You Can be Great If You Really Want To

There are times when Six Sigma proves an excellent methodology for the elimination of defects. Sometimes defects are understood from VOC or VOS. These may be relevant from the point of view of the business, but there may be some defects that may not be noticed.

For example, if there are delays within a process, then by speeding up the process, the defect may be eliminated. However, this may be at the cost of quality if it is not given consideration. Here is where Lean can be useful by using the seven wastes theory. Additionally, defects will be reduced when the problem is solved.

The Six Sigma DMAIC method relies on the analysis of the problem and may not be able to provide solutions to real life problems. Thus, if you combine the two, Lean and Six Sigma you may have good solutions to rely on.

Lean Tools in Six Sigma Projects

Defects based on Lean wastes are rejects, movement, inventory, over processing, over production, transportation and waiting for the next step. In addition, it provides 5S, value stream mapping and error proofing, which in conjunction with Six Sigma can help sort out real life issues easily.

Let us take the example of the assembly of printed wiring board components (PWB). The process of assembling these components is a very complicated one and faces the critical problem of failure at the final product test.

The assembly, being complicated, is prone to defects and errors that could have caused further delays in shipping and rework. The Lean Six Sigma team in this case should focus on understanding the PWB components assembly area. If this is done, they will find three areas of errors, Manual insertion, automated insertion as well as semi-automated insertion.

Kitting errors, wherein all components are not provided as a common kit, can be identified. Other errors may also occur, such as layout of the manual insertion workstation and positioning the axial lead parts on the automatic insertion machine. The problems can be prioritized and further action taken.

The Lean way to problem solving can help overcome this situation so that improvements can be realized for a longer period. To achieve great results, Lean methodologies and Six Sigma phases can be combined.

By considering and implementing brainstorming sessions and the seven wastes in the Define phase of DMAIC, teams find it easier to define the problem area and develop creative solutions to the problem. In the Measure phase, teams can use Lean tools such as value-added to non-value added ratios, CT over Takt time and so on – and collect and measure the data related to the problem area.

In the Analyze phase, value stream mapping and the reframing matrix can be effectively used to look at the problem from different view points and prioritize those which need immediate attention.

In the Improve phase, the usage of 5S and other tools like the visual factory concept can help in sorting out problem areas and finding a different approach, if other approaches have been rejected. In the Control phase, error proofing is extremely useful to put controls in place to avoid errors in the first place.

Lean and Six Sigma provide creative solutions to solving real-life issues by precisely pointing out the errors and providing different ways to eliminate them. The data- driven approach of Six Sigma and the Lean way can work wonders for businesses.

Related Blogs

• Boy tells black people to leave area Walmart | The Daily Caller – Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment
• Kitchen area Remodeling: Deciding on Your New Cooking area Cabinets | Heating and Air Conditioning blog
• Sabah State Assembly next month should pass special resolution to support RCI on 50 years of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia « Lim Kit Siang

Lean Manufacturing is being utilized by businesses of all sizes today. Although it took a few years to become mainstream, the success stories from mid-size to large corporations have pushed lean manufacturing down to very small organizations.

Most of the large corporations employ a few lean experts. Many mid-size and most small businesses do not have lean manufacturing expertise in the company. It is common that a few individuals have attended a lean manufacturing seminar or read a few books, but lack the expertise to develop a roadmap.

The reason most courses and seminars do not teach a “roadmap” is because the tools are best applied to problems or bottlenecks, rather than forcing the tool use on the opportunity. For example, a machine that sets up once per week in 30 minutes probably doesn’t warrant a week of SMED activity.

However, a roadmap can be used with common sense. Lean manufacturing has been called “common sense manufacturing”, although not always “common practice”.

Lean Manufacturing Roadmap:

Form team (mix of lean manufacturing and relevant business experience)

Develop communication and feedback channel for everyone

Meet with everyone and explain the initiative

Begin to train all employees (lean overview, 8 wastes, standard operations, kaizen, RCPS, PDCA)

Facility Analysis – Determine the gap between current state and a state of “lean”

5S – It is the foundation of lean. Workplace organization is critical for any lean initiative

TPM – begin total productive maintenance early (used throughout lean)

Value Stream Mapping – Determine the waste across the entire system

7 (or Waste Identification – Use with value stream mapping to identify system waste

Process Mapping – a more detailed map of each process

Takt time – determine need to produce on all processes, equipment

OEE & 6 Losses – determine the losses on all processes and equipment

Line Balance – Use if necessary with takt time and OEE

SMED – push setup times down to reduce cycle time, batch quantity, and lower costs

Pull/One Piece Flow/Continuous Flow Analysis – utilize kanban and supermarkets

Analyze Quality at the Source Application – poor quality stopped at the source

Implement Error Proofing Ideas

Cellular Manufacturing/Layout & Flow Improvement – Analyze facility and each process

Develop Standardized Operations – concurrently with SMED, line balance, flow, layouts

Kaizen – continue improving operations, giving priority to bottlenecks within the system

The specific implementation plan should be developed from the facility analysis. The analysis identifies areas of opportunity in every area of the business, including sales, service, engineering, maintenance, production, quality, shipping, and administrative functions.

Some lean manufacturing projects within a lean initiative require the tools of six sigma to find the improvement answers. The lean manufacturing team needs to be trained to understand when the lean tools must be supplemented to either solve the problem or maximize the improvement.

Kaizen events may use all of the lean tools (and some six sigma tools) to meet the team’s objective. kaizen eventsare conducted on an ongoing basis to achieve a state of “lean”. For example, a process may need a quick throughput improvement. The kaizen blitz could include focused SMED (single minute exchange of die) and OEE analysis. The kaizen might have an objective to reduce setup time from 80 minutes to 60 minutes in 4 days.

It is important to keep an enterprise view with the analysis and roadmap. No single operation should be improved at the expense of the entire system. For example, if a bottleneck is happening at Process B, improving Process A prior to B only hurts the system worse. A larger scale example is improving throughput if shipping cannot handle the volume. Although many improvements cause bottlenecks elsewhere, forcing a larger known problem is rarely a good idea.

The roadmap above is only one example. It could be shown with many different variations. However, there is a logical sequence to many of the tools. Value stream mapping is almost always conducted very early on in the process. The 5S system provides a foundation for most other tools. TPM is large and plays an important role in OEE improvement, and therefore must be started early.

The key is to have a plan and get started. The path to lean will not be straight and it never ends. Don’t let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of being “better” today.

del.icio.us
Digg it