How to Speed Up Lean Six Sigma Implementation

The Lean Six Sigma toolkit is a very versatile and potent technique for process improvement. The tools help users understand the process and increase their productivity. Used the right way, the methodology would help reduce costs and increase the quality standards of the products and services offered.

The Cost of Poor Quality

This is a great tool to figure out the improvement areas. The number adds up all of the inefficiencies that are related to any process. It includes unnecessary waste; making up for the defective products produced by running the plants for longer times, additional costs incurred in waste disposal, reshipping products to the clients, warranty issuance, redundant audits and checks, etc.

Consider the cost of poor quality and figure out the expenses that will be incurred in continuing the current way. The Lean Six Sigma methodology can help with minimizing defects. It can drastically improve the effectiveness of business processes. The main purpose of the technique is to enhance the customer experience by eliminating all variations in processes.

Consistency is critically important for any business as it allows customer trust to build up. The tools help cut costs by cutting down on the different waste types.

Realization of the challenges and problems is the first step towards solving them.

Speeding Up Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement

Process improvement is a critical component in organizations of all sizes. A number of factors prevent people from using the Lean Six Sigma methodology in their day-to-day activities. It is human nature to resist change. Teams might not be very comfortable with adapting to change. Budget constraints too play a role.

At times, organizations do not have the desired skill set or possess no one to take the lead. Often, teams believe they do not have the time. It is important to adopt a proactive methodology in order to increase quality.

• Lean Six Sigma is a defect-based methodology but it is important to approach it from an appreciative perspective. There are a lot of defects in business processes but teams must also appreciate things that have been working well and leave them unchanged.
• Focus on quick wins. These are opportunities that can result in fast success in the Lean Six Sigma framework. Quick wins also help accelerate further wins.
• It is important to take advantage of opportunities as and when they present themselves. Identify the opportunities and evaluate them.
• Identify the bottlenecks and suggest potential improvements. It is recommended to use business process management software.
• Businesses should compare the processes when it comes to efficiency. Softwares could be used to automate process enforcement. It can keep a track on the deadlines and assign the relevant tasks to appropriate employees.
• Users should consider their first quick win projects as the workable models. Once a few initial quick wins are complete, you should begin publicizing your team’s progress.
• Quick wins can help initialize processes quickly and help determine the speed with which the project will progress. They also provide a strong foundation on which to work. It is imperative to consider wisely your selection criteria for choosing quick wins.
• Trace and identify the most productive employees in your business. Driving quick wins is easier if you already have the most productive employees ready.
• Seamless communication is the key to a speedy implementation of Lean Six Sigma. Inspire your staff and publicize your successes with quick wins. Speeches and literature are a great way to spread the word and motivate your workforce.

Conclusion

Lean Six Sigma combines the strengths of the Lean approach focusing on waste reduction with the defect elimination and problem-solving strategies of the Six Sigma methodology. In order to ensure a speedy implementation of flawless processes using this technique, businesses must focus on quick wins and identify the right opportunities. In the end, it’s a collaborative team effort and relies on the support of your teammates for long-term success.

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Guidelines for a Strong Framework for Green Lean Six Sigma Implementation

For many organizations, there exist functional divides between the people who manage health, environment and safety issues, those in charge of environmental improvement, the people in regulatory compliance roles and operational improvement specialists such as Lean Six Sigma experts.

In addition, environmental technical assistance experts and Lean Six Sigma service providers may sometimes operate in what feels like parallel universes, which is ironic since both roles are involved in trying to improve the performance of their organizations.

Finding ways to bridge the lean and environmental management ‘universes’ can offer substantial benefits for each side involved. It does not necessarily need to be difficult to overcome the differences and break down the organizational gaps that prevent the achievement of common objectives of continuous improvement, elimination of waste and maintenance of green operations.

Below, we examine some of the guidelines that should be followed by Lean Six Sigma and environmental professionals in order to realize their shared objectives.

1. Learn To Speak The Language

It is not necessary for environmental professionals to become experts in order to understand the language of Lean Six Sigma. Through listening, training and how-to spreadsheets, they can be effectively equipped to talk to Lean and Six Sigma experts about environmental effects of various processes. In the same way environmental professionals may be unfamiliar with the terminology used in Lean Six Sigma, Lean and Six Sigma audiences may find themselves in unfamiliar territory with regard to environmental acronyms and terms. An exchange of glossaries helps these experts to facilitate better communication.

2. Use Lean Terms To Frame Environmental Issues

Convincing Lean and Six Sigma practitioners to become experts on environmental issues in order to achieve effective Green Lean Six Sigma implementation is unnecessary. This is because they love nothing more than identifying and eliminating waste. If environmental experts can assist them to find hidden waste, it goes without saying that they will be enthusiastic partners in efforts to improve the organization’s green programs. It also helps to identify specific entry points or places where, if a simple question is asked, Lean Six Sigma practitioners can establish areas where environmental wastes occur.

3. Find an Acceptable Middle Ground between Environmental Sustainability and Business Goals

If environmental professionals are perceived as people who only say ‘No’ to Lean Six Sigma projects, they will find it difficult to be accepted in Lean and Six Sigma events. Instead, they need to be creative in their thinking with regard to addressing organizational challenges in order to achieve both operational and environmental goals. Through close collaboration, solutions can be developed that will help to eliminate worker safety hazards, reduce environmental waste and avoid any environmental problems that may arise as a result of regulatory compliance.

4. Brand Environmental Sustainability Efforts

When it comes to process improvement, sustainability and the environment, there is a wide variety of terms which are used, including “Lean and Green,” “Lean and Clean,” “Lean Six Sigma and Environment” and “Green Lean Six Sigma.” The use of these terms is vital in drawing attention to an organization’s efforts to integrate Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma Methodologies and Environment. For the sake of providers of technical assistance, it helps to make a distinction between standard Lean Six Sigma and integrated services which combine process improvement, waste reduction and environmental expertise.

5. Establish Appropriate Projects For Green Lean Six Sigma

While the principles behind Green Lean Six Sigma are applicable to a large array of organizational processes, it is essential that extra precautions are taken in the selection of appropriate implementation projects. In particular, this is true if Green Lean Six Sigma is being implemented by a business for the first time. Before settling on processes for improvement, it is essential for a business to perform risk assessment analysis to ensure that the project improvement will meet the objectives of both Lean Six Sigma and environmental protection.

Conclusion

All the evidence suggests that Six Sigma, Lean and Green approaches to business are positive contributors to the social, environmental and economic performance of an organization. Still, integration and implementation of Green Lean Six Sigma has challenges. The guidelines above provide a framework for organizations to adopt these approaches for the improvement of their performance.

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5 Reasons Why Companies Do Not Implement Lean Six Sigma

Most businesses and manufacturers have heard of the Lean and Six Sigma strategies. In fact, businesses around the world have been using these extremely powerful tools for years now. They have helped in process improvement and increased business productivity. Overall, they resulted in a richer customer experience.

However, it is unfortunate that many businesses are yet to discover the true value of Lean Six Sigma. There are, in fact, several reasons companies do not use Lean Six Sigma. While some reasons are genuinely valid, others are mere misconceptions that need to be done away with.

1. Lack of Information and Awareness

More often than not, businesses shy away from using the Lean Six Sigma approach because they do not really know what it is all about. While it might seem surprising that there are still organizations that have not heard of the Six Sigma approach, it is quite believable indeed considering that the approach has been widely used in the manufacturing circles with less exposure outside.

Learning, they say, is a journey, not a destination. It is never too late to begin with a new process that holds limitless possibilities and is proven to be useful for long-term success. You should not worry about not using the approach because you do not have the expertise and tools in place. It is best to start by doing and learning along the way.

2. LSS is Not Just for Large Companies

This is a very widely held misconception. Many businesses believe that the approach is only suited to enterprises and large companies. This is completely untrue. Even the smallest companies with fewer than 10 employees use the methodology to improve their processes and streamline their services.

At other times, companies might just choose Lean and leave Six Sigma behind. However, the two approaches work hand in hand and used together, remove the shortcomings of each. The Lean principles speed up business output while the Six Sigma approach helps improve quality.

3. Implementing These Need Not be Expensive

Some businesses stay away from the Lean Six Sigma approach thinking that it involves exorbitant costs. Actually, the process can be started by a few chosen key personnel with a Yellow belt training. It is easy to get started with using the Six Sigma approach with even a basic understanding of the process. As said earlier, it is important to begin and learn along the way.

4. LSS is Not Just For Manufacturers

This is one of the biggest misconceptions. While the approach was first used by manufacturers to reduce wastage, it is now a universal process that is used everywhere. It is considered useful in service and transaction environments which involve recurring processes.

5. Fear of change

This is one of the most common reasons many enterprises do not adopt the LSS technique. The fear of the unknown stops businesses from reaching greatness. This is similar to the case with lack of information and awareness. It is best if businesses educate themselves and make themselves aware of the developments in this field to better understand the process and approach.

Often, businesses are just too stubborn to move away from existing methodologies and think about newer ones that promise rewarding results.

At other times, businesses might think that the LSS approach involves complex mathematics and statistical analysis. However, LSS is not just about mathematics and statistics. This is a rich process that offers businesses invaluable insights, helping them improve processes while continuously striving for customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

The Lean Six Sigma approach is an extremely powerful tool that has already proven its mettle in a number of industries and sectors. However, there are still several misconceptions that prevent businesses from benefitting from the power of this wonderful methodology.

It is important for businesses to consider the tools with an open mind and embrace the techniques in areas where they can particularly help improve customer experience.

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5 Challenges to Implementing Green Lean Six Sigma

Continuous Improvement has become somewhat of an umbrella term which encompasses a wide array of methodologies and disciplines that may include Performance Management, Compliance, Quality Management, Business Process Development, Six Sigma, Lean and many others.

Despite the many different terms used, the variety of techniques and the methods that are available to organizations, one thing is common to all these Continuous Improvement initiatives: they seek to achieve continuous improvement of business processes and enhancement of results.

However, studies have shown that a majority of Lean Six Sigma initiatives, particularly those implemented with a green philosophy in mind, fail to yield the results desired; They often start off well enough, but fail to have a lasting impact since the participants tend to lose motivation and focus, returning to their old habits.

If continuous improvement through Green Lean Six Sigma is so essential to an organization’s health and image, why do so many implementations fail? Here we examine some of the challenges faced by teams implementing Green Lean Six Sigma:

1. Difficulty Building a Collaborative Environment Between Stakeholders

Continuous improvement requires the involvement of a large number of stakeholders, each with their specific interests. These may include process owners, Quality Managers, Training departments, IT, Lean Six Sigma experts, and more. In certain highly regulated industries, the stakeholder list may also include Compliance and Risk Officers as well.

The list above probably only covers the people involved in capturing process steps, review and agreement and does not include employees who will need to adapt to new ways of working. Since there most likely will be several initiatives at different stages of the lifecycle, it can be a challenge getting everyone to work in unison.

2. Problems Identifying Priority Areas For Improvement

As often happens when implementing Green Lean Six Sigma, there will be many great ideas for things which an organization can improve. Still, how do you identify the priority items? For some organizations the social responsibility and corporate goals could be clear-cut and aligned, but for others, there may be a sense of overload due to new initiatives or a barrage of priority items. In the latter case, the challenge is to assess each improvement initiative and evaluate it in terms of its value to the organization’s overall strategy.

3. Use of Unsuitable Process Improvement Tools

Each organizational process needs to be treated as an asset. Every process must be captured, analyzed, improved and deployed in order to exploit the environmental benefits in the best way possible. In order for process improvement to be achieved, some king of business process management tool is necessary. However, if the tool’s learning curve is too steep, then it may prove to be a barrier instead of a help to the people involved in the Green Lean Six Sigma project. If an unsuitable tool is used, then people might simply throw in the towel and resume their old way of working.

4. Meeting Compliance Standards While Implementing Process Improvement

If your business operates within a highly regulated industry, you may find yourself beset with rigorous controls, rules and standard operating procedures that may make process analysis and deployment of Green Lean Six Sigma a headache. In addition, if you constantly have to show auditors that processes, your procedures, process controls and compliance obligations are being followed, it is inevitable that your implementation will come with some level of governance overhead.

5. Inadequate Employee Engagement

Like the best laid-out plans, your new and improved Green Lean Six Sigma processes will be completely useless if your people are ignorant of them or fail to follow them. By its definition, continuous improvement (the aim of Lean Six Sigma) requires a constant drip feed of step-by-step improvements. The major risk is change-exhaustion among employees who, if instant results are not apparent, may become skeptical or hostile to changes being implemented.

Conclusion

One thing that many businesses fail to realize is that Lean Six Sigma is more than just a collection of tools and techniques – It is a continuous learning process whose concepts are highly effective at helping organizations minimize waste as well as negative effects on the environment. Still, each business is different, and it is vital to understand that what comes easy for one company could result in significant challenges for another.

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Automotive Organizations Implementing Green Lean Six Sigma Initiatives

The term lean manufacturing signifies a production methodology which is aimed at reducing waste by lowering inventory on the shop floor of a manufacturing enterprise.

It has its origins that extend deep into Japanese culture, where manufacturers enforce strict policies on materials control, with the aim of achieving as close to zero inventory and stockless production as is possible. Therefore, the idea behind lean manufacturing is to try and achieve nil inventory by only producing what is required, when it is required, thus eliminating the need for storage costs and freeing up capital that may be tied up as inventory.

On the other hand, Six Sigma is a method of working which seeks to achieve near perfect production practices by eliminating any unnecessary steps in manufacturing while reducing any waste that may come as a result of inefficiencies. By definition, waste in Six Sigma terms is any work that is done that incurs a material, capital or manpower cost without adding value to the customer.

Through implementation of a combination of lean manufacturing policies and Six Sigma practices, Toyota and Ford Motor Company have managed to not only become two of the most profitable companies in the automotive industry, but have also managed to drastically reduce their impact on the environment through efficiency and reduction of both waste and emissions.

Toyota

Toyota’s philosophy has helped make it one of the top three automobile manufacturers in the world today, and it’s Green Lean Six Sigma methods are now replicated by most other car manufacturers worldwide.

In fact, the Western concept of Lean manufacturing has its roots in the Toyota Production System (TPS), which is an integrated socio-technical model that involves both the company’s management strategies and its production practices.

Commonly referred to as The Toyota Way, TPS’ key objectives are to design a system that avoids overburdening its staff or processes while eliminating waste. In this case, waste could mean anything from unnecessary movement, wasted time waiting for the product or for assistance, and even wasted materials that could end up clogging the environment.

Ironically the company’s top brass was inspired to develop TPS by visiting an American supermarket. They saw value in the supermarket’s operations where items were ordered and restocked only when they had been bought by customers.

Toyota then applied this lesson by ensuring that it reduced its inventory to a level where it was just enough for its employees to carry out production of its cars and subsequently reorder only when the materials were exhausted.

Ford

The fundamental principles of lean manufacturing that were pioneered by Toyota’s team have become universally accepted, but have been adapted to fit the circumstances of each organization that adopts them. A good example of this kind of transformation comes from the Ford Production System that is in use at the Ford Motor Company.

According to the company, “The vision of FPS is a lean, flexible and disciplined common production system, defined by a set of principles and processes, that employs groups of capable and empowered people, learning and working safely together, in the production and delivery of products that consistently exceed customers’ expectations in quality, cost and time.”

Through visual management, time and data management operations, policy deployment and process confirmation, FPS has ensured that the company delivers a more capable organization that continually strives to improve its production practices, better its manufacturing environment and reduce its footprint on the environment.

This is mainly achieved by building a standardized product as a result of the creation of standard manufacturing processes. Little time is wasted when training new employees and they can be brought on board and be productive in the shortest time possible. Each worker at a Ford plant only has to perform a small and specific part of the entire job and moves the workflow to the next step of the process.

Conclusion

Lean Six Sigma has really found its niche in the automotive industry, thanks to its goals of improving production processes by eliminating waste and encouraging a policy of continuous improvement.

By understanding what is wasteful and eliminating it, these organizations have been able to improve their overall performance and lessen the impact of their manufacturing processes on the environment by reducing the steps and procedures needed to arrive at a finished product and lessening the need for unnecessary movement and transportation.

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Exploring Lean Six Sigma and Environmental Improvement Initiatives

There are two incredibly powerful business trends which are shaping today’s corporate landscape. They are organizations’ demands for an increase in efficiency in production and the social imperative that companies reduce their environmental footprint. Modern process improvement experts have discovered that the two aims do not have to be mutually exclusive or unrelated. As a matter of fact, if a Lean Six Sigma implementation has environmental improvement as one of its objectives, it is more likely to become a permanent part of corporate operations and receive funding.

What change managers need to understand is that projects based on environmental improvement are not opposed or passed over because an organization’s management opposes them or that they do not care about the environment. They fall by the wayside because, by themselves, they are not presented as being significant enough for top level leaders to allocate significant resources to them.

However, a combination of environmental improvement initiatives and Lean Six Sigma is certain to sweeten the deal. Such combined projects are certain to appeal to managers because they offer both environmental and quality advantages to the organization.

Environmental Impact Analysis of an Organization

Getting into more detail, analysis of your organization’s environmental impact is a measure of how much your company impacts the surrounding environment. When you are busy operating business processes and the supply chain, there may be negative environmental impacts caused by your business that can occur with or without you knowing it. Among these are spillages of toxic waste, leakage, improper disposal of waste, and other kinds of contamination.

At times, these occurrences may not be easy to notice. Similarly, pinpointing the exact source of such contamination may be difficult. In order to avoid having an adverse effect on the environment, it is essential that you carry out environmental impact analysis.

The variables that you measure and how they are measured largely depends on the type of operation and the industry within which your organization operates. For most lean organizations, the carbon footprint, water use, energy consumed and the percentage of waste recycled are the most common metrics.

Connecting Lean Six Sigma and Environmental Impact Analysis

Carrying out regular analysis of your impact on the environment can be expensive and time consuming. However, when the right approach is taken, unnecessary costs can be eliminated. The initial data collection and analysis is what requires the most manpower, money and time. However, once you have perfected your processes after the first round, you can repeat the steps again after regular periods.

There are many Key Performance Indicators and variables that you can measure to establish how much of an environmental impact your business has. Still, it is important to select the right ones and stick to them.

For your organization to achieve this, it is recommended that you appoint a certified Six Sigma project manager. This manager should be at least a Black Belt. The project manager has the task of collecting the correct data from the right sources. The project team could be comprised of more Six Sigma experts who will collect, store and analyze data.

Once the appropriate data is at hand, you can use it to establish if there are any changes that you can make to your operations or supply chain. To do this, it is recommended that you compare the results of your organization to those of your competitors while also examining existing legislation.

Through taking a proactive stance with your environmental impact study, you could potentially save countless hours and avoid falling foul of strict environmental protection laws.

Conclusion

No matter whether you support climate change laws or not, the fact is that governments all over the world are agitating for organizations and businesses to be run in an environmentally friendly way.

Companies that carry out production and manufacturing operations should expect to be the most affected by tough new environment-related legislation. However, through the reduction of waste and elimination of unnecessary production steps, your organization can be well prepared to avoid losing time and paying hefty fines.

In combination with Six Sigma methodologies, carrying out environmental impact analysis and acting on the findings is the best way to run environmental improvement initiatives.

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3 Ways Lean Can Reduce Government Waste

All over the world, governments are constantly looking for ways through which they can offer better healthcare, improved education, better transportations and better pensions, among other services. This is because they know that the electorate demands change, and fast. However, the funds required to achieve these expectations are huge – especially when it comes to developed economies that have rapidly aging populations and government’s productivity fails to keep up with the performance of the private sector.

In order for the problem to be addressed, many leaders within the public sector are looking at the lean techniques that have found considerable adoption and success within private industry. From processing of tax returns to repair of military equipment, from urban planning to healthcare management, lean has shown that it is not only possible to improve service to the public, but to do it in a cost-effective way through the elimination of non value-adding processes in the following ways:

1. Taking the Perspective of the Customer

All activities carried out by an organization need rigorous testing to ensure that they provide value to the customer. They need to be double-checked to ensure that they are in line with the government’s goals and that there are no unnecessary processes or costs.

If a retailer or car manufacturer does not add value, then their customers will go elsewhere. However, in public institutions or governmental departments, it is much more difficult to identify customers and fulfill their needs, as it is in private industry

A major reason for this is the lack of competition. The government’s customers – for instance, patients or job seekers – normally have no other choice. The demands of the customer is rarely in focus, resulting in costly, inward looking solutions from government agencies, which come at enormous cost but offer little or no value to citizens.

Lean helps government to identify and focus on the customer, encourages discussions between leaders and staff and improves service delivery in a way that is not only customer-focused, but cost-effective.

2. Definition and Management of Processes

When a lean system is being developed, end-to-end processes are identified from the point of view of the customer and then designed so that materials and information keeps flowing smoothly from one step of the process to the next. However, many managers in the public sector lack the mindset, expertise and experience to take this approach that comes as second nature to most leaders in successful private enterprises.

In the private sector, the only way employees and leaders can understand and control a process it by seeing how it works. However, when it comes to the public sector, leaders do not necessarily see themselves as managing an operation, since it is not usual for an individual to be in charge of an entire process.

To overcome these difficulties, governmental decision makers need to foster a shared understanding of the challenges faced through an entire process. This will help in identifying where inefficiencies occur, and will aid in removing any superfluous steps or tasks that cost money without offering any tangible benefit to citizens.

3. Finding and Solving Of Defects

Among the key characteristics of lean organizations is their ability to improve themselves constantly by bringing any issues to the light and working toward resolving them. In this case as well, the public sector is often found wanting, due to geps in mindsets and skills.

The move from papering over problems to actually finding solutions to them is an especially difficult task for governments because of a lack of requisite skills and political considerations. With the exception of the military, management of operations is not a traditional career path that leads to the top tiers of government.

To further compound the problem, top civil servants are often culturally and operationally detached from frontline service delivery. What this means is that decision and policy makers are isolated from the realities on the ground, and often make costly decisions that do not take the effect of customers into account.

The open management style that involves all levels of the organization which is part of the lean methodology’s principles allows even the topmost cadres to be fully appraised of any issues that affect government’s processes.

Conclusion

Implementing lean needs much more than courage to unearth deep-seated problems within an organization; It also calls for leaders and staff to be able to deal with job losses. By dealing with this simple truth, leaders in the public sector and politicians can outline the changes needed to make processes effective.

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3 Ways to Promote a Customer/Employee Centric Philosophy

The identity of an organization is defined by one important factor – its employees. This is especially true when it comes to the development of a customer-centric culture. For this reason, management and senior executives should find ways to build up and sustain their organization’s capacity to offer sterling customer service in line with the purpose of the company.

As an organization seeks and tries to attract talent, it is necessary to have in mind the qualities and attributes that each team, function or position requires. For instance, do service agility, collaboration and responsiveness outweigh any need for more competitive and resilient contributors? Working out the talent equation ensures that a company is able to have employees who can offer effective service to customers and provide support to the organization’s broader objectives.

It is only recently that companies are starting to realize the benefits that can be gained from having a great corporate culture and the effect it has on the happiness of both employees and customers. Creating an employee-centric philosophy in the workplace is all about identifying weaknesses and finding solutions in the following three ways:

1. Empowering Employees as Part of the Corporate Culture

Being an effective leader in an employee-centric organization involves empowering employees to carry out their tasks without having to be constantly micromanaged. If an employee can confidently work independently, then management’s time is freed up to concentrate on other more essential tasks.

There is nothing more frustrating for an employee than having to deal with business issues but having to constantly seek approval or input from someone else higher up in the chain of command. When a person has the authority to do a job they are well qualified for without having to run from one office to the next to get 10 authorizations first, things will get done much faster.

However, it is important to understand the slight – but important – difference between being empowered and working independently. When employees are empowered, they are given the authority to make certain critical decisions for themselves, as opposed to people who work independently as long as they do not deviate from set standard procedures.

2. Making Employees Responsible For the Customer Experience

A visit to most corporate reception areas and boardrooms will reveal walls plastered with inspiring and powerful messages that articulate the organization’s mission, vision and purpose. However, few companies manage to realize these lofty ideals because they fail to consider the following:

• What is the customer telling us? Through data analytics, management and employees can gain an insight into the emotional and rational needs of the customer.
• How can analytics be used to drive the day to day employee behaviors and corporate processes? If a company’s employees are to deliver the required customer experience, it is essential to socialize values of customer service at all levels of the enterprise.
• How can customer service values be connected to the purpose of the organization? By linking day to day activities of its employees to broader business goals, companies can deliver a great customer experience.

3. Fostering a Sense of Accountability

When moving an organization toward an employee-centric philosophy which effectively leverages talent, business leaders need to choose indicators which will accurately track progress and gauge performance in terms of both outcomes and behavior.

Through the use of timely and robust customer-driven metrics which are extended down to the team level, management can gain a clear picture of just how satisfied customers are with the product or service they are offered.

This is an effort that should be supported by a strong commitment to customer-centric day-to-day behavior. Both outcomes and behaviors provide leaders the tools they need to increase market share, drive performance and increase innovation.

Conclusion

Strong, employee-centric business philosophies provide organizations with a sustainable and organic route to better corporate results. However, these philosophies do not just magically appear; they require the leadership of organizations to proactively develop a sense of empowerment, customer service and accountability.

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Understanding Deming’s 14 Point-Philosophy

Dr. W. Edwards Deming came up with 14 principles of management which were aimed at significantly improving the efficiency of the top brass of an organization. A good number of the principles are philosophical, but others are programmatic. However, all stress transformation of the enterprise. The principles were first published in his book Out of the Crisis.

The 14 principles of quality management offer the foundation for business leaders to follow good management practices. Each is listed below with a brief explanation of the major takeaway from each point:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business and to provide jobs:

Management could become overcome by today’s challenges, forgetting the fact that future problems require dedication and constant purpose if the company is to survive the modern competitive environment.

2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change:

Antitrust rules and regulations set out by governmental agencies should be designed to be supportive of the well-being of the people behind organizations.

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place:

Once a product is out in the market, it is too late to rectify quality issues. They need to be handled in production.

4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust:

No matter how good suppliers or service providers are, if they try to drive down a product’s price without considering quality, they will soon be out of business.

5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs:

Constant improvement in testing methodologies is necessary if an organization wants to understand the value a product provides to the customer.

6. Institute training on the job:

Management needs to understand the problems that workers face and resolve them so that they can complete their tasks satisfactorily.

7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job:

Managers should learn to fix problems instead of reacting to each fault as a special cause, as it can result in a higher occurrence of defects.

8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company:

Employees should be given the freedom to ask questions and express ideas. When they fear management, then they may end up padding figures and hiding mistakes.

9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team to foresee problems of production and use that may be encountered with the product or service:

Teamwork and communication is an important part of a properly functioning and successful enterprise.

10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity:

Putting up slogans creates adversarial relationships within an organization. Most of the causes of low quality and reduced productivity are systematic and not as a result of the work of any one individual.

11. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality:

Workmen need to be encouraged to take pride in their work by eliminating work quotas. If leadership takes the place of work standards, there is a corresponding increase in productivity and job satisfaction.

12. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective:

Merit rating offers rewards to individuals who perform well within an existing system, but does not recognize attempts at improvement of business processes.

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement:

Management needs to put in place a policy that encourages employees to pursue education and embrace self-improvement.

14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transfor­mation. The transformation is everybody’s job:

Everyone in the organization should be given a chance to put forward their ideas and formulate new plans that can contribute to customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

Dr. Deming, through his 14 points, shows that many of the problems organizations face when trying to achieve their goals are down to systemic errors and not employee faults. He arrived at his conclusions through the use of statistical analysis and comparison of the effect of people and the system on corporate performance.

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Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) process

Breaking Down the FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) Process

Failure mode and effects analysis – or FMEA – is a well-known technique for analyzing failures in any operation in a systematic manner. It can be very effective when applied correctly, and has a long-running history of successful usage in many industries. When reliability is a top concern in your current operations, you should definitely look into implementing FMEA if it matches the profile of your business.

Basic ideas

A great thing about FMEA is that it can be applied on multiple levels – including abstract ones – in order to best suit the current state of your process design. This means that you can effectively use FMEA to study the core functionality of each component in your production, and after that carry over the analysis to the actual hardware parts that implement this functionality. This can have powerful implications when you want to study the core design of your product itself, rather than its final stages.

When applied correctly, FMEA can lead you to a design that works on every level, and produces adequate results that are within reasonable bounds. What’s more, it can help you continuously pick from different designs as you keep improving your business over time, in order to maintain it in a state where failures are kept down to a minimum. On the other hand, you will also ensure that safety stays at sufficiently high levels.

Important assumptions

There are some assumptions that have to be made when applying FMEA, and if those prerequisites are not met, you may get incorrect results from your analysis. For example, you should not study the possibility of multiple failure modes existing at the same time. While that’s a valid assumption in some contexts, it can negatively impact the way you analyze the results of FMEA, and you should therefore align your thoughts in a different direction.

It’s also important to ensure that all basic prerequisites for successful operation are met in the first place. This means that the process is supplied with all its necessary resources, and it’s powered adequately. Otherwise you’re not going to be able to count on the validity of the results you’ve obtained.

Also, remember that the rules of FMEA are actually somewhat flexible, and you can twist them around your current project to some extent. The important thing is to settle on a common set of rules from the very beginning, before even starting the FMEA implementation in the first place. Otherwise you might run into some conflicts with the way your data is analyzed later on, and you may even invalidate the whole FMEA run if the problem is bad enough.

Long-term benefits

Applying FMEA correctly and consistently can lead to some great improvements in the long run, and it’s one of the best things you can do for your business if you’re having trouble with different types of failures. You can end up working with a system that’s much more consistent and predictable, giving you results that you can actually count on at every step.

On the other hand, you’ll also have a very solid foundation for troubleshooting any issues that come up in the process. This is important by itself, as many organizations tend to have a lot of knowledge about potential issues they can encounter, but very little information on how to actually deal with those issues adequately.

Conclusion

Failure mode and effects analysis can be a great complement to the operation of any organization that has to deal with failures on a regular basis, but it has to be applied correctly in order to get its full benefits. As long as you define a set of ground rules appropriately and work with them all the way, you should be able to process your results correctly and make something sensible out of them.

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What Do Lean and Agile Have in Common?

Both lean and agile are terms which refer to modern advancements in the way work is done, which have led to reduced cost, faster response times, and better customer services for many companies in different industries.

Although both ‘lean’ and ‘agile’ refer to two separate concepts, the two do share certain similarities, and each have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Deciding whether to utilize lean, agile, or both methods for your organization is an important first step for any new manufacturing start-up.

Lean Manufacturing Methods

Running a lean manufacturing business puts the most priority on the flow of material through the entire process (value stream), which keeps the costs at a minimum. When working properly, Lean methods maintain very little inventory, so the company can minimize how much money that spend on raw materials, in-progress work, and finished products at any given time.

Organizations using lean methodology use efficient purchasing and delivery systems to minimize cost by requesting inputs only when they are needed, and deliver the finished product as soon as it is ordered and needed by the customer. In addition, lean manufacturers tend to focus their core processes on main competencies, while also outsourcing a variety of productive activities to suppliers who can do it better and have more expertise. When these suppliers are treated like partners, this creates further cost efficiencies.

For example, a lean manufacturing business may outsource certain components or items that are not part of their core skills, allowing them to focus on and invest more solely in what made them successful in the first place. The suppliers deliver the items just-in-time (JIT), only when the company needs it. 

Additionally, the concepts of waste reduction, employee engagement and continuous quality improvement are vital factors in lean manufacturing.

Agile Manufacturing Methods

On the other hand, agile manufacturing businesses are less focused on keeping costs low, and more focused on shifting to be able to meet changing customer demands as quickly as possible. When it comes to processes, agile companies are setup in ways that are flexible enough to be rapidly changed as the customer’s needs change. Existing equipment, labor, tools and raw materials are used in agile manufacturing, enabling teams to create new or custom products on demand, which is much faster than their competitors, which becomes a competitive advantage.

For example, a car manufacturing company using lean methods will allow the ability to use existing infrastructure to build new car models without having to make a significant financial investment. Vigorous data systems are relied on by agile marketing, production and design departments; this enables them to provide updated, current information on available resources at any given time.

Similarities

Both lean and agile manufacturing methods share the same ultimate focus; increasing the sustainability of business within the sector of high-cost marketing. Both provide solutions to the challenges faced by manufacturers of the past, along with providing an opportunity for smaller manufacturing companies to compete with their larger competitors.

Both lean and agile concepts consist of a heavy reliance on statistics; both use computerized information systems and encourage open communication between teams, customers, and both internal and external stakeholders. Due to this, both concepts tie in well with modern advances in production technology; they’re perfectly matched to resources and tools available to today’s manufacturing managers.

Additionally, both lean and agile methods are decisions that should be made during the early planning stages of a company; they are designed to influence the ways in which businesses are structured not just in work sites and factories, but throughout every department of the organization from accountancy to marketing and customer services.

Shared Benefits of Lean and Agile

Benefits can be reaped from using both lean and agile processes; the two methodologies combined can strengthen said benefits even further. Lean manufacturing is used to improve cash flow and increase the amount of cash available to a business by efficiently cutting expenses, whilst agile manufacturing methods serve to increase company revenue by ensuring all terms are ready to fulfill any unexpected customer demand.

Additionally, both lean and agile concepts focus heavily on competitiveness; a priority concern in the global markets where manufacturers compete. Agile manufacturing allows a company of any size to successfully increase their number of total sales, whilst lean methods give businesses the freedom and flexibility to attract new custom via product price promotions and reductions

Why Do They Work Well Together?

Whilst lean and agile methods of manufacturing are two distinct things, they do work well together. Whilst lean manufacturing allows for costs to be reduced, agile methods allow companies to boost their reputation by being able to meet even the most challenging of sudden customer demands.

Combine the two together, and you have the perfect recipe for manufacturing business success. Whilst lean methods allow the company to save on costs, agile manufacturing can be used to ensure that products are gotten right the first time. For example, ‘beta testing’, where customers are given the smallest useful part of a product and asked to report what works well and what does not, is a useful Agile method.

Additionally, lean methods can enhance agile strategies for managing team productivity. Within a lean manufacturing system, work is broken down into a set of value streams that demand signals trigger. Using this strategy, the output of one value stream will lead to more. Since agile is largely based on connecting the work of multiple teams, this method comes in useful for achieving efficiency and communication.

To Conclude

Both lean and agile manufacturing methodologies are popular options for reducing business cost, improving the ability to meet customer demands and enabling heightened competitiveness. They can each be used alone, however, when used together result in further benefits; both agile and lean strategies tend to enhance one another.

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Lean thinking has played a major role in helping original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) prime their processes for continuous improvement. And when it comes to Lean, there are five foundational principles every manufacturer needs to know, according to The Lean Enterprise Institution. There’s no magic behind these steps; just proper understanding to make sure all Lean initiatives turn out successful.

These principles are essentially strategic steps that must be followed in order since each of them builds upon the other. The five principles of lean are: identify value, map the value stream, create flow, establish pull and seek perfection. Keep on reading for a better understanding so you can use them to your advantage. 

1. Identify Value

To begin the Lean approach, there needs to be an understanding of what value means to your target consumers. This is instrumental in creating satisfied customers; which without, all manufacturing efforts would be for naught. By identifying value, not only will you be able to create something customers will pay for, but also a price point that is acceptable to them.

To identify the value, you need to ask what the customer needs and why they need it. Once this is achieved, what remains to be identified is how you will deliver that value to them. When you identify these two things, it is safe to consider everything a waste, meaning you can eliminate these things.

2. Map the Value Stream Map

How does value flow through the organization and end up in the hands of customers? More specifically, where does it get stuck during the flow? These are the important questions that are answered by mapping the value stream. In this step, every process that brings the organization close to its end goal (adds value) is mapped.

After the processes have been mapped, those which increase wastage are isolated and eliminated. Only those processes which add value are the ones that remain. And in most cases, this ends up just being 10% of them.

3. Create Flow

Once the value stream stops flowing, wastage will be the inevitable end result. Once the flow of value is understood in the previous step, it is now time to create a value chain where the flow is uninterrupted. That is to say that every process that remains should be one that adds value.

At this point, wastage starts to get eliminated to create a smooth flow of value to the end user. There should be little-to-no waste in the process, meaning the overall manufacturing process should now start to witness some improvement. However, it is important to understand that not all waste-producing processes can be eliminated, and time shouldn’t be wasted on this war of attrition.

4. Establish Pull

With value now flowing through the value chain, it comes down to letting customers pull value at the time when they need it. This means no creating value ahead of time (this leads to the need for storage and waiting for customers to make orders), but striking a balance between production and demand, which saves a lot of valuable time and resources.

5. Seek Perfection

Now that the value has been identified, value stream has been mapped, the flow has been created and pull has been established, it is time to seek perfection. You do this by going back to the first step and doing everything all over again to achieve a state of perfection. The lean changes should not be a once-off event if you wish to reap the full rewards of the manufacturing process or any other business process for that matter.

When you go through a round of eliminating wastage in a process, it can make hidden sub-processes that cause wastage to emerge. You need to continuously eliminate them as they arise to unlock the full potential of the overall process.

Now that you are familiar with the principles of Lean thinking, you can use them to improve manufacturing and other business processes. These strategic steps are essential for the success of Lean initiatives. They are kind of like a recipe for a cake – you can’t bake one without it. Let the principles be your guide.

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When it comes to processes, whether in the manufacturing or service industry, defects are undesirable. In fact, defects that are big enough have been known to interrupt a process. When things of that nature happen, organizations can hemorrhage millions of dollars. With that in mind, it makes all the more sense to eliminate defects before they become a costly problem.

What is DFMEA?

DFMEA stands for Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, and its approach is to identify possible problems and their causes and then come up with an effective way to prevent them from happening in the first place. If done right, the defects can be corrected way before the product or service reaches the customer.

When defects are discovered in the production phase, all the organization needs to do is roll back to the previous steps of the product development cycle to fix them. While this can be time-consuming and costly in its own right, it doesn’t compare to what would happen if the customers get their hands on a defective product. Consequences can range from lost business to lawsuits – all which impact the organization’s financial health.

To make matters worse, there will still be a need to revisit previous product development stages since the defects will not disappear on their own. The DFMEA approach seeks to prevent all of this from happening. As you know from Murphy’s Law, which states that if there’s a chance that anything can go wrong, it probably will, this approach is one of immense value.

While it is impossible to eliminate all defects in a process, it is possible to substantially get rid of most of them to the point that the remaining ones become negligible. This leaves us with the question of how DFMEA can be used to achieve this? Well, conducting the DFMEA boils down to 10 steps.

How to Conduct DFMEA: 10 Steps

These 10 steps are the ones that need to be performed if the DFMEA approach is to be implemented successfully. Each one must be performed after the other (none must be skipped) because each one builds on from the last one.

1. Review and design

Identify every component or interface of the design or product by looking at its blueprint or schematic. Once they are identified, list them all in an FMEA table.

2. Brainstorm potential failure modes

Each component or interface is subject to failure in a number of ways. By looking at the existing data and documentation, you can uncover clues as to how that can happen and list them down. Each component or interface can fail in multiple ways.

3. List the potential effects of failure

Create a list of how each potential failure can affect the components or interfaces. Each potential failure can have multiple effects.

4. Assign severity rankings

Since each failure has its effects, and the severity of each ranking is based on the seriousness of the effects.

5. Assign occurrence rankings

This ranking tells you the frequency at which each failure is likely to occur.

6. Assign detection rankings

The chance the failure will be discovered by you before the customer finds it instead.

7. Calculate the RPN

RPN stands for Risk Priority Number, and it’s calculated for each failure. It’s calculated by multiplying the severity, occurrence and detection rankings (RPN = Severity Ranking x Occurrence Ranking x Detection Detection).

8. Develop an action plan

Based on the RPN of each failure, decide which ones will be worked on first. Naturally, failures with the highest RPN will come first. Clearly, state who does what and when they should do it.

9. Take action

Start making the improvements identified by the DFMEA team.

10. Recalculate the RPN

Once the improvements have been made, the potential failures should be re-evaluated in light of the positive changes and how they affect their respective RPNs.

In conclusion, one can see the that Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) is a tool for effectively preventing defects in a process. By identifying potential risks, assigning causes to them and taking preventative action, problems can be tackled before they become big. This is important because big problems can be costly.

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5 Myths About Six Sigma

There’s no doubt that Six Sigma is becoming a popular methodology in the business world. This is because it is known for producing great results. Specifically, people are able to improve processes in the organization by creating a seamless value chain that eliminates waste and increases customer satisfaction. All this improves the bottom line for any organization that implements the methodology.

With Six Sigma being talked about now more than ever, there are bound to be a few things said that aren’t quite true. And many of us are inclined to believe these misconceptions and misunderstandings without properly investigating their truth quality. Not to mention that they are so easy to believe.

So the next time you are having a conversation about Six Sigma in your organization or anywhere else, and you hear the five things below mentioned, just know you have heard a myth.

1. Six Sigma only applies to manufacturers

Many people are led to believe that Six Sigma only applies to the manufacturing industry. However, that is just where the methodology was first used by Motorola and General Electric. Even if an organization does not manufacture anything, they can still enjoy the benefits of Six Sigma.

Basically, Six Sigma applies to any organization with repetitive processes. This means Six Sigma tools can be used in almost every industry, such as construction, marketing, hospitality, health, management and marketing.

2. Six Sigma Green Belt certification is useless

If you are an individual seeking to take your career to the next level, you might have heard that organizations don’t value the Six Sigma Green Belt certification anymore. This might make you reluctant to get the certification, but this is a myth. With all the benefits that having a Six Sigma-certified professional on board brings, why would any prospective employer discard it?

The short answer is, they wouldn’t. Six Sigma is a gift to organizations that keeps on giving because of continuous improvement. And having someone with the analytical and problem-solving skills to pull it off is something that prospective employers value immensely.

3. Six Sigma requires a lot of time and money

As with anything in business, it requires resources to conduct. But some people say Six Sigma demands too many resources, timewise and moneywise. While this may be true, it is not true for all scenarios. It all boils down to sensible management of resources to get the most from the methodology.

For example, an organization can save in the long run if improvements are made in small incremental steps. Plus, with the benefits that Six Sigma brings, the return on investment (ROI) for implementing it is far greater than any time and money spent.

4. Six Sigma will result in job cuts

Since Six Sigma improves organizational processes through the elimination of waste, one can easily conclude it means people will get fired. While it is true that the defects of a process can be man-related, eliminating them doesn’t automatically mean firing anyone.

In fact, one can argue that Six Sigma actually allows employees to do their jobs more effectively. If the defect is due to poor skills, employers will more likely provide additional training for workers to make them better at their job. Ultimately, this will increase the value of employees in the eyes of the organization.

5. Six Sigma will just stress employees

This myth is the result of another myth that states organizational culture is difficult to change. Once employees adopt a certain mindset to working, changing that mindset, as Six Sigma demands, can put stress or pressure on the employees.

While it is true that people don’t immediately respond well to change, implementing change can be easy when it is properly managed. By communicating the changes gradually and giving the employees the tools to succeed, change can easily be embraced.

Sadly, misconceptions and misunderstandings spread faster than the truth. Anyone willing to give Six Sigma methodology a shot needs to understand that some things will be said that can tarnish its hard-earned reputation of success. These myths, however persistent, can easily be debunked, as you can see.

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The 5S Method of Six Sigma

When it comes to Six Sigma methods and tools, the 5S method has been one of the most successful. This is due to its simplicity in describing the steps a process in the workplace should be comprised of to make it optimal. 5S originated in Japan and has proven to be one of the most invaluable Six Sigma methods the world over since it does an efficient job at reducing wastage in a process.

In Japan, the five Ss in 5S are seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuk. In English, they translate to sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain. These steps are sequential and incremental steps. This means they all need to be done in order since each step builds upon the last. If a step is missed or out of sequences the resulting process will miss its improvement window.

The diagram below shows what the five Ss of 5S are and the order in which they should be performed.

Before we talk about 5S in more detail, there is an extra S that is worth mentioning: Safety. Before undertaking any project or event, safety requirements need to be established. Furthermore, they need to be evaluated at every stage of the project or event to ensure everything is going smoothly and no one is in danger.

Once a process has been identified that could use 5S performance improvement, the following steps need to be conducted to make the event successful.

1. Sort (Seiri)

It all starts with making an inventory of all items and then sorting them out into two categories: necessary and unnecessary. This includes all equipment and materials. Those items that go into the list of unnecessary things need to be discarded, leaving only those that have been deemed necessary. Before being categorized, the items need to be red-tagged. After that, their fate is discussed with the appropriate stakeholders who then decide whether to keep or discard them.

2. Straighten (Seiton)

With only the essential items remaining, the next step involves putting them where they belong. The items must be arranged in a way that retrieving and storing them is easy and convenient. This means that whenever anyone wants a tool or piece of equipment, they must immediately know where to go to get it and where to put it back, reducing travel wastage. Doing things this way also makes it immediately known when an item is missing.

3. Shine (Seiso)

When the workplace is dirty and disorganized, it can be hard to identify problems. That is what this step is all about – making sure the work environment, whether it is an office or construction site, is clean. Everything that remained during the sorting phase is thoroughly cleaned. In this step, there will be a lot of sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, painting, labeling and other cleaning activities. But the emphasis should be placed on uncovering and eliminating the actual root causes of the uncleanliness and getting rid of them.

4. Standardize (Seiketsu)

This step is about creating standards that will ensure the cleanliness of the workplace. People are assigned roles and responsibilities of what they must do to maintain the standards. All work areas are made consistent or identical so that it is easier for workers from other areas to come in and perform the process. And with the standards in place, everyone knows what is a normal or abnormal situation, and can alert management for further action.

5. Sustain (Shitsuke)

The final step ensures that the previous steps are not a once-off event when deemed a success. Here, the steps for an ongoing audit of the 5S event are outlined, leading to the constant maintenance and refreshment of the improved workplace. It is also important to let everyone know that sticking to the 5S method is their job.

As you can see, 5S is a method that embodies the heart of what Six Sigma represents; reducing waste in a process. It can be used in any organization for any process, whether it is in an office or manufacturing plant. And once the areas of 5S performance have been identified, continuous improvement makes sure optimization is always moving with forward momentum.

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Process Improvement text on torn paper.

4 Myths About Process Improvement

Six Sigma is one of the most popular process improvement methodologies in the world, despite there be a number of them. However, process improvement itself is one term that many people have strong feelings about. Depending on how it is perceived, those feelings can range from good to bad. Ultimately, perceptions are influenced by what one has heard about process improvements.

This brings us to the myths that surround this concept. Many people know that when it is done correctly, optimizing a process to be better than it previously was can reap numerous benefits. Among these benefits is increased customer satisfaction and revenue. But some people are either reluctant to try out process improvement or want to try it for the wrong reasons because they have heard unhelpful myths.

Here are four myths that you will hear when it comes to process improvement and why you shouldn’t believe them.

1. There’s only one way to improve a process

Many industry professionals have one methodology of process improvement that they champion over others. But process improvement transcends such dogma. As mentioned earlier, there are a number of process improvement methodologies out there, including Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM) and Toyota Production System (TPS).

The methodology you ultimately use depends on the process you are trying to improve. While the underlying principles of the methodologies are the same, the inner tools and techniques are different. There’s no one-size-fits-all methodology that you need to follow to make it a success.

2. Process Improvement is only for manufacturing

Since process improvement is popular in manufacturing, many people believe that is the only place where it belongs. Indeed, companies that champion process improvement include the likes of Toyota. But one does not need to have an assembly line if they wish to reap the benefits of process improvements.

In order to ascertain if a process can benefit from process improvement, you need to ask yourself if it creates value. If the answer is in the affirmative, then that process is a great candidate for improvement efforts. And doesn’t matter if you’re in the technology, health or non-profit sector.

3. You need to improve a process once

What happens after the process improvement efforts have become a success? Many organizations usually forget to make continuous improvement part of their organizational culture. This means people don’t know what to do after the process has been optimized. Eventually, the initial benefits are lost and the process can revert back to its former self.

Improvement is an ongoing process, and most methodologies usually stress this in the last step. While doing it once might sound like an attractive selling point, but without continuous improvements, the results won’t stick. Workers will no longer identify defects in processes and fix them to keep things running smoothly. You need to make sure that everyone, from the janitor to upper management, knows that continuous improvement is their responsibility.

4. Process improvement is time-consuming

Another myth that is often repeated about process improvement is that is a very slow process. When it comes to anything in an organization, it requires resources – mainly time and money. This means that the longer something drags on, the more resources need to be poured into it. Thinking like this can make one dread undertaking process improvement, making it appear time-consuming and costly.

But saying process improvement is slow in and of itself is false. If an organization shows a strong commitment and drive to process improvement, it can be carried out pretty fast. Many organizations spend time on implementing specific methodologies instead of getting stakeholders on board and building the right team to push the agenda, even after it has succeeded. In the end, process improvement takes longer than it needs to.

If you want something to work for you, you have to know what is real about it and what is false. Unfortunately, even things like process improvement, with its proven track record of success, are not immune to fables. Luckily, with any false thing that is said about methods that produce positive results, the truth can be easy to uncover.

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6 Power Tools of Lean Six Sigma

The term Lean six sigma is not complex at all and is very straight forward. It is simply the combination of lean manufacturing and Six Sigma to form a unique system that eliminates waste. Adopting this method allows a business to increase production while streamlining their manufacturing process.

The Main Tools of Lean Six Sigma Every Organization Must Be Aware Of

A concept as massive as this one would be very hard to understand or even implement if they weren’t any tools to help organizations out. If an organization using Lean Six Sigma wants to get the best results, there are a number of tools which they must be aware of. Below are 6 of the most popular that can help a business get started when using Lean Six Sigma

 1. The 5 Whys

Organizations can use the five why to understand the cause of the problem. How it works is very easy and can be implemented in the manner below.

• An organization can write down the problems they are facing so that all the employees are aware and focused on dealing with it
• The organization can ask themselves why the problems keep on occurring
• If the first answer an organization has is not the cause of the issues, there is no need to ask again
• An organization can repeat this step up to five times until they find out what the cause of the problem really is in their ranks

2. 5S System

The 5S system allows an organization to organize materials for quick and easy access. This also makes sure that they are better maintained and does a wonderful job eliminating waste that is produced from tools in not so pleasant working order.

These 5S’s are:

• Sort – Take out all unneeded item and only leave those that are needed to get the job done.
• Set in order – label and organize items properly
• Shine – inspect as well as clear work areas every day
• Standardize – Write down a list of standards employees need to follow as far as shine, sort and set in order are concerned
• Sustain – An organization has to apply the standards they have set and make sure employees follow them religiously

3. Kaizen

This is a very popular tool and it refers to the practice where an organization continuously improves its manufacturing process by introducing new methods. Kaizen helps management and employees get involved especially when it comes to making improvement in the manufacturing side of things. Waste is significantly reduced since everyone is involved plus the smallest of mistakes are easily spotted and dealt with.

4. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

This tool, which is known as FMEA for short, helps an organization highlight any weakness early before things get worse. The development of this method goes as far back as the 1950s and it can be used to identify failure modes as well as review assemblies and components.

5. Pareto Chart

This is a graphical representation of information which allows an organization using Lean Six Sigma to highlight any major issues in their operation. The X-axis on the graph shows a group of response variable which is represented by bars e.g. machine parts. The Y-axis, on the other hand, shows a defect frequency and a cumulative percentage.

6. Poka – Yoke

This is a Japanese term which means mistake proofing when translated to English. This is where employees highlight any mistakes that have occurred as a result of human error during production.

If an organization decides that Lean Six Sigma is the way forward for them, the 6 tools mentioned above need to be used properly. There is no denying that these tools do work and will help an organization pinpoint problems before they get worse. The most successful organizations in the world are successful because these tools help them massively. Major problems are avoided because they are tackled in their infant stage before they spread.

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What is PDCA in Six Sigma?

The Deming Cycle, also known as the PDCA (Plan-do-check-act) circle is one of the oldest models in the manufacturing world. It was a model that encourages continuous improvement and was first introduced to the world by W. Edwards Deming way back in the 1950s.

He stated that every organization needs to have a continuous feedback loop in place so that management can pinpoint and deal with areas that need to be improved on. To explain his point further, he introduced the PDCA (Plan-do-check-act) circle which is a very systematic approach which can easily be followed by anyone to deal with problems.

Plan

There are three steps involved at this stage and the first one is investigating and knowing the current situation a business is in, understand the problems and highlight areas that need to be improved. The easiest way to do all of this is to use things like value stream mapping as well as flowcharts. These two will make life very easy for managers to know what is happening.

Step number two is to analyze the problem at hand in the organization. This is where management, as well as the employees, can gather as well as interpret information. The main tools which they can use to make things easy include things like spider charts, column chart, control charts, and a scatter plot. To better understand the root of the problem, an organization can use cause-effect methods and even brainstorming.

Step number three is to develop solutions to the problems at hand. There is no point letting problems drag on without dealing with them because they can slow down the operations of an organization. The sooner problems are dealt with, the better.

Do

This is where the team at an organization go ahead and implement any improvements that were drafted in the planning process. While implementing things, the management and employees can put any problems encountered as well as any knowledge and lessons learned in writing. Changes will have to be tested first before any medication to the organizational policies or systems are made.

Check

When management and employees at a particular organization see that their project is finished, they can make a list of solutions and problems as pointed above and study them carefully. This involved carefully analyzing to get a clear picture of the outcomes to make sure this does not happen again. Information collected is compared properly especially new with the old to understand whether there have been improvements or not.

The best way to check if improvements are being made in an organization is to use things such as radar charts, control charts, runs charts, column charts, and control charts. If no one the organization has experience interpreting data collected, an external auditor can be hired to make sense of things.

It is better to do things this way (hire external help) than trying to interpret something that no one in the ranks understands. This is risky because false conclusions can bring in their fair share of problems like implementing the wrong method to deal with a certain issue.

This can lead to a waste of time, resources and money which is the last things a business wants especially if improving is their goal. It is better to be safe and get help when needed than to be sorry and this is the approach many successful organizations take if they want to make sense of charts in front of them.

Act

When all the steps above have been successfully followed, it is time for an organization to take action to improve. Options at their disposal include things like adapting, abandoning and adopting. If the proposed improvement does not yield the desired results, an organization can always go back to step one and come up with other news ways or areas to improve.

Overall PDCA (Plan-do-check-act) is all about establishing methods or processes that a business needs to get the best results with the resources at their disposal. Solutions need to be drawn up, checked and acted upon. Results need to be closely monitored as well as if they do not work, its back to the drawing board and come up with new ones.

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Countermeasures and Continuous Improvement

No business out there is perfect and problems when it comes to production do arise from time to time which cannot be dealt with quickly. Some of these problems can be dealt with using countermeasures. The question now is what are countermeasures and what do they bring to an organization?

Definition of countermeasures

Countermeasures are simply actions that an organization takes to respond to a threat or danger in their operations. An example of a countermeasure can be an organization issuing a press release after negative things were published about them. This is done to get back into people’s good book and stop their stock price from dropping further after a damaging article.

Countermeasures are not just a simple change which a business makes, it can change how an organization operates however, amazing countermeasures helps to highlight problems quicker and brings continuous improvement. Time is needed for the concept to be fully embedded into the operations of a business.

It is important for an organization to not just have one countermeasure. They need to have several countermeasures because only one will not work or solves every problem an organization might face at different times of the year.

Using countermeasures can help teams in an organization grow together and work effectively

Since countermeasures require a thinking approach to be implemented properly, teams in an organization can gain much-needed experience at the same time. Brand new insights into how the organization is operating can be made which leads to more improvements as the months and years go on.

On top of that, teams in an organization are put in a position where they have to think outside the box and find good solutions to deal with a problem. Since there are so many people involved in the thinking process, it can bring about diverse and interesting ideas to tackle a problem which is very good for any business.

Looking for countermeasures can help an organization test their employees’ wits and see who are the most creative of the bunch. It also brings about some healthy competition and encourages the employees to be very analytical as they do their job.

Why are good countermeasures so important to an organization?

It is important to know that not every solution that is drafted out by an organization can be seen as a countermeasure. An organization needs to learn the core concept behind a countermeasure and not think everything will work straight away on every problem. Many people out there often get confused on what are the criteria of a countermeasure.

As pointed out above, time is needed for an organization to know how to apply the appropriate countermeasure based on the problem. The overall impact it brings on the organization and the team needs to be closely monitored at all times.

Another thing worth noting is that countermeasures should be looked at as a band-aid to problems an organization is facing. It is something that deals with the problem for the meantime while an organization looks for a proper way to fully tackle the issue. This is an important area to pinpoint when is trying to understand what a countermeasure is.

If an organization comes up with something that can potentially stop them from improving, it should not be seen as a countermeasure at all and needed to be avoided completely. On the other hand, if an organization has something that looks like it will help them improve, then they should build on it and use it.

Overall it is very hard to define what a good countermeasure is, however; the one thing that is certain is it is an important element of a good lean manufacturing process. Using countermeasures is something that any organization must have up their sleeves when things go wrong. Management regularly speaking with employees is a good way to come up with new and innovative countermeasures.

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What is Quick Response Manufacturing?

There are so many strategies that businesses can use to be successful in their field and one of them is Quick Response Manufacturing. This strategy allows a business to be able to cut lead time when they are producing their products. When lead time is cut, an organization is able to market their product quicker and be more competitive.

Advantages of Quick Response Manufacturing

When successfully implemented in an organization, Quick Response Manufacturing helps reduce lead times by 95% which is amazing. While this figure might be low sometimes but there is no denying that Quick Response Manufacturing massively reduces lead time and waste leading to better efficiency.

When an organization is efficient at what they do, the cost is cut down by 30% making Quick Response Manufacturing a massive incentive to implement as part of their operations. On top of letting organizations increase profits and reduce lead times, Quick Response Manufacturing also reduced the rate of shoddy goods by 60%.

Based on the reasons pointed out above, implementing Quick Response Manufacturing is certainly a good idea however, for things to work; everyone in the organization needs to be fully behind the concept. Results are on instantaneous and will take time because an organization might need to change their culture to reduce their lead times and be productive.

The key concepts of Quick Response Manufacturing

Quick Response Manufacturing is very much a time focused strategy that is perfect for organizations that have a low-volume, high-mix custom-engineered product. Organizations that make these products use Quick Response Manufacturing on top of other improvement methods like Six Sigma and Lean to put themselves in a strong position in the market.

1. Time is a very powerful thing

Many organizations across the world especially the ones that deal with manufacturing pay very close attention to cost management and scale strategies. This leads to a hierarchical department structure in their ranks as well as a degree of labor specialization.

Quick Response Manufacturing points out that this sort of set up in an organization will not produce good results and actually does more harm than on lead times. The reason why this is not good is also that it introduces hidden costs which are what any business in the manufacturing world does not want. Time needs to be used wisely and it is a very important element as far as Quick Response Manufacturing is concerned.

2. Organization structure

What is great about Quick Response Manufacturing is it provides organizations with tools and principles that help them create cells in low volume, high-mix environments. These environments are focused on what is known as a target market segment. This segment where leads times are cut short helps a business massively in offices as well as their floors where employees work on the products.

3. Enterprise-wide application

Quick Response Manufacturing is a method that lets an organization apply time-based management principles to everything that they do. Everything from its supply chain, office operation, new product development, production control, and material planning works well with Quick Response Manufacturing to make sure that an organization is competitive.

4. System dynamics

The cellular structure that Quick Response Manufacturing brings to an organization goes hand in hand by an understanding of system dynamics. These dynamics are designed for high mix environments. When a business applies common system dynamic principle, they are able to improve their capacity planning as well as optimize batch sizes.

This helps an organization achieve a short lead time when manufacturing which is super important to do because no organization want to have a huge bill on their hands during their manufacturing process.

The business world is always changing and any organization that refuses to adapt and change their ways gets left behind. Quick Response Manufacturing not only reduced the cost of production, but it also allows an organization to profitable, improve the quality of their products and enhance their delivery performance

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