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Example 1: About two years ago, one corner of my son's metal bed frame broke with a great thud. Without a welder, yet still in need of a functional bed, I placed a custom-fit oak log straight from our woodpile in just the right spot and he enjoyed a good night's sleep. The log has been there ever since that night, and literally has had no negative impact on our lives. The bed works every bit as well as it did before, and we now have a spare piece of firewood handy in case of an emergency! So was this one of those infamous long-term "band-aid fixes" or was it a resourceful and creative approach to solving an immediate problem? To be honest, at this point we will likely never weld the bed as we can see no benefit in doing so. The low-tech solution works just fine and we're happy with the result.
Example 2: While working with a manufacturing company, we discovered that a work piece must be held securely in a specific position in order to be assembled properly. Looking around the immediate area, we located a length of PVC pipe and a couple of quick clamps. We arranged and bolted them to the bench top. The new fixture worked magnificently! This low-tech solution greatly reduced the strain and repetitive motion risks for the women charged with attaching these large assemblies together dozens of times each day. It also resulted in more than double the throughput in that area. We could have used pneumatics, hydraulics or other more expensive and involved methods, but in the end our solution was at least as effective, simpler and cheaper to implement.
Example 3: At a pillow manufacturing company, our Kaizen Team shortened two large tables and cut holes in the center of each to facilitate the retrieval and disposal of fiber without bending or slowing the process. Initially it seemed a conveyor would be needed, but by emphasizing creativity before capital, we came up with a great low-tech method that worked even better than the high-tech alternative.
