Session 1 Green Belt
Lean Six Sigma
"A comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining and maximizing business success. Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes."
DPMO Calculation
(Number of Defects x 1,000,000) / ((Number of Defect Opportunities/Unit) x Number of Units)
The expression Y=f(X) is often used to describe the relationship between process inputs and the process output. Which description of Y=f(X) is most accurate? A) The output of a process (X) is a function of the process inputs (Y). B) More process inputs (X) improve the function of the process output (Y). C) Reducing the function of a process input (X) will increase process output (Y). D) More process inputs (Y) improve the function of the process output (X). E) The process output (Y) is a function of the process inputs (X)
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Difference Between Lean Six Sigma and TQM
1) TQM lacked a management structure that put capable people in well-supported leadership roles with a mandate to make things happen. 2) Focus was on product quality and specific operations rather than capability across an entire business process. All too often, quality was not defined by the Voice of the Customer. 3) TQM was not as rigorous and cross-functional. Compartmentalized efforts led to compartmentalized results. 4) Too often quality was not a line responsibility. Functional specialization led to a Cops and Robbers mentality. TQM didn't often become part of the entire organization's DNA. 5) TQM didn't capture the imagination of executives because it wasn't focused on the bottom line.
Thought Process Maps can be used to answer the following questions:
1) What are the critical questions that should be answered? 2) What actions should be taken to answer the questions? 3) What conclusions can be developed as a result of the actions taken? 4) Why should one course of action be selected vs. another? 5) What are the team's operating assumptions?
Thought Process Mapping
1. ASK - the right question at the right time. 2. ACT - using the right tool at the right time. 3. ANSWER - using the tool correctly to answer the right question.
Leadership Council Responsiblities
1. Determines the organizational structure of the Lean Six Sigma initiative and provides financial and human resources. 2. Identifies the strategic priorities for Lean Six Sigma consistent with the business plan. 3. Provides a forum for dialogue and organizational learning - a mechanism to share ideas and spread best practices. 4. Remove policy and procedural roadblocks that can hinder teams, particularly those crossing functional boundaries.
Method of Capturing Thought Process Map Information
1. Flip Charts 2. Sticky Notes on a wall - especially the large ones. 3. Electronic media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel or Visio. 4. Pen/Pencil and paper
Sigma Level is used to answer the following questions
1. How does the overall organization compare to other organizations? 2. How does a specific process compare to other processes, even if they have different levels of complexity? 3. What is the baseline performance of an organization or specific process prior to improvement actions? 4. Did the improvement actions have an impact on performance?
Green Belt
1. Individual contributor or Team Leader 2. Back bone of lean six sigma they can complete 85% of six Sigma projects 3. Spend 20% of time on projects with total of $50,000 per product savings
Benefits of thought process mapping
1. Organize questions asked, the activities and tools used to answer those questions and the decisions made as a result of the answers. 2. Great communication tools both during and after the project. 3. Great reference tool when creating management review presentations and storyboards. 4. Adequately capture the parallel processing of alternate solution paths.
Process Owner Responsibilities
1. Ownership of product Development 2. Resolve frictions between functional areas.
Black Belt
1. Problem fixes 2. Able to combine a complete technical toolbox with soft skills of team-building, coaching, communicating, and overall leadership to energize team members. 3. Complete 5-6 projects per year generating $150k to $250k cost savings
Thought Process Map Constructing
1. Problems Statement 2. Business Case 3. Fundamentals of Thought Process Map (Question, Action, Answer)
Master Black Belt
1. Provide support and guidance to Black Belts and project teams. 2. Must have broad and complete understanding of the organizations business processes. 3. Fill primary training role among the organization (Champions, Sponsors, Black Belts, Green Belts) 4. Ratio is 10 - 15 black belt per master black belt
Sponsor or Champions
1. Providing a review process to keep projects on track and remove obstacles as required. 2. Coaching and resolving people issues and conflicts within and among teams 3. Providing resources to teams, both human and financial. 4. Coordinating with process owners to provide a smooth handoff 5. Provide guidance in project selection and allocates resources to support project work.
Implementation Leader Responsibilities
1. Put together Budget 2. Identify Champion or Sponsor Candidates 3. Document Successes
Value Stream Map composed of three parts
1. The flow of material and information from production by suppliers to delivery to customers. 2. The transformation of the material and information into finished prducts or services. 3. The flow of information that supports the first two parts. A value stream map is a graphical representation of the flow and transformation of material and information.
Thought Process Map can be used to answer the following questions
1. What are the critical questions that should be answered? 2. What actions should be taken to answer the questions? 3. What conclusions can be developed as a result of the actions taken? 4. Why should one course of action be selected vs. another? 5. What are the team's operating assumptions?
Quick Changeover Example
1. When running errands, you can think of the trip to the store as a changeover. By placing multiple stores in close proximity, shopping malls actually provide a quick changeover between shopping a different stores. This changeover is further reduced when you shop online. 2. In a restaurant setting, the table cleaning and setup is a changeover between different customers, affecting the rate at which customers are served. Another example is the changeover between breakfast and the lunch/dinner menu at a fast food restaurant. If that changeover does not take place quickly, the cycle time of serving customers will be directly impacted.
5-S (Improve/Control) Purpose: Visual Communication, Ergonomics, Safety
5S is the abbreviated reference to five Japanese words that govern workplace organization and housekeeping. The five words translate as: Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain
Just In Time Manufacturing Examples
A JIT system is tightly linked, with little or no buffer inventory between workstations and little tolerance for variability, so several interdependent conditions are required in order to function: Capable Processes Small Lot Sizes Supplier Network Proximity Reliable Equipment Stable Demand
Six Sigma
A Product or process that produces only three defects (or errors) out of every million opportunities.
Defect
A defect is defined as any failure of a product or process to meet customer requirements. Customer requirements may or may not be expressed accurately as internal specifications, so a product or process might meet specifications but still be defective in the customer's mind.
Measure
A primary objective of the Measure phase is to establish data reflecting the state of the process that is the subject of the project. Compiling a complete and accurate picture of a process at the beginning of a project allows the process owners to better understand whether or not improvements are eventually realized. Also, because the DMAIC roadmap is a closed loop approach to problem solving, the Measure phase of projects also includes gathering data about the improved process to assure it is stable and sufficiently capable to consistently meet the customers requirements.
DMAIC Process
A systematic critical thinking exercise - a process of asking and answering questions.
At what step in the Lean Six Sigma improvement process is a Process Map of the process first created? A) Define B) Measure C) Analyze D) Improve E) Control
Answer A
Consider a company that provides two services using the same basic process. Service A is relatively complex, and can be defective in 15 different ways. Service B is relatively simple, with only 5 possible defects. The company produces 500 units of A and 1000 units of B. A total of 27 defects are experienced. What is the DPMO (Defects Per Million Opportunities) for the overall process? A) 18,000 B) 2,160 C) 18 D) 216 E) 457
Answer B
In which phase of the Lean Six Sigma improvement process are performance standards defined? A) Define B) Measure C) Analyze D) Improve E) Control
Answer B
Once Customer expectations are identified, what is the next step in determining the CTQC's of a process? A) Identify what the customer really wants B) Express wants as Operational Definitions C) Reduce variability in upstream operations D) Quantify the relationship between inputs and outputs E) Gather more customer Feedback
Answer B
What is the primary approach employed by Lean Six Sigma to reduce the number of defects? A) Add inspection to isolate the customer from process instability. B) Reduce process variability at the source through redesign or process controls. C) Revise specifications to better reflect customer expectations. D) Provide incentives to the workforce to eliminate defects. E) Educate customers to manage product/process expectations.
Answer B
Which of the following is NOT a primary role or responsibility of a Black Belt? A) Provide team leadership in statistical analysis of data. B) Allocate funds and human resources to Lean Six Sigma projects. C) Track implementation actions to ensure timely completion. D) Coach team members in the proper application of problem-solving methods. E) Foster productive relationships within the team
Answer B
At what step in the Lean Six Sigma improvement process are efforts made to identify the root cause of process variability? A) Define B) Measure C) Analyze D) Improve E) Control
Answer C
National Fiduciary Guaranty Bank has been losing market share in home mortgage lending over the last several years. Surveys indicate very low customer satisfaction ratings for the home mortgage process. The bank recently chartered a Lean Six Sigma team to address the performance problem. The team has examined several process factors, including loan pricing, credit requirements, loan closing cycle-time and employee training as they relate to customer satisfaction and new loan volume. Which of the following are potential key process inputs in the bank's home mortgage business? A) Customer Satisfaction, Credit Requirements, Historical Loan Closing Cycle-Time B) Loan Pricing, Employee Training, Customer Satisfaction C) Loan Pricing, Credit Requirements, Employee Training D) Credit Requirements, New Loan Volume, Customer Satisfaction E) Historical Loan Closing Cycle-time, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Training
Answer C
Thought Process Maps are used to organize and document team activities. After answering the first question based on the first action taken, what is the most likely next step? A) Take another action. B) Generate another answer. C) Ask another question. D) Analyze another set of data. E) Replicate the experiment.
Answer C
What is the definition of a defect? A) A product/process that exhibits variability. B) A product/process that does not perform as well as the competition. C) A product/process that does not meet customer requirements for use. D) A product/process that is not reliable. E) A product/process that requires extra processing.
Answer C
What is the primary purpose of Lean Six Sigma? A) Develop clear quality standards that can be understood by everyone. B) Provide better training to the people involved in process improvement efforts. C) Improve profitability and/or other key performance metrics. D) Determine the number of opportunities for a defect to be produced. E) Provide a better structure for process improvement.
Answer C
Which one of the following questions would be asked in the Improve phase of the DMAIC process? A) Are improvements, lessons learned, and best practices being shared in a systematic fashion? B) What output (Y) is important to the customer? What are the Critical-To-Quality Characteristics? C) Has a process been established to track implementation - with defined responsibility and target dates? D) Are the relevant metrics visible and widely accessible? E) Have mechanisms been put in place to provide ongoing feedback and prevent backsliding?
Answer C
ALL of the following contribute to the cost of poor quality. Which selection does not fit into the categories of Internal Failure, External Failure, or Appraisal? A) Cost of scrap B) Cost of warranty and returns C) Cost of inspecting, testing, and auditing D) Cost of planning, training, and process control E) Cost of repair and rework
Answer D
How would you categorize the cost of internal product/process testing? A) External failure cost B) Prevention cost C) Internal failure cost D) Appraisal cost E) Development cost
Answer D
In which phase of the Lean Six Sigma improvement process are potential solutions identified and evaluated? A) Define B) Measure C) Analyze D) Improve E) Control
Answer D
What is the strongest guiding force of Lean Six Sigma decision-making? A) Experience of process owners. B) Historical best practices. C) Opinions of senior management. D) Data and statistical analysis. E) Benchmarking studies of the competition.
Answer D
Which of the following is NOT a principle of lean? A) Identify Customers and Specify Value B) Map the Value Stream C) Create Flow D) Respond to Push E) Pursue Perfection
Answer D
Which statement best describes the role of a Champion/Sponsor? A) Leads project teams to identify and accomplish improvement tasks. B) Provides coaching and mentoring in the use of advanced statistics. C) Team member who helps complete project tasks. D) Provides guidance in project selection and allocates resources to support project work. E) Provides senior management leadership to guide broad program implementation across the organization.
Answer D
Which tool is most commonly used to map the complete sequence of activities, including customers and suppliers, an organization performs in order to produce and deliver its end product or service? A) Spaghetti diagram B) Functional block diagram C) SIPOC process map D) Process flow chart E) Value stream map
Answer D
A company generates 22,700 Defects Per Million Opportunities. What is the Sigma level performance of the company? A) 4.0 B) 3.7 C) 1.2 D) 2.8 E) 3.5
Answer E
When Six Sigma and Lean Methods are used together, they complement each other. As a general rule, what are the primary areas of focus for both Six Sigma and Lean? A) Six Sigma - Reduce Complexity; Lean - Improve Quality B) Six Sigma - Improve Process Flow; Lean - Reduce Process Inputs C) Six Sigma - Control Process Cycle Time; Lean - Reduce Process Variability D) Six Sigma - Increase Process Output; Lean - Identify Key Inputs E) Six Sigma - Improve Quality; Lean - Reduce Process Cycle-time.
Answer E
Potential Customer
Any entity that has a need that can be met by specific functions in a product or service that the organization produces.
Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
Calculating the Sigma performance level for a product or process the metric is generally used.
Kanban (Improve) Purpose: One Piece Continuous Flow
Card used by a downstream operation to communicate to an upstream operation the need for additional inventory. The number of Kanban cards, together with the quantity indicated on the cards, is used to control the amount of work-in-process inventory.
Critical to Quality Characteristics (CTQC's)
Customer requirements are analyzed and expressed as CTQC.
Demand-Based Scheduling
Demand-driven scheduling is the process of sensing and quantifying customer demand and using it as a key element in planning and scheduling the manufacturing process. Demand-driven scheduling is a critical element of any lean-transformation effort to respond to customer pull.
Cellular Design
Design of production or service process that links all operations in close proximity so that visual signals can be used to control production. Products/services are organized into families within cells, often with dedicated equipment to avoid centralized batch processing as in "job-shop" layout.
Thought Process Map Question>>Action>>Answer
Each question will drive activities to answer the question. That activity might be as simple as asking someone another question or as complex as gathering data and preparing a control chart. Many times the activities will involve the use of various quality tools to quantify relationships. The activities will lead to an answer to the particular question and in general will spawn more questions from the answer.
Poke-Yoke/Error Proofing (Improve) Purpose: Prevent Defects
Error-proofing refers to the implementation of fail-safe mechanisms to prevent a process from producing defects. This activity is also know by the Japanese term poka-yoke, from poka (inadvertent errors) and yokeru (to avoid) - pronounced POH-kuh YOH-kay. Although this common-sense concept has been around for a long time, it was more fully developed and popularized by Shigeo Shingo in Japan. The philosophy behind error proofing is that it is not acceptable to make even a very small number of defects, and the only way to achieve this goal is to prevent them from happening in the first place.
Continuous flow
Flow in a process is achieved when the product or service being created progresses through a series of value-added steps without delays, defects or non-value-added operations.
Value Stream Map
Graphical representation of the series of activities the organization follows in producing and delivering its end product or service.
Define
In the initial, Define phase of the DMAIC framework, the activities include identifying and prioritizing potential projects based on anticipated impact and alignment with the organizations strategic imperatives and operating plans. Six sigma projects start by understand the customer (maybe even identifying who the customer is) and understanding the process under study.
DMAIC Process
Is a systematic critical thinking exercise.
Existing Customer
Is an entity (individual or organization, internal or external to the producing organization) that uses and/or consumes the product or service that is produced.
Kaizen (Improve) Purpose: Reduce Defects, Improve Material Flow
Japanese term for continuous improvement. It refers to a highly focused, short-term rapid improvement event performed by cross-functional teams at the work-group level that identifies and removes waste from a process.
Kaizen
Japanese term for continuous improvement. Usually used to describe a focused, short-term "Kaizen Event" conducted to reorganize a process.
Line Balancing
Line balancing helps to see where continuous flow might be possible among multiple processes, the idea being that continuous flow can only be achieved when each process operates at the optimal Takt time. It helps improve the process throughput while reducing lead time, inventory and costs. Line balancing is a key concept of Lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System.
Little's Law / Theory of Constraints (Improve) Purpose: Reduced Work-in_process, Reduced Cycle Time
Little's Law is an equation that expresses the relationship between processing speed, the level of work-in-process inventory, and process cycle time. The equation states: Cycle Time = Items-In-Process / Throughput Volume Per Unit of Time
Just In Time Manufacuring
Low inventory production system, also known as Stockless Production, using Pull Scheduling to replenish downstream operations with work-in-process inventory as demanded. JIT matches the pace of production closely with customer demand to minimize inventory levels and reduce Cycle Times. JIT aims to deliver products and services to the customer only as they are requested or needed.
Quick Changeover
Methodology used to reduce the time to execute process set-ups required when changing between different products or services. Lean systems achieve lower inventory levels through small lot sizes, which in turn require Quick Changeovers.
Quick Changovers / SMED (Improve) Purpose: One Piece Continuous Flow
Methodology used to reduce the time to execute process set-ups required when changing between different products or services. Lean systems achieve lower inventory levels through small lot sizes, which in turn require Quick Changeovers. See also SMED.
Session 1 Note
Most companies perform at a Sigma Level between 2 to 3. At that level, those companies produce between 65,000 and 300,000 defects out of every one million opportunities for a defect. Companies performing at a Two Sigma level waste as much as 30% of every sales dollar!
Control
Perhaps the most extensive phase in terms of time, the object of the control phase is to assure that the problems addressed by the project are permanently resolved. Basic to achieving that objective is establishing and validating a process monitoring system. Other tasks of an administrative nature fall into this phase as well. Calculation/documentation of cost savings or improvements of other key metrics, documenting procedures, and sharing of lessons learned.
Thought Process Map consist of Following Items
Problem Statement Business Case (Bang for the Buck) Fundamentals of Thought Process Map: Question, Action, Answer Method of Capturing thought Process Map Information
Thought Process Map Problem Statement
Problem statements should be concise, contain a metric that can be used to monitor performance and should not contain a solution.
Familiar Tools that are Employed with Lean Six Sigma
Process Mapping Statistical Process Control Design of Experiments, Error-proofing Measurement system analysis failure mode and effect anlysis
CTQ's or CCR's Critical Customer Requirements
Process outputs that really drive customer satisfaction. Another name for CTQC.
Business Success is defined in different Terms
Reduced cost Increased market share Improved customer satisfaction Faster time to market Increased revenue and profits Outcome is that they are objective, tangible, bottom-line Results
Sigma Level
Sigma level is a quality metric that measures the level of performance of a process based on the number of defects per million opportunities (DPMO) in that process, compared to the near-perfection level of Six Sigma, which equates to 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
Standardized Work (Improve/Control) Purpose: Balance Material Flow, Document Processes
Standardized work is one of the key components of a Just-in-Time production system. In order to achieve a balanced work flow, cycle time equal to Takt time, and high quality, work must be standardized at all operations for optimum efficiency and consistency. Standardized work is not equivalent to the typical American concept of production standards or efficiency standards within a standard cost system. Standardized work refers to the systematic determination and documentation of work element sequence and process for each operation. The objective is to clearly communicate to the operator exactly how the job should be performed. Variability - and the inefficiency that goes with it - is removed through scientific analysis of the operation, and by eliminating: "adjustment", searching for tools and parts, excess movements, double-handling, and awkward ergonomics.
Total Productive Maintenance (Improve/Control) Purpose: Process Reliability - High Equipment Up-Time
System of preventive maintenance of machines and equipment focused on proactive team-oriented actions to avoid downtime, with direct involvement of the process operators to perform the cleaning and simple maintenance of their own equipment.
Pull Scheduling
System where inventories of downstream operations are replenished by pulling work-in-process inventory on demand from upstream operations as the downstream operations exhaust their inventories. See also Just-In-Time.
Pull Scheduling (Improve) Purpose: One Piece Continuous Flow
System where inventories of downstream operations are replenished by pulling work-in-process inventory on demand from upstream operations as the downstream operations exhaust their inventories. See also Just-In-Time.
Analyze
The analyze phase of DMAIC occurs after identifying the process and gathering key metric data. In the analyze phase of process improvement, important objectives include understanding the root causes of undesirable variation and the casual relationships of various inputs to the output of the studied process. Among the tools used in the analyze phase are well known graphical and statistical tools such as cause & effect diagrams, scatter plots, regression analysis, hypothesis testing and design of experiments.
Value Stream
The complete sequence of activities an organization performs in order to produce and deliver its end product or service.
Error - Proofing
The design and implementation of fail-safe mechanisms to prevent a process from producing Defects. This activity is also know by the Japanese term poka-yoke, from poka (inadvertent errors) and yokeru (to avoid) - pronounced POH-kuh YOH-kay. Although this common-sense concept has been around for a long time, it was more fully developed and popularized by Shigeo Shingo in Japan. The emphasis here is on error prevention rather than resolution, where efforts are made to reduce or eliminate the opportunities for committing Errors. The frequency and the attendant cost of Errors is a function of the number of opportunities to make Errors, so designing a product or process to reduce these opportunities will almost certainly reduce the number of Errors arising from performing a process or using a product. This is often done by reducing the number of steps in the process or the number of parts in the product.
Improve
The improve phase of the DMAIC framework brings possible solutions to bear on the root causes identified in analyze. Continued measurement of key metrics develops data from which degrees of improvement can be identified. IE, the proposed solutions can be validated. Other considerations during the Improve phase include evaluation of alternative solutions, development of plans and pilot changes, and determination of costs associated with the proposed solutions.
Sigma Level and Sigma
The measurement of success in achieving defect-free output is the Sigma level. Sigma, or σ, is actually a Greek term that represents variability, called the standard deviation. Sigma Level and Sigma are NOT EQUIVALENT, and this can sometimes be confusing. Sigma Level refers to the number of Sigma, or process standard deviations, between the mean and the closest specification for a process output.
Thought Process Map Business Case
The second element that must be established is a business case. Since we have fixed amounts of time and resources to solve problems, we want to make sure that we are working on things that are important to the corporation. One way of assessing this is by placing a dollar value on the problem to make sure it is worth pursuing. For example, in the problem statement above, the business case might be that the 20% scrap was costing the manufacturing plant $10,000 per day. Demonstrating the business case is also an element of the Six Sigma project charter. Business case justifications do not need to be itemized to the nearest penny but are used to provide a means of prioritizing which problems to attack first.
Takt Time (Define/Measure) Purpose: Line Balancing
The time it should take to produce one unit if production is matched to demand. Takt time = net available production time (after breaks) per period divided by average customer demand during that same period.
Line Balancing Examples
Think of line balancing in terms of the typical home washer and dryer. The washer usually has a cycle time that is much faster than the dryer. If you continue to load and unload the washer at the end of its cycle, an excess inventory of wet clothes piles up ahead of the dryer because the two cycle times are not balanced.
Standardized Work
This is one of the key components of a Just-in-Time production system (Lean). In order to achieve a balanced work flow, cycle time equal to Takt time, and high quality, work must be standardized at all operations for optimum efficiency and consistency. Standardized work is not equivalent to the typical American concept of production standards or efficiency standards within a standard cost system. It refers to the systematic determination and documentation of work element sequence and process for each operation. The objective is to clearly communicate to the operator exactly how the job should be performed. Variability - and the inefficiency that goes with it - is removed through scientific analysis of the operation, and by eliminating: "adjustment", searching for tools and parts, excess movements, double-handling, and awkward ergonomics.
Respond to Customer Pull
This means that no upstream step in a process produces a component of a product or service until a downstream step requests it. Nothing is produced until the customer asks for it.
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Total Productive Maintenance is a key concept in lean manufacturing. When production associates take an active, ongoing role in maintaining their production equipment, unplanned breakdowns are reduced and as a result throughput increases. The key metric in TPM is Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
Pursue Perfection
Truce perfection may never be achieved, a lean organization continuously strives toward that perfection. Each princile, when employed, uncovers more opportunities for achieving the goals of the previous principles.
Andon Boards (Improve/Control) Purpose: Visual Communication - Engage Workforce
Visual display, which is usually electronic, used to convey the current "scorecard" status of a process. Andon boards are commonly used in manufacturing plants to display production relative to target, current demand rate (Takt Time), and quality performance. They may also be used in call centers to convey performance metrics such as average call time, average wait time, and abandonment rate.
Value Stream Map (Define) Purpose: Define current and desired future State
Visual map of the value stream created to show the flow of materials and information. Value stream maps have been widely used as a central component of the Toyota Production System. They include information on takt time (demand rate), inventory levels, changeover times, and manpower. The goal of Value Stream Mapping is to identify the primary process steps and activities that require process improvement.
Lean Methods
Were developed to attack the waste associated with the flow of material and information - the velocity, or speed, of a process from beginning to end.
Six Sigma Level
When a process is improved to the point that only 3 or less defects occur in each million opportunities, the process is said to reach six sigma performance Level Lean Six Sigma Metric. It is based on the number of defects that occur in evrey million opportunties. If the Sigma Level is high then customer satisfaction will probably be high, and if customers are satisfied then total sales, market share, and profitability will also be favorable.
Y = f(x)
Y = The output X = The input f = The Transfer Fuction
