Lean Sigma Six Yellow Belt

Process Mapping-2

Once the SIPOC is complete (this is often done during the Define Phase) one of two mapping techniques is selected. The process map

Meaning of Sigma Six 1

A five-phase quality improvement methodology that focuses on eliminating variation.

Basics of Six Sigma-RTY

- Roll-throughput Yield. A measure of the quality performance of the entire process. It is the probability that process will create a defect free unit. It is determined by multiplying all the step-level FTY values.

Graphical Analysis-Pie Chart

- This chart shows the relative proportions of the whole for different categories. It is often used in before after comparisons.

The Problem-Solving Strategy Y = f(x)

A basic algebraic formula which implies if we can determine the function "f" and control the input "x," we can ensure the result "Y" will meet the customer requirement.

Normal Distributions & Normality

A key attribute of a data is the normality of the distribution. A data distribution is a description of the variation within the data set. A Normal distribution is associated with random variation. A normal distribution is often called a "Bell-shaped" curve. The normal distribution is characterized by a symmetric distribution. The mean and median values are nearly equal. The center of the distribution is peaked, and the upper and lower ends of the distribution taper off. There are two measures that are used to assess normality: • Skewness - this is the degree of symmetry in a distribution. The closer a value is to zero the more symmetrical it is. • Kurtosis - this is the degree to which the distribution has a central peak. There is no generally accepted method for measuring this. So, if using a measurement system, determine how it measures kurtosis and the threshold value for a normal distribution.

Meaning of Six Sigma 3

A process performance metric that indicates the process only produces 3.4 defects for every million operations.

Meaning of Six Sigma 2

A statistical measure of the distance of a data point from the mean of a data distribution - six sigma being six standard deviations.

Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project-Measure

As-is process map, cause and effect diagram, process data, MSA results, process capability.

Critical to Quality Characteristics (CTQ's)

CTQs represent the product or service characteristics as defined by the customer. They are measurable attributes whose performance standard or limits must be achieved in order to create customer satisfaction.

General History of Six Sigma & Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement principles were established by Walter Shewhart in the 1930's doing work for the US government. Shewhart's student Edward Deming turned these into a methodology and applied them to the Japanese automotive industry following WWII. Numerous improvement programs and standards were tried for the next 40 years. Motorola's Bill Smith created the Six Sigma methodology in the 1980's and Bob Galvan, Motorola CEO, implemented it companywide in 1991. By mid-1990's other companies were adopting the methodology

Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)

Cost of Poor Quality is one of the components of Cost of Quality. The COPQ is the direct cost to the business of failed business process performance, such as scrap, rework, or repair. COPQ costs are reduced when the product or process is improved.

Basics of Six Sigma-DPMO

Defects per Million Opportunities. A measure of process capability - for instance Six Sigma DPMO is 3.4. Count the total number of defects found in a sample, divide by the total number of opportunities to create or identify a defect, then multiply by 1,000,000.

Basics of Six Sigma-DPU

Defects per Unit- the average number of defects found on a completed unit or assembly. Count the total number of defects discovered during a time period and divide this by the number of units produced during that time period.

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics are attributes of the data set that provide a general description of the data. • Range - the spread between the lowest value in the data set and the highest value in the data set. • Mean - the average value of the data set. It is calculated by adding all the data values and dividing by the number of data points. • Median - the midpoint in the data set. It is determined by ordering all the data points from lowest to highest. The point in the center is the Median. If there are an even number of 15 data points, the Median is the average of the two centermost points. • Mode - the mode is the data value that occurs most frequently within a data set. • Deviation - the deviation is associated with each value in the data set. It is the difference between that data value and the value of the mean for the data set. • Standard Deviation - standard deviation does not apply to a data value, it applies to the entire data set. It is a measure of the variation within the data set. The standard deviation is calculated by first squaring the deviation for each data point; then adding those squared values, dividing that by the number of points in the data set and finally taking a square root of that value.

Basics of Six Sigma-FTY

First-Time Yield. (Sometimes called First Pass Yield) A measure of the quality performance of a particular step in a process. This is the percentage of time that step in a process successfully completes on it first try. No rework, No Unplanned scrap. Divide the number of units successfully completed by the step with no rework by the number of units that started through that step

Understanding Lean-2

Flow - an analysis of the VSM that identifies wasted steps and wasted time in the process. The principle metric for flow is Value-Added Time. This is time spent creating the desired result for the customer. All other time is therefore nonvalue-added time and should be reduced or simplified if possible.

Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project-Control

Implementation of the solution, establishment of a control plan to maintain the improved state.

Voice of the Customer, Business and Employee

In order to avoid sub-optimization, requirements for a product or process are gathered from stakeholders in three directions. First from the customers who use the product or the results of the process. Second, from the Business operations who must provide the infrastructure and support for the product or process. Third, from the employees who build the product or run the process. An ideal solution to any problem will be one that meets the needs of all three stakeholder groups.

Developing Project Metrics-2

Lean Six Sigma compliance metrics - these address whether the team has followed the Lean Six Sigma methodology and correctly used the Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques. These are assessed at the end of each phase.

Lean & Six Sigma

Lean and Six Sigma share many elements, but also provide very different perspectives on problem solving and process improvement. Both techniques rely on a clear understanding of the process that generates the product, service, or result. Both approaches rely on an external definition of quality from the process customer to determine ideal performance. Both techniques rely on data to assess performance and to demonstrate improvement. And both methodologies encourage the use of team members with expertise in the process such as operators, suppliers, and customers. However, there are some differences in emphasis and approach. The focus of Lean is the elimination of waste and the focus of Six Sigma is the elimination of variability. Generally, Lean techniques rely on visual analysis and visual control. Generally, Six Sigma techniques rely on statistical analysis and statistical control. Lean will often create transformative change as it eliminates or re-engineers non-value added effort in the process. Six Sigma will often create incremental 9 change as it improves the performance of ineffective steps within the process

The History of Lean

Lean had its beginnings in the production line developed by Henry Ford in the early 1900s. This process was based upon standardized process flow with well-defined activities occurring at each step. This led to efficient but inflexible processes. Following WWII, engineers in the Toyota company modified the Ford process to focus more on continuous flow than on the efficiency of each process step. This led to the development of the Toyota Production System. The result was a process with low cost, high quality, and rapid cycle times. This methodology was documented by Womack, Roos, and Jones in their book, "The Machine that Changed the World" published in 1990. Through this book and subsequent books written by Womack and Jones, the principles of Lean spread through industries around the world.

Financial Evaluation & Benefits Capture

Most Lean Six Sigma project financial evaluations are relatively simple analysis since the projects are usually small and do not include any significant CAPEX. Therefore, the analysis often used is Breakeven or Payback analysis. Breakeven is normally used with product units. In this case a value for savings is determined for each unit. A calculation is then made to determine how many units are required to generate enough savings to pay for the project costs. The Payback period technique is more commonly used with process improvement. An amount of savings or benefits is calculated on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis. A calculation is then made to determine how long it will take for the process to generate enough savings to pay for the project. If the project does include a large capital (CAPEX) spending, a Net Present Value (NPV) or Internal Rate of Return (IRR) calculation should be done to account for the long-term effect of depreciation and amortization. Be certain to include a Finance rep in these discussions because they will have long-term impact on taxes and financial reporting. The financial benefits are normally captured as lowered operating costs in the organization that operates the process or builds and maintains the product. This is directly related to the Cost of Poor Quality. Since the project should be lowering the COPQ, the benefits should be planned and tracked in the organization with responsibility for the COPQ components - such as scrap or rework. Cycle time benefits are more difficult to capture financially except to the extent of lowering inventory carrying costs

Developing Project Metrics-1

Product/process performance improvement metrics - this category is usually documented by the improvement goals for the measurable CTQs. These metrics cannot be evaluated until the end of the project. In some organizations these include both a short-term performance evaluation, which is measured during the Control phase, and a long-term performance evaluation which is measured months after 7 project completion to ensure the process improvement has been sustained. Typical CTQ improvement goals will be defect reduction, cycle-time improvement, COPQ reduction, and operating cost reductions.

Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project-Define

Project Charter, voice of customer in form of CTQs, high-level process definition, key project metrics.

Developing Project Metrics-3

Project management metrics - these are metrics associated with classic project management such as schedule variance and budget variance. These are normally evaluated at the end of each phase.

Understanding Lean-3

Pull - this principle involves the scheduling of the process so as to ensure that the process is only doing required work and that the work is prioritized correctly. This principle relies heavily on visual control practices

Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project-Analyze

Root cause analysis with supporting statistical analysis

Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project-Improve

Solutions for the root cause(s) with To-Be process map and supporting statistical analysis to show the solution is effective.

Basic Statistics

Statistics are a numerical analysis of a set of numbers. The analysis provides insight into characteristics and attributes of the number set. It is a set of numbers, not a single value. Generally, the more numbers there are in a set, the more accurate the statistical analysis. Depending upon the statistical technique used, the number may also have attribute data associated with it, such as categories. However, to apply statistical techniques, there must be numerical data available. Within Lean Six Sigma projects, the set of number are normally data points from a product or process that is being investigated. A statistical analysis of these data points will reveal performance or attributes about the product or process.

5's

The Five "S" Disciplines are an approach to asses and improve the work location. These disciplines do not directly create the product or process result, but the adherence to these disciplines will improve the ability of the organization and operator to find and eliminate waste. This Body of Knowledge lists the disciplines within the Define stage, but I find them much more useful in the Improve and Control stage to create an improvement and ensure it is successfully deployed.

Cause & Effect / Fishbone Diagrams

The Cause and Effect Diagram (also called a Fishbone Diagram or Ishikawa Diagram) is used to aid in brainstorming potential causes of a problem. The diagram starts on one side with a description of the problem (the head of the fishbone). Then a horizontal line is drawn starting at the head and several major lines are drawn at an angle from this primary horizontal line. These lines represent categories of root causes. Specific root causes are then placed on smaller horizontal lines that are drawn from the categories. Having completed a Cause and Effect Diagram, the Lean Six Sigma team can then collect data as part of the measure process that includes information about each of these potential causes. The data will be analyzed in the next phase

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis

The Failure Mode Effects Analysis is a technique that identifies risk to customers and/or operators associated with the product or process. There are several variations of FMEA, the two most common are the Design FMEA and Process FMEA. The Design FMEA focuses on product risk of failure to perform and potential harms or hazards to the end customer. The Process FMEA focuses on harms and hazards to process operators and the quality and cost effect on failed process steps. The FMEA process considers an existing product or process. When used in early design stages, it considers a prototype product or process. Based upon the analysis, the FMEA indicates if there is significant risk in the product or process that should be mitigated. This evaluation is based upon identifying possible failure modes and then evaluating for each failure mode the effect that failure would have on product or process performance. This effect is then scored based upon the severity of the impact, the likelihood that the failure will occur, and the ability of the user or process control system to identify the failure is occurring and prevent the effect. These scores are multiplied together and if composite score, called a Risk Priority Number (RPN), exceeds the company's threshold value, a mitigation action must be taken to reduce the RPN. If an FMEA analysis has been completed on a product or process, the results will provide a good indication of potential root causes. If there is no existing FMEA, I recommend that you use this technique during the improve stage to evaluate your solution

Project Charter

The Project Charter is normally a revision-controlled document that lists the project goals and project boundaries. Most organizations have a template for completing a Project Charter. Depending upon the organizational policies and practices, the Project Charter will include: • Project Objective • Project CTQs • Key stakeholders • High-level budget and estimated benefits • High-level schedule (typically just the five DMAIC phases) • Project boundaries, assumptions, and constraints • High-level project risks and mitigation approaches • Project leader (Black Belt or Green Belt) The approval of the Charter is usually the signal for the completion of the Define phase of the project and the beginning of the Measure phase.

Understanding Lean-1

The Value Stream Map (VSM) which is the steps in the direct flow of delivering the output of the process. This is often in two forms - the As-Is map representing the current state and the To-Be map representing the desired future state

Value Stream Map

The Value Stream Map can be tricky to develop if the process has many branches in it. When that is the case I start with the final step of the process and work backwards, mapping the key predecessor step when the process is going smoothly. The Value Stream Map also includes a data box under each step that is used to collect the data about that step - such as cycle time, value-added time, or FTY.

X-Y Diagram

The X-Y Diagram is a graphical tool for mapping the process inputs to the process outputs. There are numerous formats used but they share the common trait of creating a table or matrix. One axis of the matrix is the process outputs and one axis is the process inputs. Within the matrix, an indication of which inputs correlate to which outputs is shown. In some cases, the outputs are weighted for importance. In some cases, the correlation relationship is evaluated on a scale showing the strength of the relationship. In some cases, the matrix uses numerical values and then rows or columns are summed to indicate importance. One of the techniques that uses this general format is the Quality Function Deployment or QFD. This X-Y matrix will map the customer CTQs against the process steps to determine which steps are most significant.

Building a Business Case

The purpose of the business case is to create a financial justification for completing the project work. The business case will estimate the costs of doing the project and estimate the financial benefit that the completed project will create. An analysis is then made to determine if the benefits outweigh the cost. Project costs are usually easier to estimate since they will represent the cost of the project team's time. The benefits will include the portion of the Cost of Poor Quality that the project eliminates. It may also include the monetized effect of "soft costs" such as improved price realization based upon increased customer satisfaction, or reduced training and hiring costs based upon less employee turnover

Measure Phase

The second phase of the DMAIC process. These are tools or techniques that are used to identify problem areas within a product or process. These tools are visual or graphical tools that highlight areas for further analysis.

graphical analysis

There are a number of graphical techniques that represent various aspects of a statistical analysis.

Six Sigma Statistics

These topics provide a foundation in statistical analysis as it applies to Lean Six Sigma projects.

The Seven Elements of Waste

This Body of Knowledge lists the seven elements in the Define stage, however, they are normally used in the Analyze stage to identify types of waste that should be reduced or eliminated.

Graphical Analysis-Scatter Diagram

This chart shows data points graphed on two axes representing two continuous data attributes associated with the data point. It shows whether there is correlation between the two data attributes.

Graphical Analysis- histogram/bar chart

This chart shows the quantity of occurrences in different categories. A special case is the Pareto Chart.

Graphical Analysis- Box Plot

This plot shows the several statistical parameters of a data distribution: min, max, mean, and quartiles. It is often used to check for similarity in data sets.

Understanding Lean-4

Ultimately, Lean is about reducing waste in the process - wasted effort, wasted time, and wasted cost.

Process Mapping

Used to describe the process visually Clarifies the steps/sequence in the process Clarifies who performs each step Identifies how the work flows through the organization Identifies where the key linkages are with other parts of the organization Helps to identify areas for improvement. Starts with a SIPOC that sets the process boundaries.

Pareto Analysis (80:20 rule)

Vilfredo Pareto, and Italian engineer, economist, and philosopher, established the Pareto principle which states that for many observed events, 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes. A Pareto analysis is an investigation to determine these "vital few" root causes in order resolve these and thereby gain the maximum benefit for the minimum effort.

Six Sigma Roles & Responsibilities-Master Black

a Black Belt who supervises the Lean Six Sigma program for an organization, providing training to team members and coaching and advice to senior management concerning the programs and methodology.

Six Sigma Roles & Responsibilities-Green

a project leader who is able to effectively use most Lean Six Sigma tools and understands the process.

Six Sigma Roles & Responsibilities- Yellow

a project team member familiar with the process and basic tools

Six Sigma Roles & Responsibilities-Black

a subject matter expert in Lean Six Sigma. Able to lead teams, coach other team leaders, and is

5S - Shine

everything at the workstation is cleaned and repaired so that it is in working order. This allows a visual inspection of the work station to ensure everything is there and working properly.

5S: Self-Discipline/Sustain

maintain the first four "S" Disciplines through periodic training and audits. This ensures the disciplines become habit and the benefit of using these are captured for the organization

5S - Sort

material, work product and work aids are segregate by things needed at the work station and things that are not.

Basics of Six Sigma-Cycle Time

the average total elapsed time to complete a process from step first to step last. It includes any night, 6 weekend holiday time. It includes time sitting in queues. Cycle time is calculated by determining difference between the time an item starts a process and the time that same item finishes a process.

5S - Standardize

the implementation of best practices at the work station so that each operator knows what to do and how to do it well. This includes creating a standard location for all tools and work aids at the work station.

Defining a process-Inputs

the material and information provided by suppliers for the process. There should be at least one step in the process that requires the input in order to complete the step.

Defining a process-Outputs

the product, service or results created by the process. This includes information or process records. It also includes any waste streams created by the process.

5S: Straighten

the remaining material, work product and work aids are organized based upon how they are used. They are placed in the order of use reducing motion and confusion at the work station.

Defining a process-Process

the steps or actions that convert the process inputs into the process outputs. These are normally organized in a sequence that may include multiple parallel paths.

Defining a process-Customer

the users or recipients of the process outputs. Each output is used by at least one customer.

The Seven Elements of Waste-Correction

this is the waste associated with fixing defects. If the defect had not occurred, this wasted effort would not occur.

The Seven Elements of Waste-Over Processing

this is the waste of adding features or complexity to a product that are not desired by the customer of that product. Therefore, those are not adding value to the customer, but they do require wasted effort to add them to the product.

The Seven Elements of Waste-Overproduction

this is the waste of making product or operating the process when there is no demand by customers for the result. The effort is wasted since no one will use the process result.

The Seven Elements of Waste-Inventory

this is the waste of managing inventory at any and every stage of the process. The extra inventory must be counted, stored, inspected and handled - but none of those activities helps to turn the inventory into usable results for the customer, so that is wasted effort.

Seven Elements of Waste-Conveyance

this is the waste of moving the product or process results to other locations for further processing. The interim shipping and handling adds work and time to the process but is not adding any value to the final result.

The Seven Elements of Waste-Waiting

this is the wasted time of an item waiting for its turn to be processed through the next step. Assuming the product is, or process result is desired by the customer, this waiting is only irritating the customer.

The Seven Elements of Waste-Motion

this is wasted effort at a work station as the operator has to do activities that are not part of creating the product such as searching for tools, repositioning product, and reading instructions.

Graphical Analysis-Line Graph

this plots the value of a continuous variable for consecutive data points. It is commonly used to create a Run Chart

Defining a Process-Suppliers

those individuals or organizations that provide materials or information used in the process to create the desired result.