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Direct Definition: An Andon board is a visual management display located on the shop floor that signals the operational status of machines and work centres. It alerts supervisors and maintenance teams immediately when an operator encounters a quality issue, material shortage, or machine stoppage.
Originally developed in Japanese automotive facilities, the Andon board (Japanese for 'paper lantern') provides an instant visual alarm system across the production environment. It empowers operators to highlight disruptions immediately rather than allowing defects to compound downstream.
How Andon Systems Operate
Modern electronic Andon systems typically use colour codes to signal status across workshop bays:
- Green: Normal operating conditions; production running at target cycle time.
- Yellow: Caution; operator requires assistance, tooling check, or material replenishment.
- Red: Production stopped; immediate line stoppage due to machine fault or quality defect.
Digital Andon Integration
In digital shop floor environments, Andon alerts are integrated directly into scheduling dashboards and overhead monitors. When a machine is flagged as down, schedulers can immediately drag active jobs to alternative machines to protect customer delivery commitments.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the purpose of an Andon board?
- It provides immediate visual awareness of shop floor problems, allowing supervisors and maintenance to respond instantly before delays spread.
- What do the colours on an Andon display mean?
- Green indicates normal production, yellow signals an upcoming issue or material request, and red indicates an active line stoppage.
- How does Andon integrate with scheduling software?
- When a machine triggers an Andon alert, scheduling tools flag the bottleneck and allow planners to re-route pending jobs seamlessly.