About Lean
Lean
As per ASQ, https://asq.org/quality-resources/lean
Lean is defined as a set of management practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating waste. The core principle of lean is to reduce and eliminate non-value adding activities and waste.
Lean manufacturing, or lean production, is a system of techniques and activities for running a manufacturing or service operation. The techniques and activities differ according to the application at hand but they have the same underlying principle: the elimination of all non-value-adding activities and waste from the business.
Lean enterprise extends this concept through the entire value stream or supply chain: The leanest factory cannot achieve its full potential if it has to work with non-lean suppliers and subcontractors.
Waste, or muda in Japanese, is defined as the performance of unnecessary work as a result of errors, poor organization, or communication.
Quality professionals often debate whether or not there are seven or eight wastes of lean. The eighth waste of lean is unique from the original seven because its elimination can directly benefit the employees, as well as the employer.
The eight lean manufacturing mudas can be remembered using the acronym DOWNTIME.
Defects
Overproduction
Waiting
Non-utilized talent
Transportation
Inventory
Motion
Extra-processing
As per https://www.lean.org/explore-lean/what-is-lean/
Lean thinking always starts with the customer. What does the customer value? Or, stated differently and in a way that invites concrete action, what problem does the customer need to solve?
Lean practice begins with the work — the actions that directly and indirectly create value for the customer — and the people doing that work. Through ongoing experimentation, workers and managers learn by innovating in their work — be it physical or knowledge work — for increasingly better quality and flow, less time and effort, and lower cost. Therefore, an organization characterized by lean practice is highly adaptive to its ever-changing environment when compared to its peers because of the systematic and continuous learning engendered by lean thinking and practice.
A lean enterprise is organized to keep understanding the customer and their context, i.e., specifying value and looking for better ways to provide it:
· through product and process development,
· during fulfillment from order through production to delivery, and
· through the product’s and/or service’s use cycle from delivery through maintenance and upgrades to recycling.
Lean enterprises, both ongoing firms and startups, endlessly address fundamental questions of purpose, process, and people:
· What is the value-driven purpose? Or what is the problem to solve?
· What is the work to be done (to solve the problem)?
· What capabilities are required (to do the work to solve the problem)?
· What management system — operating system and leadership behaviors — is required?
· What basic thinking, including mindsets and assumptions, are required by the organization as a purpose-driven socio-technical system?
One of the greatest advantages of Lean is its flexibility. Its principles can be applied to virtually any team working in any industry, provided they willing to undertake the Lean journey. The goal of Lean manufacturing is to reduce waste without sacrificing the quality of the product or service. Achieving this outcome requires adopting a customer-centric approach that looks at the needs and expectations of the buyer. Lean manufacturing concepts are more than producing the same product or service faster – Lean is about building quality into every part of the process, while systematically driving out waste from every part of the process, so you deliver a better product or service faster. Waste takes on a slightly different meaning under the Lean approach. In the Toyota Production System, “waste” is defined using the Three Ms – three terms that together illustrate wasteful practices. Taken from the Japanese language, the terms are muda, mura, and muri. Organizations that are leveraging Lean manufacturing concepts look at anything that doesn’t bring value to the end product as waste (muda).
For Lean practitioners, effective waste elimination requires optimizing the entire value stream – i.e., the entire process involved with taking a customer request and turning it into a deliverable product or service – rather than specific areas where wastage occurs.
Process optimization is a part of continuous improvement, also known as kaizen. Kaizen is a core Lean manufacturing concept that’s closely related to waste elimination. It can be defined in two ways: system kaizen and process kaizen. System or “flow” kaizen applies to optimizing a value stream, whereas process kaizen zeroes in on improving individual processes. When used together, both practices serve to identify waste in multiple forms and make the business more efficient. Constantly optimizing the processes (and the business as a whole) means identifying and eliminating waste by examining ways to improve repeated tasks.
Optimization opportunities can present itself in several different ways, such as:
· Finding ways to prevent bottlenecks
· Empowering employees through training and team building initiatives
· Staying in touch with customer demand and using that demand to inform your operational performance
The importance of optimization is one of the reasons why Lean manufacturing concepts are so flexible. Lean practitioners accept that processes have flaws and allow organizations to implement flawed processes, provided they’re constantly optimized. The goal isn’t to create a perfect process or system from the ground up; it’s to regularly improve existing them to maximize efficiency and minimize waste.
Here are four of the most common methods that organizations use to systematically improve their processes, systems, and even their products and services:
1. Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle: Based on the scientific method, the PDCA cycle is a technique for change management comprised of proposing, adopting, measuring, and acting on a change to a process.
2. A3 problem-solving template: This method condenses all project information onto a single sheet of A3-sized paper. A useful tool for teams, A3 templates include sections for noting the current conditions and root-cause analysis of a problem, and more.
3. 5 Whys: The 5 Whys is a powerful tool for solving problems – simply start with the issue at hand, and ask “why” until you determine the root cause.
4. Poka-yoke technique: Also known as “error proofing,” poka-yoke is a Japanese term referring to any mechanism in a process or product that helps a person prevent mistakes.
As per, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma, Six Sigma (6σ) is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It was introduced by American engineer Bill Smith while working at Motorola in 1986.
Six Sigma strategies seek to improve manufacturing quality by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. This is done by using empirical and statistical quality management methods and by hiring people who serve as Six Sigma experts. Each Six Sigma project follows a defined methodology and has specific value targets, such as reducing pollution or increasing customer satisfaction.
The term Six Sigma originates from statistical quality control, a reference to the fraction of a normal curve that lies within six standard deviations of the mean, used to represent a defect rate.
Six Sigma is a methodology for process improvement developed by a scientist at Motorola in the 1980s. Six Sigma practitioners use statistics, financial analysis, and project management to achieve improved business functionality and better quality control by identifying and then correcting mistakes or defects in existing processes. The five phases of the Six Sigma method, known as DMAIC, are defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling.
Six Sigma is based on the idea that all business processes can be measured and optimized.
The term Six Sigma originated in manufacturing as a means of quality control. Six Sigma quality is achieved when long-term defect levels are below 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO).
Six Sigma has since evolved into a more general business concept, focusing on meeting customer requirements, improving customer retention, and improving and sustaining business products and services. Among its best-known proponents was the longtime General Electric CEO Jack Welch.
The Six Sigma method uses a step-by-step approach called DMAIC, an acronym that stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. According to Six Sigma adherents, a business may solve any seemingly unsolvable problem by following these five steps:
A team of people, led by a Six Sigma expert, chooses a process to focus on and defines the problem it wishes to solve.
The team measures the initial performance of the process, creating a benchmark, and pinpoints a list of inputs that may be hindering performance.
Next the team analyzes the process by isolating each input, or potential reason for any failures, and testing it as the possible root of the problem.
The team works from there to implement changes that will improve system performance.
The group adds controls to the process to ensure it does not regress and become ineffective once again.
Lean Six Sigma is a team-focused managerial approach that seeks to improve performance by eliminating waste and defects while boosting the standardization of work. It combines Six Sigma methods and tools and the lean manufacturing/lean enterprise philosophy, striving to reduce the waste of physical resources, time, effort, and talent while assuring quality in production and organizational processes. Any use of resources that does not create value for the end customer is considered a waste and should be eliminated.
Six Sigma is used by many companies, local governments, and other institutions. Here are two examples of how Six Sigma improved operational efficiency, saved money, and increased customer satisfaction.
Microsoft (MSFT) is one of the largest software producers in the world. It used Six Sigma to help eradicate defects in its systems and data centers and systematically reduce IT infrastructure failures.
The company first established standards for all of its hardware and software to create a baseline measurement for detecting defects. It then used root-cause analysis, including collecting data from past high-priority incidents, server failures, and recommendations from product group members and customers, to pinpoint potential problem areas.3
Large amounts of data were collected on a daily and weekly basis from various servers. The incidents were prioritized based on how severely the defects affected the business and the company's underlying services. Data analysis and reporting identified the specific defects, after which remediation steps for each defect were established.
As a result of Six Sigma, Microsoft says it improved the availability of its servers, boosted productivity, and increased customer satisfaction.
Ventura County, California, credited the use of Lean Six Sigma for a savings of $33 million. The county government began to use the program in 2008 and has trained more than 5,000 employees in the methodology. The county says the savings are due in part to the introduction of more efficient new systems and by eliminating unnecessary, but time-consuming, steps from its prior processes.
For example, the VC Star newspaper reported in 2019 that the county saved "$51,000 with an appointments system that reduced labor costs and rates for maintenance of county vehicles [and] almost $400,000 annually by implementing a new system to track employee leaves of absence
Six Sigma is a method that provides organizations tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation helps lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale, and quality of products or services.
"Six Sigma quality" is a term generally used to indicate a process is well controlled (within process limits ±3s from the center line in a control chart, and requirements/tolerance limits ±6s from the center line).
The differing definitions below have been proposed for Six Sigma, but they all share some common threads:
The use of teams that are assigned well-defined projects that have a direct impact on the organization's bottom line.
Training in "statistical thinking" at all levels and providing key people with extensive training in advanced statistics and project management. These key people are designated "Black Belts." Review the different Six Sigma belts, levels, and roles.
Emphasis on the DMAIC approach to problem solving: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.
A management environment that supports these initiatives as a business strategy.
Philosophy: The philosophical perspective of Six Sigma views all work as processes that can be defined, measured, analyzed, improved, and controlled. Processes require inputs (x) and produce outputs (y). If you control the inputs, you will control the outputs. This is generally expressed as y = f(x).
Set of tools: The Six Sigma expert uses qualitative and quantitative techniques or tools to drive process improvement. Such tools include statistical process control (SPC), control charts, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), and process mapping. Six Sigma professionals do not totally agree as to exactly which tools constitute the set.
Methodology: This view of Six Sigma recognizes the underlying and rigorous DMAIC approach. DMAIC defines the steps a Six Sigma practitioner is expected to follow, starting with identifying the problem and ending with the implementation of long-lasting solutions. While DMAIC is not the only Six Sigma methodology in use, it is certainly the most widely adopted and recognized.
Metrics: In simple terms, Six Sigma quality performance means 3.4 defects per million opportunities (accounting for a 1.5-sigma shift in the mean).
WHAT IS LEAN SIX SIGMA?
Six Sigma focuses on reducing process variation and enhancing process control, whereas lean drives out waste (non-value added processes and procedures) and promotes work standardization and flow. The distinction between Six Sigma and lean has blurred, with the term "lean Six Sigma" being used more and more often because process improvement requires aspects of both approaches to attain positive results.
Lean Six Sigma is a fact-based, data-driven philosophy of improvement that values defect prevention over defect detection. It drives customer satisfaction and bottom-line results by reducing variation, waste, and cycle time, while promoting the use of work standardization and flow, thereby creating a competitive advantage. It applies anywhere variation and waste exist, and every employee should be involved.
Seven lean Six Sigma tools:
Voice of the Customer (Open access)
Lean and Six Sigma both provide customers with the best possible quality, cost, delivery, and a newer attribute, nimbleness. There is a great deal of overlap between the two disciplines; however, they both approach their common purpose from slightly different angles:
• Lean focuses on waste reduction, whereas Six Sigma emphasizes variation reduction.
• Lean achieves its goals by using less technical tools such as kaizen, workplace organization, and visual controls, whereas Six Sigma tends to use statistical data analysis, design of experiments, and hypothesis testing.
Often successful implementations begin with the lean approach, making the workplace as efficient and effective as possible, reducing waste, and using value stream maps to improve understanding and throughput. If process problems remain, more technical Six Sigma statistical tools may then be applied.
Six Sigma implementation strategies can vary significantly between organizations, depending on their distinct culture and strategic business goals. After deciding to implement Six Sigma, an organization has two basic options:
Implement a Six Sigma program or initiative
Create a Six Sigma infrastructure
With this approach, certain employees (practitioners) are taught the statistical tools from time to time and asked to apply a tool on the job when needed. The practitioners might then consult a statistician if they need help. Successes within an organization might occur; however, these successes do not build upon each other to encourage additional and better use of the tools and overall methodology.
When organizations implement Six Sigma as a program or initiative, it often appears that they only have added, in an unstructured fashion, a few new tools to their toolbox through training classes. One extension of this approach is to apply the tools as needed to assigned projects. It’s important to note, however, that the selection, management, and execution of projects are not typically an integral part of the organization.
Implementing a Six Sigma program or initiative can present unique challenges. Because these projects are often created at a low level within the organization, they may not have buy-in from upper management, which may lead to resistance from other groups affected by the initiative. In addition, there typically is no one assigned to champion projects across organizational boundaries and facilitate change.
A Six Sigma program or initiative does not usually create an infrastructure that leads to bottom-line benefits through projects tied to the strategic goals of the organization. Therefore, it may not capture the buy-in necessary to reap a large return on the investment in training.
For true success, executive-level support and management buy-in is necessary. This can help lead to the application of statistical tools and other Six Sigma methodologies across organizational boundaries.
Instead of focusing on the individual tools, it is best when Six Sigma training provides a process-oriented approach that teaches practitioners a methodology to select the right tool, at the right time, for a predefined project. Six Sigma training for practitioners (Black Belts) using this approach typically consists of four weeks of instruction over four months, where students work on their projects during the three weeks between sessions.
Deploying Six Sigma as a business strategy through projects instead of tools is the more effective way to benefit from the time and money invested in Six Sigma training.
Consider the following Six Sigma deployment benefits via projects that have executive management support:
Offers bigger impact through projects tied to bottom-line results
Utilizes the tools in a more focused and productive way
Provides a process/strategy for project management that can be studied and improved
Increases communications between management and practitioners via project presentations
Facilitates the detailed understanding of critical business processes
Gives employees and management views of how statistical tools can be of significant value to organizations
Allows Black Belts to receive feedback on their project approach during training
Deploys Six Sigma with a closed-loop approach, creating time for auditing and incorporating lessons learned into an overall business strategy
A project-based approach relies heavily on a sound project selection process. Projects should be selected that meet the goals of an organization’s business strategy. Six Sigma can then be utilized as a road map to effectively meet those goals.
Initially, companies might have projects that are too large or perhaps are not chosen because of their strategic impact to the bottom line. Frustration with the first set of projects can be vital experience that motivates improvement in the second phase.
Six Sigma is a long-term commitment. Treating deployment as a process allows objective analysis of all aspects of the process, including project selection and scoping. Utilizing lessons learned and incorporating them into subsequent waves of an implementation plan creates a closed feedback loop and real dramatic bottom-line benefits if the organization invests the time and executive energy necessary to implement Six Sigma as a business strategy!
For for information please visit: https://asq.org/quality-resources/six-sigma
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