Chaku chaku is a way to set up a production line. It is japaneese and litteraly means “load load”. It is a semi-automatic set up in the spirit of autonomation. Automation with a human touch. It can applied successfully in many different situations and can be adapted to be used in many automated processes.

The concept

The basic idea is that you have a series of automated machines doing work on the product. The operator oversee the process and also load material into each machine used to assemble the product. Hence the name chaku chaku or load load. A single operator can this way oversee a number of machines and handle any disruptions while continuously supplying the line with materials.

Scalability

The system is also scalable to counter shifts in demand on TAKT time. In a hight demand situation more operators can work together making every operator load fewer machines per operator or even down to one machine per operator. In a low demand situation an operator can load more machines thus lowering the tempo but better adapting the workload on each operator.