A Lean Six Sigma Project to Reduce Leadtime at a Tubing Company

SSDSI used “Day 0” of the event to complete data analysis with SME and VSM to reduce the scope of the project. The company in question is a high SKU environment and their original request was to reduce the lead time in all SKUs. Data showed that one tube family was taking up over 70% of their capacity. This led to our narrowed scope for the lean six sigma project.

Before the event started, we had a Lean and Six Sigma White Belt course to educate the SMEs and elicit their input on opportunities in the tube process. This training lessened the fear of change and helped provide ownership in what would be the improvement.

The first day of the event was used to characterize the “Current State” through a VSM and a Spaghetti Map. These tools showed a production process in the traditional “Push” orientation. Each step was a segregated department. Each department worked to “the beat of their own drum”. The product was made in large batches. Product was stored in inventory between each department.

The second day was to design and implement the “Future State”, or improved process. We (SSDSI) know that in order for the SMEs to take ownership of the improved process, they have to be a part of developing the improved process. We asked them, based on their White Belt course and the simulations that they went through, and the data that we had collected through the VSM and Spaghetti Map, what should the improved process look like.

The perfect state of the Tube process would have been to connect each of the steps and produce a one-piece flow. The SMEs weren’t ready for that drastic of a change. Instead, we went to a Replenishment Pull system with Visual Signal (KanBan’s) to trigger replenishment. This was realized in the form of a rack central to all the process steps. Each level of the rack was a step in the process so you can see where the bottlenecks are (step #1 on the 1st level, step #2 on the second level, etc.). Production was moved around in plastic bins which controlled the small batch sizes. There were three colors of bins to visually signal the KanBan type (normal IPK, IPK with increased batch sizes, and Priority Orders).

If a step in the process had filled their KanBan and had no other part to produce, they would flex to a downstream process to speed up the flow and release bottlenecks.

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Healthcare Case Study

LEAN 5S Event Case Study at a Healthcare Center to Increase Bed Space and Remove the Need for a Proposed New Facility.

Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. was invited to a Health Care Center in South Texas by a new CEO. This hospital was in the planning stages of a new multi-million-dollar extension to increase bed space. The CEO knew that the hospital was not using its current footprint effectively. In a 5-day event, SSDSI’s team mentored several Green Belt teams in the 5S Methodology.

The SORT stage of 5S

The Hospital was “a buzz” for the next 5 days! In the Sort Stage of the Healthcare Case Study, we discovered storage rooms in several places that had long been forgotten.

We recovered almost a third of the existing hospital footprint

On every floor of the hospital, there was space that was not optimized. In the Healthcare Case Study, we found that we could consolidate several departments. We also uncovered several problems that could lead to medication errors because of clutter and disorganization in the Pharmacy, Nurse’s Stations, and Galleys. Everyone worked side by side to de-clutter each department. Today there are weekly 5S audits in each of the departments. There are competitions going on between departments based on the audit scores. There are monthly celebrations for the best-performing departments.

The result of the 5S Event

The result of the 5-day event in the Healthcare Case Study was an increase in bed space by 32%. This increase in bed space was realized without the construction of a new extension. The 5-day event also led to increased HCAHPS scores which dramatically increased their reimbursements.

Relate Articles

• Onsite Lean Six Sigma Training for Healthcare
• What is a 5S Event?
• Do We Really Need a Continuous Improvement Department?
• Guide to Implementing the First “S” in 5S Sort
• LEAN 5S, what is it?

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Six Sigma Case Study to Reduce Leakers

In this Lean Six Sigma project case study, we were tasked with reducing the amount of “Leakers” on a Bartelt Line producing Pistachios using the Six Sigma DMAIC process.

First, we completed a SIPOC to determine if there were any inputs external to the Process that could be an issue. We found that variation in the film could be a contributing factor.

We then defined the Xs in the process of this lean six sigma case study. This is where we “look for open windows” (can the process meet its existing tolerances). We found that there was no data being cataloged for the measurable and controllable inputs. We also found that the output was measured in Pass/Fail rather than a continuous metric.

We found that the KPOVs were the position of the heat placement and the dwell time. We took capability measurements after completing a controlled setup and implementing some poka-yokes, and the short-term capability increased to over 2.

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma uses statistics and data analysis in order to reduce or eliminate errors and defects. This process aims to reduce manufacturing defects to 3.4 per million units.

Six Sigma provides organizations with tools that help them improve their management skills. This increases performance and decreases process variation allowing for a reduction in defect rates, employee morale, and improved quality products and services. All of these factors contribute to higher profitability.

Six Sigma consists of a collection of management tools and techniques that are designed to increase the ability of a business process by reducing error rates. Six Sigma is a data-driven method that employs statistical methods to eliminate defects, reduce defects and improve profits.

Digital Transformation is the buzzword of the decade. As companies compete for more business in a competitive market, new technologies, and tools support the company’s transformation journey. But is this enough to speed up a company’s transformation? Is it possible to remove production bottlenecks or fix a service design problem with standalone technology? While digital transformation can accelerate a company’s growth it must be supported equally by management methods of business transformation and quality control.

In 1986, American company Motorola created a new concept for the quality control process. It has been refined over the years into a solid theory of principles, methods, and aimed at business transformation via a clearly defined process. This finished product is Six Sigma.

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• A LEAN SIX SIGMA PROJECT TO REDUCE LEADTIME AT A TUBING COMPANY

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Lean Six Sigma Project to Reduce Office 365 Outlook Incident Tickets

This article will briefly explain a Lean Six Sigma Project Case Study and also include Outlook tips and tricks, and best practices. This company’s helpdesk team discovered what most helpdesk teams learn when they first embark on a Six Sigma journey …that only reacting to the incident tickets will never get you to a significantly improved process. By understanding the root cause, and controlling the “inputs” that create the tickets, you will see a significant reduction happen.

The helpdesk team discovered that they one of their significant inputs to Outlook Incident Tickets was due to unscheduled Internet Line outages by their provider causing Office 365 Email access to fail. They had no control over this input. What they did have control over was the way information was circulated letting users know of the outage.

In the unimproved process, information about the outage was not distributed. This led to users trying to connect to Office 365 and failing. This resulted in an increase in incident tickets.

In the improved process, a number of solutions have been employed to notify the users of an outage as soon as it happens. These solutions repeat every ½hour to keep the users informed of the status. This has reduced Office 365 Email incident tickets that resulted from an outage by over 85%.

Our Top 10 Tips and Tricks, and Best Practices for Outlook to Boost Workflow

Outlook comes with many functions that can be used to manage email. A three-part strategy is the best.

• Get organized with action files.
• Your inbox can be defined with color categories.
• Stop spam emails from clogging up your inbox

1. Create Action Folders

Our first tip is that a strong Outlook folder structure is crucial for success and the first in our best practices list. Action folders are the second level of email placement. They are best suited for low- to moderate email volume.

This combination of the other tips can be used if you get a lot of emails from a particular category.

By right-clicking on a folder or account, and selecting New folder, you can create folders. To ensure you never miss an email from your boss, you can create folders for clients and topics.

You can create three subfolders for most folders: To Do Pending and Finalized. Respond to any new email that arrives in the main folder and determine where it should go.

• To Do: Communication/situation ongoing, no immediate action
• In Progress: Have replied, awaiting further action
• Finalized: Communication/situation has ended, email awaiting deletion or archive

2. Organize with Color Categories

You can make it much easier to manage your inbox by using color-coded groups. You should use color sparingly. It can be difficult to navigate your inbox if it is too chaotic.

One problem with color categories is that they are not supported by IMAP accounts. To use this feature, you will need to create a separate POP3 account. You can also create a folder called “this computer only”.

Start your color classification system by going to the Homepage tab and looking for the tags section. If the Ribbon doesn’t appear to be expanded, tap the small arrow on the right.

Navigate to Category > All Categories. This will display a list of all active categories. You can now edit the colors, names, and keyboard shortcuts of that category.

If you do not have the ability to use color categories with your POP3 account you might need to enable them. Find the email address in the sidebar. Right-click on the account name and choose Data Property. The Upgrade to option should be located at the bottom of your properties panel.

This could take up to a while depending on how large your inbox is. Once you are done, however, you will have full access to all the color categories.

An Automatic Formatting system is available if you need color categories that are not available in your IMAP account.

3. Modify the Junk Email Filter Level

Outlook has its spam filter, which is a good thing. It doesn’t always catch all of the spam that comes to your inboxes. It literally takes minutes to deal with this junk.

The Junk email filter default is on. However, it can be set to low. You can turn it up to increase its effectiveness.

can change the level of junk mail protection. To do this, go to the Home Tab. There you will find the Remove options. Select Junk and then Junk email Options. Now you can choose the filtering level for your inbox. If necessary, you can adjust this account by account.

Outlook warns that setting the junk mail filter to high can pose a threat. This filter could make some mail junk. Make sure you check your Junk Mail regularly!

You have another option if moving them to Junk is not enough. Instead of moving junk mail to the junk folder, you can check the box to Permanently Delete Suspected Junk Email.

Note that any legitimate mail marked as junk when this option is enabled will not be retrieved.

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What is SMED?

Lean Six Sigma SMED meaning (Definition: Single Minute Exchange of Die) is a manufacturing system that dramatically reduces the time required to complete equipment changeovers. It aims to make as many of the changeover steps as possible “external” (performed while equipment is still running) and to streamline and simplify the rest. Single-Minute Exchange of Die is named after the goal of reducing the time it takes to changeover (e.g. less than 10 minutes).

Understanding SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies)

It’s important to know what each acronym stands for before you can learn more about the tool. Dies/die is the last letter of the acronym. A die is a piece of manufacturing equipment that defines the size and shape of a product. A die can be described as an industrial cookie cutter or a stamp.

The second-to-last E is the exchange of dies. A die is custom-made to produce a specific size and shape. Therefore, the die for one product will be different than the die for another. Exchanging dies is simply switching from one product to another.

The two remaining letters, SM stand for one minute. This is the ideal time to change from making one product to another, or “to swap dies”. This can be changed to single-digit minutes (less than 10-minute die exchange).

SMED Benefits

The following are the benefits of a successful Lean Six Sigma SMED program:

• Lower Manufacturing Cost: faster changeovers mean less equipment downtime
• Smaller Lot Sizes: faster changeovers enable more frequent product changes
• Increased responsiveness to customer demand: Smaller lot sizes allow for more flexible scheduling
• Lower Inventory Levels: Smaller lot sizes mean lower inventory levels
• Smoother Startups: Standardized changeover processes increase consistency and quality, resulting in smoother startup.

What You Can Gain by Implementing SMED

SMED reduces the time required to change equipment, creating a positive impact on other production aspects. Five key benefits include:

1. Increased machine capacity and work rates
2. More equipment changes are completed.
3. Smaller lot sizes and reduced batch sizes
   • Stock reduction / reduced inventory levels
   • Space and handling requirements are reduced
   • Flexible response to customer needs
   • Waste production is reduced
4. Standardized changeover procedures
   • Improved quality / less room for error
   • Fewer defects produced
   • Safety and consistency are improved
5. Reduced production costs due to fewer planned downtimes

Quick Changeover Event on a Mold Setup Process

One of the events that we mentored was a Lean Six Sigma SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies or Quick Changeover) Manufacturing Event on the Mold Changeover Process in a Casting Area.

The newly formed Operational Excellence (OpEx) was skeptical that they were going to achieve any significant reduction in the Changeover. This was their first SMED event.

We (SSDSI) said that the changeover can be reduced by at least 50% (from 2 ½hours to under 1 hour and 15 minutes). As the 5-day event progressed, the OpEx team started to see the Waste that the SSDSI Master Black Belts initially discovered.

The OpEx team exceeded their goal of a 30% reduction. The setup was reduced to 50%+ with a range from 55-75 minutes.

Related articles

• What is LEAN?
• What is Operational Excellence?
• SMED Events – The quickest way to get ROI from your LEAN Deployment
• SMED Meaning
• What is SMED?

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