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Linking the internal value adding system directly to the customer may seem difficult but is necessary to allow the customer to pull value from the value adding system.
Each process link working in isolation at full speed will cause a mismatch between links. Some areas over-produce, some cannot keep up…
In the Lean Six Sigma methodology is Level Scheduling an important concept;
‘ The process of smoothing production volume and model mix over a given time period.’
This major component of the Lean philosophy is to smooth out the flow of value so that minimal waste inventory and waiting are incurred. To be able to provide a smooth flow when many product types are produced on the same lines it is necessary to even out the schedule, so Level Scheduling is often used. Benefits to be gained from employing level scheduling include; reduces inventory of raw materials, reduced quantity of finished goods and reduced lead times.
Not only the scheduling will do the job, with Lean Six Sigma, it will also require implementing other process improvements, e.i.;
• replacing the existing order entry process with an online system
Within Lean Six Sigma projects; quick Change Over refers to the ability to quickly start the next work item as soon as the current one is finished.
It originated in manufacturing, where it is more commonly known as SMED: Single-Minute Exchange of Dies, by Shigeo Shingo.
Some companies calculate ‘economic batch size’ using complex algorithms. Shingo thought time would be better spent to reduce the changeover time than trying to justify large batches. He was proved correct.
Change over improvement thinking should not just be applied in manufacturing areas.
We cannot improve every changeover in the business tomorrow, what should our priorities be?
During your Lean Six Sigma implementation, have a first look at the Traditional Layoutsof the area, which are often complex and bottlenecks affect the flow of materials, information and value adding capability. Common disadvantages are
Better try out Cell Layouts, which are typically U shaped, operations are combined and single piece flow is adopted. Bottlenecks are eliminated by the use of multiple operators or machines. Immediate advantages are usually
Standard Work and Multi-skilling during Lean Six Sigma is also important;
This helps
To save Lead time (calendar time) we can, through Lean Six Sigma or Lean engineering the process steps that are currently being completed in series.
Another possibility is to take out some process steps from the series and do them in parallel to other process steps.
This is often called concurrent engineering; the idea being that you can design the different parts of a product at the same time. Unless concurrent or parallel processing is carefully planned and coordinated, it results in chaos.
Two things are required for Parallel processing:
The key to Lead Time & Waste (Lean) is thinking about Value Add form a customer perspective.
But there are other forms of waste which we also should be aware of particularly the waste of human potential.
Once we understand the value add we then think in terms of ‘streams’ of value (a type of process mapping) and we think in terms of ‘families’ of products/services that have the same value streams.
Europe’s population is aging. More and more workers, especially the Baby Boomers, are or will be approaching retirement age in the very near future. When this group of workers begins to leave the labour force, it will place great demands on the existing workforce and on the economy as a whole. Through Lean Six Sigma and Lean Transformation we might be more efficient with less resources. But how will we deal with the lesser knowledge and experience of the Baby Boomers?
Europeans relocating from other parts of the continent or immigration will not address the full shortage of workers in the European economy. In order to successfully meet the challenges of the demographic shift and the high demands of today’s employers, we need to tackle the labour issue from both the supply and demand sides of the equation.
It is important to understand that all companies compete in a global market place and, more often then not, are competing with companies with a greater cost advantage. To ensure European companies are able to sustain themselves, they must look at how they can improve operational efficiencies to maintain their competitive advantage.
A popular misconception is that lean is suited only for manufacturing. Not true. Lean applies in every business and every process. It is not a tactic or a cost reduction program, but a way of thinking and acting for an entire organization.
The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources.
A lean organization understands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste.
To accomplish this, lean thinking changes the focus of management from optimizing separate technologies, assets, and vertical departments to optimizing the flow of products and services through entire value streams that flow horizontally across technologies, assets, and departments to customers.
Eliminating waste along entire value streams, instead of at isolated points, creates processes that need less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time to make products and services at far less costs and with much fewer defects, compared with traditional business systems. Companies are able to respond to changing customer desires with high variety, high quality, low cost, and with very fast throughput times. Also, information management becomes much simpler and more accurate.