What is the “Yatai” Flexible Manufacturing System?

How Manufacturers Can Learn From Japanese Street Vendors

Manufacturing has used several buzzwords to describe the same value, “flexibility.” And the newest trend in flexible manufacturing? The “Yatai” system.

What is The “Yatai” Flexible Manufacturing System?

“Yatai” is the Japanese word for “food cart,” a highly portable, compact, wheeled food stand that is easy to transport from location to location. These food carts, small as they are, contain all of the essentials needed to create various delicacies with lightning-quick efficiency. In this sense, this mode of operation is compatible with Lean Manufacturing — a means of production that only uses the bare minimum necessary to create a product.

Adopting this business model of the “yatai,” companies like Mitsubishi have been able to create portable, manufacturing workstations that execute on the same principles of “creating more with less.”

How Does it Work?

The secret to the yatai system is the cart. On portable, wheeled carts, each employee has access to all the tools they need to create a product at any manufacturing stage. In Mitsubishi’s case, these stations are deployed to create air conditioning units on the fly.

These portable stations include many tools used regularly by staff, space for a unit to be worked on, and sometimes even a portable computer to aid in software applications and more.

Another critical factor of this flexible manufacturing system is the calendars used to manage which stations are being used to create which products.

With a quickly scannable, easy-to-digest readout of how many stations are on hand to deal with what product, changes in workstation and worker allocation to meet sudden orders or shifts in demand become much more manageable.

What are the Benefits?

Multi-Function Workstations

With workstations that have the tools necessary to run several different operations, workers can quickly pivot to new functions as soon as they become needed.

For example, a 3d printing company has also decided to produce PPE for healthcare providers to aid in the pandemic response. If a workstation is designed using the “yatai” flexible manufacturing system, tools needed to develop both of these products can be outfitted onto the same cart. And if not, they can quickly be wheeled to supply storage and re-outfitted with necessary tools at a moment’s notice. And once they are swapped to help produce a different product, that status can quickly be recorded on the live-updated calendar tracking all of the stations. This multifunctionality makes the “yatai” cart systems incredibly versatile, especially for businesses that create more than one good or product.

Easier Customization of Products

Create products that often need to be modified or customized to meet individual customer needs, for example, a computer whose specs need to be modified to meet each customer’s unique requirements. The “yatai” flexible manufacturing system can be handy as well.

With all of the tools needed to open up a product and modify it to customer specifications available on the cart itself, workers can get to work modifying standard units wherever and whenever necessary.

What Will You Need?

Communication Systems

We discussed earlier the importance behind the calendars used to track which workstations are being used for which purpose. In many cases, these calendars can be swapped out for more sophisticated solutions such as manufacturing metric displays. Mounted at highly viewable points on the factory floor, these smart displays can be updated in real-time as workstations are swapped around and used for different purposes.

Portable Industrial Computers

Of course, these workstations won’t do you any good if the computers and devices they house aren’t up to snuff. Rugged industrial computers are incredibly compact and can be outfitted onto a cart with minimal real estate use. Additionally, these computers can be equipped with all peripherals such as RFID scanners that make logging into shared dashboards more streamlined.

Industrial grade tablets can also be deployed for an even more space-conscious workstation. Coupled with RFID scanning, these can also be used to scan inventory in and out from the same workstation, meaning more reactive supply coverage and demand responses.

Become Flexible With Where You Take Inspiration for Your Flexible Manufacturing System

Mitsubishi has shown manufacturers that it is possible to draw inspiration from unique places. The age of manufacturing’s status quo has long since ended. A weakening labor pool and increasingly more difficult bar of entry set the stage for that end and 2020 was the final nail in the coffin. Learning to adapt and incorporate lessons learned from other, more successful industries into the way you manufacture may make the difference between whether or not you see success in 2021 and beyond. For more information on the computers and hardware you’ll need to make those adaptations, contact an expert from Cybernet today.