Spaghetti diagrams are mainly used to identify opportunities and to remove the waste of unnecessary motion or transportation.
A spaghetti diagram (also known as a spaghetti chart or spaghetti plot) is a visual representation of a continuous flow line, tracing the path of an item or activity through a process.
Spaghetti plots are a great way of visualizing the unnecessary complexity of a workflow and to identify improvement opportunities for expediting process flow. The spaghetti diagram is a great Lean tool to use in conjunction with the Value Stream Mapping. It is also a great addition when implementing set in order (the second S of the 5S), as well as when implementing Quick Change Over (QCO).
Quick Change Over (QCO) is also known as Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED). When properly implemented, it can result in extremely fast setup times for equipment and processes. QCO reduces or eliminates the wastes of motion, waiting and inventory. QCO improves repeatability of changeover operations and generates confidence that a process will be producing quality parts within a few minutes.
To implement QCO you need to identify actions to convert internal to external time, next step being to identify techniques to reduce internal time. QCO increases flexibility to handle sudden changes in customer demand. Therefore, QCO makes it possible to go to leveled production (Heijunka), smaller lot sizes and reduced inventory.
Developed in Japan, 5S (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain) is a very powerful Lean tool. 5S is the foundation for future improvements and l was identified as one of the techniques that enables Just-in-Time (JIT) and waste reduction. In an well organized and maintained workplace, quality and safety are better. In a clean workplace problems stand out and wasteful situations become visible.
Originated in manufacturing 5S has been successfully implemented in service industry, education, government, healthcare and so on. 5S is a measure of how all employees support the process and allows quicker and more effective response to problems.
Here is a nice QCO (SMED) video from LeanVlog.