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Lean Tools and Technology in Lean Development

By on April 23, 2012 in General, Uncategorized

– Adapt technology to fit your People & Process; In some organisations it could be the opposite (Technology has to be mature first in accordance withTechnical Readiness Level process)

– Align organisation through simple visual communication More difficult for Engineering .

– Use powerful tools for standardization & organizational learning Lean organisation (reducing number of layers…)

at Toyota are the best exponents of Lean Development and since 1991 have identified 4 Critical Success Factors as follows:
  • Creating a strong vision to ensure that design engineers care about what the customer thinks of their future services and products
  • Limit the number of late design changes by striving for Perfect Drawings and Zero EC after production drawing release
  • Focus on precise and tightly scheduled industrialised drawing production to increase effectiveness
  • Focus on quality and cost of production itself to ensure build is with the cost bracket
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Lean Product Development

By on April 19, 2012 in Information Technology, Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized

People & Partners

– Chief Engineer Role in Development phase (misunderstood in Aerospace Industry)

§ Highly experienced in Product development, small team, clear technical authority over all internal & external Eng’s, Voice of the Customer, guardian of the specifications, not a Programme Manager.  Unity of leadership
§ Decide Product & trade off between design/ Manufacturing/ Suppliers & Customer Support/ ILS so that product fulfils all requirements
§ Identify & remove Development roadblocks internal & partners/suppliers
§ Dev. schedule, product recurring costs, product reliability & op costs,

– Balance functional expertise & Programme integration

§ Programme Plateau (early concept phase & integration tasks) or Functional Plateau
(Detail design phase, cross programme optimization & learning, standardization, product/process skills)
–  Develop towering technical competence
§ Proactive hiring, early experience in other functions: Manufacturing, Customer and  Support/
§ Link to HR (Expert network, competence Mgt, specific technology dev. skills,  process)

–  Suppliers/Partners integration into Product Development

–  Build in learning & Continuous Improvement

§ Companys’ culture are mainly based on history & diff. functions (customer value,
multicultural…)

– Build a culture to support Excellence & Relentless Improvement

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Lean Production

By on April 16, 2012 in General, Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized

Toyota is the most documented Lean Company, talking about Lean Production.

 

1991 – The machine that changed the world – This was the first time Toyota opened it’s doors to external consultants based on the TPS (Toyota Production System) developed by Womack and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The 5 Steps to Lean” (specify value, identify the value stream, make the value flow, let the customer pull, pursue perfection) were defined in this book.

1996 – Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones) – Easier to read, still based on TPS (Manu) with Case Studies

1997 – Concurrent Engineering Effectiveness – Jeff Liker and based on some of Toyota’s Engineering Principles

2002 – Lean Enterprise Value  –

2004 – The Toyota Way – Jeff Liker – Business Philosophy and 14 Management Principles

2006 – The Toyota Product Development System – Jeff Liker – based on the product development system not manufacturing. The product development system is the key behind the TPS and this is the first book that explores Toyota’s PDS and this is their main competitive advantage. Easier to replicate the TPS than the PDS. 13 Principles broken down, easy to read and you can dip in and out of the book.

2007 – Toyota Talent –  Jeff Liker – How to develop engineers

2007 – The Lean Product Development Guidebook –

 

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Lean Engineering in Lean Six Sigma

By on April 12, 2012 in Information Technology, Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized
– Manufacturing has a relatively small influence on the overall cost and quality of the product or service supplied.  Remember the Value Stream?
– When Lean principles are applied across all the functions in the value stream,   true competitive advantage can be gained. This is sometimes known as Lean Enterprise
– Lean Product Development demands an integrated multi-disciplined approach.

A Lean product development process typically has four phases:

    1. Concept  The Vision for the product produced by the programme lead   who is a technical expert  and is responsible for the product   from concept to market
    2. System design   Set based concurrent engineering looks for all possible    problems and tries to resolve them early in the process. ‘Sets’   of possible solutions are generated (diverge) then gradually   narrow as learning and understanding increases i.e. design   converges. Progressively reducing specifications and   resolving ambiguity actually shortens development time.   The system design team will be multi-functional and often   located together.
    3. Detailed design.
    4. Proto type & tooling.

 

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Why Lean Development ?

By on April 9, 2012 in Information Technology, Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized
  • Improving your service and manufacturing systems can only give you limited gains – this is only half the opportunity
  • There is more scope of improvement opportunities if you target the engineering of your service, products and process’
  • It can be more challenging as it is not as easy to see waste and flow
  • Many organisations have implemented lean and explored opportunities in all departments (design, purchasing, engineering, finance, HR etc)
  • They feel that this is what gives them an edge over their competitors
  • Assist in achieving swifter new products development

E.g., Toyota, Ford, Nokia and others,

We understand that we are not Toyota !!!!  However, it is important to understand some of the main differences between the Toyota culture and conventional business cultures when they develop new products as it will help you see where we can make changes to grow stronger as a company.  Also, it will enable you to understand where development systems have originated from.

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Lean Six Sigma Value Stream Mapping

By on April 3, 2012 in Information Technology, Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized
During the Lean Six Sigma projects the Black Belts we learn them mapping a value stream, using symbols we understand, we have identified ways to reduce Lead time.
This means that the time spent on value add activities as a % of total time spent is increased,
But we haven’t changed any of the value add activities. We haven’t bought new high tech expensive equipment or tried to get people to work harder, we have simply improved the system.
We haven’t calculated benefits but you get the  feeling that the ‘future state’ system will perform better for OTOQD and cost.
We used a volume manufacturing example because it’s easier to visualise value streams with physical things; now let’s look at non-manufacturing.
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Our Summer Speed Course in Aix is especially designed for managers to take a break during the months of July and August.

By on March 26, 2012 in Lean Six Sigma, Project Managment, Uncategorized

Our Summer Speed Course in Aix is especially designed for managers to take a break during the months of July and August.

Certification for Green Belts and Black Belt with the Lean Six Sigma methods.

Following the advice and suggestions of improvement managers like you, we created a program that shows you . . .

  • Quick and easy methods for getting more done in less time so you can focus on the skills specific to your business.
  • Easy to understand and apply strategies for sustainable development.
  • Clear progressions that can be used for beginner and advanced belts at the same practice.
  • Drills and exercises in workshops so you can see exactly how to perform and coach properly.
  • Specific instructions detailing how, where and when to use each action without having “to earn a degree in results garantuee or proof of claim”
  • Proven sample workouts and programs you can instantly bring to practice – the same day your program arrives

How much longer will you wait to make modernized improvements to the way you coach…and the way your business runs and competes?

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the aim of Lean Six Sigma

By on March 22, 2012 in Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized

Remember this – Is this what we are aiming at?

 

  • This customer values time (speed) at any cost
  • Most of our customers value a specific balance of quality, cost and time (delivery)
  • But no one values waste
  • So when we are thinking of ‘lean’ we are aiming at reducing the non-value adding gaps in the value chain
Aim to achieve PULL
  • Produce only what the customer requires
  • Improved communication between processes
  • Standard method for communicating between processes – Kanban
  • Production system can respond to changes in customer demand
  • Decreases Inventory levels
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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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Lean Six Sigma and Supermarkets

By on March 14, 2012 in Lean Six Sigma, Uncategorized

In Lean Six Sigma the word Supermarket is used to describe a central location for a group of products often held in Kanbans that are collected by a customer.

The obvious analogy is a retail Supermarket that has a range of food, electrical or clothing products held in one large store so customers do not need to visit many different locations. A constant product flow is something you might get in the chemical industry where they use pipes.

Although we aim to make things flow, in most industries constant flow is not possible; we need supermarkets. Basically a supermarket is a store; parts in the supermarket are there because supply cannot be linked directly to demand.

Supermarkets are a group of centrally located Kanbans;

the central location is to allow ‘customers’ the time saving benefit of one stop shopping and supplier consolidation In Lean thinking, supermarkets are a necessary evil;

they should be located as close as possible to the customer(s) and not confused with a buffer stock that may be held within the production chain.

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