Heijunka production levelling poster

Heijunka is levelling production: making a little of every product often, in a repeating pattern, instead of long batches of one product at a time. Levelling cuts the stock that batches pile up, shortens the wait for every product and gives the line and its suppliers a steady load. This poster shows the same week made in batches and levelled, and five steps to start, from knowing the demand to holding the pattern.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 430 KB · no form

Free to print and share with your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Heijunka poster — 24 x 36 in18 x 24 inA2A3LetterA4PNG 300 dpi

The words on the poster

Heijunka: level the mix

Make a little of everything, often, instead of big batches of one.

The same week, two ways

Batches: AAAAAA BBBB CC B and C wait a long time. A piles up.
Levelled: ABACAB ABACAB Every product, every day. Steady work, less stock.

How to start

Know the demand Average volume and mix per product, over several weeks.
Set a repeating pattern The order products run in, every day or shift.
Cut changeover time Smaller batches need quicker changeovers.
Release work by pitch Fixed time slots, for example with a heijunka box.
Hold the pattern Absorb small swings with a little stock, not a new plan.

Definition after the Lean Lexicon (Lean Enterprise Institute).

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Heijunka production levelling poster to work

1
Put it in the planning office and next to the heijunka box, if you have one.
2
Use the two sequences to explain to schedulers why smaller batches need quicker changeovers.
3
Agree the pattern with the team, then track how often the plan breaks it.
4
Pair it with the free heijunka box planner and changeover matrix.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.

Sources and notes

Lean Enterprise Institute, Lean Lexicon: heijunka, levelling the type and quantity of production over a fixed period.
Taiichi Ohno, Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production (Productivity Press, 1988).