You walk onto the floor. The SQDP board shows green for Safety three weeks running. Great. But has anyone checked the fire extinguisher at station 7? Is the safety instruction at the press up to date? Did the new employee complete their station audit?
SQDP won't tell you. That's exactly what Kamishibai is for.
How Does SQDP Differ from Kamishibai?
This is the most common question after Lean training sessions — why deploy two boards when one already demands discipline?
The answer is simple: they measure two completely different things.
SQDP:
- What it measures: operational results (what happened)
- Rhythm: daily, every shift
- Who fills it in: shift leader
- Format: monthly grid, S/Q/D/P colour coding
- Goal: spot a deviation the same day it occurs
Kamishibai:
- What it measures: adherence to standards (are we doing what we should?)
- Rhythm: weekly or monthly, according to a schedule
- Who fills it in: manager, team leader, auditor
- Format: T (yes) / N (no) cards for each workstation
- Goal: confirm that the standard is alive
In other words: SQDP asks "how did we do?", Kamishibai asks "are we doing what we're supposed to?"
Where Does Kamishibai Come From?
Kamishibai (紙芝居) is a Japanese word meaning "paper theatre" — street storytellers who narrated stories using illustrated cards. Toyota adapted this concept for workstation audits: T/N (Yes/No) cards assigned to each station, pulled according to a schedule, and returned after the audit.
If a card comes back without issues — it goes back in place. If you find a deviation — the card stays in a dedicated zone until the corrective action is closed. At a glance you can see how many audits have been completed and how many require a response.
Why Is SQDP Without Kamishibai Only Half the Job?
Consider this scenario:
A plant assembles electronic components. The SQDP board shows Quality green for an entire quarter — zero complaints, PPM below target. The manager is satisfied.
Then an external audit reveals: three stations lack up-to-date assembly instructions. Two employees haven't completed their recertification. One critical process checkpoint hasn't been monitored for months.
The indicators were green because the problem hadn't surfaced yet. Kamishibai would have caught it months earlier.
SQDP measures outcomes. Kamishibai checks the causes.
How Both Boards Work Together — A Week in Practice
Monday, 7:00 AM — Stand-up at the SQDP Board
The shift leader records the previous day's score. Quality is yellow — one internal complaint at line B. Brief discussion, corrective action assigned.
Monday, 10:00 AM — Kamishibai Audit
The manager pulls the card for station 3 per the weekly schedule. Eight checkpoints reviewed: instruction currency, availability of safety equipment, tool condition, zone markings. Seven yes, one no — missing up-to-date instruction at the welding cell.
The card stays in the "open" zone. Action: update instruction by Friday, responsible person: Kowalska.
Friday, 2:00 PM — Audit Closure
Instruction updated, card returned to its place. Manager marks the audit as closed. The system shows 94% compliance for the week.
End of Month — Joint Review of Both Boards
SQDP shows the monthly trend: Quality had 3 yellow days, all in the line B area. Kamishibai shows: 2 open audits at line B, both related to assembly instructions.
Combining the two datasets points unambiguously to: outdated instructions at line B = source of quality issues. Neither board alone would have made this connection so clearly.
What Does Kamishibai Catch That SQDP Doesn't?
- Outdated workstation instructions
- Missed tool and equipment inspections
- Skipped employee training and recertifications
- Zone markings not conforming to the standard
- Incomplete or expired safety equipment
- 5S standards not maintained despite green SQDP results
All of these are causes of future problems that will eventually show up in SQDP. Kamishibai is an early warning system.
How to Deploy Both Boards Without Creating Chaos
The biggest mistake is launching both tools simultaneously with a full configuration. A sequential approach works far better:
Phase 1 (Months 1–2) — SQDP
Focus on the daily rhythm: entry, stand-up, corrective action. The team needs to build the habit before you add another layer.
Phase 2 (Month 3) — Kamishibai Pilot
Choose 2–3 critical workstations. Define the checklist (no more than 10 points per card). Set the schedule: who audits, when, which station.
Phase 3 (Month 4+) — Integration
Review both boards together during the monthly management review. Look for correlations between Kamishibai deviations and SQDP results.
How Many Checkpoints Should a Kamishibai Card Have?
The optimal card has 6–12 points — detailed enough to catch a deviation, simple enough to complete in 5–10 minutes.
An overly long card (20+ points) is one of the most common implementation mistakes — auditors start skipping items or ticking boxes without actually checking anything.
Example checkpoints for an assembly workstation:
- Assembly instruction current and available at the station
- Tools calibrated and labelled
- 5S zone conforming to the standard
- Safety equipment complete
- Employee holds a current certification
- Production plan available for the shift
- Previous non-conformance closed
Digital Kamishibai — What Do You Gain?
A traditional Kamishibai board uses physical cards on a rack with sections. It works — but only when you're standing in front of it. Digital Kamishibai in LeanTools adds what cards can't provide:
- Audit history — a full record of who, when, and what results
- Real-time compliance — the percentage of audits completed this week visible instantly
- Corrective actions — person and deadline assigned without extra spreadsheets
- Remote access — the manager sees audit results without being on the floor
- Cross-department comparison — which areas have lower compliance
Where Does the SQDP + Kamishibai Combination Work Best?
Both methods originate in manufacturing, but they work anywhere standardisation is applied:
- Manufacturing plants — assembly lines, cells, quality control
- Warehouses — picking stations, safety zones, forklift handling
- Laboratories — calibrations, procedures, reagent availability
- Shared services centres — service procedures, SLAs, training
- Healthcare — protocols, equipment inspections, procedural compliance
How to Get Started — Without Investing in Physical Boards
Physical Kamishibai boards cost several hundred pounds and require floor space. A digital implementation requires no materials at all.
In LeanTools both boards — SQDP and Kamishibai — are available in one place, with a single login, and no IT configuration required.
- Register — 14 days free, no credit card
- Launch SQDP — select your lines, start entering data
- Add Kamishibai — define workstations and audit checkpoints
- Set the schedule — who audits, which station, how often
First results after one week. Full picture after one month.
See Also
- SQDP Board — What It Is and How to Implement It
- Kamishibai — How to Digitalise Audits in Your Warehouse and Plant
- Manufacturing KPIs — How to Measure Safety, Quality, Delivery and People
Frequently Asked Questions
Are SQDP and Kamishibai the same thing? No — they are two complementary tools. SQDP measures daily operational results (what happened), Kamishibai checks whether standards are being followed (are we doing what we should?). SQDP detects outcomes, Kamishibai detects causes before they become a problem.
Which board should you start with — SQDP or Kamishibai? Always start with SQDP. First build the habit of daily data entry and stand-ups. After 2–3 months, when the rhythm is established, introduce Kamishibai as a pilot on 2–3 critical workstations.
How long does a Kamishibai audit take? With a well-constructed card (6–12 points) an audit of one workstation takes 5–10 minutes. That's how long a genuine check takes — not bureaucratic box-ticking.
Does Kamishibai replace ISO audits? No — Kamishibai is a daily or weekly operational tool; ISO audits have a different scope and frequency. Kamishibai complements them: it keeps standards alive between formal audits, which directly translates into better results at certification time.
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