7 deadly wastes……. #lean #6sigma #pmot #in

7muda

Toyota’s Taichi Ohno identified seven main sources of waste to be minimized in a Lean production system:-

Transportation

– the unnecessary movement of parts or materials. In our modern system of globalization where components are manufactured in many different parts of the world and transported to be assembled in a geographically remote location the opportunities for unnecessary transportation are endless. To minimize transportation waste we need to carefully analyze the origin of constituent parts and to identify opportunities for re-sourcing more local to final assembly.

Inventory – unnecessary inventory may as well be bags of cash. The operation needs to be streamlined to create a continuous flow minimizing inventory.

Motion – Any motion which is not adding value is Muda (waste) – for example if an operator has to repeatedly bend down to pick up a component this is unnecessary waste. The workstation should be designed to minimize unnecessary motion.

Waiting – time wasted whilst waiting for components, instructions, tools, indeed anything which is needed to maintain continuous flow is waste. If your organization is a service provider bear this in mind when designing systems to interface with customers. We all know the frustration of time wasted in a phone queue.

Overproduction – any production over and above the exact quantity the customer ordered is waste. The manufactured quantity should be pulled by the customer order.

Over-processing – the over embellishment or addition of none functional packaging is waste to be avoided and eliminated. What does the customer really want ?

Defects – all are waste and should be eliminated by the judicious use of 6 – sigma tools and Kaizen.

There are many other kinds of waste, which ones have you observed in your organization ?

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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Six Sigma & not a widget in sight………

call-centre-worker When we think of Six Sigma we often picture “widgets” and manufacturing processes. This is because of the history of Six Sigma snd it’s origins with Motorola and electronics manufacturing.

Nowadays Six Sigma is just as likely to be applied in Service Industry Oganizations.

One example is the Insurance Industry. In this highly competitive business customer focus and satisfaction are key. So how would Six Sigma be applied in this situation ?

In Six Sigma we need to measure a key parameter which is important to the end Customer, so in this example we could pick the number of days between reporting a claim and receiving financial settlement.

We would then look at all the factors in the claims process which influence the end result. By removing sources of defects and delays within the process we could then streamline it so that the customer receives consistent and timely service. Once the process was in control we could introduce SPC on our key parameter to maintain Statistical Control.

….and not a widget in sight !

chris@projectsguru.co.uk

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