Andon cords push decisions down the chain
The Andon cord was a rope that hung in Toyota (Toyota Production System) factories. When pulled, it would stop all work on the assembly line.
The cord is a form of Jidoka, the idea that by stopping the system you can improve instead of letting a defect move down the line.
| The connection might not be very apparent, but this pushes decisions down the chain. It is decentralized command (Four laws of combat). It also puts the [[The five elements of an organization that can exploit OODA loops | Fingerspitzengefühl]] of the workers to the maximum use. |
The people on the floor understand the details better unlike the high modernist manager with a spreadsheet. When a leader arrives the cord-puller is ALWAYS thanked. No fear for stopping the line. Instead an appreciation for saving a customer from a defect and giving the company a chance to improve.
A modern example of a similar system is Amazon’s Customer Service Andon Cord: When a customer calls to report a problem or defect in a product, the rep has the ability to “pull the cord” and completely remove the product from distribution until the problem has been fixed.
References: https://taylorpearson.me/interestingtimes/andon-cord/
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