
Large runs — batch models
Minimise die change costs through large
runs
Maintain large inventories to be ready
"just-in-case"
Sophisticated computer system
Heavy reliance on sampling
Operator + inspector + vision provide
adjustment in fixtures
Fix it and get production going
Provide generously (just-in-case)
Standards set by management
Progressive and final repair

Complementary to the quality improvement programme, there is often a review

of the entire manufacturing system. This in turn leads to additional programmes
to cover inventory management, tooling or process changeovers and industrial
relations. Eventually, there follows a review of the management system itself.
Whilst each of these programmes has its own peculiar needs, they share a
common denominator in their demand for product and process quality. Just-in-
time (JIT) manufacturing for example, will not tolerate any defective components
in the system. Consequently, at the core of all manufacturing revitalisation activity
will be the quality improvement programme.
One such programme is Total Quality Control (TQC). Much has been written
about TQC in recent years[2-4]. The TQC concept was first introduced to
Western managers by Feigenbaum[5] in the early 1960s in his book Total Quality
 Control. However, it was in Japan that the concept was developed to its full Quality
potential. The concept is simple and unique, involving a company-wide approach Improvement
to quality. This means that every person within the organisation is involved Programmes
in making improvements in quality and this becomes a way of life and a never-
ending activity. Employee involvement is critical to the success of any
improvement or change programme in an organisation. 23
Harber[6] provides a comprehensive analysis of existing research on employee
participation and reviews the works of scholars such as Likert[7], McGregor[8],
Miller and Monge[9] and many others. Harber also reports on the results of
an empirical research study in which he addressed the effects of the
implementation of TQC on employee attitudes and corporate culture and
determined the interrelationships between employee commitment, job
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satisfaction, employee alienation and organisational climate. Using data from

a plant-wide TQC implementation, Harber demonstrated a statistically significant
change in employee commitment.
Heath[10] describes an employee participation programme model consisting
of a three-tier approach, which allows for individual participation and involvement
through quality improvement teams and quality circles, and stresses that if
genuine commitment is given by every individual at all levels of the organisation
it is hard to imagine an unsuccessful outcome.
Employee involvement and participation should be considered as genuine
concepts of a quality improvement effort. In this article we discuss individual
involvement and intervention in using the Andon system, which is an element
of TQC and is used for highlighting trouble areas within the production system.
The implications of the Andon system for both management and shopfloor
operatives are considered in detail and a brief description of the types and
mechanisms of Andon systems is presented. The implementation and utilisation
of the Andon system is illustrated by three examples taken from Australian
manufacturing industry.

Key Steps of Total Quality Control (TQC)

There are now many variations in the approach to TQC and its application within
the manufacturing and the service industries. These include the approaches
developed by Deming[11], Juran[12], Crosby[13] and Ishikawa[14]. Fundamental
to Ishikawa's approach are six concise key steps an organisation must follow
or address if it is to implement TQC successfully. In their simplest form, these
steps are as follows:
(1) Quality is the first priority (long-term not short-term profit)
(2) The next process is the customer (not just the end user)
(3) Use of facts and data based on statistics (objective management)
(4) Cross-function management (removal of traditional barriers)
(5) Consumer orientation (in all corporate actions)
(6) Respect for humanity (as a corporate attitude).
 IJQRM It should be noted that, according to Ishikawa[14], no one step is more important
8,2 than another and all should be given equal attention. The practical application
of one of these steps, namely "The next process is the customer" is at the
core of this article. Transferring this philosophy into practical reality is
accomplished through "operator foolproofing" and the authority to "stop the
24 line" as practised in Japan.
These approaches and their mechanisms are covered under the general
Japanese term of Jidoka, which translates as "the ability and responsibility of
a person or process to stop producing when a defect or other anomalous situation
occurs". The automatic aspect of Jidoka which may be used to assist an operator
or control a process remotely, is known as Poka-Yoke, or Bake-Yoke, meaning
"mistake-proofing" and "foolproofing", respectively. In his book on the subject,
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the originator of these systems Shigeo Shingo urges against the use of the term
Bake-Yoke or foolproofing, which he explains "tends to impart the notion that
the operative is the fool and not the machine or process"[15].
Poka-Yoke, once installed, requires no conscious effort on the part of the
operative to function and is highly suitable for application to those processes
that do not require a subjective decision. Juran, in his Quality Control
Handbook[12], categorises those quality characteristics suitable for machine
control or human control (Chapter 12-12, Table 12-4). He assigns the lower
intellectual activities, defined as "things that can be expressed exactly", to
machines and the higher intellectual activities, "things that cannot be expressed
exactly", to humans. This categorisation is extremely useful when deciding
the application criteria for installing Poka-Yoke devices rather than human
inspection techniques.

The Andon System

The human aspect of Jidoka, the decision to stop producing based on "things
that cannot be expressed exactly", is collectively known as Andon — literally
translated from the Japanese means "traditional rice paper lantern". The Andon
system is the main controlling factor within a truly effective TQC plant, for it
allows the operative to stop producing immediately a defect is detected whilst
at the same time alerting management to the situation. The various mechanisms
for achieving this are described later in the article, but briefly, the operative
pushes a button or pulls a cord that produces a signal by siren and/or illuminating
signs. This tells the immediate supervisor that the line has been stopped by
the operative, at the corresponding work station to the illuminated number on
the display board. The supervisor(s) move quickly to assist the operator solve
the problem and restart the line. Consequently, Andon is by far the most
controversial side to Jidoka, for it raises a number of fundamental problems
in the manufacturing environment, particularly in Western industries.
Management can accept the idea of a machine stopping a process when it
detects an error — after all the error can easily be overridden. The defectives
are placed aside for "rework" and it is business as usual. However, the idea
of an operative carrying out the same function causes a real dilemma, primarily
because there is the contradiction of long-standing objectives, chief of which
 has been the "keep running at all costs — quantity not quality" mentality. To Quality
reverse this basic manufacturing objective and instruct the operative to stop Improvement
immediately when a defect is detected is difficult, for whilst the instruction itself Programmes
is simple enough, the ramifications are not.
Suppose for example, that an operative stops the machine because a nut
welded to a part is judged to be off-centre. However, the downstream 25
workstations urgently require these parts for them to keep working. Does the
supervisor agree with the machine operator and request maintenance to fix
the machine immediately with all the delays and loss of quantity that this
implies? Or does he/she simply instruct the operative to continue as "today
a nut like that will be acceptable". The argument could be solved by setting
very clear standards as to exactly what constitutes an "off-centre" nut. If the
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criterion can be made so clear, then a Poka-Yoke (mistake-proofing) should be

installed.
If, on the other hand, the example had been based on the final overall
appearance of a sub-assembly, where numerous tolerances had contributed to
there being a poor aesthetic finish, then only an operative's skills in making
subjective judgements would prevent the part being passed on to the next
operation. Overriding the operative's decision in this instance would constitute
the very worst example of dual standards. Once given, the order to stop the
machine onfindinga defect should never be rescinded by management or a
severe loss of credibility will, needless to say, be the result.
Sooner or later in a TQC programme, management will need to adopt the
Jidoka philosophy and implement the Andon system if they wish to maintain
the impetus of the quality improvement programme and produce zero-defect
components and products. The enigma of quality versus quantity can be overcome
with the gradual introduction of Poka-Yokes and the Andon system. As quality
improves steadily, there is a gain in the quantity, if only through the reduction
in rework, leading to an increase of implementation pace.
Many companies in Australia have overcome the initial difficulties associated
with the use of Andon with varying degrees of success by adopting their own
unique mechanistic approaches. The one resource they do have in common
is of course people, without whom there would be no Andon system, and
involving people in the system is by no means as simple as the installation of
the switches, buttons and illuminating displays.

Andon and People

Before full implementation of the Andon system, management must face the
question of its relationship with the workforce. Typically a Western management
system of manufacturing control has been solidly based, to a greater or lesser
degree, on the teachings of Taylor, the Gilbreths and even Henry Ford. In fairness
there have been experiments with, and genuine attempts to practise, a little
Maslow[16], Herzberg[17] and lately Ouchi[18] along the way. However, the
greatest barrier to real change has always been the workplace itself. Where
the demand for quantity has been uppermost, there has, by and large, been
little room for innovation with control.
 IJQRM Andon, when applied, changes the order of control in the workplace, as it
8,2 is the operative who eventually controls the quantity via the system, albeit
through the demand for quality. Several common managerial questions (and
accompanying assumption statements) emerge at the commencement of the
Andon phase of TQC and are based on previous industrial relationships and
26 experience.
• First, there is the question of whether the operators can be trusted with
such a system — after all, they may just keep pressing the stop button
all day over any triviality that they choose to use as an excuse to stop
working.
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• Second, there is the question of just why the operators should take the
trouble to tell management that there is a quality problem — they have
never shown any real interest in the company and its products in the past.
The answer to these questions is that operators do not abuse the system and
they will operate the system, provided, in both cases, that the basic ground
rules are clear and unhesitatingly adhered to by all parties. The reason why
this should be the case has to do with local control of the workplace.
It has often been observed that a person will work for long hours in appalling
conditions to attain a level of competence, way beyond the average, in the name
of "play". Yet the same person in many cases puts in, at best, a mediocre
effort in the workplace and holds a position that in no way reflects the level
of responsibility or competence expressed during his/her social activities.
Recognising that the differences between the two activities of work and play
are mental and not physical, and are based on the perceptions a person holds
about his or her occupation, is the first step in understanding the above paradox.
As work and play require equal inputs of physical and mental activity the
difference between the two lies only in the area of control over the activity.
Resentment of external control stems from management's traditional attitude
towards the operator, i.e. telling him/her what to do instead of involving the
operator in the decision making. By giving operators the same control over
their work that they exercise over their play, management can provide the
necessary stimulus to produce a higher level of motivated behaviour towards
work activities.
From a managerial viewpoint, until the advent of the Andon system, these
well-known propositions were simply not practically feasible options. Andon,
however, does allow local control of the manufacturing system, and the extent
to which this control remains local depends on the ability of all concerned to
start up production again once it has been stopped.
Within certain guidelines the delegation of local control over production, via
the Andon system, will encourage the operators. They perceive that
management's view of them has changed from considering them as incompetent
to considering them competent[8]. This shift of attitude by management,
consciously or unconsciously, results in the operator desiring to display this
now acknowledged competence in his or her work. According to White[19], this
 desire is one of the mainsprings of action in a human being. Competence, he Quality
states, implies control over environmental factors both physical and social. Improvement
Displaying competence and control through the Andon system brings about Programmes
a high degree of motivated behaviour in operators, especially when they are
involved in the problem-solving aspects associated with the stoppage they have
effected. The motivational factors involved are[16]: 27
• Responsibility — for the decision to stop work, based on their judgement
of the current situation against the set standards.
• Challenging work — as a result of the increased responsibility and, to
a degree, accountability.
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• Growth and development (of the individual) and a sense of achievement

— these will tend to be satisfied during the training stage and can be
reinforced later by training in additional areas such as problem solving.
In summary, by installing in the workplace the local control factors of the Andon
system as a key element of the TQC philosophy, it is possible to change people's
attitudes towards their real or perceived competence levels. This results in
a more motivated form of behaviour and, as local control of the workplace is
realised, there is a reinforcing of many of the mental processes that exist in play.

Line Management and the Andon System

Problems that arise after the implementation of the Andon system generally
fall into two patterns of behaviour that look remarkably similar in nature to the
management concerns raised earlier. The first is over-utilisation of the system
and the second is the reverse, under-utilisation.
Over-utilisation is where the system is used to stop the line or process with
greater frequency than proves necessary. When the system is new and/or when
a new employee is assigned to the line are usually the times when this behaviour
manifests itself. In either case, and usually during the first week or so, there
tends to be decided apprehension by the employee(s) wishing to use the system.
This is natural, as few persons at shopfloor level have ever enjoyed the luxury
of local control over production. They are therefore apprehensive of the
supervisor's response to their action — despite the assurances that should
be given during the training or induction period. The supervisor consequently
encourages the use of the system and as the operative's confidence, ability,
and competence grow, the problem of over-utilisation may well appear.
Experienced supervisors should be familiar with this pattern of behaviour and
take steps to address the problem prior to occurrence. New operatives should
be briefed frequently in an encouraging but firm manner that the power invested
in them is responsibility and includes accountability. The links between control,
accountability and responsibility must be firmly established.
There are two causal behaviour patterns of over-utilisation which may prevail
beyond the start-up phase: attention-seeking behaviour (stimulus response)
and tension reduction. If attention-seeking behaviour is the cause, then the
 IJQRM supervisor should swiftly provide feedback and reinforce appropriate behaviour.
8,2 However, where it seems that tension reduction is the cause of over-utilisation,
the job content and the employee should be studied to detect the validity of
work pressure. Consideration should be given to the fact that new operatives
will experience an increase in tension on introduction to a production facility
28 until their skill acquisition reaches a plateau. During this period and beyond,
the Andon control button or cord will always be the focal point of tension
reduction. Supervisors and union officials should be doubly aware of this fact
and utilise the warnings the system provides by reacting swiftly and positively
to the operator's needs.
Under-utilisation behaviour is manifested by a display of apparent apathy
towards the system. Detection that such a situation exists comes from down-
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stream workstations reporting, via a stoppage, that they have inherited a problem
from upstream workstations. Careful investigation will reveal that whilst apathy
is outwardly being displayed, the causes of this behaviour will be well hidden
by the operative. Often the operative will be a long-serving and experienced
person with a stable employment record — the very backbone of a well run
production line. In this case, careful counselling will be necessary and
considerable care is needed, otherwise an overreaction to the situation by either
party will quickly develop. A third party such as the area industrial engineer,
or a representative from the personnel department, may well be able to bring
to the surface the real cause, which could be any form of industrial dispute.
However, in our experience, it is rare for an operative to use the Andon for
this cause. Often it is something to do directly with the system and its application,
the most common cause being the lack of follow-up by management of a fault
which caused a stoppage and has, for whatever reason, either returned or been
ignored.
The problems that cause stoppages on production lines range from the very
simple, such as a temporary shortage of component parts, to the highly complex,
such as design-related political nightmares. In short, there are those problems
that the supervisor and the support staff can solve immediately and quickly,
and those that they cannot. The "cannots" often involve serious financial or
commercial decisions and require consideration at the most senior levels of
the organisation. In this case, the Andon system has in effect done its job and
once again reminded senior management that "the problem" still exists. The
solution, however, may not be so forthcoming or as apparent. Feedback to shop-
floor operatives is therefore vital. The authority to keep the line running on
a quality deviation must be limited to a specific time frame agreed upon by
the parties concerned and notice of such must be given to the operative. Such
deviations should be non-renewable and circulated via the CEO of the
organisation. Only in this way will management maintain credibility and the
viability of the system.
Summarised below are the key steps for successful implementation of the
Andon system:
• Senior management commitment to the whole project is utterly vital from
the outset. The ramifications must be crystal clear and the organisation
 should be in a stable mode of growth or a strong position to withstand Quality
the shock of possible product loss to the market during the early phase. Improvement
• Trade union officials must be fully briefed, their co-operation gained and Programmes
their concerns for their members addressed long before start-up.
• Shopfloor supervisors and operatives must be well briefed on their roles 29
— numerous dry runs help here.
• Quality standards must be clearly agreed upon by all parties and displayed
on the production line. All existing known quality problems should be
solved prior to start-up.
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• All equipment in the area must be in, or brought up to, satisfactory

condition — preventative maintenance becomes mandatory.
• Support staff such as purchasing and engineering must have
representatives trained and ready to assist instantly should the need arise
during a line stoppage.
A generic schedule for the introduction of Andon is shown in Figure 1.

Andon Systems — Types and Mechanisms

Andon is at its most effective when used in conjunction with the moving
continuous production line. When linked by JIT to preceding and following
production processes, it becomes possible for an operative with a problem to
stop the entire manufacturing process. As a way of attracting management's
attention, it enjoys no parallel. Similarly, sub-assembly areas that supply
 IJQRM minimum-inventory buffers can affect the entire manufacturing process, once
8,2 stopped by their version of Anion.
The production line Andon system in a manufacturing plant requiresfirstthat
the assembly line be clearly divided into discrete stations. These should be
identified by a number and marked out visibly. Boundary markers, such as
30 painted lines, need to be applied to the flooring. Approaching these there should
be graduation marks added to assist operatives in realising how close they are
to the limits of their territory. The station numbers, or locations in words if
numbering is not possible, should be clearly displayed in their sequence by
an illuminated numerical display, strategically placed above the line and repeated
if necessary at several other points — such as production engineering and
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maintenance. On each station there should be either an overhead cord or a

system of buttons used to trigger the Andon system. Once the control cord
or button is activated, the line should halt automatically within one cycle time
of the product or process, thus protecting the following operations from the
fault. Simultaneously the appropriate station number should illuminate in the
display. Also a siren, preferably a musical one, should sound.
Process Andon systems, such as those used in press or injection-moulding
shops, may utilise a series of coloured lights mounted on the machine to indicate
the cause of the stoppage. An illuminated display should again be mounted
strategically to cover the whole shop or, in a large plant, at the end of each
aisle. Many variations of the above systems are in use and are often far from
the level of sophistication described above.

Examples of the Use of the Andon System

In this section we describe the application of the Andon system by three
Australian manufacturers. Each company achieved considerable success with
full co-operation of the operatives. The quality-improvement initiatives
undertaken by these companies have resulted in substantial cost savings and
it is difficult to attribute specific savings to the use of the Andon system. In
all three cases, however, the use of the Andon system has continued since
its introduction.

In the Automotive Industry

Thefirstexample of the Andon system at work in Australia is from the automotive
industry. In early 1985, one of the major automotive manufacturers in Australia
was about to launch a new car onto the market. An Andon system was installed
along with a host of other systemic improvements that made up the full production
system as outlined in Table I. No matter how well planned, the launch of a new
product does not go without its difficulties. On the scale that this manufacturer
was launching its new cars, it would suffer fewer such difficulties than most,
but nonetheless the problems being experienced possessed the potential to
disrupt the launch programme.
Rapid problem identification was available from day one through the Andon
 system, leading to "on-the-spot" countermeasures. The delays varied from Quality
less than a minute to half a day at the worst. The causes of the faults resulting Improvement
in a stoppage of the lines were recorded on check sheets by industrial engineers, Programmes
production engineers and manufacturing personnel throughout the plant, and
published daily for cumulative long-term action. Quantifying the causes of
stoppages by common category in Pareto form provided for management a 31
decision-making tool. Such an analysis was particularly useful as it sorted out
the vital few from the trivial many, thus providing a focus. Figure 2 is a Pareto
chart based on one day's data from the body assembly shop. For reasons of
confidentiality, the groupings have been generalised more than was the case
at the time. It should be noted that the line stopped some 51 times during
the day (eight-hour shift), with an average lost time of only four-and-a-half
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minutes per stoppage.

Operators who are discontented, unmotivated, or otherwise uninterested in

their work, or who live in an atmosphere of fear of retaliation from their
supervisor, do not collectively stop a line 51 times in a day for bona fide reasons.
IJQRM Problem resolution at this pace and at such an early stage of a project's life
8,2 cannot fail to affect the final quality of a product.

In the Communications Industry

A portable Andon system is being used at the radio manufacturing division of
32 Motorola Communications Australia where all the principles of the Andon system
have been adhered to. The manufacturing facility is relatively small (exact details
are confidential) and consists of both moving-line and fixed assembly and test
operations. To overcome the disparate nature of the manufacturing process,
the notion of a portable Andon lamp was conceived.
The Andon lamp, known as OPAS (operator problem alert system), consists
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of a 55-watt red ambulance lampfixedto a rechargeable dry-cell 12-volt battery

by means of a simple wooden case. An operative experiencing a problem leaves
his or her workstation, collects the OPAS from its fixed location, returns to
the workstation, switches on the lamp and waits for attention. The system has
proved highly effective since its introduction and is currently bringing to
management's attention an average offiveproblems per day. OPAS effectively
demonstrates that where management is willing and able to adopt the
preventative approach to their quality problems via Andon, expense need be
no hindrance as far as the mechanics of the system are concerned. What is
needed is determination, initiative and commitment.

In the Valve Manufacturing Industry

The third example of the use of the Andon system is at DeZurik Australia, a
small batch manufacturer of process control valves. TQC was introduced into
the company in 1986 as a solution to many of its manufacturing problems. In
1987, the Andon system was implemented to highlight problems in the
manufacturing processes. Employees were encouraged to stop the process,
using the Andon system, when they identified faults. The system involved
pushing a button located adjacent to each workstation and machining centre.
Initially people were very enthusiastic and were pushing the buttons all the
time. After the initial excitement had worn off, the company went through a
stage when no one wanted to use the system. However, employees soon realised
the benefits and were using the system only when necessary. The general
manager of the company commented that they would have had to introduce
the Andon system sooner or later to maintain the impetus of quality
improvements and reduce the reject level to zero.

Conclusions
Organisations seeking excellence in manufacturing will need to embrace the
TQC philosophy and practice. Companies on the path to recovery of market
share and profitability through increased efficiency will be faced with the decision
of whether to stop their production, however temporarily, to prevent poor quality
reaching their customers.
 The problems associated with the change of managerial style and systemic Quality
modification or addition are enormous. But these have been and will continue Improvement
to be overcome by those organisations which have in their ranks the sort of Programmes
far-sighted, determined, and courageous personnel capable of facing and
surmounting the associated difficulties.
The use of the Andon system, as a part of Jidoka, is just such a difficulty. 33
It calls for so many changes in sensitive areas that there will be many times
when its worth is questioned long after the installation phase. Its greatest
champions will be the people who operate it at the shopfloor level, for whether
they acknowledge them, consciously or unconsciously, the changes it will have
brought to their working lives will be immense and will prove far too beneficial
to give up. Their response is motivated behaviour, which is always difficult to
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quantify, but nonetheless noticeable to the trained eye. The result of the
response, improved quality and efficiency, tends to be achieved as a consequence
of less rework in the system.
Quality costs are "non-value adding" and can climb as high as 30 per cent
of the final cost of a product or service[20]. Consequently prevention of defects
during the manufacturing phase becomes a lucrative target for an organisation
determined to improve its profitability. The Andon system offers one preventative
solution which utilises the greatest asset an organisation possesses — its people.
Who, in a departmental sense, within an organisation, is responsible for
implementing an Andon system? For Japanese companies, the answer is simple
— manufacturing, as it alone is responsible for the attainment of quality, cost
and delivery (schedule). In the West, the answer is not so clear. Conventional
quality control professionals have not generally recognised its true potential
and most manufacturing managers tend to regard it with great scepticism. In
our view, the system is very much the responsibility of the industrial engineer
and to a lesser degree the production engineer. Industrial engineering's raison
d'être remains the relationship between people and the workplace, and is
therefore, in our opinion, better equipped than any other discipline to face the
challenges laid down by the Andon system.

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Erratum
Owing to an unfortunate error the name of an author of an article
printed in Vol. 7 No. 5 1990 pp. 9-18 was omitted. The title of the
article was "Likelihood and Bayesian Estimation Methods for Poisson
Process Models in Software Reliability".

The authors should have read: M. Newby, Technical University of

Eindhoven, The Netherlands, B.D. Bunday and I.D. Al-Ayoubi,
Department of Mathematics, University of Bradford, UK.
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