THE NEW ERA OF VISUAL MANAGEMENT FOR LEAN iObeya is a unique Enterprise Visual Management platform, named after the Japanese word Oobeya, meaning ‘big room’, that forms part of a ‘Lean’ transformation strategy. The solution was developed by KAP IT, a French IT Services company and has seen impressive growth since its launch three years ago, as Philip Yorke reports.
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Obeya was created in 2011 as a digital solution that significantly enhances Visual Management practices as part of a Lean transformation strategy. This unique, innovative software was born out of close collaboration between KAP IT, a French IT Services company, and the IT management team at PSA Peugeot Citroën in France. Just three years after its commercial launch in 2012, iObeya is accompanying the ‘Lean’ journeys of some of the world’s most prestigious companies, including Volvo, Renault, Plastic Omnium, SKF, Hutchinson, ABB, Airbus, Alstom, Siemens and GSK. Many more leading multinationals have adopted iObeya to meet their strategic 72 Industry IndustryEurope Europe
collaboration needs. Today there are more than 30,000 users who meet daily in 3,500 virtual Oobeyas across 40 countries worldwide. The company has told Industry Europe that it predicts continuous growth of more than 50 per cent year-on-year for the next three years.
Multi-site Visual Management becomes a reality “We were invited to see one of PSA’s Visual Management meeting rooms where the walls were covered in sticky notes representing key visual indicators used to track each project’s status. As for many large companies, this information is of great strategic importance, but impos-
