Lean Corner

How to Improve Operational Visibility with a Tiered Daily

On the shop floor, it’s not always easy to know where things stand. KPIs are often scattered, issues are not escalated quickly enough, and decisions are delayed.

To address this, many industrial teams are implementing a Daily Management System: a set of short, structured team huddles that happen every day at different levels of the organization.

Inspired by Lean principles, the Tiered Daily Management System is a synchronized set of daily meetings that enable every layer of the organization to:

  • Monitor operational performance
  • Align teams around shared goals
  • Escalate issues quickly
  • Make fast, fact-based decisions

The structure is also supported by a simple and effective meeting framework known as TOP : Theme – Objective – Plan.

Before each huddle :

  • Define a clear theme: yesterday’s performance, a specific KPI, or a critical issue
  • Set a specific objective: share updates, decide on actions, or escalate a problem
  • Follow a consistent plan: review KPIs → identify deviations → define actions → escalate if needed

This framework helps ensure meetings are short, focused, and results-driven.

Let’s break down the daily meetings by level:

Tier 1 – Frontline daily meeting

  • Participants: operators and team leaders
  • Duration: 5–10 minutes
  • Focus: immediate performance review, problem identification, quick wins
  • Tools: SQCDP board, production KPIs, action log

Tier 2 – Cross-functional team coordination

  • Participants: supervisors, support functions, middle managers
  • Duration: 10–15 minutes
  • Focus: coordination across teams, support problem-solving, prioritize actions
  • Tools: action plans, issue escalation board

Tier 3 – Leadership review

  • Participants: production managers, site leadership, operations executives
  • Duration: 20–30 minutes
  • Focus: strategic alignment, performance trends, critical escalations
  • Tools: dashboards, improvement project tracking, AIC summary

1. Shared operational focus

Everyone understands how their daily work contributes to company priorities. Alignment becomes tangible.

2. Faster decision-making

Daily meetings help resolve issues at the right level without the need to wait for formal reviews.

3. Higher engagement

Teams are more involved and proactive when they have a regular space to raise issues and take ownership.

4. Empowered leadership

Less micromanagement, more strategic focus. Managers can concentrate on coaching and decision-making.

To be successful, your Daily Management System should rely on a few key standards:

  • Keep meetings short, consistent in both time and location
  • Use clear and visual support tools (SQCDP boards, KPIs, dashboards)
  • Follow a fixed agenda: performance → problems → actions → escalations
  • Encourage a culture of collaboration and listening

Field tip: start small, standardize your approach, and scale progressively. Sustainability comes from consistency, not complexity.

In a manufacturing plant, the scrap rate on one assembly line suddenly spikes.

Tier 1 (7:30 a.m.)
The team leader identifies a surge in defects on a screwing station.
They log the issue on the SQCDP board and initiate a check of the tools.
But the issue persists.

Tier 2 (8:00 a.m.)
The supervisor and maintenance technician investigate.
Root cause: the automatic screwdriver is miscalibrated.
Action: recalibrate the tool and increase quality checks for two hours.

Tier 3 (8:30 a.m.)
The production manager escalates the issue during the leadership review.
Trend analysis reveals that the problem also occurs on other lines..
A cross-functional improvement project is launched with Procurement to standardize tooling, supported by a CapEx request.

In under 24 hours, the issue was:

  • Detected on the shop floor
  • Analyzed collaboratively
  • Resolved with immediate corrective action
  • Escalated for site-wide strategic improvement

Managing daily meetings with whiteboards or spreadsheets has limits: outdated data, fragmented files, and poor traceability.

Digitizing your Daily Management System with a platform like iObeya solves this. It brings all meeting content into a central visual workspace—live KPIs, connected systems (ERP, MES, BI), and clear action follow-up.

The results speak for themselves:

  • Problems are identified earlier
  • Teams coordinate more easily
  • Managers make better decisions
  • Executives get a real-time overview of performance

A digital Obeya becomes more than just a meeting tool—it’s a complete operational system that connects strategy, execution, and continuous improvement.

Tiered Daily Management is more than a routine—it’s a cultural shift.

When supported by clear visuals, a structured approach, and the power of digital, it becomes a powerful engine for alignment, engagement, and performance at every level.

Discover how ID Logistics leverages iObeya to digitize AIC and Gemba walks here

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