...1 Lean Six Sigma Experience in Companies Narek Danoyan Contents 1.1 Lean Six Sigma in Xerox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Lean Six Sigma in Caterpillar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Lean Six Sigma in General Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 5 6 7 1 2 CHAPTER 1. LEAN SIX SIGMA EXPERIENCE IN COMPANIES Abstract: During the recent years the Lean Six Sigma improvement methodology has found its wide usage in different high-profit companies. Among such companies are General Electric, Raytheon, Caterpillar, ITT, Solectron, etc. The following article provides information on the Lean Six Sigma implemtations in three such companies, namely Xerox, Caterpillar and General Electric. 1.1 Lean Six Sigma in Xerox Xerox company profile Industry: document services, digital imaging, computer peripherals Number of employees: 133,200(2010) Total assets: US$ 24 billion Prior improvement methodologies used in Xerox and reasons for switching to LSS. Though the earlier approaches assisted Xerox in improving business processes, Xerox had some deficiencies and the results were limited in scope. In 2002 company decided to adopt the integration of Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing, which in a short time helped to achieve significant improvements[2]. Figure 1.1: Xerox LSS Framework[2] 1.1. LEAN SIX SIGMA...
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...Juan A. Rodriguez LEAN & SIX SIGMA PROC 5000 May 9, 2013 Outline I. Introduction II. History of Lean and Six Sigma III. Lean Sigma IV. Six Sigma V. How Lean and Six Sigma are applied VI. Summary VII. Recommendation VIII. Conclusion Introduction: As our economic future hinges on the ability for organizations to cut cost and improve the quality of their products and services as well as develop new ideas in order to stay competitive, managers today still rely on concepts that stay constant throughout the years, those concepts are Six and Lean Sigma. These concepts are widely used by many organizations as an approach or a process for investigation to achieve better results and improvement in their daily operations, services and products. Throughout this research paper the focus will be centered on the history of Six and Lean Sigma, how both concepts helped revolutionize the fields of quality control and process management, Lean and Six Sigma’s emphasis on collective efforts and teamwork to the applied steps taken. Furthermore, the research paper will provide tables and examples of how both concepts are applied to organizations. History of Lean and Six Sigma: The origins of Six Sigma can be traced as far back as 1777 when Carl Frederick Gauss first introduced the concept as a measurement tool of the normal curve. In the 1920's the word 'sigma' was used by mathematicians and engineers as a symbol for a unit of measurement in product...
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...recently to a newer approach – the lean manufacturing. In mass production, large quantities of the product were produced and the focus was more on quantity than quality. But with the increase in competition and the gradual saturation of the market the need to develop a new paradigm that focuses more on the process i.e., improved quality, delivery and cost performance has emerged. This has led to the introduction of Lean Manufacturing which focuses on waste elimination and creation of flow within an organization. In the words of Shigeo Shingo “The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.” Lean and six-sigma are methodologies backed by powerful tools that help in improving quality and productivity thereby improving overall profitability and competitiveness. The lean philosophy was initially pioneered by Toyota manufacturing company and aims at various methods of eliminating waste and improving the process flow. Six Sigma on the other hand, focuses on reducing variation using problem solving and statistical tools. It was first implemented in the Motorola Company as a safety margin for product performance. SIX SIGMA Six Sigma is a continuous improvement strategy that focuses on minimizing defects and variation and aims at achieving 3.4 defects per million in productions, design and process flow. Six Sigma minimizes variation in the process flow, thereby improving customer satisfaction. Benefits of implementing Six Sigma methodology are as follows: a....
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...Introduction In race to be a leader, most companies are realizing that traditional management, manufacturing processes, and other orthodox approaches, are not enough. More effective methods are needed: • Lean Manufacturing • Six Sigma Lean “Lean is a way to specify value, line up value-creating actions in the best sequence, conduct those activities without interruption whenever someone requests them, and perform them more and more effectively. In short, lean thinking is lean because it provides a way to do more and more with less and less – less human effort, less human equipment, less time, and less space – while coming closer and closer to providing customers with exactly what they want.”- Womack and Jones (1996). “Becoming ‘lean’ is a process of eliminating waste with the goal of creating value.” – Womack & Jones There are FIVE overriding principles to Lean. Identify Customers and Specify Value - The starting point is to recognise that only a small fraction of the total time and effort in any organisation actually adds value for the end customer. By clearly defining Value for a specific product or service from the end customer’s perspective, all the non value activities - or waste - can be targeted for removal. Identify and Map the Value Stream – The Value Stream is the entire set of activities across all parts of the organisation involved in jointly delivering the product or service. This represents the end-to-end process that delivers the value to the...
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...2249-4596 & Print ISSN: 0975-5861 Investigation of Sigma Level at the Stage of Testing Cement after Packing and Improving it using FMEA Approach By Md. Golam Kibria, Md. Enamul Kabir & S. M. Mahbubul Islam Boby Khulna University of Engineering &Technology (KUET), Bangladesh Abstract- Sophisticated customer demands and advanced technology have changed the way of conducting business. Financial condition of a manufacturing company largely depends on the defect rate of a product. Understanding the key features, obstacles, and shortcomings of the six sigma method allows organizations to better support their strategic directions, and increasing needs for coaching, mentoring, and training. The objectives of this paper are to study and evaluate processes of the case organization, to find out the current sigma level and finally to improve the existing Sigma level through decreasing defects. According to objectives, current sigma level has been calculated, manufacturing process analyzed and suggestions given for improvement. Especially in analyzing phase different analysis tools like Production Layout, Process Block Diagram, Cause and Effect Diagram, Cheek Sheet, Process control chart are used. FMEA is used as improvement tool. By using this it has been possible to improve productivity by reducing defects rate. This research work has been carried out in a cement manufacturing company to show how to implement Six- Sigma in this type of industry. This research related work...
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...Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen J. Paul Seiberlich Siena Heights University Prof. Anderson February 5, 2015 Kaizen and Six Sigma are associated with the Quality Model for achieving success in business. The term Kaizen has many different uses ranging from referring to a principle of personal conduct to a company wide strategy for achieving business success (Imai, 1986). In the United States, one of its most common uses is as the name of a lean enterprise tool for improving work processes. In this use, it refers to a systematic and specialized application of problem solving to uncover and extract waste from a work process. Kaizen as a company wide strategy for achieving business success is derived from the writings of W. Edwards Deming although the completeness of that connection seems to be unrecognized. It abstracts from Deming’s work the ideas that improvements must benefit customers; that they must occur every day, everywhere, and be implemented by everyone; that management must lead the implementation and that managers must be models and agents of its adoption; and that management and non-management employees must operate cooperatively. (Vitalo, R. 2013) The term “Kaizen” has two uses. One use refers to the principle of continuous improvement and describes a fundamental element in the Quality Model and in Lean thinking. The second use refers to methods that either suggest (e.g., Teian Kaizen) or generate and implement improvement ideas. Of the methods...
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...Lean Six Sigma Notes Lean cuts down on waste, reduce cycle times Six sigma reduces variation in a process DMAIC: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control define identify project, capture VOC and VOB measure baseline data metric is critical analyze find the root cause of your problem (may be many but find the significant 1, 2, and 3 root causes affecting this project), validate critical Xs, what really affects the output of the process value added vs non value added improve develop solution and test solution (pilot/pilot plan) control implement policies and procedures (SOPs) to sustain improvements Process: activity that produces something (information, items, ideas, or notions) for a customer concerned with quality, cost, or speed value stream = process value stream map = a process map with raw data on it Project Charter contract between you and the sponsor update this during every phase in DMAIC 1) Draft Problem Statement = Pain of Customer 2) Drafting Goal Statement 3) Complete project scope 4) Draft business impact 5) Project plan 6) Team Selection 7) Signatures (optional) RACI chart (Responsible Commanders, Accountable Staff, Consulted SEM, Informed) Project sponsors typically the process owners Opportunity or problem statement what pain are we feeling? what are they complaining about? what is not working? Problem should never have the solution in it? Project scope what authorities do you have? (defines what is in scope and out of ...
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...Lean six sigma is a methodology that is used to improve performance by systematically removing waste from what ever problem you are facing. It relies on a collaborative team effort to implement and be properly utilized on a corporate level to be effective and that is what Xerox intended to accomplish when they decided to help Medtronic with their unwanted mail problem. Medtronic who is a global leader in medical technology, had a problem that I’m sure many companies have. They were receiving an excessive amount of unwanted mail at their Tempe campus. This of course snowballed into a bigger problem when it started to result in wasting time retrieving, sorting and delivering the junk mail. Although at first sight it seems like a simple problem, companies worldwide let similar problems occur causing them sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. During the Measure phase, Xerox gathered quantitative and qualitative data to get a clear picture of what the current state of Medtronic was. The reason they would do this process is because it makes it easier to evaluate potential solutions. There were numerous locations to find information that would be valuable and help in the process of moving forward in the DMAIC process. Some of the measures that were collected were as follows: The amount of storage space being used and how much is available, number of mail, phone, and fax requests, number of steps in a process, and number of errors requiring a redo. In the analyze phase...
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...The Emergence 1 The Emergence of Lean Six Sigma Carl E. Pierce MBA 5101-06F – Strategic Management and Business Policy Professor Larry R. Williams October 15, 2006 The Emergence 2 Introduction Every organization has problems that get solved over and over again, only to reappear. Organizations work hard for months, generating solutions that people know will work, but don’t. To have any chance of success, implementation of Lean Six Sigma must be accompanied by new positions, new training, and new ways for different layers of the organization to communicate. By delivering products and services with speed, customer satisfaction and lower cost through operational excellence is essential to achieve and sustain superior shareholder returns in businesses and government enterprises. Operating excellence is becoming a priority in services like banking, insurance, retail, and government, because so much of the cost is tied into operations. Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma are all about change and managing change. We all want improved results; it is just the challenge of making the changes and managing change necessary for the improved results that present the challenges. For some managers, the changes brought by Lean Six Sigma can present a challenge to their normal management approach. Decisions...
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...The Impact of ‘Lean’ The purpose of this module: This module will look at how to manage within a lean environment and what considerations need to be taken account of when making management decisions. We will then look at the impact of lean across several industry sectors and conclude my looking at the way Lean and Six Sigma have become closely integrated. Timing: 60 – 90 minutes Lean Process Management When you start to undertake Lean reviews within an organization you have the opportunity to integrate it into the corporate strategy and long term vision for the business. Agreeing to review all production areas within a business to ensure they are efficient using lean methodology can make a big difference to the way you perform and deliver. Lean Process Management Many organizations use the balanced scorecard to report on their performance. The balanced scorecard reports on performance by four quadrants or areas to demonstrate how the business is moving towards its vision or corporate strategy. These areas are Financial, Customer, internal business processes and learning and growth. Lean has significant overlap with these areas to help develop and achieve the corporate goals. Lean Process Management It focuses on the customer and their values, it measures structured improvements, often with financial values, it puts quality and internal process improvement as a continual cycle and it engages with all employees offering ...
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...It is not a rocket science and everybody can do it. All you need is to follow our step by step training and you are good to go. EBA International Pvt. Ltd. is pleased to welcome you as a participant in her 2nd upcoming training on Six Sigma Green Belt. EBA International is a strategic partner of Harrington Institute America and now partnered with Horizon Group. We are sure you will find, as have many of others that EBA gives its participants the knowledge and the tools they need to compete in today's organizational challenges while reforming them to be tomorrow's rejection free, effective and efficient organization. Learning Outcomes This training course shall deliver time-tested insights and flawless techniques as developed by the Harrington Institute, imparting understanding required to select solutions that would best fit your organization's objectives and culture. It also includes exercises, worksheets and templates that you can easily customize to create your own framework for continuous process improvement. Contents Introduction to Six Sigma Quality System Green Belt Methodologies DMAIC Statistics Tools for Six Sigma Green Belt Six-Sigma basic tools Process Improvement Team Building SSGB Certification via exam Six sigma Implementation Project A lot of experienced and...
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...Introduction This paper is written for the purposes of testing and exploration of Total Quality Management practices in the Euro area, with the special emphasis on the region of South Eastern Europe. The companies chosen in the report are coming from the various industries, whereas 3 of them are from retailing area, 3 from manufacturing industry and 4 from the servicing industry. Given that the seven of them can be described as multinational companies, it is expected to have results that will support differences in TQM adoption, regarding the transfer of practices and obstacles observed, when compared with the different regions in the world, especially with the early adopters, such as Japan and United States of America. In addition, it is of importance to state that in the testing process the Statistical Package for Social Science, Version 16, was used and that the exploration of the tests are in compliance with the framework proposed. The report starts with the brief introduction, then proceeds to the brief literature review that synthesizes expectations of the tests, that are fully explained and utilized, and concludes with proposals and remarks for the further tests and explorations. Literature review “Characteristic or standard measure of excellence; basic characteristic of something. Quality is a measure of the degree to which something meets a standard” (Jack P. Friedman Barron's Dictionary of Business Terms, 2001.) Total Quality Management (TQM) can be...
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...employing lean techniques to a company’s everyday manufacturing process can help an organization successfully work to its full potential. Lean Manufacturing streamlines processes that help organizations minimize or remove non-value work activity from the company’s manufacturing process. I work for General Dynamics Mission Systems, a global company that specializes in military defense. To improve product cost, scheduling, quality, and performance, General Dynamics Mission System have deployed an active Lean Six Sigma program. Lean Six Sigma is a combination of two processes, Lean and Six Sigma. Lean is a systematic method for the elimination of waste. Six Sigma is a methodology for eliminating defects, mistakes, or failures in business processes. Both processes are a set of principles aimed at continuous improvement. Lean Six Sigma has become a popular technique for deploying continuous improvement in the manufacturing arena, but not all companies have successfully benefited from the Lean Six Sigma process—mainly due to poor execution. Jeyaraman and Teo (2010) “A Systematic Review of Lean Six Sigma for the Manufacturing Industry” and Albliw, Antony, and Lim (2015) “A Conceptual Framework for Critical Success Factors of Lean Six Sigma” contains comprehensive research studies in the functional area of Lean Six Sigma. These research studies have identified gaps that may be preventing users from benefiting from the Lean Six Sigma implementation strategy. Research Problem Lean Six...
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...history of Six-Sigma The roots of Six Sigma as a measurement standard go back to Carl Frederick Gauss (1777-1885) who introduced the concept of normal curve. Six Sigma as a measurement standard in product variation can be traced back to the 1920´s when Walter Shewhart showed that three sigma, from the mean is the point where a process requires correction. As history would seem to have it, the beginnings of Six Sigma really come from 1979 when an exasperated Motorola executive named Art Sundry said, at a meeting, “The real problem at Motorola is that our quality stinks!”. Apparently, this statement led to series of activities that in turn led to the discovery of the crucial correlation between higher quality and lower development costs in manufacturing products of all kinds. The problem was that the common thought was that quality initiatives simply cost too much money. What Motorola realized is that if these initiatives were done right, improving quality would actually reduce costs. Motorola decided to take the approach that high quality products should actually cost less to produce. Motorola reasoned that the highest quality producer should be the lowest cost producer. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF SIX-SIGMA What is Six-Sigma Six-Sigma has at least three different meanings depending upon the context; there is not one answer to what is Six-Sigma. The first answer to what is Six-Sigma is that it is a management philosophy. Six-Sigma is a customer...
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...since January of 2011 and is the single manufacturing plant for industrial size solar panels, measuring 60Ft x 60Ft. As the design and development of this product increases, the plan in the next year is to add over 500 employees to the site headcount. As with all XXXXXXXXXXX sites, the corporate culture and policies are expected to be enforced with one unique task. XXXXXXXXXXXXX has what is commonly known as the “XXXX culture”, and one of its roots is LEAN manufacturing. What is unique about LEAN is the concepts and training can be replicated but the actually process is unique at each location. Currently the location has a core team of approximately 7 senior managers, Plant, Program, Facilities, Materials, Human Resources, Engineering, and Business Excellence and 90 direct and indirect labor employees focused on the set up, design and build of the prototype panels. The concept at the plant is to simultaneously design, build and prepare for New Product Introduction (NPI) and design a LEAN process for developing this product. In order to profit and ensure the success of the business, support the customer demands and maintain an equitable profit margin the difficulty comes in aligning both the NPI process...
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