QUICK Update

Further Detail on Lean Solutions

GP Deltapoint

In the review of the Sharma article, we mention nine lean tools. Here is some further detail on their application and our approach to implementing them.

Pull Scheduling

A pull system of production is an essential part of Just in Time manufacturing. A pull system produces and moves products and services only when customers need them, often using a signal or kanban.

When teaching teams about pull systems, we use exercises and simulations that emphasize the new thinking required: employees will be idle when no kanban is present and need other useful work to fill gaps; all inventory is waste and can be reduced; pull systems are dynamic and teams should strive for continuing reduction in the number of kanbans.

Kanban

Organizations often consider kanban signals to be applicable only to the shop floor and for highly repetitive work. But office environments such as sales quotations are rich opportunities for pull systems and a “generic” kanban system works for varied work in small volumes. Kanbans are often cards that are passed to the supplying function, but they also can be squares, boxes, pigeon holes, lights, or even faxes!

TPM

Total Productive Maintenance is productive maintenance performed by all employees - rather than just by the maintenance function – and eliminates the six big losses: breakdowns, setups, idling, slowdowns, defects and slow startups.

GP Deltapoint’s Rapid Improvement® process includes analysis, planning and workshops that engage front-line people in change and build a maintenance culture. We have found that successful TPM requires a balance of methods such as Rapid®, processes, skills and commitment realized through education, analysis, hands-on support, and learn-do implementation.

OEE

The goal of TPM is to increase equipment effectiveness so that each piece of equipment operates to its full potential and is maintained at that level. To do this, we have found that a measurement tool is needed. Overall Equipment Effectiveness links the time the machine is running to the production rate and the quantity of good output. Of course the measure is only the beginning: autonomous maintenance, quick changeovers, poka-yoke and maintenance analysis all play a role in improving OEE.

SMED

Quick changeovers are aided by deploying Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) techniques. While these methods were developed for use in the metal stamping function, they are applicable across many activities. We have found the SMED steps (separate internal and external setup, convert internal to external, and streamline) simple to appreciate yet as powerful in a sales office as an automotive plant.

QCPC

Quality Control Process Charts (QCPC) identify and track quality and manufacturing issues so that checking for and tracking defects becomes a role for everybody. By analyzing the data, problems can be identified, prioritized and eliminated.

Poka-Yoke

Mistake proofing relies on sensing mechanisms (poka-yoke devices), which check conditions automatically and signal or reject or disallow further actions. An example is the designed shape of diskettes which prevent them being inserted upside down. CDs don’t possess this mistake proofing. We have conducted audits of existing mistake-proof systems and designed new mechanisms and found that the key to implementation is to determine the root cause of defect-causing conditions and then figure out how to eliminate them completely. Quality cannot be inspected in; it must be built into the process.

Standard Work

When work is standardized, benchmarks can be established from which improvements are made. A key point we make in introducing standard work is that it allows implementation of visual controls, 5S, pull and other lean techniques. We show how work is best standardized when it is observed and benchmarked and that standard work leads to less waste and balanced process flows. Standard work becomes a Best Demonstrated Practice when it is consciously developed, consistently followed, currently believed to be the best practice, consists of documentation and has an owner responsible to improve and maintain the standard.

Takt Time

In an ideal system, production occurs and material flows at the rate of real-time consumption by the customer. The takt time is the time available in a period divided by the quantity required. Producing evenly at this rate eliminates over-production, which causes excess inventory and hides problems. It also enables organizations to balance resources against needs. Our hands-on education for Lean includes simulations of standard and varied work in which takt time drives work rather than more common measures such as personnel or machine utilization.