In manufacturing, having the right information at your fingertips can make all the difference. That’s where one-point lessons (OPLs) come in – simple, visual, and straight to the point. Whether it’s a quick safety reminder or a tip to avoid a common mistake, OPLs are like handy cheat sheets that keep your team running smoothly. In this blog, we’ll explore how OPLs can streamline your operations, enhance efficiency, and bring clarity to the shop floor. Ready to see how they work their magic? Let’s dive in!
What Is a One Point Lesson?
A one-point lesson (OPL) is a concise, visual training aid designed to communicate key information about a specific topic, task, or procedure.
An OPL, or single-point lesson, focuses on one area of improvement, safety precaution, or operational guideline, making it easy for workers to quickly understand and apply the lesson. These lessons are typically short, clear, and highly visual (about 20% text, 80% imagery).
One-point lessons are commonly used in manufacturing environments to enhance knowledge sharing, support continuous improvement, and standardize best practices across teams. They are particularly effective for introducing new methods, addressing common mistakes, or reinforcing important safety or quality procedures.
On the shop floor, one-point lessons are typically placed in accessible locations such as entrances and exits, as well as near workstations or machinery.
The ideal one point lesson format should be:
- Simple: Easy to understand at a glance.
- Visual: Uses images or diagrams for clarity.
- Targeted: Focuses on one specific task or topic.
- Accessible: Placed where it’s easily seen and referenced during work.
One Point Lesson Examples
One point lesson examples pop up in all sorts of areas like quality control, managing inventory, inspections, and keeping equipment running smoothly.
Basics
Introducing New Procedures or Standards
When a new process, tool, or standard is introduced, OPLs simplify the communication of key points to ensure workers understand and implement the changes efficiently.
Sharing Best Practices
OPLs are useful for sharing effective tips, best practices, or small improvements that have been identified on the shop floor to enhance quality or operational efficiency.
Safety
Reinforcing Safety Practices
OPLs are often used to highlight critical safety measures, especially if a specific hazard has been identified, or if a procedure needs a reminder for compliance.
On-the-job safety training
OPLs are incredibly useful in on-the-job training sessions as they provide quick, practical safety tips. This is especially important for tasks like machine guarding and chemical handling.
Problems
Troubleshooting
When a recurring issue is identified, OPLs provide a quick reference guide for troubleshooting or resolving the problem.
Improvement
Training for Minor Tasks or Adjustments
OPLs can be used to train employees on small but important adjustments or tasks that don’t require extensive training programs.
Correcting Common Mistakes
OPLs help address frequently made mistakes by clearly outlining the correct procedures, reducing the likelihood of errors and ensuring consistency across the team.
One Point Lesson Template
By using a clear and minimal one-point lesson template, the OPL focuses on delivering a single, key message, ensuring it can be quickly understood and easily referenced on the shop floor. This simple structure ensures that lessons remain consistent, targeted, and effective for immediate application, making them practical and easy to implement in real-time situations.
A one point lesson format should always contain:
- Location: Specify the area or department where the OPL applies.
- Topic: Clearly identify the subject of the lesson.
- Area/Line: Indicate the specific area or production line involved.
- Type: Label the OPL as focusing on either a basic procedure, safety, a problem, or an improvement.
- Visuals: Include “wrong” and “right” visuals to show the correct and incorrect ways to perform the task.
- Created/Approved by: List the individuals responsible for creating and approving the OPL.
- Date & OPL Number: Include the revision number and the date of the OPL.
By following this format, a one-point lesson can communicate critical information quickly and effectively on the shop floor. This OPL template can easily be tweaked for safety, quality, maintenance, and other areas.
One Point Lessons vs SOPs
OPLs are closely related to standard operating procedures (SOPs), but the two should not be confused. Whereas SOPs are usually long, text-heavy documents, one point lessons are short, to the point (that one speaks for itself) and image-heavy.
SOPs provide step-by-step instructions for entire processes, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and regulatory compliance. While OPLs are brief and easy to update, SOPs cover every detail and are more rigid, taking longer to revise. Both are essential: OPLs for quick, focused insights, and SOPs for complete procedural guidance.
One Point Lessons vs Work Instructions
One-point lessons (OPLs) and work instructions both play important roles on the shop floor, but they serve different purposes.
OPLs focus on one specific point, like a safety tip or process adjustment, providing clear, brief messages for quick application, typically used for troubleshooting or reinforcing steps.
That’s not the case for work instructions. Unlike OPLs, they offer thorough, step-by-step guidance for completing tasks. They cover everything from necessary tools to safety procedures, serving as long-term references to ensure consistent and accurate execution.
While OPLs are great for quick refreshers, work instructions are suited for tasks requiring in-depth guidance, such as training new employees or maintaining compliance with quality and operational standards.
OPLs are brief and visual, using images to quickly deliver key information, making them ideal for quick reminders. On the other hand, work instructions are more detailed, offering step-by-step guidance to ensure every aspect of a task is covered, which is crucial for more complex operations. Like OPLs, they often include visual aids for added clarity.
Do OPLs Replace Work Instructions?
Even though OPLs and work instructions seem closely related, single-point lessons don’t replace comprehensive work instructions or formal training and testing. OPLs typically highlight why a practice is important, rather than providing the full details on how to carry it out properly.
For instance: there’s an issue related to improper machine calibration before production starts. A one-point lesson might emphasize the importance of calibrating the machine each morning to ensure product quality. However, it wouldn’t replace the need for workers to know how to operate the calibration tools, follow the correct steps, or interpret the results accurately. OPLs serve as quick reminders but don’t cover the in-depth knowledge required for proper execution.
Paper-based OPLs and Work Instructions
Traditionally, OPLs and work instructions have been created and stored in tools like Excel, Word, or printed paper formats. While these methods have served their purpose, they come with major drawbacks.
Paper-based documents are hard to update, often leaving outdated versions on the shop floor, slowing processes and causing mistakes. Ensuring consistency across teams is also difficult, as workers may rely on old information. Plus, paper documents can easily be lost or damaged, making operations even harder to manage. While useful in the past, these systems no longer meet the demands of modern manufacturing.
This is where connected workforce platforms come in, offering a digital solution for creating and managing both work instructions and OPLs more efficiently. These platforms allow real-time updates, ensuring all employees have access to the most current information, while also making it easier to track, organize, and share lessons and instructions across the entire workforce.
OPLs and Digital Work Instructions
As companies adopt digital solutions, the shift from paper-based systems to integrated platforms streamlines how one-point lessons (OPLs) and work instructions are managed. Digitizing these tools enhances efficiency, ensures real-time updates, and improves access to both quick reminders and detailed procedures.
Digital Work Instructions Platform
By moving OPLs work instructions into a digital platform, manufacturers can simplify how documents are created, shared, and updated. A digital work instructions platform allows for the creation of both OPLs and detailed work instructions, making the process more efficient and streamlined. This shift eliminates the challenges of managing paper-based documents, such as outdated versions, limited accessibility, and time-consuming updates.
A digital work instruction platform ensures that step-by-step guides are always accessible to workers, no matter where they are or what device they use. Whether it’s for a new employee who needs to learn a procedure or an experienced worker looking to refresh their knowledge, these platforms make sure the latest version is always at hand. Real-time updates mean instructions can be modified and immediately shared across all teams, reducing confusion and eliminating downtime caused by outdated information.
This shift to digital work instructions lays the groundwork for easily incorporating one-point lessons. The platform not only ensures that comprehensive guides are available but also makes it simple to introduce shorter, targeted OPLs when needed.
Learn More About Azumuta’s Digital Work Instructions
Here’s the first step to have a paperless factory
Digital One Point Lessons
The same platform used for in-depth, step-by-step guides can be leveraged to quickly develop and share OPLs, offering both short-term solutions and long-term training in a single system.
Workers can instantly access the information they need, whether it’s a quick safety reminder or a detailed guide on machine setup. For example, an OPL could pop up before an employee handles a machine that requires a mandatory safety check, reminding them to inspect guards or ensure lockout procedures are followed before operation. Another instance might be a digital OPL that appears when a worker starts an assembly process, highlighting the most common errors to avoid during the first few steps of the task.
Even though OPLs are usually quick reminders, they can still be stored and shared digitally, making them accessible across different shifts or locations. A digital work instruction platform combines both OPLs and full-length work instructions in a single system, allowing workers to quickly access the information they need.
This integration helps manufacturers find a balance between short-term fixes and long-term training, ensuring that the right information is always available when and where it’s needed. Whether it’s a quick tip or a detailed guide, teams are better equipped to stay on track, avoid errors, and keep improving.
Empowering Teams with Digital OPLs
By digitizing OPLs and making them available alongside full-length work instructions, companies can ensure that their workforce has the right mix of both long-term, in-depth guidance and short, immediate lessons. This balance helps keep operations running smoothly while empowering workers to act quickly, whether they need a quick safety reminder or a comprehensive process breakdown. This digital approach not only reduces the risk of errors but also boosts efficiency, making the entire operation more agile and responsive to daily challenges.
One Point Lessons in a Nutshell
One-point lessons (OPLs) serve as a valuable tool for delivering concise, targeted information on the shop floor, particularly in fast-paced manufacturing environments. However, they are most effective when used alongside more detailed work instructions. OPLs excel in offering quick reminders and addressing immediate needs, such as safety tips or troubleshooting steps. Meanwhile, work instructions provide the comprehensive, step-by-step guidance necessary for more complex tasks and compliance with operational standards.
As manufacturers shift towards digital platforms, the integration of OPLs and work instructions in a single system enhances efficiency, accessibility, and consistency across teams. Digital platforms not only streamline updates and distribution but also ensure that the workforce always has the latest information at their fingertips, whether it’s a quick safety reminder or a full procedural guide. This balance between short-term and long-term training empowers workers to respond quickly and accurately, reducing errors and keeping operations running smoothly.
By embracing digital solutions, companies can create a more agile and responsive workforce, equipped with the right mix of immediate lessons and in-depth guidance to tackle the daily challenges of modern manufacturing.
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