Visual Standards Pilot
Start With One Area. Build the Standard Around the Work.
You know something in the area is not working the way it should. Tools move. Different shifts have developed different routines. Supervisors keep correcting the same problems. Experienced employees know how the area is supposed to function, but much of that knowledge still lives in their heads.
What It Starts With
Start with one area. Learn what works. Then decide what deserves to scale.
You may know the problem without knowing exactly what the visual solution should look like. That is where the Visual Standards Pilot starts. We work with your operators, supervisors, and improvement team to understand one defined area, identify where the current standard breaks down, and translate the way the work should happen into a clear point-of-use visual system.
You Do Not Need to Have the Solution Figured Out
A Visual Standards Pilot begins earlier.
Many custom shadow board projects begin with a tool list, dimensions, and a clear idea of what needs to be built. A Visual Standards Pilot begins earlier.
You may be looking at an area where:
- Tools have assigned locations, but still migrate
- First, second, and third shift do things differently
- Supervisors repeat the same corrections
- New employees depend heavily on whoever trains them
- The original 5S standard has slowly changed over time
- Employees have created workarounds because the original layout no longer fits the work
- Cleaning, maintenance, changeover, or production equipment is difficult to verify at a glance
- You want to improve one area before repeating the approach across a department or facility
You already know what good work looks like. The challenge is turning that knowledge into a visual standard that can keep supporting the team after the improvement meeting is over.
Definition
What Is a Visual Standards Pilot?
A Visual Standards Pilot is a focused way to develop and test a custom visual management system in one defined work area before expanding it more broadly.
We start with the operation rather than a predetermined board configuration. That means looking at the people who use the area, the tools and equipment they need, how the work flows, what changes between shifts, where employees have adapted the process, and what supervisors currently have to reinforce manually.
From there, we develop the visual standard around the work. Depending on the application, the physical solution may include custom shadow boards, cleaning stations, mobile systems, safety centers, labeling, visual management boards, tool holders, color coding, or other point-of-use visual controls.
The product comes after we understand the problem.
Why Start With One Area
A smaller starting point gives your team room to get it right.
Large standardization efforts create pressure to make decisions early and replicate them quickly. That can become expensive when the first design is based on assumptions instead of the way people work every day.
A pilot gives you a defined place to learn. Your team can see the visual standard in context, identify friction, question assumptions, and determine what should be carried forward before the approach expands.
The goal is not to make one area look impressive. The goal is to develop a standard people can work with.
What We Look At
The board is only one part of the conversation.
Before we determine what should be built, we want to understand what is happening in the area today.
The work
- What happens here?
- What tools, supplies, equipment, or information are needed?
- What is used constantly and what is used occasionally?
- Where does the work begin and end?
The people
- Who uses the area?
- Do multiple shifts share it?
- Are there differences between experienced operators and newer employees?
- What have employees already changed because the existing setup gets in their way?
The current standard
- What belongs here?
- Where should it be?
- How is that expectation communicated today?
- Where does the standard depend on memory, training, signs, spreadsheets, or supervisor reminders?
The breakdowns
- What repeatedly goes missing, moves, gets borrowed, gets staged incorrectly, or creates confusion?
- Where does the team lose time?
- What does a supervisor have to keep correcting?
The environment
We consider space, access, reach, movement, cleaning requirements, mounting options, materials, traffic, equipment, and other conditions that affect how the system will be used.
Because a layout that works on a drawing still has to work at 2:00 on a busy Tuesday afternoon.
The Process
How the Visual Standards Pilot Works
- 1
Define the Area and the Problem
We begin with a conversation about what you are trying to improve. You can share photos, videos, tool information, layouts, existing standards, SOPs, measurements, or simply walk us through what is happening today. You do not need to prepare a perfect specification before we talk. We help determine what information is needed to move forward.
- 2
Learn How the Work Happens
This is where operator and supervisor input matters. The people closest to the work often know the little things that never make it into a procedure. The awkward reach. The tool someone borrows every afternoon. The item that technically belongs in one location but gets moved because the location does not make sense. The difference between how the process was designed and how it works under real production conditions. Those details matter.
- 3
Design the Visual Standard
We translate what we learn into a visual system built around the actual tools, workflow, users, environment, and approved standard. The goal is to make the expected condition easier to recognize and maintain at the point of work.
- Custom tool shadow boards
- Industrial cleaning stations
- Food-safe cleaning stations
- Mobile shadow board carts
- PPE and safety centers
- Visual management boards
- Custom labels and identification
- Tool holders, clips, hooks, shelves, baskets, or magnets
- Department or zone color standards
- Planning for Multiple Departments or Facilities — If the challenge extends beyond one area, we can use the Pilot to establish the visual logic, test what works, and identify what should remain consistent before expanding across departments or locations.
- 4
Review It With the People Who Will Use It
Your team reviews the design before fabrication. This is the time to catch the things that look fine on paper but will create friction in daily use. If something needs to change, we want to discover it here.
- Can employees reach what they need?
- Does the layout follow the work?
- Is the visual logic clear?
- Did we account for differences between shifts?
- Are we creating a standard people can follow without adding unnecessary steps?
- 5
Fabricate and Implement the Approved System
Once the design and project scope are approved, we fabricate the physical visual system and prepare it for the agreed installation approach. Support is matched to the project and facility requirements.
- 6
Learn Before You Replicate
One of the most valuable questions comes after the system reaches the work area: What did we learn? The answers help determine whether the next step is another work area, a full department, multiple shifts, or a broader facility standardization effort.
Who Is the Visual Standards Pilot For?
A good fit when the problem is clear, but the solution is not fully defined.
The Visual Standards Pilot may be a good starting point for:
Continuous Improvement Leaders
You have already completed improvement work, but certain standards still require more supervisor attention than they should.
Plant and Operations Leaders
You want more consistency across people or shifts without forcing a generic solution onto the work.
Maintenance Teams
Tools move, incomplete sets slow response, or too much knowledge depends on experienced technicians.
Food and Beverage Operations
You need clearer sanitation-tool ownership, zoning, point-of-use organization, or visual controls designed around the operating environment.
Production and Manufacturing Teams
Changeovers, setup tools, shared equipment, or work-area standards vary depending on who is working.
Multi-Site Organizations
You want to develop and learn from a workable standard before asking multiple facilities to adopt it.
What This Is Not
The Pilot is not a 5S event disguised as a product sale.
We are not arriving with a generic layout and asking your team to adapt around it. We are also not asking you to redesign your entire facility before you know whether the approach fits your operation.
Your team already has process knowledge. Our job is to help make more of that knowledge visible at the point of work, then build the physical system around the standard your operation needs.
What Makes This Different
What Makes This Different From Ordering a Custom Shadow Board?
If you already know the tools, location, dimensions, quantity, and configuration you need, you may not need a Visual Standards Pilot. A custom shadow board project starts with a fairly defined physical need. We help you design and fabricate the solution around your tools and requirements.
A Visual Standards Pilot starts with an operational problem. We spend more time understanding why the current condition is difficult to maintain before determining the physical solution. Both can lead to a custom visual system. The difference is where we begin.
Already know exactly what you need? Request a Custom Quote.
Built for Real Conditions
Built for Real Manufacturing Conditions
A standard has to work when production gets busy.
- Your employees will eventually be short-handed.
- A new person will join the team.
- Someone will borrow a tool.
- A process will change.
- A supervisor who helped develop the original standard will move into another role.
That is normal manufacturing. A good visual standard should make those changes easier to absorb without requiring the operation to depend on one experienced person remembering how everything is supposed to work. That is why we care about operator input, placement, access, visual logic, materials, ownership, and the small details that determine whether a system becomes part of the work or eventually gets worked around.
Scale With Logic
From One Area to a Repeatable Standard
A successful pilot does not automatically mean every department should receive an identical system. The work may differ. The tools may differ. The risks may differ. The environment may differ. What can become consistent is the logic behind the standard.
- How locations are identified
- How missing conditions become visible
- How color is used
- How employees interact with the system
- How ownership is communicated
- How changes are incorporated
That creates consistency without forcing every area into a layout that does not fit. For organizations considering department-wide, facility-wide, or multi-site visual standardization, the Pilot provides a practical place to begin.
Start Small
You Do Not Have to Start With a Facility-Wide Commitment
You may have ten areas that need attention. We can still start with one. Choose an area where the current condition creates enough friction that your team will know whether the new approach is helping.
Build the standard around the people doing the work. Put it into the real environment. Learn from it. Then make the next decision with better information.
Where to Begin
Start With the Area Your Team Is Tired of Fixing
Tell us what keeps happening, what your team has already tried, and what you would like to work differently. You do not need to know what the board should look like. That is part of the work we do together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Pilot.
Ready to Start With One Area?
You do not need another initiative that looks good during rollout and becomes difficult to sustain once attention moves elsewhere. Start with a problem your team already understands, and we will help you turn that knowledge into a visual standard designed around the people, tools, workflow, and conditions of the work.
Woman-Owned | Lean Six Sigma Black Belt | Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota