May 12, 2021 (Virtual): Andon Cords & Driving a Culture of Experimentation (with Zack Ayers)

Explore the intersection of Leadership, Management, and Innovation

In this session, you’ll learn about one team’s struggle to improve collaboration and how they sought to shorten cycle time by carefully crafting an experiment with an Andon Cord. The Andon Cord is a Toyota innovation designed to empower front-line employees to recognize issues, initiate a stoppage of work, and work together identify a path forward. The emergency cable strung above assembly lines became a symbol of the Toyota Way, and has widely been copied throughout the auto industry and beyond.  

You’ll be introduced to metrics that show a surprising correlation between collaboration through Andon Cord pulls and Cycle Time!

Zack's Bio

Zack is an experienced Agile Practitioner at DMI (Digital Management, LLC) in Indianapolis. He's previously worked at Excella Consulting (Arlington, VA) with clients within the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, he served as an Agile Delivery Lead for Capital One's CreditWise product. A champion of continuous improvement, he's constantly pushing his teams to experiment and celebrate opportunities to learn. In his spare time, you'll find him spending time with his wife, two golden retrievers, and likely talking to someone about college hoops!

AGENDA