Join us for a round on the Cash Cab! (#47)

Ok, so we are not going to pick you up in a cab and give you cash for correctly answering trivia questions. But if you answer this next question correctly, you will surely find a way to some cold hard cash!

What is the fastest way to get ROI from your Lean Deployment?

*Insert 10 second countdown* Call a friend!

Answer: Single Minute Exchange of Dies (Quick Changeover) Events!

SMED Events are a great way to see quick financial results from a Lean and Six Sigma Implementation. As a Lean Six Sigma specialist I have deployed many SMED Events at different organizations. Though there are huge benefits towards a SMED Event; your organization still needs to implement and sustain Lean Six Sigma throughout the process so these results of your SMED Event will last and the team will not reverse to their old process.

Be on the lookout for my next blog which will explain the framework for Lean and Six Sigma.

This blog will help you better understand the misinterpretations of the SMED Methodology.

Often, I will get calls to come into a company that has already tried to implement a SMED Event. They will ask me to come in to deploy Lean and Six Sigma; part of which involves shortening Setup/Changeover Time.

The first day of our SMED Event is to examine Lean, Six Sigma, and SMED’s purpose. We also talk about the actions of any initial SMED Events that occurred before we were called in. I usually always hear the same thing. A lot of facilities are set up in rows or “U’s” in which each machine is dependent upon the previous machine. Typically, the SMED Event that occurred before we got there taught each team member the necessary tools to make their individual machine faster.

What it did not teach them is how to increase their speed as a unit. They thought of their team as a collection of several single entities rather than one unified front. It is important to know how to improve your individual system, but it misses the point of focusing your event on the bottleneck of the entire process.

 For example: I can trim my process time on my own machine, taking it from 45 minutes to 20 minutes, but if the machine that my part depends on takes 70 minutes to set up then that would make my net setup time 70 minutes for the entire cell.

With individualistic thinking (shortening “my” machine’s process time), the driver of that machine will work on outside tasks when their process step is complete. These outside tasks can be done while their machine is running but it means that their cell isn’t producing.

We teach the project team a different than typical version of a Quick Changeover (SMED) by placing the focus on condensing the setup time of the entire unit, not each individual machine.

How do we do that? By focusing on the bottleneck of the entire process. Which machine has the longest setup time?

To create a resolution, the team needs to figure out the best flow of their process that would grant flexibility for the team members to move between other machines. Doing so would support cell optimization during setup and would decrease setup time.

Doing this generally trims setup times anywhere from 30-50% alone. So even if your team makes no other improvements, you have already reduced your process time! Further improvements to the cells will decrease the net setup time even more.


Have you been involved in attempts to reduce process time? What were your results? Let us know in the comments!


About Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc.
We are Certified as an Accredited Training Organization with the International Association of Six Sigma Certification (IASSC)
“The IASSC Accredited Training Organization (ATO) designation validates Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. has demonstrated adequate management systems, courseware with a high degree of correlation to the subject matter contained in the IASSC Bodies of Knowledge, delivery schema consistent with such content and highly qualified instructors.”
We Provide Public Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Training Courses in 34 Cities across the globe.
Our Training Centers are located in: Albuquerque, New Mexico | Anchorage, Alaska | Atlanta, Georgia | Austin, Texas | Boston, Massachusetts | Calgary, Canada | Charlotte, North Carolina | Chicago, Illinois | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cleveland, Ohio | Columbus, Ohio | Dallas, Texas | Denver, Colorado | Detroit, Michigan | Dubai, UAE | El Paso, Texas | Fort Smith, Arkansas | Honolulu, Hawaii | Houston, Texas | Indianapolis, Indiana | Jacksonville, Florida | Kansas City, Missouri | Las Vegas, Nevada | London, England | Los Angeles, California | Louisville, Kentucky | Memphis, Tennessee | Mexico City, Mexico | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Montreal, Canada | Nashville, Tennessee | New Orleans, Louisiana | New York City, New York | Northwest Arkansas | Orlando, Florida | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Phoenix, Arizona | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Portland, Oregon | Raleigh, North Carolina | Salt Lake City, Utah | San Diego, California | Seattle, Washington | St. Louis, Missouri | Tampa, Florida | Toronto, Canada | Vancouver, Canada | Washington, DC

We Provide Onsite Lean Six Sigma Certification Training. Some of the training's we provide are: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Lean Six Sigma Champions Training and Lean Certifications for Healthcare, Finance, I.T, Manufacturing, Processing, Logistics, Retail Sales and Government.
SSDSI will come to your site to train for your choice of the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels. Onsite training is more cost effective than open enrollment training when training larger groups of team members.
Benefits of Onsite Training:
The Training is focused on Your Opportunities
SSDSI uses your opportunities in class (vs. generic examples)
You will get the experience of a seasoned Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt who will help mentor you while completing your Lean and Six Sigma Project
You can train up to 20 employees for one fixed cost (this cost includes course ware and the instructors travel & lodging)
Our courses are full of games, simulations, and active learning to help the adult learner
SSDSI can customize the training to meet your company’s particular training needs
Call Kevin Clay at 214-731-3176 or email at kclay@sixsigmadsi.com for more information

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

McDonald's and the an example of a Lean Pull process...

When I was 18 we (my family and I) had just returned on an accompanied tour with my father (a U.S. Marine) in London, England. We were in Jacksonville, NC for around two weeks when he received orders to ship off to the middle east to be a part of "Desert Storm". I was preparing to go to college in Greenville, NC which was about three hours from Jacksonville. I changed my plans when we got the news that my father was to be deployed again. I decided to go to the local community college so that I could watch after my mom and two sisters.  My first order of business once I was registered for school was to find a job. The only employment I found that would work around my schedule was McDonalds. I was hired as a night shift cook. I have always had the mind to be frugal with money. Like teaching, you don't enlist in the Marine Corps to get rich. I say this because I immediately saw waste at the McDonalds though At the time I did not know the concepts of Lean nor Six Sigma. ...
Read more

We Invest  in process improvement like we invest in our health...

I'm sure most of you have seen thousands of infomercials over the years of "get fit quick" gimmicks. The man on the TV that I call "the Circus Barker" that excitedly tells you of a way to lose weight and get fit in seven days. We fall for these gimmicks time after time with the same result ... a new contraption that sits in a closet or in the middle of the room as a clothes hanger. Why does this happen? Because we want the quick fix with minimal investment.  Let's correlate the above example with an organizations investment in process improvement. When I am asked by people "Kevin, what do you do?"... I answer "I am like a fitness trainer for your organization except that I focus on the health of  your processes not necessarily the people." Organizations investing in process improvement are investing in the health of their company. For those of you that have significantly improved your health and sustained that improvement know that t...
Read more

Myth Busters (#77)

Image
Myth Busters! I love watching the show Myth Busters! It’s entertaining and enlightening; hopefully you think these blogs are too!  😊 The Lean Six Sigma Methodology is full of myths. One of these being that it is the CI’s role to improve processes. Saying it louder for those in the back: It is a Myth that the CI’s role is to Improve Processes. Confused? Let me explain. A myth is a false idea or belief that is widely recognized. Most people believe that it is the CI’s responsibility to improve processes. Why wouldn’t you believe that? Their title literally means Continuous Improvement. Let’s take a look at this example of how the majority of companies practice process improvement. Charlie is a Continuous Improvement Engineer for the Operating Expense Dept in his organization. Their team consists of three people out of a staff of 900. Leadership has asked the team to speed up the order entry process; a request made by corporate because they believe that the order entry...
Read more