Some People are So Organized

[Belinda Barfield]

Today's task - cutting toolbox foam. I only wish I could be this organized!:rolleyes:

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[Dan Hintz]

If you're really bored, you could paint each insert to look like the tool that replaces it :)

[Belinda Barfield]

Since I have to watch the foam every second I was wishing earlier that I had some paint drying that I could watch as well. You may be on to something Dan!

[Shawn Pixley]

Belinda,

I am with you. That would just kill me. And I think of myself as a pretty organized, self disciplined person.

[Lee Koepke]

HAHA.

There's no way that would ever work in my shop.

[Jim Rimmer]

HAHA.

There's no way that would ever work in my shop.

For me it would be a good way to show what i didn't put up after I used it.

[Belinda Barfield]

For me it would be a good way to show what i didn't put up after I used it.

Pretty much, that's the purpose Jim. If you work for the company I'm cutting the foam for all tools must be accounted for and stored at the end of your shift. These sheets are reverse cut. The paper is peel away for adhesive. The cut foam adheres to a solid sheet of contrasting color foam for visibility. The one shown is one of six per tool box.

[mickey cassiba]

If you're really bored, you could paint each insert to look like the tool that replaces it :)

But how would you know if the tool was in or out?:eek:

[Kent A Bathurst]

In the science fo manufacturing operations improvements, there is a big set of knowledge - many, many bookshelves full, some are even by guys that know what they are talking about. Within all of that, there are specific areas, with sub-areas, and sub-sub-areas - actually, building blocks where you gotta start, so you can lay a solid foundation, and build you way up. One of these is known as 5S. One of the 5 deals with organization. That is what Belinda is helping with.

Belinda is correct - this allows the tools to be accounted for, but that is actually understating the importance by quite a bit. If I may.......

When you're working, if specific tools are stored nearby, and are always in their correct storage spot, the amount of eliminated wasted time is pretty staggering - especially if you go for those tools continually throughout the day. If you save "only a few lousy seconds" each time, that's nothing - until you do it a few hundred times per day - then that's something. [and you were laughing at the photos of my anal tool storage, weren't you? c'mon - admit it]. The productivity is certainly important - if the competition is always more productive than you - you're toast; however, also important is simply the frustration factor - humans simply get metally worn out when they are constantly interrupted by nonsense.

Next - it absolutely does help to make sure everything got put back away at the end of the shift, because......

When the next shift starts up, they need the tools. If it is a shift different than yours, then that poor guy or gal didn't just use the tool, and they have no idea where to start looking. And, if there is no organizaiton, they could find out it is missing when they are in the middle of a critical task, or a time-constrained task.......and the whole thing blows up in your, or the factory's, face becaause it took 10 minutes. That means.....

Of critical value is the fact that I can walk into my workplace and see at a glance that all is copacetic, and I am ready to launch. If something is missing, I see it right away, and can get it resolved before starting - no good in launching only to find that the hatch wasn't closed. Which brings me to.......

A subtle point. While Dan's observation: "you could paint each insert to look like the tool that replaces it" sounds pretty darn smart, it actually turns out to be the very last thing you would want to do in a manufacturing environment. The outline/border tells you what goes in the spot. You want to see at a glance that something is not there. If the background image matches the tool itself, that's camouflaging the problem. What you really want to do is paint the background red, or hunter's orange, so that when the tool is not in it's place, a quick glance yells danger-danger-danger - even to the department lead person or supervisor from across the way.

We now return you to your previously scheduled programming...........

[Dan Hintz]

Kent,

I was being facetious about the painting part, certainly... my father's old basement workshop used pegboard with outlines of the tools. You knew what wasn't put back with one glance. Late last year I finally picked up a rolling toolbox to hold everything I had, rather than multiple handheld boxes with varying selections of tools in them. Now I know exactly where to go and what drawer to open to find a screwdriver... all pliers go here, all drill bits go there, etc. Saves a LOT of time.

[Jim Rimmer]

Like Dan, I was being kind of a smart aleck, too. Much earlier in my career I worked as an electronic tech in a machine shop with lots of large CNC machines. I had a roll around tool box and had tool holders in every drawer so that at the end of a repair job I could look in each drawer and see at a glance if I had left a tool somewhere in the machine that could later cause a major catastrophe. Even though I was primarily an electronics tech i got involved in mechanical repairs as well so I had the full complement of wrenches, screwdrivers, etc and it was nice to be able to do a visual inventory very quickly.

The tools were company owned and when I moved on from that job there was quite a fight over who would get my toolbox.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent,

I was being facetious about the painting part, certainly... my father's old basement workshop used pegboard with outlines of the tools. You knew what wasn't put back with one glance. Late last year I finally picked up a rolling toolbox to hold everything I had, rather than multiple handheld boxes with varying selections of tools in them. Now I know exactly where to go and what drawer to open to find a screwdriver... all pliers go here, all drill bits go there, etc. Saves a LOT of time.

Dan - I wasn't disagreeing with you at all - I was translating your comment into a manufacturing environment, and using it as a step up onto my soapbox...:D....to illustrate an instructional point that I used to make in my professional life - and explain what Belinda's client is [hopefully] going to do with her products. I have seen operations where they did precisely what you said - and they were terribly proud of how well they mimicked the actual tools. By the time I left, they'd had to repaint - I was off someone's Christmas card list, that's for sure.

I don't think I came across exactly how I was trying to, in which case that was my mistake.

[mickey cassiba]

Kent, in the early nineties, 5S became a reality for us at Porter Cable. Back in the screw machie shop, where all the little basic parts of the tools were made, literally tons of change gears for the little single spindles were deemed 'unnecessary' by the junior engineers, and disposed of. All of our versatile little Browne & Sharpes were reduced to single purpose machines. This came back to bite them in the rear, as models were added to the line-up, and design specs changed. There was a great investment in little CNC lathes after that...one of the contributing factors to PC's inability to compete. But all the little toolboards were cute. Later, all of us machinists were required to remove our toolboxes from the building to further 'standardize' the work area. This was more a hindrance, than a help, as most of us had our own shop made setting gages, and weird little goose necked wrenches that we used to reach difficult areas in the old multispindle screw machines. My first job at PC was to run a 8 spindle screw machine that churned out the locking rings for the router template guides at the rate of one every 7 seconds. 5S has it's place though...over on the assembly side of the plant when each workstation was reduced to the two or three tools that that operation required, clutter and thus, disorganization was greatly reduced. My tool box is cluttered to this day, but I can still lay my hands on a required tool rather quickly. I once tried the cut able foam liners in my drawers, but the cutouts were a great place for chips to collect. I can't begin to count how many times I cut my fingertips trying to pluck a wrench from it's custom cubby. I finally did away with the whole mess.

[Belinda Barfield]

Thanks for the explanation, Kent. I was trying to keep it simple!;) The underlying sheet of foam is yellow. Another thing this set up eliminates is tools walking out of the facility.

The company I'm cutting the sheets for has taken things a step further. If an employee removes a tool he/she places a photo ID chit in the space. That way you know the last person who used the tool and where to start looking.

[Lee Koepke]

Thanks for the information Kent.

I do endeavor to follow that philosophy. I find myself making an effort, and I am about 80% successful, 50% of the time .... but I am getting better.

[DOUG ANGEL]

The aviation industry uses standardized tool boxes and tool bags. To check out a tool box or bag, one signs for it on a tool log, inventories the tool box or bag, and then signs the tool inventory log that lives in the tool box or bag. At the end of a shift, 3 persons have to individually sign your tool inventory log to certify that all tools are present. If this sound like a waste of time to you, or excessively anal, remember that there are no parking spaces at 20,000 feet!
I have one tool box for working aircraft, and a smaller one for my cars. EVERY tool in the aircraft tool box has my tool ID etched on it and resides in a foam cut out. I used a red felt tip pen in the cut out recess to draw attention to tools in use ( or lost ). The other box for my cars is only organized as to tool type, and all the tools are just thrown in the drawers.
Since my company decided to provide all tools for work, my aircraft electrician tool box resides in my garage now. It contains a lot of Expensive specialized tools, and just about all the tools needed for maintenance on my cars and wood working machines. Which tool box do you think I look in first for a tool?

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent, in the early nineties, 5S became a reality for us at Porter Cable. Back in the screw machie shop, where all the little basic parts of the tools were made, literally tons of change gears for the little single spindles were deemed 'unnecessary' by the junior engineers, and disposed of. All of our versatile little Browne & Sharpes were reduced to single purpose machines. This came back to bite them in the rear, as models were added to the line-up, and design specs changed. There was a great investment in little CNC lathes after that...one of the contributing factors to PC's inability to compete. But all the little toolboards were cute. Later, all of us machinists were required to remove our toolboxes from the building to further 'standardize' the work area. This was more a hindrance, than a help, as most of us had our own shop made setting gages, and weird little goose necked wrenches that we used to reach difficult areas in the old multispindle screw machines. My first job at PC was to run a 8 spindle screw machine that churned out the locking rings for the router template guides at the rate of one every 7 seconds. 5S has it's place though...over on the assembly side of the plant when each workstation was reduced to the two or three tools that that operation required, clutter and thus, disorganization was greatly reduced. My tool box is cluttered to this day, but I can still lay my hands on a required tool rather quickly. I once tried the cut able foam liners in my drawers, but the cutouts were a great place for chips to collect. I can't begin to count how many times I cut my fingertips trying to pluck a wrench from it's custom cubby. I finally did away with the whole mess.

Mickey - You have done an excellent job of explaining the impact of a poorly planned and executed process. The fact that it failed is not a failure of the philosophy nor the potential it holds - including on the machining side of an operation - it is an indictment of lousy management who could not break their bonds to top-down management, and simply "did not get it". If I were to write a list of "what's wrong with this picture", it would take me all weekend, so I'll pass. I will say this much though - the sheer amount and quality of time required in small-group training and 2-way discussions is what the failed morons of the world always try to short-cut [sending in a bunch of junior engineers to implement is classic], and once they go down that road, it is very diffficult and costly to try to get the pins back in all those grenades as they are exploding all around you - as you correctly noted.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Thanks for the information Kent.

I do endeavor to follow that philosophy. I find myself making an effort, and I am about 80% successful, 50% of the time .... but I am getting better.

Lee - 80% @ 50% easily puts you in the upper quartile. The real "trick" to the game IMO goes kinda like this: When you have something in your hand that you are done with [for now] you have to put it down somewhere. If it is just as easy to put it down in the correct place as it is to put down in the wrong place, then the path of least resistance is your friend. Which explains, for example, the handsaw setup in my photos - when I grab one of those western saws, I grab it with my hand and fingers in the precise orientation that I hold it when making dust - and that's also my hold as I turn to put it away - I have to make a 180* pivot, but I don't have to take any steps.

Even in my silly little workshop, tools [chisels, hammers, planes, layout + marking stuff] come off the wall at a tremendous speed. In the grand cycle of things, it all eventually has to go back at the same speed, or I can never find it, and my workspace becomes nothing more than a stuff-holder. I keep the "immediate-use' stuff on the bench of course, but will frequently grab one or two handfulls and turn around to re-file them in their cubbyholes. Plus - with the stuff we all use, those razor-sharp edges will (a) get nicked, or (b) draw blood, or (c) all of the above, if they become part of a pile.

I freely admit that my emphasis on this stuff here at home is just in my DNA - I can't not do it this way.

[Belinda Barfield]

I'm an everything has a place type of person. The scissors live in the top drawer, under the DVD player. So does the Scotch tape. I get VERY irritated when I look for the scissors and the last person to use them did not return them to the drawer. As Kent said, it's just as easy to put something away as to not do so. What really gets me is when I spen an hour putting someone else's things away before I can clean house.

[David Nelson1]

1+ Doug 38 years in aviation, I do remember life before mandatory tool control. We thought it was a crock of crap. Turns out it saved money by not having stuff walk out the door as well as lives since the tools didn't have the opportunity to become FOD. (Foreign Object Damage) The only concept that has changed since the mid seventies is the absences of the reflective tape wrap around tool handles. The tape actually turn out to be the FOD more than the tools did.

[John Tolman]

Does anyone have an idea what type of foam is ideal for this application and also laser cuttable? Adhesive backed would be even nicer, but just a idea of what to look for would be awesome.

I'd like to do this for my own tool storage.

[Patrick McCarthy]

"I'd like to do this for my own tool storage."

Well Belinda, see what ya started now??? I better go find some foam . . . . . .

[Myk Rian]

I don't have any tools worthy of the effort.

[Randal Stevenson]

Does anyone have an idea what type of foam is ideal for this application and also laser cuttable? Adhesive backed would be even nicer, but just a idea of what to look for would be awesome.

I'd like to do this for my own tool storage.
Polyethylene foam is what is commonly used. Although you might find it better cost wise, to find some inexpensive yoga mats.

[Belinda Barfield]

John, sorry my inbox was full. I dumped some messages so if you need to, PM me. The foam is supplied to me by the customer and he gets it from Snap-on tools I'm pretty sure. It is adhesive backed.

[Belinda Barfield]

Those of you with aviation experience might find it interesting to know that the foam will house the tools that are building Gulfstream 650s. :D

[John Tolman]

Perfect, thanks. I'll see what Snap-on has as well as McMaster. The adhesive back would be nice, to stick it to a contrasting base.

Now I just need to figure out a quick and easy way to get the tool silhouettes into a drawing. I'm thinking a flatbed scanner might work well.


Polyethylene foam is what is commonly used. Although you might find it better cost wise, to find some inexpensive yoga mats.


John, sorry my inbox was full. I dumped some messages so if you need to, PM me. The foam is supplied to me by the customer and he gets it from Snap-on tools I'm pretty sure. It is adhesive backed.

[John Tolman]

I thought it was interesting that the wikipedia article on 5S specifically had a photo of a cut foam toolbox organizer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5S_(methodology)

I could definitely use this organization, I hate how much time I always waste looking for one particular tool, and all the tools I end up losing because they have no set place to go.

[Brian Elfert]

In high school wood shop we had a enclosed tool cage with a specific place for each and every tool. The teacher did a quick check at the end of every class to make sure everything had been returned to the tool cage. I have no idea why they spent all the money on the cage part as I am not aware of a time it was ever actually locked.

[Mike Cozad]

Lista is one company that sells this type of item that can be cut by the consumer to match their needs. As a Continuous Improvement professional I live and breathe Lean Manufacturing Principles, especially 5S. The link below shows some of their products. I have duplicated this much less expensively buying closed cell foam from alternate suplliers in rolls and making my own sandwiches in the colors that matched the particular company's color standards.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=lista%20foam%20drawer%20liners&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.custom-products.com%2FIndustrial.nsf%2Fget%2FPDF-Default-LISTA%2BCATALOGS%2F%24file%2FFoam%2520Drawer%2520L iner%2520flyer.pdf&ei=jRj7UKSBNMf6qwH77IDIAg&usg=AFQjCNFFSoFVzMGaxZ9qLZFEgMKMlmJmnA&sig2=ymRCrBkk34_CUI1r0gpD0w .

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Belinda
Yes Boeing does the same. You have to push a 400 lb roll-away to any job you are going to work. Then after job's complete do a inventory all 200 tools stored in toolbox. B747-8, B777-300 & 777-200F, and B767-300 and coming soon to PDX B787. Tom PS I'm lucky I do not have to do the inventory.

[Kevin Nathanson]

I agree, some people are just ridiculous about shop organization!

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Uh, I just thought you might want to see what they look like when they are full...

:D

K

[Brian Elfert]

I agree, some people are just ridiculous about shop organization!

251754251755251756251759

Uh, I just thought you might want to see what they look like when they are full...


Very cool. I assume you had to pay someone to cut the foam? What happens when you decide to add a tool, or you break something and the replacement isn't quite the same? (You shouldn't lose anything with this system in theory at least.)

[Kevin Nathanson]

People who know me know that I seldom pay anyone to do something for my shop because I'm tigh, er, chea, er, frugal.

I cut it by hand, first with artist's paper (thick stuff) spray glued to the foam to trace the tools onto, then cut out with an x-acto knife, and finally routed out with a dremel router and a pointy, long, diamond-grit bit, using the paper as a rub template, which actually works surprisingly well. After that, I just laminated the black and red pieces together with a heat gun.

If I add a tool, it's easy. I just have to get another Snap-On box, and then... OK. Not CHEAP, but relatively easy!

This box is pretty much full, and most of the tools are pretty established sizewise, so breakage, at least so far, hasn't been a problem. I'm sure it will be someday, and then I'll just take the dremel out and start over.

Hmm... Now where the heck did I put it?

K

[Stephen Tashiro]

In the science fo manufacturing operations improvements, there is a big set of knowledge - many, many bookshelves full, some are even by guys that know what they are talking about..

If they were applying science to manufacturing operations, it looks like they'd come up with more sophisticated tools that ones that fit into that foam. What sophisticated manufacturing is being done with a set of hand chisels, an awl and a ball peen hammer?

[john flynn657]

Oh my i can relate. Thanks for sharing this.

[Brian Elfert]

I cut it by hand, first with artist's paper (thick stuff) spray glued to the foam to trace the tools onto, then cut out with an x-acto knife, and finally routed out with a dremel router and a pointy, long, diamond-grit bit, using the paper as a rub template, which actually works surprisingly well. After that, I just laminated the black and red pieces together with a heat gun.


I break out in a sweat just thinking about how many hours you must have put into cutting all that foam. Why the need for the Dremel? Won't the X-acto just cut all the way through the foam? You probably have a lot of hours into just arranging the tools for the best fit.

I'm pretty sure I'll be that organized, but it would be nice. Rather than a Snap-On type tool chest I'm thinking about building a hanging wall cabinet for my tools. No way can I afford even a used Snap-On.

[Kevin Nathanson]

Let this be known: I'm cheap. It was DEFINITELY a used Snap-on. While not inexpensive, it wasn't as ridiculous as you might think. There are lots of them out there, purchased by people who had no business buying them just because Snap-on extended them credit. (I can do a solid five-minute rant on the corrupt business practices of tool truck companies; I'll spare you the rest...) They can easily be bought for 50% or less off of retail, even when they are only a few months old. One hint; Snap-on doesn't give the owner both keys until the box is paid for. If you ever buy one, make sure you can get BOTH keys; it's the only effective way to know whether or not you are receiving stolen goods!

It takes about three to four solid hours of work to do a "busy" drawer, like the wrenches.

An x-acto is "supposed" to work, but I found that I got way too much tear-out with it and I wasn't able to get the clean edge I wanted. I think this is why the pros do it with laser; it's clean. Layout gets agonized over for a week or two before you start. I would just set all the tools on a tool box drawer liner on the floor and just keep looking at it on and off for at least a week; change it, change it again, and again, until I had a eureka moment and I was confident it was the most efficient layout. Then take a picture of it, attach the paper to the foam, lay it back out and trace.

K

[Brian Elfert]

Even used Snap-On tool boxes are too rich for my blood. It is fairly rare to see one for much under $1000. Any of them that are even half way affordable are usually pretty well destroyed.

I like the Masterforce tool boxes sold by Menards and have been looking at them. They go on sale for around 20% off every few months. Probably not as nice as a Snap-On, but I don't make my living with tools either.

[Matt Meiser]

The big Harbor Freight ones get good reviews too.

[Brian Elfert]

What happened to the post of the blue wall cabinets? I was going to ask the poster where they got the white clips to hold the like the Channel locks.

[Charles McKinley]

Make sure you get a receipt for ALL your payments to the tool truck. My cousin was turned down for a loan because the tool guy was pocketing their payment and turned it in to the company as in default! I believe the tool guy went to jail as my cousin had all the canceled checks for the payments and they weren't the only ones he was ripping off.

Parts-a-ramma type car events are a good place to get tool boxes.