HOW TO STREAMLINE YOUR PROCESS FLOW
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If your employees are hitting their daily step goals just by doing their job, it could be time Read More
Lean and Six Sigma are complementary philosophies. The difference in Lean and Six Sigma lie primarily in the focus. The elimination of waste with Lean is fairly similar to the reduction of variation in Six Sigma. However, Lean’s focus on improving workflows is perhaps the main differentiator. By focusing on the workflows, lean efforts ensure that non-value-adding aspects are removed from the value stream.
Lean efforts help make sure that we are doing the right things. Six Sigma initiatives help make sure we are doing the right things right.
There are lots of good arguments for Lean and lots of good arguments for Six Sigma. Some companies have even combined the concepts of both calling what they “do” Lean Six Sigma. In our opinion, which approach is best for a company depends on the company culture, support from senior management for one or the other, and in-house expertise. The important thing is that you “do” something that encourages and facilitates continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, and improved profitability.
By streamlining the value stream (and dispersing functional departments), we can significantly reduce and often completely eliminate waste.
Starting and sustaining a lean effort requires planning and a stepwise implementation. The following nine start-up steps form a simple yet effective structure for introducing lean principles and practices to an organization.
The Management Team must provide leadership by linking the lean initiative to the business strategy and communicating global measures.
Lean champions should be individuals well-versed in lean tools and techniques and have the authority within the organization to help lean teams overcome organizational obstacles.
Lean working subcommittees charged with coordinating such issues as Communications, Training, Project Support, and Best Practices are instrumental in keeping lean teams focused and on track.
Regularly scheduled short lean communication sessions should be used to convey the why, what, who, and how of the lean initiative. In addition, provide on-going information in several formats such as your intranet, postings, and newsletters.
Developing a training plan to support a lean initiative includes determining who in the organization needs to know what, how the training will be delivered, how facilitators can turn training into true learning, and where to find relevant resources.
Pick a well-defined value stream for your pilot workflow. Layout and create a work cell. Lessons learned from laying out and creating a work cell in the pilot will be used when developing a full roll-out plan.
Publicize the tangible value each improved workflow and layout brings to the organization; encourage other workflows to use and improve on the lessons learned.
After completing the initial pilot and before involving the rest of the organization in the lean effort, step back and evaluate how the pilot went. Incorporate adjustments to the roll out plan.
As with any process, as lessons are learned, make improvements to the lean effort. Modify and strengthen the infrastructure; select new tools to add to the “arsenal,” develop improved methods to measure and communicate progress; and challenge cells to constantly get better, faster, and more productive.
All eight elements of lean are needed since organizations cannot be truly lean without predictable and consistent products, reduced set-up times, reliable equipment, and changes to scheduling, purchasing and accounting practices to support the lean effort. When adding lean elements to the effort, incorporate them on an as needed basis, not a linear fashion.
A collaborative, team-oriented, customer-focused environment must be fostered.
After addressing people issues, value stream mapping, and the 5S’s, what’s next? Unfortunately, there is no one right answer; it’s different for every organization.
Lean has a language of its own. We have separated lean terms into six subdivisions: General Terms, Workflow, Workplace Organization, Workplace Simplification, Process Improvement, and Measures.
The number and extent of tools to help lean efforts is probably unending but these tools are vital.
Here are some of the major techniques used in lean.
These are twelve of the most common reasons we have found to contribute to the failure of lean initiatives. A lean effort can probably succeed and even thrive with one or two of the dirty dozen in play. However, if your organization is guilty of four or more, your lean initiative is in serious jeopardy.
The location of monuments is a major factor in determining where processes must be located.
Learn how to use value stream maps to create macro-facility workflows and micro-process workflows.
Understand how the 5S’s establish a structured approach for storing materials, supplies, and equipment in work areas.
Discover how quality improvement techniques such as GR&Rs, SPC, DOE, DFA/DFM, and (especially) mistake-proofing help prevent problems and lead to robust processes.
Investigate how to slash set-up and change-over times and understand how important fast set-ups are to lean efforts.
Learn how to improve equipment reliability by applying TPM methods.
See how visual controls and visual displays reinforce and enhance a lean effort.
Recognize how important lean scheduling, lean purchasing, lean accounting, and lean warehousing practices are to supporting and sustaining a lean manufacturing effort.
Explore the options for keeping a lean effort viable and vital.
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