http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/kaizens-for-lean-manufacturing-and-six-sigma.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/kaizens-for-lean-manufacturing-and-six-sigma.html Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600
Kaizen events are often conducted as part of the lean manufacturing process. There are various ways in which they are carried out, however, they normally start with a mission or objective. For example, in a grocery story, “to reduce checkout line queue from 6 to 3 minutes. Another example would be to “increase revenue for hardware items from 6% to 8%.

As you can see, the objective is defined. It isn’t simply “to increase hardware product revenue”. There is also a defined starting and ending point, such as beginning on Monday and ending on Friday with the results.

Kaizen events are not long drawn out projects. They often carry the term “kaizen blitz” because the improvement effort is condensed into a short period of time. In the example above, the grocery store might have 4-6 people spend 100% of their time for 5 days solving the queue problem, and by the fifth day, the expectation is to have the objective of 3 days met.

Some businesses do kaizen events as a stand alone initiative. In other words, there is no formal lean manufacturing or six sigma program, but the kaizens are conducted as an overall improvement tool.

Almost all lean manufacturing initiatives include kaizen events. They are a natural fit to the way lean manufacturing is implemented, in a fairly quick manner following a model called “PDCA” (Plan-Do-Check-Act). After lean manufacturing is implemented throughout the business, kaizen events continue to drive waste out of the system and value into it.

There are also non traditional ways to utilize a kaizen event. For example, six sigma is a more methodical approach to continuous improvement, often utilizing advanced statistical concepts and design of experiments. However, during a six sigma project, there could be a very good reason to utilize a kaizen event. As one small example, suppose a bank is trying to increase their drive-up traffic volume and percentage of total volume. Six sigma would analyze all of the current methods and results, such as various marketing methods and resulting numbers. They would determine the direct mail and email marketing efforts with various demographics and distances. The six sigma team might determine the location is preventing drive by drop-in’s.

A kaizen event could be utilized to quickly drive improvement from the location disadvantage. The team might brainstorm ideas such as lighting and signage improvements. They might post a sign for “free checking” or “Free $50 for New Accounts”. During the five day kaizen, all kinds of various changes might be tried until one is found. On the fifth day, the kaizen team reports back to the six sigma black belts, and they take it from there.
Combining lean manufacturing and six sigma methods enables maximum improvement. The term for this combination of continuous improvement effort is often called “lean six sigma”. Lean six sigma requires significant expertise as two continuous improvement types of disciplines must be mastered, but once it is, the business is able to tackle the problems with the correct tools rather than trying to solve it with half of a toolbox.





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Skill training is available with our lean manufacturing certification course. Six sigma certification courses also available.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/career/how-to-integrate-lean-manufacturing-and-six-sigma.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/career/how-to-integrate-lean-manufacturing-and-six-sigma.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Six sigma has been in use by a select few companies for over 20 years. Lean manufacturing was made popular by Toyota in the Toyota Production System, and has also been in use for a couple decades.

Recently, the combination of both methods has proven successful. However, integrating the two disciplines is not always easy, as the approach to each method differs considerably. Lean manufacturing follows a system called PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act), which as the name implies, is a fairly quick implementation. It is more of a “just do it” philosophy. In other words, get an idea, implement it, see if it worked, then adjust to make it better.

Six sigma is more methodical. It follows a model known as DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control), which as the model depicts, is more time consuming.

Integrating both lean manufacturing and six sigma can be very powerful, especially when the strengths of both tools are utilized. For example, six sigma’s methodical approach minimizes wasted efforts on ideas that are misguided or unjustified, and lean manufacturing’s excellent improvement tools fit nicely into the Improve phase of the six sigma model.

Both lean manufacturing and six sigma have a set of tools that are used to solve business problems (opportunities). Combining both methods increases the tool set by nearly 100%. Although there are differences of opinion, it really doesn’t make sense to limit your business issues to only one set of tools.

It doesn’t even make sense to limit it to two sets of tools, however, when you look at the toolbox of lean manufacturing and six sigma, almost any business problem could be solved with one of the tools.

There are many lean manufacturing tools, but the most popular are value stream mapping, 5S (workplace organization), SMED (setup reduction), kaizen (Japanese for incremental improvement), kanban, standard work, tpm (total productive maintenance), OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), one piece and continuous flow, theory of constraints, pull systems, takt time and line balance.

Six sigma has a huge collection of tools ranging from project define tools of prioritization techniques, house of quality, analysis of mean and variances, hypothesis testing, regression analysis, design for six sigma, DOE (design of experiments), FMEA (failure mode effects analysis), cause and effects analysis and matrix, and many others.

Just looking at the tools, for the continuous improvement professional, it becomes readily apparent that neither discipline should be left out. Business issues, opportunities, and problems should determine the tools necessary rather than the skills of the team members.

Both disciplines do require time to learn. Even more important is the application experience. Combine the skill set required and the “soft” skills of dealing with people, and implementing lean six sigma becomes a large initiative.

However, when these tools are mastered, and the implementer utilizes the knowledge of those people with experience (such as employees), many problems can be solved swiftly, yielding huge gains in productivity, scrap, cycle time, inventory, sales, or any other metric.




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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/career/the-meaning-of-six-sigma.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/career/the-meaning-of-six-sigma.html Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Many successful six sigma initiatives have reducing variation as one of the tools, but the broader meaning is to improve the business. Six sigma is used to improve the business systems as a whole, often having quality as an underlying edict.

For example, a hospital may use six sigma to improve the occupancy rate, improve bed turnover, reduce emergency room wait time, and reduce administrative check in cycle time. All of these initiatives have a little bit to do with quality, but have a different overall objective.

There are many tools included in the six sigma discipline. To name a few, there is the CT tree (critical to quality, cost, schedule, etc), cause and effect matrix, (FMEA) failure mode and effects analysis, DOE (design of experiments), hypothesis testing, analysis of means and standard deviation, advanced statistical analysis. There are many others within the discipline that a trained black belt will explore and use when necessary.

It is important for six sigma practitioners to understand the overall goals and objectives rather than picking projects that enable the use of six sigma tools. Once the goals and objectives are determined in the Define phase of the DMAIC model (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control), the six sigma green and black belts will methodically choose the tools necessary to solve the challenges.

Anyone that has been involved in any continuous improvement activity in the business world knows how far most businesses are from perfect. Most business problems do not involve advanced statistical analysis to solve. This fact is one reason many six sigma projects are solved very early. It isn’t always a mystery that must be solved, but simple investigation and then execution.

Defining six sigma projects is the most important part of the initiative. Some projects may not really require six sigma tools. The goal is to solve business problems, using any improvement method. Although advanced tools many not be necessary, the DMAIC model works well even for simple projects.

Some black belts prefer to determine if the project is worthy of consideration to be classified a “six sigma project”. Some groups prefer to leave these “easy” projects for others while the black belts use their skills on more complex problems. While this may be fine for some groups, it also has the potential to distance the black belt from the real issues in the organization.

Many books describe the typical six sigma group as including sponsors, champions, master black belts, black belts, and green belts. Their respective roles are defined very clearly. While this may work well for very large corporations, many six sigma black belts are now being employed as a one person change agent. When a six sigma black belt is hired as the only change agent in the organization, rarely would a company wait six months for projects to be completed. Obviously, six sigma has a different meaning for this organization than a conglomerate with 100 black belts.




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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-six-sigma-for-healthcare.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-six-sigma-for-healthcare.html Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Healthcare companies of various types are using six sigma projects as change management tools to improve the business.

To those people outside the six sigma knowledge circle, it is somewhat of a mystery. The perception is different than that of lean manufacturing, which the very words at least enable a guess regarding the objectives, although normally incorrect.

Six sigma, at it’s core, is about the reduction of variation. It started out as primarily a set of tools to improve quality. However, these tools have evolved to be used to increase revenue, cut costs, improve flow and cycle times. In fact, six sigma tools can be utilized to assist in solving many business issues.

The healthcare industry, and hospitals in particular, were ripe for a set of improvement tools such as six sigma. When you think about the problems, as a customer, it was really out of control. In many ways, it still is out of control. For example, how many businesses can complete a very large percentage of their business without providing a quotation. How many businesses can tell their customer what products and services the customer will buy, when they will be given, how long it will be until it will be provided, with no knowledge of the cost.

This built in system of control paved the way for inefficiency. As one small example, if a hospital can charge $4,000 for a single round of COPD tests lasting 20 minutes without a customer inquiring about the cost until the bill is received, how much incentive is there to reduce cost, do more, or make it better.

Across the board, from surgeries to testing, these systems are under attack. Insurance companies now control price to a large degree, and customers have become price conscious regarding medical care in a larger way than ever before.

In some healthcare institutions, it has become imperative to reduce costs and provide better and more value added services all at the same time. And the time frame to get this done was “yesterday”.

Six sigma is one initiative helping these companies combat this margin squeeze. For example, if a provider performed six ultrasounds per day, it may now be necessary to provide sixteen or more.

Six sigma tools include statistical analysis, both simple and complex. They include tools such as regression analysis, ANOVA (analysis of variance), FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis), cause and effects matrix, voice of the customer, design of experiments, control charts, hypothesis tests, comparison of means and standard deviations, CT trees, and many others.

As an example of how a tool is used, suppose a hospital chain is trying to find a way to increase the number of tests performed per day, such as X-rays. Six sigma tools can be used to help analyze each technician’s results and times, and determine the most effective methods. The end solution might be a combined lean six sigma solution. For example, the analysis might show two technicians with the most output, highest quality and samples from the same population. Deeper analysis may show that scheduling improvements and pricing effects the backlog. The result might be a new price and standardized procedures to enable 16 tests to be performed per day in each unit. If eight hospitals averaged four tests per technician, and it is improved to sixteen tests per day, the additional contribution gained by the system is huge.

Design of Experiments is a tool often used in the “Improve” phase of a six sigma project. A design of experiment enables using a combination of factors at different levels to achieve the maximum output, or benefit. For example, two factors could be price and backlog. These two factors combined with each other at both high and low levels would require four “replications” or tests for every combination to be accomplished. More complicated DOE’s could have many factors and levels. The properly designed experiment can provide a much improved combination without having to actually conduct the experiment with every possible combination.

Maximizing revenue per bed in a hospital is important. The system must provide excellent care, but providing a bed without providing any other services is not maximizing resources. It is therefore critical to find the optimum balance to fill every bed with the most rapid turnover of services while providing the best care possible.

There are hundreds of ways six sigma and lean six sigma can be used to improve the business in healthcare companies. They could be as simple as reducing the wasted motion for nurse’s aides or as complex as finding the best combination of drugs to treat cancer.








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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/strategic-use-of-lean-six-sigma.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/strategic-use-of-lean-six-sigma.html Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Although lean six sigma projects can be utilized to improve any aspect of a business, it is important to assess the needs from an overall view. Some lean six sigma projects take many months to complete, and it is critical for the time to be utilized wisely. A team of 3-4 six sigma black belts and lean experts can consume of lot of labor and time, and it is critical to have a payback worth the effort.

Lean Six Sigma projects normally follow the DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) model utilized by six sigma projects. Although the Define phase is the least technical, it warrants all the time necessary to ensure the right projects are selected. For example, if a business has high scrap and costs with a product, it may appear it would be a good candidate for a project. However, it the product is declining due to other factors in the market, a project to develop or design new products might be worthy of consideration.

The Define phase must be fact based. The team should have full knowledge of the objectives and mission of the business, and be empowered to determine the correct projects. Too often, projects are selected on emotion and the power of individuals, which is detrimental to the business and the lean six sigma initiative.

One way of determining which projects to select is based on prioritization techniques. Six sigma black belts are trained to utilize the tools of 7M, prioritization matrix, and cause and effects analysis to determine which projects should have high priority.

Once the project is selected, the project must be thoroughly defined. Along with the definition, the objective should be stated and quantified. For example, the objective could be to “reduce material cost from 40% to 36% for a yearly savings of $618,000.

The measurement utilizes either six sigma or lean tools. Six sigma often utilizes statistics tools such as histograms, ANOVA (analysis of variance), flow charts, process maps, FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis. Lean tools used for measurement include value stream mapping, OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), time studies, methods and flow analysis.

During the Analyze phase, the “bottom line” is determined. In the example above, the Analyze phase might determine that 60% of the material is below 37% and two products average 73% when scrap rates are included. Six sigma tools such as hypothesis testing and brainstorming could be utilized, as well as the lean tools used in the measurement phase. When the project is more “lean” based, the measurement and analysis are often combined.

Once the problem has been determined, it is time for the Improve phase. Six sigma utilizes tools such as DOE (Design of Experiments), while lean often opts for the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) approach.

The greatest benefit of a lean six sigma approach, is the “tool kit” available during the Improve phase. The entire set of lean tools could be utilized in the improve phase, such as 5S, kaizen, SMED, OEE, value stream mapping, line balance, pull systems, and many others.

Once the solution has been implemented, control must be applied to ensure the improvement is sustained. Six sigma control charts are often utilized, as well as the lean tool of standardized operations.

When lean manufacturing and six sigma are combined, the result is a more robust set of tools. This enables the practice of solving problems using tools, rather than trying to fit a certain tool set to a problem.






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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-manucturing-for-the-service-industry-how-to-guide.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-manucturing-for-the-service-industry-how-to-guide.html Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500
For example, a value added analysis is just as easily conducted with a worker talking on the telephone as someone using one.

The 5S tool can be used to organize the surroundings in the telemarketing office. All materials the telemarketer uses should be organized and within reach without having leave the area. This 5S organization enables the telemarketer to continuously utilize any material in front of them as well as keep an eye on a computer.

The same SMED tools can be used with a administrative assistant as a machine operator. The process map and movement will show the waste in each. The assistant’s travel shows the motion waste. The waiting waste is often huge in any white collar or service job. For example, the waste from waiting on a colleague, manager, supplier, or anyone else can be eliminated. There are ways to minimize it by removing the root cause as well as finding activities to fill the time. These activities should be of short duration, such as data entry, filing, or printing.

Line balancing is easy in a service environment. The key is flexibility. For example, two tellers at a bank may be required 6 out of 8 hours per day, but the trained lean expert or industrial engineer is required to notice it. The additional two hours of waste comes in buckets of 1-2 minutes throughout the day. Again, this time must be filled with value added activities in a standard work format. If the job isn’t standardized, the two individuals may absorb the time and appear 100% busy. There are many other instances where job combinations are obvious.

The value stream map is an excellent tool for service industries. Rather than the traditional macro level view of the system, the value stream map can be used in a department or area of the business. An example would be the service desk at a department store. Begin with the information flow and trigger for activity, which might be a customer. Break the map into various segments showing the few activities that comprise 90% of the work, such as returned goods, request for information, or complaints. Standardized Operations should be utilized for returned goods to minimize motion and waiting, such as a decision flow diagram. If the manager is called a large percentage of the time, the decision flow diagram needs improved. Obviously the 5S and SMED tools are also relevant, as well as root cause problem solving to eliminate the complaints.

Service industries often use kanbans without knowing it, such as ordering supplies. The same pull systems can be used in service industries as the manufacturing sector. The supply distribution center is one obvious example. Inventory waste can be eliminated using pull systems beginning with the end downstream customer.
When implementing lean manufacturing in a service industry, it is important to tailor the training to the business. Most SMED (single minute exchange of die) training is developed using examples of setup activities for equipment. It is easier for people to understand and see the waste in their processes when the training has obvious applicability.

One of the best long term lean manufacturing tools to apply in a service industry is the kaizen event. Kaizen means “incremental improvement” in Japanese. The kaizen team is comprised of a cross functional team developed to quickly and substantially improve a business issue. For example, a kaizen might be developed to reduce hospital check in time for testing. The team might include the individuals conducting the check-in, a nurse, manager, an IT representative, and a couple customers. If the average check in time is 35 minutes (the elapsed time from walking into the building until seated in a private room), the kaizen objective might be to reduce the check in time to 20 minutes within 5 days.

Cellular manufacturing can be used in many service businesses. Rather than placing individual pieces of equipment such as the postage meter, copier, fax, and file drawer throughout the area for everyone to use (and wait on), consider placing these items together in a U shaped cell to minimize movement.

The “One Piece Flow” concept is a great tool for processing items such as quotes, bills, or mail pieces. For example, if four people must review a quote, and the first person processes 500 prior to moving to the second individual, and so on, the cycle time is going to be very long. Also, if the fourth person notices a mistake the other three missed, all 500 are bad and much labor was spent unnecessarily. Moving the piece in a flow of “one” or in small batches minimizes the error cost and reduces cycle time.

Service industries have a terrific opportunity to reduce waste. Sometimes it is simple and obvious, while other times it takes the same creativity as in the factory.




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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-manufacturing-seminar.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-manufacturing-seminar.html Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500
Too often, the individuals selected look for a local seminar. Although a local lean manufacturing seminar may be the least expensive, it may cost the organization millions in the long run.

If the employees receive the wrong training, their lean manufacturing implementation could be short lived. In the worst case, the organization could go backward as a result of a failed lean manufacturing implementation.

A failed lean manufacturing implementation is very costly. Tim is wasted and thousands of hours are paid to resources implementing the right tools in the wrong way, place, or time.

Unfortunately, there is no specific definitive roadmap to a lean implementation. It is more based on the organizational analysis, which identifies “needs”, and “opportunities”, as well as the magnitude of each.

The facts above make it critical to develop in-house expertise. One brief seminar will not be enough, but a good lean manufacturing seminar can provide a foundation for the lean journey. It is called a “journey” because it never ends.

A great lean manufacturing seminar will provide both instruction and practice using all lean tools, from 5S and organizational analysis to ongoing kaizen events and everything in between.

Any good lean manufacturing seminar will provide detailed instruction using the following tools:

PDCA (plan-do-check-act)
Organizational Analysis
5S (sort, set-in-order, shine, standardize, sustain)
OEE (overall equipment effectiveness)
TPM (total productive maintenance)
Standard Operations
Line Balance and Takt Time
One Piece and Continuous Flow
Pull Systems
Kanban
Error Proofing
Quality at Source
SMED (singe minute exchange of die)
VSM (value stream mapping)
8 Wastes
Takt time
Methods Analysis
RCPS (root cause problem solving)
Cellular Manufacturing
Kaizen Events

Although becoming an expert with any lean manufacturing tools will require in depth study and substantial application, a good seminar can provide a foundation for continuous learning.




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Skill training for alean manufacturing consultant is available with our lean manufacturing certification course. Six sigma certification courses also available.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-manufacturing-definition.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/lean-manufacturing-definition.html Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500
Our definition is the “continuous elimination of all waste resulting in a system of value added activity”. The key word is continuous. The journey to a state of lean never ends.

All systems have waste. Lean manufacturing classifies these into 7 or 8 categories. Waste is often called “muda”, which is the Japanese word for waste.

Once all of the waste is removed from a system, all that is left is value added activities, which is what the customer actually wants and is willing to pay for.

The system waste is removed using the collection of lean manufacturing tools. These tools range from value stream mapping and 5s, to TPM, OEE, and kaizen events.

As an example, when someone calls in to order a product, and is placed on hold for 10 minutes, are they willing to pay the additional markup the company must receive for its 800 number? If someone goes for diagnostic imaging, are they willing to pay for several people at the hospital to handle questions regarding the procedures and financial information?

An example in the manufacturing world would be the movement and storage of product. For example, when a computer is purchased, are customers willing to pay for the PC to be moved six times by a fork lift prior to shipment? Are they willing to pay the interest charges the manufacturer incurs if they are storing too much?

The answer to the above questions is obviously “no”. Customers are willing to pay for value. When a customer has a diagnostic at a hospital, they are normally willing to pay for the 30 minute test, but many of the other activities are either non-value added or incidental. The computer buyer wants the PC, not the extra charges for movement around the factory, interest charges, or any other non-value added activity the supplier incurs.

Lean manufacturing attempts to eliminate all of this non-value added activity. When you think about all of the products and services you purchase, you begin to “see the waste”. When you begin to understand and implement lean manufacturing, you cannot help but see the waste in the world.

Companies waste time, product, motion, inventory, transportation, and intelligence. They often produce more or process more than necessary. These are all the “muda” which comprises the 8 wastes.

The lean manufacturing experts see this waste everywhere they go. They see it at the bank, grocery or department store, hospital, government offices, and the manufacturing plant. The waste is often so obvious it is hard to believe a profit could be made with such excess.

However, luckily for most businesses, it exists everywhere. Many competitors also have a lot of waste. The lean companies have eliminated much of it, and continue to locate and destroy all they can find.

Lean manufacturing is a journey. It never ends. Just because some waste is found today and eliminated, does not mean some won’t crop up tomorrow. Even the most prominently “lean” companies continue “kaizen events” every day to seek out and eliminate waste.

Lean manufacturing is now very popular in the manufacturing sector. However, it has only scratched the surface in white collar and service activities. For example, how many times does a professional walk down the hallway to a printer or copier every day. Every time they walk down the hallway, several potential “lean wastes” are committed. There is the additional motion, possible waiting time, and often a conversation along the way.

How long does it take a company to provide a quote? The actual process takes a minute but several days to receive. The lean company might do it in two minutes and is working on eliminating the extra minute.

Think of the obvious waste people encounter in their lives. Traffic sits at a red light when there is no traffic moving the other way with the green light? A 15 minute checkup at the doctor’s office requires a 60 minute wait. The checkout process at the grocery store is 3 minutes but has a 15 minute wait. The 5 minute passport completion process takes 3 months to receive.

None of this needs to happen. When a system operates in a state of lean, only the value is created. When no traffic is coming the other way, you get the green light. If the paperwork and mail takes 2 days and 5 minutes, you get it in 2 days. You show up for the appointment, and 20 minutes later you’re on your way home.

Lean manufacturing is often called “common sense manufacturing”. However, it often is not “common practice”.

The next time you see “waste”, it will be obvious. It will also become obvious when you’re being served or interacting with a company that has achieved and is in pursuit of a “state of lean”.

In the business world, some of this waste requires the use of “lean tools” to eliminate. For example, SMED reduces setup waste. Value stream mapping helps see and eliminate system waste. OEE analysis helps identify the large buckets of downtime, setup, speed loss, small stop loss, and quality loss. Kaizen events help provide a focused improvement effort from a cross functional team to eliminate waste.

There are many other tools used in lean manufacturing. The trained lean manufacturing expert easily identifies the “muda”, and pulls out the most relevant tools to solve the problem.








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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/20-step-lean-manufacturing-implementation-roadmap.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/20-step-lean-manufacturing-implementation-roadmap.html Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500
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 8) 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 events are 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.






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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/when-to-hire-a-lean-manufacturing-consultant.html http://www.articletrader.com/business/management/when-to-hire-a-lean-manufacturing-consultant.html Sat, 20 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500
If a company is contemplating hiring a lean manufacturing consultant, they probably need one. If the expertise does not exist within the corporation, valuable time will be lost and money spent unnecessarily until the lean manufacturing consultant is hired.

If the company has lean manufacturing expertise in-house, the question then becomes one of execution and implementation. Can the in-house expert execute the lean implementation plan within the required time frame and budget? Additionally, will the expert receive the required management commitment to implement lean manufacturing?

It is common to see organizations hire a consultant and commit the resources that otherwise not be committed. Is that fair to the in-house consultant? No, but as they say, “it is what it is”. If it takes an outside lean manufacturing consultant to launch a system of massive waste elimination and value creation, does it really matter in the long run?

From a corporate view, all that matters is that the waste elimination occurs and value is created.

Lean manufacturing consultants are often good at motivating the organization into action. Sure, one reason is the corporation is paying for services so it is more compelled to make the most of it. Also, unless the lean manufacturing consultant is going to be paid to wander around, the corporation will probably make a concerted effort to implementation.

If the organization has an in-house lean manufacturing expert and top management commitment, the only reason to hire an outside lean manufacturing consultant would be for additional resources or ideas. A good outside consultant has seen many improvements in various types of organizations with different products. The consultant has undoubtedly witnessed or been involved with a few failures, and thus has the experience and knowledge to prevent or minimize it.

The first step in determining the need for a lean manufacturing consultant is an operational analysis. All areas of the organization should be assessed, including manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, shipping, purchasing, administration, and sales. The magnitude of the waste should be quantified.

Upon completion of the assessment, the need for a lean manufacturing consultant will become transparent.

It is critical for the organization and managers to keep an open mind. This cannot be mandated, but encouraged through written examples, benchmarking visits to and from other companies with successful lean manufacturing implementations.

It is not uncommon for a good lean manufacturing consultant to reduce cost of good sold by 10%. This extremely large number should not be shown to the entire organization up front. It shouldn’t be hidden, but any large number would initially bring fear into the organization.

All lean manufacturing implementations should be preceded with a promise of no job loss as a result. The company should be up front and hones about waste elimination, job combinations, and position elimination, but should also commit to keeping all employees through the process.

Obviously, potential outside circumstances would not permit a guarantee, but if a corporation wants total involvement and maximum success, they will not put people out of work as a result of a lean manufacturing initiative.

When positions are eliminated through lean manufacturing tools, those employees should become part of the 5S or kaizen teams. This only increases the resources and focus enabling more waste elimination.

Almost all successful lean implementations will lead to business growth, enabling the displaced workers to again become direct labor.

When companies “do the right thing”, they are almost always rewarded. The excellent morale and pervasive commitment will fuel additional business, products, or markets.





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Skill training for alean manufacturing consultant is available with our lean manufacturing certification course. Six sigma certification courses also available.

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