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Tag Archives | goals roll down

Stages of perfection with Lean Transformation

By on March 15, 2012 in Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized

The internal value adding system cannot meet external customer demands with high inventory, high staff costs, high waste, low quality and thus low profitability.

The internal value adding system only just meets customer demands for delivery and quality but costs are still too high.

The internal value adding system meets customer delivery targets without high inventory; staff and resources are focused on quality and delivery.

Internal value adding capability exceeds customer expectations and products are delivered on time and on quality.

Profitability is high and costs are low. The perfection stage. Fine tuning of the value adding system and advanced proactive discussions with customers regarding their needs in the future.

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Translating Customer Needs into Key Process Measures

By on February 6, 2012 in Lean Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma @de, Uncategorized

Listening to the Voice of the Customer.

Do we really know the answer to these questions?

  1. How does the customer view my process?
  2. When it starts for them?
  3. When it is finished?
  4. What is the customer looking for when measuring the performance of my process ?
  5. How well does my process meet the customer’s expectation of what constitutes value ‘in their eyes’?

We must first understand who the Customer actually is.  We should then define how to listen to the Customer when he is expressing his opinions about the quality of our products or services.  There may already be an established process within your business to extract this valuable information on an ongoing basis (Market Research), however, it may also be the case that the business does not capture such information in a coherent and usable format.  This is often the case with internal customers.  Therefore, specific techniques and deeper analysis is required to understand what the customers requirements for the process output actually are.

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Where a Lean Six Sigma project selection and definition can go wrong.

By on January 10, 2012 in Lean Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma @de, Uncategorized

Where can a Lean Six Sigma project selection and definition go wrong…?

Starting with the solution:

You must go backwards to find the problem that your solution is trying to fix. Any improvement project including the words ‘implement’, ‘roll-out’, ‘harmonise’, ‘unify’, ‘consolidate’, ‘merge’ or similar are likely to be starting with a solution.

In these cases ask yourself: What is the problem that causes me to do this solution? What do I hope to achieve by implementing this solution?

Your replies will help you to answer the 3 key questions.

  1. What is the problem that needs to be fixed?
  2. Why is it important?
  3. How will I know when I have succeeded?

 Scope is too big and/or Timescale too long:

Lean Six Sigma projects are restricted to 6 -8 months for good reasons – they are more likely to succeed if they are a ‘manageable’ size. Try to reduce the scope of the project. Here are some possibilities: Focus on fewer products/product lines/sites/people.

Aim to achieve an earlier milestone in a longer project/program Reduce the number of objectives you are aiming to achieve. A note on the 6 month rule: implementation of the solution should be finished within 6 months, but it may take longer to be able to prove that your project delivered the results. This is OK.

 

Other dangers that will be covered during the sessions of the training, include:

  • Low sponsor commitment
  • Lack of time
  • No team, or too few on the team
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