Skip to content
LeanSuite

Free template

Updated

Just Do It (JDI) card template

A Just Do It, or JDI, is a small improvement that the person who spots a problem can make straight away: no project, no analysis and no approval beyond a word with the supervisor. Moving a bin closer, labeling a shelf or adding a hook for a tool are typical. A JDI card records it in a few lines so the fix is seen, copied by other shifts and counted. Page 1 of this template has six cards to cut out, each with the area, date, before, what was done, after, who did it, the time and the cost. Page 2 sets out what counts as a JDI, with a blank for your own cost limit, and a log of every card.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the Just Do It cardsSix cut-out cards on one sheet, each with fields for area and date, lines for before, what was done and after, fields for who did it, the time and the cost, and tick boxes for supervisor knew, standard updated and logged.
Six cards per sheetBefore, done, afterWho, time and costWhat counts as a JDIJDI logMonthly totals

When to use it

When to use a Just Do It card

  • When the fix is obvious, small and in the team's own hands, so a kaizen or an A3 would be too much.
  • To record quick fixes found on a gemba walk, a 5S round or in a daily huddle.
  • To get more people making small improvements, and to show the fixes on the team board.
  • Not for anything that changes a safety device, a customer requirement or a controlled standard: that needs its owner.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Agree the limits

    Write your cost limit on page 2 and agree what needs the owner's say. Post the rules next to the cards.
  2. 2

    Check with the supervisor

    A quick word before starting avoids clashes with other work and with the standards.
  3. 3

    Fill in the before

    Write what was wrong in a line or two, or take a photo, before you change anything.
  4. 4

    Make the fix

    Do it, then write what was done and the result, with the time it took and any cost.
  5. 5

    Post and log it

    Put the card on the team board and add it to the log. Tick standard updated if a work instruction or a label changed.
  6. 6

    Look at the log each month

    Count the JDIs and who made them. A fix that keeps coming back points to a cause worth a quick kaizen.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: a machining cell tried JDI cards for a month, with a cost limit of $200 set by the area manager.

The example month of JDI cards

  • Wrote at least one card: 9 people
  • Not yet: 5 people
22 cards from 9 of the 14 people in the cell, for $340 in all, with a $200 cost limit set by the area manager. Three cards were the same fix, so it went to the other two cells.
  • 22 cards from 9 of the 14 people in the cell.
  • Typical fixes: outlines on the shadow board for the deburring tools, a second hook for air guns, a label on each coolant tap and a bin moved to the point of use.
  • Total spend $340, most of it on hooks, labels and a small shelf.
  • Three cards were the same fix on different machines, so the team copied it to the other two cells.

The cards stayed on the board for a week before going into the file, and the log gave the team a simple count of improvements to review at the monthly meeting.

Common mistakes

  • No limits

    Without an agreed cost and scope, JDIs either stall waiting for approval or turn into changes nobody signed off. Set the limits first.

  • Fixing the same thing every week

    If the same JDI keeps coming back, the cause is still there. Move it to a quick kaizen or a 5 Whys.

  • Skipping the before

    Without a note or a photo of the before, nobody can see what changed. Write it first.

  • Cards that vanish

    A card in a drawer does nothing. Post it where the team and the other shifts will see it.

  • Changing a standard quietly

    If a JDI changes how the job is done, update the work instruction or the label and tell every shift.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite a reviewer can add an implementor and mark an idea complete, or start a Kaizen project from it with the link to the original idea kept, and points can be set for submitting, for approval and for the savings once it is in place.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Just Do It (JDI) card template: common questions

  1. A small improvement that the person who finds a problem can make right away, without a project or a formal analysis. It is the smallest kind of kaizen: an obvious fix, at low cost, within the team's own control.

  2. A JDI needs no analysis, because the cause and the fix are obvious. A quick kaizen finds the root cause first and usually takes a small team a few days. A kaizen event is a planned week of work on a bigger problem.

  3. Anyone in the area, as long as the fix is within the agreed limits and the supervisor knows. Fixes that touch safety devices, customer requirements or controlled standards go to their owner.

  4. Your site decides. Set a limit low enough that nobody needs a purchase approval, write it on the rules and review it after a few months.

  5. Yes, lightly. A log shows how many fixes the team makes, spreads the good ones to other shifts and shows repeat problems that need a proper look.

More free templates

All templates
Browse all 278 templates

Can't find the template you need?

Tell us what you're looking for. We'll make it and send it to your inbox, free.

A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.

By sending this form you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Pass it on

We want LeanSuite to be the best place on the internet for lean help. If this was useful, send it to someone on your team or in your network who needs it.