As you stare across the piles or paper and clutter that marks your workspace in the office, you get a feeling of resigned frustration. You know that this collection of organized chaos cannot possible be the best way to work, but it makes total sense to you. Others may see it as a disorganized mess, but you see a well organized system. Only you can decipher the code of chaos. Well, today is the day to make a change! Clear the minefield of chaos and restore order and discipline to that space you call a desk.

Using the 5S Tool to Restore Order

Today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day. To regain control over your workspace, it is the day to take action. Experts agree that the average worker has on average 36 hours of work in those mountains of clutter on the workspace. Those same workers spend about three hours a week ‘searching’ the chaos for specific things they need to get the job done. What a waste!

Now it’s time to take charge and organize the chaos and clutter. We cannot think of a better tool to help you take control than the 5S Tool used with Lean Six Sigma methodology.

5S Tool

Sort – The first step is to go through all the clutter and determine what must be retained at the worksite. Only essential files, paperwork and documents are allowed to remain. When you find something that doesn’t belong, return it to the correct person or department or simply get rid of it.

Straighten – Now all you have left at the workspace are essentials. You must now give each of these a single, proper place. You’ve heard the saying, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” That’s exactly what we’re talking about. Be creative and organized in establishing places for things so that returning an item to where it belongs is natural or easy.

Scrub – To help maintain the order you’ve created, thoroughly clean everything remaining at the workspace. The time and money spent on polishing or cleaning, will be returned manyfold in a more positive attitude and with greater productivity.

Standardize – Make things in your workspace consistent with files and organizers. Model your workspace after the most organized person in your work area. Find out how they organize and work to duplicate their system. If everyone does the process the same way, things will become significantly more efficient.

Sustain – This final step means to put a schedule and system in place for maintaining and refreshing the 5S’d workspace. It is your responsible to maintain and sustain.

The Dawn of a New Day

Your workspace is now clutter free, organized and streamlined. It is like a new day. You feel more refreshed and confident. You get things done quicker, with more accuracy. It feels great to come to work and you are proud of your space. Success is about habits and the 5S tool allows you to have a habit that is easy to practice. Now, let’s get to work!

Get your free download of the 5S tool here.

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When you think of Jaguar, you think of power! From their iconic racing machines, to their sports cars and luxury vehicles, Jaguar has a reputation for precision, powerful vehicles that reflect impeccable luxury and taste. Nothing is more posh than to take on a winding roadway or be seen socially in a Jaguar vehicle. Those vehicles took advantage of a powerful engine that propelled Jaguar to fame.

The History of an Iconic Powerplant

Initial designs for the V12 were produced as early as 1954, with a view to using it in a Le Mans car. The engine was to be a 5.0-liter, quad-cam engine with a high redline, which shared the same basic architecture of the XK cylinder head. After Jaguar withdrew from racing, the V12 designs lay forgotten until 1963 when Jaguar Cars purchased Coventry Climax, and as a result, Walter Hassan, who designed the XK engine with William Haynes at SS Cars Ltd, rejoined the team together with Harry Mundy and Claude Baily.

Watch this classic video on the development of the Jaguar V12 engine!

The post Developing the Jaguar V12: A Step Back in Time appeared first on Shmula.

Operating rooms (OR) within healthcare organizations are expensive to operate and consume extensive resources. They also generate a significant portion of an organization’s operating income, especially when run efficiently. Lean practices are routinely applied to certain types of OR cases, or specific rooms within the OR. This case study looks at the OR, in its entirety to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. Efforts to increase OR productivity need to be counterbalanced against the impact on patient and staff satisfaction and, most importantly, patient and staff safety and ultimately patient outcomes.

A multidisciplinary surgical process improvement team constructed a value stream map of the entire surgical process, from the decision for surgery to discharge. Each process step was analyzed in three domains: personnel, information processed, and time. Multidisciplinary teams addressed five work streams to increase value at each step: minimizing volume variation; streamlining the preoperative process; reducing nonoperative time; eliminating redundant information; and promoting employee engagement. Each work stream team identified non value-added steps and/or barriers to improving efficiency along the value stream map of the surgical process. Using a Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control approach, interventions were designed and evaluated that addressed the issues identified as barriers to efficiency.

Process improvements were implemented sequentially in surgical specialties. Key performance metrics were collected before and after implementation. Across three surgical specialties, process redesign resulted in substantial improvements in on-time starts and reduction in number of cases past 5 PM. Substantial gains were achieved in nonoperative time, staff overtime, and ORs saved. These changes resulted in substantial increases in margin/OR/day. Use of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies increased OR efficiency and financial performance across an entire operating suite. Process mapping, leadership support, staff engagement, and sharing performance metrics are keys to enhancing OR efficiency. The performance gains were substantial, sustainable, positive financially, and transferrable to other specialties.

Read more detail about this case study here.

The post Case Study: Improving Operating Room Efficiency with Lean Six Sigma appeared first on Shmula.

Corvette! You hear that word and it gets your blood pumping. Since its inception, the “Vette” has been the icon of American muscle cars. Power, luxury and pure muscle embody the image of this American icon.

The Chevrolet Corvette, known colloquially as the “Vette,” or Chevy Corvette, is a sports car manufactured by Chevrolet. The car has been produced through seven generations. The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after the type of small, maneuverable warship. Originally built in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, the vehicle is currently manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is the official sports car of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The first generation was introduced late in the 1953 model year. First production was on June 30, 1953.

Take the Corvette for a Test Ride

Buckle up and watch this amazing video on how the American icon is made.

The post Corvette is Building American Muscle: A Factory Tour appeared first on Shmula.

Making time for what is important. That is the trick we all struggle with in our professional schedules. Many find that the demands on their time outpace the time available on the calendar. There are so many professionals out there that truly have a scheduling problem. If you look at their calendars, you will find, more often than not, double and triple bookings of their time. The premise being that when that block of time comes up, they will just have to make a choice on what meeting is the most important at the time. Now, that may be the best solution, but what happens to the other meetings scheduled during that time? How do you get the monster under control and make ‘white space’ for what is important? There are some straightforward strategies to get your time under control and make a priority for important tasks. The first thing is to understand how things get messy.

Making White Space for What’s Important

Operating under the premise is that you have a 40-hour work week and meetings take up a large portion or percentage of that week. Now the question is, is your job to attend those meetings and provide valued input? If you’re a consultant or advisor, then it seems you are on track. However, if your job is to produce things or supervise the production of things, you are not spending time on what is important, which is, to produce things. There is where the rub occurs.

The biggest problem starts with scheduling your work time. Get your schedule consistently lined out with the tasks you are required to do for work, which is, producing things. Block that time out and fiercely protect it. As you schedule the time to do work, then you also must add white space to address problems and issue. As a supervisor, manager, or executive, you will encounter problems or issues that require your attention. These events are either dealt with quickly or they go on a follow-up list and put on the back burner. If they go on the back burner, your business and customers can suffer when those problems are not addressed. When you have saved some white space, you will have time to deal with problems and issues in a timely manner. Problems and issues get fixed, and employees or customers feel their problems are heard and being dealt with.

Changing the Culture of Scheduling

So, first thing, take control of your schedule. Do not allow others to make your schedule. Block out your work time and put in enough white space to resolve the challenges of business. Protect those blocks of time with a passion. When you are aligning your work process with company goals, things will become easier and more efficient. Remember, a goal-oriented calendar with white space for problem resolution is the most effective tool you have available, and aligns perfectly with Lean quality management processes.

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When Mr. Piper introduced the Piper Cub in 1937, he had a dream. He felt that everyone should fly. And he believed that Piper could provide everyone with that freedom.

Piper Aircraft, Inc., is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the government of Brunei. Along with Beechcraft and Cessna, it was at one time considered one of the “Big Three” in the field of general aviation manufacturing.

A History of Piper Aircraft

The company was originally founded as the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Company in September 1927 by Clarence Gilbert Taylor and Gordon A. Taylor in Rochester, New York. The company was renamed Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation in April 1928, shortly before Gordon Taylor died in an aircraft accident on April 24, 1928. The company was enticed to move to Bradford, Pennsylvania, with the promise of larger facility and investment capital from local businessmen, including an initial investment of $400 from local oil industry engineer William T. Piper. The move was completed in September 1929.

Between its founding in 1927 and the end of 2009, the company produced 144,000 aircraft in 160 certified models, of which 90,000 are still flying.

Before you take to the skies, watch this video on how a Piper is made.

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What is Six Sigma?

It is an often asked question, but providing a short, concise answer can be difficult. Here are some key points to help you understand.

Six Sigma is an approach to quality control and improving businesses processes that was developed by Motorola in the mid-80s. It strives to virtually remove imperfections and flaws altogether. Its main focus was to reduce manufacturing defects to miniscule proportions by constant evaluation and improvement.

Since then, Six Sigma has evolved into a philosophy that deals with business management of all sorts, not just tied to physical production. In most modern applications, Six Sigma is an approach that strives for near perfection in any type of process (finance, sales, government, and office processes), through the power of data-driven analysis and continual improvement.

The name of Six Sigma comes from the basic statistical principle that underpins the approach – the nearest specification limit should be six standard statistical deviations away from the mean in any business process. To achieve this, a defect of any sorts should not appear more often than 3.4 times per 1 million opportunities. Being heavily rooted in statistics, Six Sigma implies constant measurement and analysis of the performance of each process. To put it simply, this methodology puts forward goals that are quite ambitious, but that are measurable and that are subject to detailed analysis.

Of course, Six Sigma wouldn’t be a complete methodology without including the means to make improvements, let alone a methodology with such popularity and acclaim. In order to help businesses reach their lofty goals, it relies on two essential sets of methods – DMAIC and DMADV.

DMAIC

DMAIC is an abbreviation that stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control which explain the five phases. This is the approach used when working to improve an existing business process that is performing below the Six Sigma standards. The Define phase is used to set the project’s goals, mainly from the point of view of the customer, while the Measure phase is concerned with gathering the relevant data. The Analyze phase deals with finding cause-and-effect relations between different factors in an attempt to find the root causes or sources of variation of underperformance. The Improve phase deals with optimizing the process, using multiple data-driven techniques, in order to develop a process that would meet the Six Sigma standards. The Control phase looks to implement and sustain the improvements with monitoring charts and reports to ensure that the performance does not degrade over time, and it continues to drive improvements.

DMADV

While the DMAIC focuses on existing processes, the DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify) is the methodology that deals with designing new processes specifically to work with the Six Sigma framework, and to produce results that would fit the Six Sigma quality standards. It is also referred to as DFSS, which stands for Design For Six Sigma. Instead of dealing with an existing process with actual data, the DMADV methodology uses historical data to model and simulate how a new product or service will perform, to see if it will achieve Six Sigma performance. Gaps and deficiencies can be addressed while the cost to make the change is minimal. The initial design can be tested and verified in practice, to compare to the simulated results, and any gaps can be improved in the model for next time. The goal is to minimize problems with new products and services. Any remaining problems would be subject to the DMAIC methodology for improvement using actual data.

Roles

Another important aspect of Six Sigma is the roles it defines for the professionals that are in charge of its implementation. Their mastery of the methodology is signified by belt colors, which was adopted from the belt system used in martial arts.

Master Black Belt – Develops strategies and metrics for the organization, works on higher level projects (across departments), coaches and teaches lower level belts (Black and Green) and top level leadership

Black Belt – Leads Black Belt projects on challenging problems that require the highest level of expertise, teaches and coaches lower level Belts (Green, Yellow and White), and coaches project sponsors and champions

Green Belt – Assists Black Belts and/or lead Green Belt projects, teaches lower level belts (Yellow and White), receives mentoring from Black Belt and Master Black Belt

Yellow Belt – Participates in projects and takes part in process improvement, learning is primarily hands-on

White Belt – Understands the basics of the methodology, but not trained on how to apply specific tools

While the belt roles are concerned with professionally operating Six Sigma projects and are subject to official Six Sigma certification, projects need to interface with the company and its values, goals and management. That’s why Six Sigma also defines Champions and Sponsors as roles that guide and support the whole Six Sigma program and its projects.

Want to learn more? Check out our Six Sigma video series >>>

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As a Lean Six Sigma professional, are you training to get results? Unfortunately, training is one of those things people do because they have to. Taking a training course will help meet the requirements for a promotion or advancement in responsibility. The thought process sometimes is just to take the course or finish the college work to meet a standard.

Training Is Your Most Valuable Asset

Here is the way you must approach training. Training has to become a deeply engrained and practiced habit. Studies have shown that the most highly successful people spend between $10k-$20k per year, investing in their personal and professional development. It becomes a mindset. The most successful professionals understand that time equals money. Wasting time or spending it in a manner that does not achieve the highest level of results is just like wasting money. For them, training and professional development must be repetitive and of a frequency that deeply embeds the concepts they study. This reputation makes those concepts habits. Habits produce consistent performance. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind when you are approaching a training objective:

• The first exposure to a training class will simply introduce a topic.
• The second exposure will highlight topics you missed in the first session.
• The third exposure starts to embed information into your mind and create relevant associations.
• The fourth exposure enables you align more closely with the instructor and conceptualize the information.

Getting Results from Professional Development

As you begin a training experience with Lean Six Sigma classes, get your mindset in order. Approach things in the same way as some of the most successful people from around the globe. Treat your time in the same way as you treat your money. Invest only in training that will improve you and make the most of professional development. Understand that the more difficult training courses should be retaken to get the most value from the educational opportunity. Be open to taking the same course from different instructors. Everyone brings to the table their unique experience and you will get a different perspective on the training objective.

Invest your time generously and you will build a solid professional reputation and get the highest level of results.

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When it comes to a healthy workplace, it is safe to say that organization and careful planning are two of the key factors that go into making sure the business is set up for success. If there is no organization, things start to fall through, communication breaks down, and before you know it, everyone is scrambling to make sure that their job is done correctly. Often times it might be done on a bare bones level, leaving much to be desired. It is not always the fault of the employees when things like this happen. It may have a lot to do with the company as a whole and how it is being run. Believe it or not, most business problems can be solved with a new and exciting process called Kata.

According to the Lean Enterprise Institute,

Kata is a pattern you practice to learn a skill and mindset. Through practice the pattern of a kata becomes second nature – done with little conscious attention – and readily available. Examples are riding a bicycle, driving a car, typing. People who have learned to drive don’t think much about using the car’s controls. They focus on navigating the road ahead.

Kata originated from Toyota (of course), and was described in great detail by Mike Rother in his book, Toyota Kata. Rother drew from six years of research into Toyota’s employee-management routines, and identified organizational routines (kata), which he feels is the key to success with Toyota’s continuous improvements and rapid adaptation of change.

Think about Kata as a way of reprogramming the brains of employees to think critically and scientifically about every situation that arises, and situations that may be around the corner. This process is not hard, but it can take some practice to train the brain into thinking critically, instead of just filling in the blanks, as we so often do.

Essentially, the way it works is the employees are constantly on their toes thinking about what is currently happening, and what could happen soon. When they have this kind of preparation, they are able to take even the most difficult situations and analyze where they want to be, and how they want to resolve this area of opportunity. Once a conclusion has been researched, a simple trial and error process is done to reach the goal in mind. The key here is the goal has to be sustainable, that is to say, the problem needs to be kept at bay.

The biggest industry that is using the Kata process is the health care industry. Many hospital staff anticipates and recognizes problems that could occur, whether from the ER, or any other sector of the hospital. The staff works together to ensure that areas of opportunity are always recognized, and solutions are always a quick brainstorm away. It is important to have this kind of quick thinking in the health care industry because it can quite literally save lives.

Another industry that is using the Kata method is manufacturing factories and facilities. Many factories have a low margin for error. Any mistake can cost thousands of dollars. This aspect makes it important to analyze a situation and figure out what can be done to fix it. If there is a problem with the factory, line staff needs to be able to stop it, correct the problem, and keep going with production. Using the Kata method also means being able to recognize wasted time, and minimize that waste.

Customer service departments also benefit from the Kata method. This is important for a completely different reason. In this industry, you need to make customers happy, and if you cannot do that, the result is going to be a line build up, angry customers, and a complete breakdown in the front of the store (or on the phone). Customer service workers are great at identifying problems or areas of opportunity, correcting them, and seamlessly moving on to the next customer.

This ability is something that can be learned by most people. All you need is a little bit of practice and practical experience. There is going to be, without a doubt, more industries that pick up on this as time passes. It is exciting to see what companies are going to be using the Kata method for success next.

If you’d like to learn more about two main concepts around Kata, called the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata, check out Toyota Kata by Mike Rother.

The post What organizations are using Kata? appeared first on Shmula.

What is Kata Process Improvement?

When owning a business, success is obviously the number one thing on any business owners mind. There are many different routes that can be taken to get to the top. One of the new and inventive ways to run a successful business involves the Kata improvement process. Kata is a Japanese invented way to make a business more productive through thinking. It might seem kind of obvious at first; just thinking to solve your problems, but realistically it is much more complex than that.

Every business runs into challenges along the way, and how they handle those problems determines whether it makes or breaks them. It turns out that one of the best ways these problems can be solved is by training the brain to start using a scientific thinking method, not just when a problem comes up, but before the problem even occurs. By being able to think through things that have not even happened yet, you could save your company thousands of dollars. Before you can begin using the Kata improvement process, it is crucial to understand how the scientific thinking process works.

Our brains do not naturally use the scientific thinking process, it is something that needs to be done actively or trained. When we use our brains to process problems, we have a bad habit of filling in the blanks without having all of the facts. The scientific method of thinking allows you to anticipate problems, come up with real solutions to these problems before they occur, and plan accordingly. Most of the time when faced with a  real problem with no insight, the knee-jerk reaction is to do something to solve the problem without understanding why it is happening, what solution is going to prevent it from happening again, and understand why it initially happened.

The Kata process has four steps:

The Improvement Kata method from Mike Rother at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrother/The_Improvement_Kata.html

1. Define the Challenge 

   First, you have to acknowledge the problem at hand, or at best know what real problems might arise. It could be something small, or catastrophic, as long as it is a real problem that could occur within your company, it is not off the table. If we look at it from a positive perspective, where do you want to be in 6 months or 5 years in the future? 

2. Grasp Current ConditionAfter the problem has occurred or at least been identified, you should work on step two, grasping the current condition (where are we at today?). Take this time to consider the issue, why it occurred, and if you were ready for it when it happened. If you were not ready, you were not thinking about the company with a scientific mind, it might be time to expand your line of thinking just a little bit more. This is the step where we often skip ahead, and do not take time to understand why we are at the current state. This reflection will help us understand how we need to change to move forward. Sometimes the change is more about behaviors and attitudes, not processes and procedures.
3. Establish Target ConditionStep three is to think about what you want to happen as a result of this obstacle or area of opportunity in the short term. By the time you are finished, you should have some notion of what the end result ought to be. As an example, if you noticed the waste in your company going up three times what it used to be, your goal should be to get it down to at least what it used to be, if not less. Your challenge in Step 1 might be to reduce the overall waste to 50% of the original amount, but we set the next target to get back to where we were. There will be multiple targets to get to our challenge, so don’t try to reach it all at once. Now that you know where you want to be in the long term (Step 1), where you are today (Step 2) and where you need to be in the short term (Step 3), it is time to move on to the last step of the Kata improvement process.
4. Determine solutionsStart experimenting to get to a working solution. Do not be discouraged if it is not resolved right away, because sometimes it takes time. There are solutions for virtually every problem out there. The only way you can overcome it is if you take a scientific and logical point of view. You are striving to get a solution that is not only going to solve your problem, but prevent it from happening in the future. This may take many small, daily experiments and improvements, so don’t look for one “silver bullet.”

It can be a challenge to grasp the scientific thinking process when it comes to Kata process improvement. However, once it has been mastered the growth possibilities for your company are virtually unlimited.

If you’d like to download a one-page summary of the Kata method from Mike Rother, visit his Improvement Kata Downloads page.

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We want to explore Lean manufacturing with a TED Talk.  This presentation is by Bill Peterson, a Lean best practices teacher and consultant, with over 30 years of hands-on experience using Lean, Six Sigma and other continuous improvement tools. Bill began developing his approach to Lean methodology during a 26-year career with Delta’s Technical Operations Division. Bill holds an MBA in Lean Aerospace from the University of Tennessee, a BS in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle, Six Sigma Black Belt certification, and FAA Airframe and Power Plant Licenses.

Exploring Lean Manufacturing

Lean manufacturing or Lean production, often simply “Lean,” is a systematic method for the elimination of waste within a manufacturing system. Lean also takes into account waste created through overburden and waste created through unevenness in workloads. Working from the perspective of the client who consumes a product or service, “value” is any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for.

Essentially, Lean is centered on making obvious what adds value by reducing everything else. Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and identified as “Lean” only in the 1990s. TPS is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, from a small company to the world’s largest automaker, has focused attention on how it has achieved this success.

Enjoy this amazing TED Talk!

The post Lean Manufacturing: A TED Talk Exploring the Possibilities appeared first on Shmula.

We are all actively seeking to improve ourselves. It does not matter if we are working on improving ourselves as individuals, or the company that we work for, constant change is the key to success. Kaizen and Kata go hand-in-hand when it comes to small-scale improvements. They are very much the same, but have one key difference. In order to understand this difference, you need to understand what each one of these methods are individually.

Kaizen

Kaizen is a thinking process that involves you making small physical changes in your life, or at your job. The word Kaizen has Japanese origins, and roughly translated means constant change. The process behind how it works is actually quite simple.

You start the process by finding an area of opportunity in your life. You need to identify this area and come up with a solution. After you have identified the solution, you now implement the solution into your day-to-day life. After a short period of time, go back and analyze your solution to see if it resolved your issue, and is helping you advance your life in a positive and productive way. If you find that it works great for you, keep using it until it becomes a part of your day-to-day life. Once the solution has been implemented, it is time to move on to your next area of opportunity, and you can repeat the process from the beginning. There is no “end game” here. You just keep at it and eventually small changes become large changes, and your life benefits from the decisions you have made.

Many companies have started using this in their day-to-day operations. It is a quick and effective way to increase employee engagement, where employees find ways they can improve the job that they are doing, and receive appropriate feedback from their manager (but not “approval” from them). If the idea isn’t a good solution, or the problem statement isn’t clear, or they are lacking data to support the problem, the employee is provided feedback and coached on how to approach it differently. The process works better than the typical committee looking for million dollar improvements, as the results are tangible, and the employee is engaged in the solution. When solutions are passed to management or someone else to implement, there is a disconnect between the worker and the improvements that need to be made.

You can learn more about Kaizen event types

Kata

Kata is very similar to Kaizen with one key difference; it involves a more mental approach. The focus on the Kata method involves critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as opposed to physical changes in the environment. This slow process of changing the way you think will make you more efficient at solving problems than you ever imagined. It can be just as beneficial for your personal and professional life if you implement it the correct way. You will be able to handle even the most challenging problems with minimal effort before long. Problem-solving skills are crucial in every aspect of your life; there is no better time to start than right now.

You can read more about Kata at What is Kata Process Improvement? and What Organizations are Using Kata?

Relationship

The beauty of both of these methods is that they can be used together to make you an all-around productive person. If you are able to control your environment, as well as the way that you think, you are bound to see successful changes in your life. It can take some practice, but once you get some of the basic steps down, and see what a difference it can make, you will wonder why you waited this long to get started.

The main benefit of using these methods together is that they are completely manageable. If you try to make a large drastic change to your life, it can be hard to adapt, and the odds are you will not stick with it the way that you thought you would. When you are able to examine your life and change tiny factors piece-by-piece, before long the big results will start to show through.

The post Relationship between Kata and Kaizen appeared first on Shmula.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to complete 80% of your improvement over a 3-5 day period? Imagine being able to master the skill sets necessary to effect such dramatic improvement in such a short time. Most Lean professionals would immediately line up for the training curriculum that would provide them with such skills. If you consider our system of supply and demand, you would believe that would be the case. Long waiting lists for training of such a high value. The problem is, unfortunately, most Lean professionals learn their skill set through mentoring, hands-on experience and lots of practice.

Understanding the Power of a Kaizen Burst Event

Kaizen is the Japanese word for “improvement.” When used in the business sense and applied to the workplace, Kaizen refers to activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the lowest level of workers. Kaizen events are short duration improvement projects with a specific aim for improvement. Typically they are week long events led by a facilitator with the implementation team being predominantly members of the area in which the Kaizen event is being conducted. A few additional people from support areas and even management could also participate.

Kaizen events, although normally promoted as one-off events, should be part of an overall program of continuous improvement if they are to be successful and for gains to be sustained. Events in an environment where they are not supported or understood generally have gains that are quickly eroded over a short period of time as people revert to their original ways of working.

Imagine having the highest level of mastery with such a powerful skill set. Getting the proper training, coaching and mentoring may be elusive, but there is hope.

Gaining Skills and Knowledge When Managing a Kaizen Burst Event

Lean professionals are focused and resourceful individuals. If they have the resources available, they can make things happen. Successful people spend a part of their waking hours reading, studying and practicing the skills of their profession. With the right set of resources, a Lean professional would be able to develop their skill set with managing Kaizen events and put that knowledge to work!

We have compiled a comprehensive set of references to empower Lean professionals and enable them to better manage a Kaizen burst event:

ELECTRONIC FILES

Kaizen Before and After Template
http://www.shmula.com/kaizen-before-and-after-template/13801/

Kaizen Newspaper
http://www.shmula.com/kaizen-newspaper/13622/

Lean Ohio Kaizen Event References: http://www.lean.ohio.gov/Portals/0/docs/info/LeanOhio_InfoKit_AboutKaizen.pdf

DIGITAL BOOKS (Inexpensive)

Kaizen Facilitator: How to Manage a Kaizen Event for Maximum Results and Effective Organizational Change
https://www.amazon.com/Kaizen-Facilitator-Maximum-Effective-Organizational-ebook/dp/B0088D3MH4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1485799515&sr=8-8&keywords=kaizen+event&linkCode=ll1&tag=shmula09-20&linkId=1bdc88fb9ebdde83f67c7ac8cd1b88c0

Kaizen Blitz: An Introduction to Kaizen and Using the Deming Process Improvement Cycle to Enhance Quality, Reduce Costs, and Boost Internal Process Efficiencies
https://www.amazon.com/Kaizen-Blitz-Introduction-Improvement-Efficiencies-ebook/dp/B004EHZRLC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EMSRTARZ9KF74K4SNWSP&linkCode=ll1&tag=shmula09-20&linkId=b5f8de204802ae591dfc6635203003a4

BOOKS

Kaizen Event Facilitator Fieldbook
https://www.amazon.com/Kaizen-Event-Fieldbook-Foundation-Framework/dp/0872638634/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1485799515&sr=8-1&keywords=kaizen+event&linkCode=ll1&tag=shmula09-20&linkId=601ff575e2d516e288d83a3599e6c45a

Kaizen Demystified (with over 40 Dropbox file links to Excel worksheets): A Practical and Systematic Method of Evaluating Circumstances to Improve Processes
https://www.amazon.com/Kaizen-Demystified-Dropbox-links-worksheets-ebook/dp/B00JFA7Z40/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1485799124&sr=8-10&keywords=kaizen&linkCode=ll1&tag=shmula09-20&linkId=3ef516bc6ba6549fecaccbc76a7dd255

Kaizen for the Shop Floor: A Zero-Waste Environment with Process Automation
https://www.amazon.com/Kaizen-Shop-Floor-Zero-Waste-Environment/dp/1563272725/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1485800640&sr=8-32&keywords=kaizen&linkCode=ll1&tag=shmula09-20&linkId=f917d67c08e0660d81d0b2c60e3b936a

The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service, and Technical Environments
https://www.amazon.com/Kaizen-Event-Planner-Improvement-Environments/dp/1563273519/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1485799515&sr=8-2&keywords=kaizen+event&linkCode=ll1&tag=shmula09-20&linkId=4f4d1ac7fab5967a6ac6caf647981a54

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Oooo-hah! Let’s see how the US Army makes an American soldier! Here’s a video about the US Army’s Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson (South Carolina) and numerous other locations across the country.

Learn More About Army Basic Training

United States Army Basic Combat Training or BCT (also known as Initial Entry Training or IET, informally known as Boot Camp) is the program of physical and mental training required in order for an individual to become a soldier in the United States Army, United States Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. Basic Training is designed to be highly intense and challenging. The challenge comes as much from the difficulty of physical training as it does from the psychological adjustment to an unfamiliar way of life.

Join us for an inspiring and enlightening view of how we make soldiers in the United States. These soldiers are the finest Americans that are transformed into the best trained and equipped fighting forces in the world.

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Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to complete 80% of your improvement over a 3-5 day period? Imagine being able to master the skill sets necessary to effect such dramatic improvement in such a short time. Most Lean professionals would immediately line up for the training curriculum that would provide them with such skills. If you consider our system of supply and demand, you would believe that would be the case. Long waiting lists for training of such a high value. The problem is, unfortunately, most Lean professionals learn their skill set through mentoring, hands-on experience and lots of practice.

Understanding the Power of a Kaizen Burst Event

Kaizen is the Japanese word for “improvement.” When used in the business sense and applied to the workplace, Kaizen refers to activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees, from the CEO to the lowest level of workers. A Kaizen burst event is a short duration improvement project with a specific aim for improvement. Typically, they are week-long events led by a facilitator with the implementation team being predominantly members of the area in which the Kaizen event is being conducted. A few additional people from support areas and even management could also participate.

A Kaizen burst event, although normally promoted as one off events, should be part of an overall program of continuous improvement if they are to be successful and for gains to be sustained. Events in an environment where they are not supported or understood generally have gains that are quickly eroded over a short period of time, as people revert to their original ways of working.

Imagine having the highest level of mastery with such a powerful skill set. Getting the proper training, coaching and mentoring may be elusive, but there is hope.

Gaining Skills and Knowledge When Managing Kaizen Events

Lean professionals are focused and resourceful individuals. If they have the resources available, they can make things happen. Successful people spend a part of their waking hours reading, studying and practicing the skills of their profession. With the right set of resources, a Lean professional would be able to develop their skill set with managing a Kaizen burst event and put that knowledge to work!

We have compiled a comprehensive set of references to empower Lean professionals and enable them to better manage a Kaizen burst event:

ELECTRONIC FILES

Kaizen Before and After Template

Kaizen Newspaper

Lean Ohio Kaizen Event References

DIGITAL BOOKS (Inexpensive)

Kaizen Facilitator: How to Manage a Kaizen Event for Maximum Results and Effective Organizational Change

Kaizen Blitz: An Introduction to Kaizen and Using the Deming Process Improvement Cycle to Enhance Quality, Reduce Costs, and Boost Internal Process Efficiencies

BOOKS

Kaizen Event Facilitator Fieldbook

Kaizen Demystified (with over 40 Dropbox file links to Excel worksheets): A Practical and Systematic Method of Evaluating Circumstances to Improve Processes

Kaizen for the Shop Floor: A Zero-Waste Environment with Process Automation

The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service, and Technical Environments

The post Kaizen: References for Conducting a Kaizen Burst Event appeared first on Shmula.

Automation is the use of various control systems for operating equipment; this includes machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human intervention. The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labor; however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve quality, accuracy and precision. Will automation replace human labor?

The Surprising Balance Between Automation and Human Labor

Despite a century of creating machines doing our work for us, the proportion of adults in the US with a job has consistently gone up for the past 125 years. We need to understand why human labor has not become redundant and our skills obsolete. Economist David Autor addresses the question of why there are still so many jobs and comes up with a surprising, hopeful answer.

Watch this enlightening TED Talk:

The post Automation TED Talk: Will Human Labor Become Redundant? appeared first on Shmula.

The Evolution of Six Sigma Throughout the Years

Six Sigma is a set of management techniques designed to improve business processes by considerably reducing the odds of defects. It was introduced in the 1980’s by Bill Smith, while working as an engineer for Motorola. To this day, he is considered the father of this process.

While the Six Sigma method is a relatively new and revolutionary process, which keeps on expanding on a worldwide scale as we speak, the methodology used to define it can be traced back to the eighteenth century. Simply put, Six Sigma is not a self-contained method, but rather a complete and diverse blending of quality management practices and techniques over the years.

However, this shouldn’t be perceived as a weakness. In fact, knowing that some of the methods and techniques found in Six Sigma have been successfully used throughout history should render this process quite tempting to try out.

Let’s review a quick timeline containing the most important events that created the Six Sigma of today.

The Moving Assembly Line of Henry Ford – 1913

All reputed entrepreneurs out there know that Henry Ford was simply a master of automation, who wished for all his workers to be well-paid and share in the production of an affordable vehicle. As a result, he created the moving assembly line in 1913, completely breaking the mold for those times. In the context of the Industrial Revolution continuously blossoming, it was entirely necessary for only good automobile parts to be available to use right away, as opposed to workers having to sort through endless piles of parts to find one that actually fit.

This required entirely new and distinct methods of testing and assurance that would ultimately render the automobile assembly process faster and more cost-effective, without compromising quality whatsoever. No longer was it lucrative to spend time on testing each individual piece, so Henry Ford foresaw the necessity of implementing an automation process, which he successfully did.

Shewhart’s Process Control Chart – 1924

In the mid-1920’s, Walter A. Shewhart introduced a brand-new data collection, display, and analysis form while working for the Western Electric manufacturing plant located in Hawthorne, Illinois. It probably contained the first known process control chart, and made possible the advent of the age of statistical quality control.

The proposed control chart (download free template) required an inspector to keep tabs on the percentage of defective products in a time-ordered graphic format. As data collection progressed across the chart, it helped users understand the typical variation in the process, and separate it from the unusual variation. This helped identify when issues occurred, to assist in problem solving. More powerfully, it also identified new trends and shifts in the process, and allowed workers to prevent the problem from spreading further into the process and getting to the customer.

This switched the role of the inspector from one which would define and sort the defects, to one which would monitor the stability of the process and identify when it had changed.

“The Japanese Revolution” – 1973

Moving a little further in time, let’s take a look at how the Japanese were conducting their businesses. During this period, they were still struggling to make a name for themselves on an international level, but they were doing pretty well internally in terms of improving quality and manufacturing capability.

Companies such as Toyota and Toshiba were focusing on two aspects of productivity, namely: eliminate defects and reduce cycle time. These efficiency gains were significant, so much so that they were acknowledged even by the competition. In contrast, with the ever-increasing productivity of the Japanese corporations, the U.S. corporations were still focusing on increased volume and maintenance of a lucrative market share, which was rendering employees less effective. In other words, while the Japanese were willing to progress with help from their employees, the U.S. were complacent, never progressing in their improvement methodology.

Motorola under the Six Sigma Process – 1987

With Bob Galvin in charge, Motorola started investing money in improving the quality of their products by mastering the techniques used by other major corporations.

Those companies shared the new methodology named Six Sigma with their whole team, starting from workers, managers and even down to suppliers. Companies had to improve based on the ever changing expectations of their clients and the demands of the market. Moreover, they should understand that they had to focus on progressing continuously than targeting a particular quality level.

After winning the Baldrige Award, Motorola decided to reveal their ideas to the world. Their methodology was based on the product specification, delivered performance and efforts spent on decreasing any existing defects. Soon afterwards, the whole process was modified by other companies to improve it.

Summary

Currently, it’s quite unclear to tell what the future holds for Six Sigma. Will it merge into a Lean Six Sigma program? Will there be a new initiative called business or continuous improvement? Regardless, Six Sigma is a popular and effective technique, especially among major companies, and the fundamental tools will always be needed to solve problems and increase customer satisfaction.

If you’d like to learn more, check out our Six Sigma video series >>>

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Understanding the Most Important Elements of Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management philosophy that strives to achieve the best possible results by centering all business activities and processes on customer satisfaction. Proper TQM implementation involves continual improvement and all members of the particular organization, and expected to take part in the process. The main idea behind this approach is that the best way to long-term success is through providing a high quality product or service that meets the needs and requirement of the customer. Thus, everything in TQM is defined through the lens of customer satisfaction.

TQM has 8 core elements that are grouped together in four groups. Let’s use a building metaphor to better explain these elements.

First Group: Foundation

As every building requires a foundation, every business philosophy requires some value to inform its approach to the world and its own organization. TQM institutes three foundational elements to its metaphorical building that foster productive attitudes and atmosphere

1. Ethics

Ethics is the study of right and wrong, and TQM places importance on understanding what is the ethical thing to do, both as an organization and as individuals in the context of the organization. As the organization recognizes the need to operate in a morally good way, it is expected to institute a clear code of conduct.

2. Integrity

While ethics is more concerned with knowing what is right, integrity focuses on acting according to the company values in a honest and open environment. Office drama, rumors or other forms of interpersonal hostility are to be frowned upon.

3. Trust

The successful implementation of TQM requires a relationship of trust among the individuals that are part of the organization. In order for teams to be able to improve and provide a high quality product or service to the customers, they need to work together in an atmosphere of trust. If that requirement is met, problem recognition, problem analysis, problem solution and decision making all become easier.

Second Group: Bricks

As the bricks are the main building block used to create and bear the weight of a house, the bricks in the TQM context rest on the foundation, and support the whole structure.

4. Training

Training is essential for employees to be able to achieve high levels of quality and efficiency. Since TQM is an all-encompassing approach to business management, it requires all participants to receive the needed training from their superiors. This training should cover how to be as valuable to the organization and its customers as possible.

5. Teamwork

Achieving common goals and providing the highest level of customer service requires teams to work efficiently together. Individuals should know how to work together, and the team environment should facilitate open discussions about both problems and solutions. There are 3 types of teams in a TQM organization: the temporarily formed Quality Improvement Teams, Problem Solving Teams, and the more organic and long-lasting Natural Work Group Teams.

6. Leadership

While training and teamwork are essential for making member prepared to be a valuable part of an organization, leadership has a crucial role to play in harnessing that potential. All supervisors and managers should understand the TQM philosophy and methodology, and should be able to implement them while clearly transmitting values, strategies, direction and goals to the teams they are responsible for.

Third Group: Mortar

Even when you have all the elements needed to construct an outstanding building, it is important for those elements to be bound together, and this is the job of the mortar.

7. Communication

The all-encompassing mortar of the TQM building is communication. It starts from the foundation, surrounds the bricks and reaches the roof. The only way to continually improve and reach optimal performance is for information and ideas to flow freely. Communication should be ever-present in the organization, but it should also involve all external entities like customers, partners, suppliers and stakeholders.

Forth Group: Roof

What tops off a building is the roof, which in the case of TQM is its last key element – recognition.

8. Recognition

This element involves the positive feedback and encouragement that both achievements and suggestions should result within the organization. All supervisors should look for and detect contributions, and should provide recognition whenever they are made. This boosts both morale and performance. It gives member of the organization motivation to continue to participate productively in the TQM implementation.

What happened to TQM?

TQM popularity has steadily decreased in direct response to the increase in Six Sigma popularity.  This popularity in Six Sigma is a result of a couple key things:

• Stronger alignment and focus on the business results of the organization (targeted improvements in key areas)
• Broadened the training and skill set outside of manufacturing and quality organizations
• Set higher performance levels (3.4 defects per million) beyond acceptance quality levels
• Set training standards (belt system) and requires projects with mentoring and coaching
• Freed up resources to learn and implement improvements, and put them back into the business
• Training and experience expectations for leadership (must be certain level to get promotion)

Although TQM is no longer the key methodology behind improvement programs today, it is important to remember the history and structure of TQM. We don’t want to drift away from the beneficial building blocks it provides, so we don’t forget what made it a successful approach for many years, and make sure we leverage those strengths in our Lean and Six Sigma program.

If you’d like to learn more about Six Sigma, check out the video series >>>

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In today’s challenging healthcare environment, improving quality and efficiency, while controlling costs are more important than ever to the success of the industry. Government regulations associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and rising costs of services are significantly stretching healthcare organizations. With the increasing administrative burdens, healthcare organizations look immediately to cutting costs across the board. Staffing is a major expense and typically is the first focus for change.

Lean Healthcare Drives Efficiencies

Over the past ten years, healthcare cases reveal that Lean Healthcare practices are as applicable in complex healthcare environments as Lean practices are in assembly-line manufacturing. When well executed, Lean Healthcare practices transforms how an organization thinks and works, creating an insatiable quest for improvement.

Lean Healthcare practices are a cultural shift that changes how a healthcare organization thinks and works; no one stays on the sidelines in the quest to discover how to improve the daily work. It demands new habits, new skills and often a new attitude throughout the organization from senior management to frontline service providers. Creating a culture of Lean in healthcare is to create an insatiable appetite for improvement.

To maximize value and eliminate waste, healthcare organizations, as in other organizations, must evaluate processes by accurately specifying the value desired by the user; identifying every step in the process and eliminating non-value added steps and making value flow from beginning to end based on the expressed needs of the patient.

A major principle in the application of Lean Healthcare practices is to eliminate the amount of time currently spent on non-value added activities in the delivery of the highest quality of patient care. In other words, by identifying the essential elements of healthcare and eliminating the wasteful activities, you will increase the productivity of your workforce and reduce costs.

A Study of Lean Healthcare Effectiveness

Follow this link for a study titled Lean Thinking In Healthcare: Review of Implementation Results.

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“The First Industrial Revolution used steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.”
– Professor Klaus Schwab

In this TED Talk, Olivier Scalabre discusses the next manufacturing revolution. Olivier Scalabre heads BCG’s Operations Practice for Western Europe, North Africa and South America. In the last three years, he launched BCG Ops Centers, serving regions out of Paris, London, and Sao Paolo via 100 experts dedicated to manufacturing, supply chain, procurement and services operations across industries. As part of his career at BCG, Scalabre has worked both in mature and emerging markets, most notably out of the BCG New Delhi and BCG Paris offices.

Watch this engaging TED Talk here:

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