Lean BRONZE Exam Training Series - ALL in 1

Your Gateway to Operational Excellence
© PSL - PI 2013 All Rights Reserved
LEAN BRONZE EXAM TRAINING SERIES
Session-1: Identifying and Eliminating Waste

Barriers to Flow
• Mura can be reduced through heijunka. Heijunka is a
strategy for leveling the variety and/or volume of
products. When leveling variety, an even mix of different
products is used instead of large batches of the same
product. In leveling volume, the manufacturer takes the
different quantities of product demanded by the
customer and averages them over a set period of time.
The manufacturer then produces the average quantity
instead of the actual quantity demanded by the
customer.
• Muri is difficulty in the work process created by
inefficiencies in production, job design, ergonomics,
tools, etc. An example of muri is overburdening
equipment or operators by requiring them to run at a
higher or harder pace with more force and effort for a
longer period of time than equipment designs and
appropriate workforce management allow.
• Muri, mura, and muda often overlap each other.
Therefore, eliminating one of these often eliminates
others as well. In this class, you will learn how to
improve processes by identifying and eliminating
different kinds of waste.
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The Seven Wastes
• Waste can exist in excess inventory or storage when a
company holds material or information for a period of time
before delivery to the customer. Storage of inventory ties
up company resources that could be better used
elsewhere and it takes up valuable space.
• Waste from unnecessary motion is time spent moving
around, possibly in search of tools, parts or information.
Unnecessary movement takes time away from doing
value- added work.
• Waste from defects occurs when faulty or defective
products or information are produced. Defective products
or services waste company resources and hurt a
company’s reputation should they reach the customer.
Defective information may result in orders incorrectly
processed, incorrect customer information, etc.

Tools for Creating Stability
• Although some variation is inevitable, there are ways to
control processes and reduce variation:
• The 4 Ms are an approach to stability developed by
Toyota. The 4Ms are man/woman, machine, material,
and methods. Instability in any one of these can
negatively affect the performance of the overall
organization.
• 5S is a methodology of workplace organization that
consists of five sequential steps: sort, straighten, shine,
standardize, sustain.
• Total productive maintenance is an approach used in
manufacturing to increase production and reduce all
forms of waste through continuous attention to the
condition of production machinery and facilities. TPM's
main goal is to maximize equipment usefulness across
its lifespan through proper maintenance.
• Visual management is a strategy for creating,
supporting, and sustaining process stability through the
use of visual cues.

Total Productive Maintenance
• Total productive maintenance (TPM) is an approach used
in manufacturing to increase production and reduce all
forms of waste through continuous attention to the condition
of production machinery and facilities. TPM's main goal is to
maximize equipment usefulness across its lifespan through
proper maintenance.
• TPM identifies and eliminates waste and losses caused by
machinery that is broken or in need of maintenance. TPM
can be applied to all parts of a manufacturing operation, from
engineering to the front office. However, TPM is most often
applied to the use and maintenance of production facilities
and equipment and the production employees who use them.

The Six Big Losses
• Lean and quality initiatives have proven that simply adding
more staff to the maintenance department is not enough
to keep the machinery up and running at the necessary
levels. Companies must come up with a new system and
way of thinking about maintenance.
• In the past, companies seeking to improve their
maintenance programs identified the same problems.
These core problems, listed in Figure 1, are narrowed into
what are known as the six big losses:
• Breakdowns occur when a machine actually fails through
excessive wear, electrical problems, or broken parts.
• Setup and adjustment time includes time spent preparing
the tooling and machine for production.

Standardization
• Standardized work is a tool for standardization. It
involves establishing universal methods, procedures, and
performance requirements to ensure that acceptable
levels of quality, cost, and lead time are met.
Standardized work is applied to tasks performed by
people. It also involves the materials, methods, sequence,
times, inventory levels, and interactions with machines
necessary to complete assigned work within takt time.
• In order for work to be standardized, it must be specific,
measurable, repeatable, and documented. The tasks
required for production must be broken down into their
individual components, analyzed, and adjusted or
eliminated to improve the process.
• Employees should be involved in the development of
standardized work. Supervisors and managers should
hold employees accountable for following standards. At
the beginning, draft standards should be tested, measured
and revised until the desired results are achieved. Then
the new standardized work is formalized into training
manuals and training programs.

Addressing Problems and Preventing Defects
• For example, parts may be designed so that it is
impossible to connect them in any manner other than the
correct one.
• Trays for medical equipment are molded so that only the
equipment needed for a procedure is included on the tray.
Each piece of equipment fits in its own spot on the tray.
• Checklists are also excellent error- proofing devices. They
require the worker to ensure that each step is followed as
defined by the standard work —whether it is making a part,
suturing a patient, or entering data.

A3 Reports
• The problem solver identifies the problem. Then he or she
researches the problem to determine the root cause. Root cause
analysis is necessary to find the true source of a problem. When
the root cause is discovered, countermeasures can be
implemented to ensure the problem never returns. One of the
biggest mistakes that can occur in any process- improvement
project is when team members make assumptions about what is
happening. Making improvements before identifying the root
cause can lead to unsatisfactory, unnecessary, or even harmful
changes to the process.
• Once the root cause has been identified, the problem solver
comes up with countermeasures . Typically the countermeasure
is a revision to a process. The revised or corrected process is
referred to as the target state. Once the target state is
established, the problem solver creates a plan for implementing
the necessary changes. Then the problem solver sets up a plan
for tracking the progress of the changes to be implemented.
• After completing the A3 report, the problem solver discusses the
plan with anyone who might be affected by it. The problem solver
obtains any necessary approvals, the plan is implemented, and
results are evaluated. The A3 plan also is used to reflect on how
the process can be improved upon at the next iteration.

Using DMAIC for Process Improvement
• One scientific tool, the DMAIC process, is a five - step method
that allows you to define, measure, analyze, improve, and control
a process:
•
The "define" stage defines the project target, process customers,
and the parts of the process that are critical to quality.
• The "measure" stage measures the current state of the target
process and quantifies the problems. Tools for measuring include
a data collection plan and a formula for calculating current
metrics.
• The "analyze" stage studies data and identifies root causes to
show the gap between how the process is currently performing
and how it should be performing.

Gemba
• While there are many charts and reports to help you
continuously improve your production process, they are no
substitute for real - world observation. In lean, the concept of
gemba means "actual place." Gemba is where the day- to- day
actions of a process are performed and where value is created
for the customer.
• The gemba walk is a means of gathering real- time first- hand
information on the status of your production process. It also is
an excellent way to build rapport between people. When on a
gemba walk, ask for input from employees. A motivated
employee will enjoy talking about the job and will appreciate the
opportunity to have someone listen to him or her at length.
• In order for a gemba walk to be effective, you must set a
specific goal. For example, you might use the gemba walk to
assess levels of safety in all aspects of the production process.
Gemba walks should be done frequently, and each walk should
have a different goal. Gemba walks can focus on any aspect of
a process, from eliminating waste to developing employees.
When you have gathered all the input, record your findings in a
lean tool such as a problem solving A3 report.

LEAN BRONZE EXAM TRAINING SERIES
Session-2: Managing Flow

Continuous Process Improvement
• One of the most important principles of lean is continuous process improvement. Continuous
process improvement is an ongoing effort to measure the effectiveness of processes, create
more value for customers, and eliminate waste. The central idea of continuous improvement is
that every process can and should be improved.
• Ultimately, the implementation of continuous process improvement is holistic. It encompasses
all of the actions—whether by man or machine—that go into creating a product or service.
Continuous process improvement requires a scientific approach to operations.
• Work must be standardized, results must be measured, and processes must be continually re-
evaluated. In this class, you will learn the principles of continuous process improvement and the
tools used to implement it.

Single Piece Flow
• When products move as a single piece, it is called one
piece flow or single piece flow. In single piece flow,
only one part is processed at a time, and parts are
moved one by one to the next processing step.
• The primary advantage of this production method is that
it ensures that parts do not wait and that each part is
made correctly, thus reducing waste. If there is a
machine error or an operator error, it affects only one
part rather than a large batch. In addition, the customer
receives a steady stream of products relatively quickly
instead of having to wait for an entire batch to be
finished.
• For any company, economic benefits are associated
with single piece flow. It reduces defects and
significantly reduces inventory and the waste associated
with it, such as managing, moving, or storing extra parts.
It can increase capacity, reduce the amount of needed
floor space, and improve safety by limiting or reducing
the need for equipment for transporting or manual lifting.

Organizing Around Flow
• In manufacturing, the equipment or process steps comprising the cell often form a "U" shape.
Parts enter at the top of one arm of the U and travel around the cell from process step to process
step.
• If one operator runs the entire cell, the U shape puts the machine operator back at the starting
point when the process is complete, ready to start work on the next part. The journey of the part
from the beginning to the end of the cell is called a cycle .
• The types of equipment and the order of their placement in the cell are determined by what
product is being made. For example, a cell for constructing traditional electronics, such as a radio,
tends to be smaller and might contain stations for soldering, wiring, and gluing.
• A cell that makes jet engine components would be larger and might contain a lathe, a mill, and a
grinder. For complex products, the work flow may move from one cell to another in a series of
linked cells.

Value Stream Maps and Product Families
• To achieve continuous process improvement,
companies must learn how to create and
measure value. Value is the worth assigned to
goods or services by the customer. Value
added activities are those that are necessary to
make products or provide a service. Non-value
added but essential activities ensure that the
value - added steps have been properly
completed. Finally, non-value added activities
are those that do not contribute to the product or
the service and for which the customer is not
willing to pay.
• One way to increase value by identifying waste
and defining improvement targets is through
value stream mapping. The value stream is
any process that has a defined customer,
supplier, material flow, and information flow. The
process should include multiple operations or
tasks that require the use of several people,
machines, or equipment.

Value Stream Mapping: Future State
• The second phase of value
stream mapping is to develop the
future state map.
• This is the snapshot of how your
value stream can look after lean
strategies have been
implemented to reduce waste.
• The future state map should
show the best possible
arrangement of your
manufacturing processes that
can be accomplished in a
reasonable amount of time.

Value Stream Mapping Symbols: Material Icons
• A supermarket icon represents a stockpoint of
inventory that supplies multiple downstream
channels.
• l A material pull icon represents areas of the
stream where downstream processes connect to a
supermarket. Pull indicates a production
management method in which items are not
delivered until they are needed.
• l A FIFO lane icon represents first-in-first-out
inventory. In FIFO, the oldest product, or first
product, is processed first and thus is the first to
come out of the system.
• l A safety stock icon represents inventory kept on
hand to protect the stream from downtime. Safety
stock should be temporary.
• l An external shipment icon resembles a truck and
is used to indicate shipments from suppliers or to
customers. Rail icons and air transport icons can be
used to indicate a more specific type of external
shipment.

Value Stream Mapping Symbols:
Miscellaneous Icons
• Some of the more common miscellaneous icons include the
following:
• l A kaizen burst icon indicates an area of the value stream where
improvements are needed.
• l An operator icon is used to represent a human operator in the
value stream.
• Multiple operators are indicated by a number next to the operator
icon.
• l An other information icon is used to contain any other useful
information that may be critical to defining your value stream.
• l A timeline is placed along the bottom of the VSM to keep track of
value- added and non- value- added time. Value- added time is
noted on the top level of the timeline, while non- value- added time
is noted on the bottom level of the timeline.
• Note that while value stream mapping symbols are loosely
standardized, the most important rule is to include appropriate
information, regardless of whether or not you know the symbol. As
such, if you do not know a symbol or want to include miscellaneous
important information, err on the side of including the information.

The Steps of 5S
• Step 3 of the 5S system is shining. In this step, employees work
together to clean the work environment. Shining is not a one-
time task. Schedules should be kept and posted that identify
everyone's cleaning responsibilities. There should be a place on
the schedule for the employee to sign off when finished with his
or her cleaning duties.
• Steps 1, 2 and 3 are tied together with step 4, standardizing.
This step involves identifying and documenting methods of
maintaining 5S throughout the workplace. Visual devices should
be put in place to enforce the standards. For example, a company
could use a tool shadow board. The tool shadow board is
typically a pegboard or some other type of surface on which tools
can be stored. The space for each tool is identified unmistakably
with an outline in the shape of that tool.
• The final step of 5S is sustaining. In this step, 5S improvements
are maintained through promotion and communication. This can
be accomplished through periodic audits. Results of the audits
can be posted to report boards that track the company's
progress on achieving its 5S goals.

The Types of Kanban
• There are two types of kanban: production kanban and
withdrawal kanban. A production kanban card authorizes the
supplying work area to "produce" more of the item. Typically the
production kanban contains all of the "vital statistics" that
describe what is to be made, and in what quantity. The production
kanban travels back from the storage container to the supplying
work area when it is time for production to begin. The production
kanban remains with the item(s) while it is waiting for the
customer to withdraw it from the storage area.
• A withdrawal kanban is basically a permission slip signaling that
the work area consuming parts needs more parts to be brought to
the area. Typically this type of kanban contains the vital statistics
that describe the item to be moved and in what quantity. There is
no information about production procedures on a withdrawal
kanban. A withdrawal kanban is picked up at the area that uses
the parts and is carried back to the area that keeps the store of
parts. When the parts are withdrawn from the store, the kanban
card is placed in the container. The container is moved back to
the consuming work area, and the card remains with the parts
until it is time to signal another withdrawal.
Production Kanban
Withdrawal Kanban

Summary
• 5S is an organizational system that is key to visual management. Other tools for visual
management include production boards and check sheets.
• A pull system is a manufacturing system that regulates the number of products manufactured
according to customer demand. In a pull system, downstream activities signal their needs to
upstream activities.
• Pull systems function with the use of visual signals called kanban that indicate when parts are
needed. A production kanban card authorizes the supplying work area to "produce" more of the item.
• A withdrawal kanban is basically a permission slip signaling that the work area consuming parts
needs more parts to be brought to the area.

Lean Tools for Continuous Improvement
• One of the primary goals of lean is continuous
improvement. Continuous improvement is an ongoing
effort to measure the effectiveness of processes,
create more value for customers, and relentlessly
eliminate waste. Common forms of waste include
scrap, defective parts, excess inventory, and time lost
due to problems like machine breakdowns.
• Through continuous improvement, any part of the
process that does not add value may be eliminated,
allowing you to focus on the activities, policies, and
procedures that do add value. This requires a scientific
approach to operations. Work must be standardized,
results must be measured, and processes must be
continually re-evaluated.
• There are many lean tools available to assist with
continuous improvement. Some of these tools allow
the visualization of the layout, function, and flow of the
manufacturing process. Other tools are used for data
collection and data analysis. In this class, you will
learn about lean tools that managers can use for
problem solving and root cause analysis.

Types of Flow Charts
• Process flow charts can be as simple or as detailed
as you want to make them. The three main types of
flow charts are listed from the simplest to the most
complex:
• Spaghetti diagrams look like their name suggests.
With spaghetti diagrams, you draw a continuous line
from the start of the process through every step
along the value stream to the end. In a non-lean
environment, these diagrams often end up looking
like a plate of spaghetti.
• Process maps use symbols to represent steps and
machines with arrows indicating the flow of parts
among them. Some process maps may include a
few metrics and points of communication that occur
within the process. These would be placed in a box
in the corner of the chart, written on the arrows, or
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Spaghetti Diagrams
• To show the true path of your products, materials, or services,
include all of your machines or workstations even if they are
not used in all of your processes. Unused machines are
obstacles to be considered. Significant spaces between
workstations are points of wasted motion for consideration. Be
sure to show when products or information must backtrack,
travel to the inspection areas, or be sent for rework. When your
line reaches shipping, the task is complete, and you have
created your first current state spaghetti diagram.
• To draw your future state spaghetti diagram, make a copy of
the present state. Start by crossing out steps that can be
completely eliminated. The goal is to create a continuous flow
from one step to the next with no waste of time or materials.
On your new drawing, place each workstation and piece of
equipment in the order that your product, service, or
information follows during its creation. As you encounter
problems like backtracking and bottlenecks, identify potential
countermeasures. For example, if the raw materials start at
receiving, try to relocate the next step in the process so that it
is closest to the dock. If paperwork is returned to a previous
process point because of errors, identify error proofing
measures to put into place. Or if somewhere in the process a
step must be repeated, try to combine or eliminate a step.

Value Stream Maps
• Value stream maps are the most detailed method of
flow charting. Like spaghetti diagrams and process
maps, they display how the process flows, but they also
show how communication occurs and what key
metrics are tied to each step.
• Like process maps, value stream maps consist of
symbols that represent particular parts of the process.
There is no standard for the symbols, but most lean
practitioners have adopted a set of icons that fall into
three categories:
• Material symbols represent the origin, location, and
movement of raw materials and parts within the
system.
• Process symbols represent the actions that take place
or the locations where processes occur.
• Information symbols represent the form, flow, and
direction of communication and data.

Value Stream Maps: Current State
• A current state map begins by drawing the
customer, production control, and the supplier.
Next, map external shipping, the shipping and
receiving departments, and the frequency of
deliveries.
• The processes used to make a product should be
listed from left to right on the value stream map
and include data boxes to record data about each
process.
• Information arrows should be added to show the
flow of orders and forecasts between entities on
the value stream map.
• Finally, inventory, value added time, non-value
added time, and flow management are recorded,
along with any other information that may be
helpful.

Takt Time Analysis
• Takt time is the rate at which the customer requires you to
produce the part. It is calculated by dividing available
production time by customer demand.
• Typically, this is measured in seconds or minutes. For
example, assume a customer requires 45 parts each day, and
the factory works three eight-hour shifts.
• Allowing for breaks, the result is 1,350 minutes available to
produce parts. You simply divide 1,350 minutes by 45 parts,
which equals a 30-minute takt time.
• The result is that the factory must produce at a rate that
matches the takt time of one part every 30 minutes throughout
each 24-hour day in order to satisfy customer demand. In
another example, suppose a customer service representative
gets an average of 60 incoming calls during each eight-hour
(480 minutes) shift. If you divide 480 minutes by 60 phone
calls, you get a takt time of 8 minutes per call.

Histograms
• Typically histograms are used to monitor distribution patterns.
The shape of the histogram provides information about the
current status of a process.
• If a process is performing correctly, the histogram should be
"bell-shaped" with the highest bar in the center and
successively lower bars on each side.
• A histogram that does not take on this shape could be an
indicator of a problem. The central location of the histogram
and the spread of data are also indicators of a system's
performance.
• The central location is where peaks in the histogram occur.
These are the values that occur more frequently than others.
Ideally, the values on either side of the central location should
fall away evenly and symmetrically.
• The spread of data is simply the difference between the
highest and lowest values on the histogram. Spread shows
where extremes occur.

Check Sheets
• For location, the check sheet uses a picture to track the
physical location of a certain trait. For example, the check
sheet in Figure 2 tracks the location of various defects on a
steering wheel.
• For frequency, the check sheet tracks the presence or
absence of a trait, such as a defect, or counts the number of
occurrences.
• As a check list, the check sheet is presented as a list of tasks
that are marked off as they are completed.
• Check sheets should be used when the data can be observed
and collected repeatedly by the same person or at the same
location. When creating a check sheet, decide on the trait or
event to be observed. Then decide how much data you wish to
collect and for how long.
• You can set up the check sheet any way you like, but you must
make sure that all the spaces on the check sheet are labeled.
When you are satisfied with the design of the check sheet,
begin to record your data. The information collected on the
check sheet can then be organized into different assessment
aids like Pareto charts or cause and effect diagrams.

The Five Whys

Failure Modes and Effect Analysis
• After a brainstorming session, the team might create a
failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA).
• A FMEA is a document that is used to identify and
assess potential failure modes in a product or process.
The FMEA includes potential causes and effects of
failure along with a prediction of the likelihood of their
occurrence.
• FMEA is used during the design stage of a product to
identify and prevent product failures.
• Next, FMEA is used to analyze and control processes
such as assembly, distribution, service, support, and
other processes. Finally, the FMEA is used to address
possible failures during production.
• In each stage, the FMEA should list failures according
to their priority. The highest priority items should come
first. Any failures or vulnerabilities identified in the
FMEA require corrective action. This is especially
important when the issues involve safety and security.

Scatter Diagrams
• The scatter diagram is used to determine if there is
a possible relationship between two variables, or if
one variable is affecting the other. This relationship
is called a correlation. The clustering of points
plotted on the diagram allows you to see if the
increase or decrease of one variable is related to an
increase or decrease in another variable.
• An example would be the relationship between
decreasing tool sharpness and decreasing surface
finish quality. Keep in mind, however, that a
relationship does not always mean cause and
effect.
• The scatter diagram does not necessarily predict a
cause and effect relationship. It only shows the
strength of the relationship between the two
variables measured. Hence, the stronger the
relationship, the more likely it is that a change in one
of the variables has affected a change in the other
variable.

Summary
• Check sheets are used to track the frequency or patterns of variables such as events, problems,
defects, defect location, or defect causes. Root cause analysis is a study undertaken to find the
origin of a problem. One way to find the root cause is by posing the question, "Why?" at least five
times until the root cause is discovered.
• The fishbone diagram is used to identify the cause of a specific problem. A problem statement is
placed at the head of the fishbone, and the possible causes are listed on the "bones." Fishbone
diagrams often are used for brainstorming. After a brainstorming session, the team might create a
failure modes and effects analysis.
• A FMEA includes potential causes and effects of failure along with a prediction of the likelihood of
their occurrence.
• Statistical process control is used to measure and control the processes that yield a product. In
SPC, statistics are used to collect sample data and allow predictions of the overall process. One of
the fundamental tools of SPC is the control chart.
• A control chart is a graph that provides a clear picture of how the process is performing over time.
The scatter diagram is used to determine if there is a possible relationship between two variables,
or if one variable is affecting the other. This relationship is called a correlation. The clustering of
points plotted on the diagram shows whether the increase or decrease of one variable is related to
an increase or decrease in another variable.

What is Lean?
• Lean is an approach providing goods or services that
seeks to eliminate waste, reduce costs, improve product
quality, and increase productivity. The concept of lean
consists of certain philosophies and tools that, when
applied, dramatically improve business operations.
• The primary focus of lean is to eliminate waste. Waste is
any thing or process that does not add value to a product
or service. Value is the worth assigned to goods or
services by the customer.
• Waste comes in seven different forms, known as the
seven wastes:
– Defects
– Overproduction
– Waiting (or idle time)
– Transportation (unnecessary)
– Over processing
– Inventories (Excess)
– Motion (Unnecessary )

Culture in the Workplace
• In contrast, a lean company has a customer- focused
business model that stresses continuous
improvement in order to gain a competitive edge. It
has a relatively flat organizational structure that
allows for information to flow freely to everyone in
the company. Problem solving skills are encouraged
so that employees are better able to identify and
correct deficiencies in a product or process.
• Rather than focusing exclusively on short- term
goals, a lean company also looks toward future goals
and identifies the steps required to achieve them.
Through ongoing cycles of PDCA, a lean company
systematically makes changes and improvements to
process flows in order to continuously improve the
organization to better serve customers. This can be
a difficult obstacle to overcome and requires a strong
commitment from the entire organization to succeed.

Cultural Enablers:
Leadership and Communication
• To develop a lean culture, you must have cultural enablers.
Cultural enablers are the management systems, policies and
practices that establish and support the changes you are trying
to make. The first cultural enabler is leadership. Lean culture
begins at the top.
• Managers must understand the importance of lean principles
as a means to gaining competitive advantage. They must
champion the transition to lean by setting a clear vision and
pathway to adopting lean practices throughout the
organization. In addition, they must constantly encourage
employees to identify problems and use lean tools and
principles to reduce and eliminate those problems.
• In addition to upper level managers, you must help identify
potential "lean leaders" within your company. The best
candidates for leadership often are employees who have
shown a desire to lead, and who have demonstrated skills in
planning, problem solving, team building, technical
competency, and interpersonal communication. Once these
leaders have been identified and selected, they must be
trained in lean principles and practices so that they can train
the other members of their teams.

• Each team, as well as individuals within that team, should
be able to function in a relatively autonomous manner, yet
operate according to agreed- upon standards that the team
members have been a part of creating.
• This results in the cultural enabler of empowerment.
Empowered employees have a higher stake in the process
because they are given more input into, and ownership of,
the process.
• However, management must assure employees that any
difficulties experienced in the transition to lean will not
jeopardize their jobs. Employees should not be penalized
for any problems that occur in the early stages of the
changeover to lean, and should be encouraged to point out
problems that make it difficult to do their jobs. Any
questions or frustrations that employees have should be
addressed immediately. As people become more
comfortable with lean practices, their teamwork and job
ownership will motivate them to lead their own efforts in
transitioning to lean.
Cultural Enablers: Human Development,
Teamwork, and Empowerment

Cultural Enablers: Safety
• Follow OSHA lockout/ tagout standards for hazardous equipment. Install machine guards and
safety fences to prevent employees from entering dangerous work areas.
• Avoid giving employees access to confined or unsafe areas. Seek out opportunities to install
mistake - proof devices to prevent inadvertent errors that could jeopardize employee safety.
• Allow only trained and experienced maintenance people to service and repair equipment.
• Finally, conduct regular inspections of all your equipment, including machines, safety devices,
and lifting devices.

Benchmarking
• Benchmarking is a useful way to understand how others are
using lean methods and practices to improve their business.
Benchmarking can consist of reading about, visiting, attending
presentations by, making comparisons to, and/or dialoguing
with companies in the same or other industries that are using
best practices.
• You can benchmark products, processes, management or
measurement systems, organizational designs, environmental
health and safety practices, company policies or procedures, or
just about anything related to how a company operates.
Because lean culture requires continuous improvement,
benchmarking should not be a one- time task. It involves
ongoing analysis of how other companies operate and how they
modify their organizations to better serve customers and
become more competitive.
• In order to effectively benchmark, you must first determine what
aspects of your organization or processes are candidates for
improvement. This will help you identify a company that best
represents the qualities you are trying to achieve. After
researching the best practices of the other company, you can
use this information to help develop an action plan to adapt the
practices for use within your own company.

Kaizen: Developing a Culture of
Continuous Improvement
• The lean philosophy of continuous improvement is
known as kaizen. Kaizen refers to the common sense,
incremental changes to work processes that workers
are expected to make.
• These targeted changes for the better are essential
components of the ongoing success of lean
organizations.
• Primarily, kaizen focuses on small changes, but taken
together, they can result in huge top and bottom line
improvements for companies. These changes are not
necessarily limited to production.
• Any aspect of the company is a candidate for kaizen.
Nor are changes limited to obvious defects. Even a
process that seems to be working well is considered to
be a candidate for improvement.

Idea Systems
• An important part of lean culture is the implementation of an
idea system. A stream of ongoing ideas for improvement is
the engine that propels lean over time. Ideas can be
contributed by individuals or by groups such as quality
circles. Quality circles consist of employees who perform
similar work. They meet periodically with management and
with each other to discuss ways to improve their work.
• In a lean culture, idea systems stress the benefits of employee
participation and improved morale as a contributor to economic
benefits. Another benefit of these systems is that they provide
an opportunity for communication and problem- solving
among employees and between employees and management.
• Ideally an improvement idea should be implemented when it
meets any one of the following criteria:
• It improves product or service quality.
• It makes the job easier, safer, or more productive. l It makes
the job less tedious or less inconvenient.
• It saves time or cuts costs.
• It improves customer satisfaction.

Training Employees in Lean Practices
• Transitioning to a lean model requires employee
training to develop the following competencies:
– Technical skills.
– Interpersonal skills.
– Strategy and planning skills.
– Tacit learning skills.
• Technical skills include being trained and capable
to perform one's job properly and in a standardized
manner, as well as the ability to use the different
tools of lean such as fishbone diagrams.

On-the-Job Training
• standardized. Every person being trained for a
specific job will receive the same training and be
required to meet the same standards. One method for
doing so is training within industry (TWI). TWI
standardizes job methods through a four- step
process:
– 1. Break down the job into its individual tasks or
steps.
– 2. Analyze each step to determine what can be
improved.
– 3. Develop new methods for carrying out the
steps of the job.
– 4. Test the new methods by applying them on
the job.

Cross Training
• An important part of lean training is employee cross training
within cells. Cross training is the process of teaching two or
more people how to do each other's jobs. For example, an
employee working in a cell should be able operate all of the
machines and perform all the tasks required in the cell to ensure
a steady, uninterrupted product or service flow. In addition, this
overlap of job responsibilities creates flexibility and provides
more opportunities for spotting defects early.
• Start the cross training program by creating a skills matrix. On
the X - axis, list the different jobs to be performed in a work
process. On the Y - axis, enter the names of the employees. Ask
each employee to demonstrate the tasks that he or she can do,
then record the completion of the job on the matrix. Gaps can
then be addressed through cross- training.
•
Cross training reinforces teamwork and creates a highly skilled
workforce. It also improves the ability of the workforce to
compensate for unexpected absences due to illness or
emergency. Most importantly, cross training results in greater
flexibility to serve customers, allow for job rotation to avoid
repetitive body stress, and generally results in a better quality
product for the customer and greater job satisfaction for the
employee.

Reinforcing Lean Practices
• Developing a lean culture in your company takes a great deal
of time, energy, involvement and commitment from everyone
in the organization.
• It may take up to a year, or more, to see tangible benefits
from lean practices. Moreover, the lean philosophy of
continuous improvement means that there is no end in sight.
• Consequently, there is a real danger of the lean transition
faltering because of employee frustration or burnout or lack of
lean leadership.
• The motivation to stay lean requires employee involvement
and empowerment. Keep your employees informed of the
progress you are making in your transition to lean.
• Share plans and improvement ideas and provide education
and training so employees understand why lean practices are
needed and how they can help the employee, the customer,
and the organization.

Summary
• Quality can be achieved through job standardization and kaizen. Kaizen is continuous
improvement through incremental changes to work processes. Implementing an idea system
contributes to lean culture as well. Strategic planning can be achieved through hoshin, which
involves deciding a long- term goal, and then setting short- term objectives to reach that goal.
• Every employee in a lean company must receive on- the-job training to develop competencies in
technical skills, interpersonal skills, strategy and planning skills, and tacit learning skills.
• The people involved in training are the supervisor, the job coach, and the trainee. Employees
should also be cross trained to do each other's jobs.
• Developing a lean culture requires employee empowerment through an environment of respect
and humility. In a lean company, every activity becomes a learning experience. This helps
employees to stay motivated during the transition to lean.

Toyota Production System: A House of Quality
• In the Toyota Production System, the core
principles of lean are often portrayed as parts of a
house. This house of quality is made up of a roof,
pillars, and a foundation. The roof represents the
main goals of lean: to create high-quality, low-cost
products with little waste or lead time.
• The pillars and foundation include many of the tools
that are used in the lean production processes. The
left pillar contains the tools for just-in-time
production (JIT). These tools eliminate waste and
improve product and process flow. The right pillar
contains the tools for jidoka. These tools are used
in autonomation, or intelligent automation, and
error proofing.
• The foundation of the lean house of quality is
heijunka, or leveling. The foundation contains tools
for stabilizing production variability and reducing
production lead time. In this class, you will learn
these and other lean tools for managing product
and process design.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
• Quality function deployment
(QFD) is a method for translating
customer requirements into
engineering specifications when
developing new products.
• The purpose of QFD is to determine
the needs of the customer and
establish a plan for meeting those
needs.
• QFD helps a company create a
product that satisfies the customer. A
QFD matrix is used in the early
stages of product development to
map out the entire planning and
production process.
• The QFD matrix provides a structure
for establishing product development
goals and determining how to
achieve those goals. There are four
phases in QFD:

Design for Product Life Cycle
• Product life cycle management (PLM) is the
management of product development from a
business and engineering perspective. The
purpose of PLM is to identify ways to add
value to the product by taking the entire life
cycle into consideration during the conception
and design phase.
• For example, PLM helps engineers find ways
to reduce production costs and lead times by
modifying the product design. In turn, getting
the product out to the market faster and
cheaper than the competition can increase a
company's market share.
• Costs can be reduced at the end of a
product's life cycle as well. For instance, cost
savings can be built into a product's method of
disposal. A common example of this is
sending used printer cartridges back to the
manufacturer for recycling. This eliminates
waste as well as the production costs of
making a new cartridge.

Design for Assembly and Design for Environment
• Design for assembly (DFA) involves
making a part easier to put together.
• The benefits of DFA include time and cost
savings, improved quality, increased
reliability, and reduced errors.
• The goals of DFA are to design parts to fit
together more easily and reduce the number
of parts required to make a product.
• These goals are accomplished by designing
a single part to perform multiple functions,
combining multiple parts into a single
modular assembly, making parts easy to
orient and insert, and standardizing all parts.This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:

Kaizen Events
• Training is essential before, during, and after the event. Before a kaizen event takes place, set a clear
project scope.
• Train employees on the tools and techniques needed to measure the problem. In addition, train
employees on other lean tools that may be used during the event.
• Throughout the kaizen event, small training sessions on lean tools may be delivered "just in time."
• During the event, staff members from the target area should receive extra training on kaizen methods.
This will make them better able to understand and sustain the changes to their area.
• After the event, staff members should receive further training regarding how to run the new process, and
a presentation regarding event results should be delivered to management.

Planning Tools for Kaizen Events
• Once the team has determined the target's problems, the members should employ another set of
tools to figure out how to solve them.
• Planning tools help form the basis of an implementation plan. One common planning tool is
brainstorming.
• Using a white board or flip chart, the team can list possible causes for non-value added areas of
the process. From the list, the team should come to a consensus about which is the true cause.
• To find the true cause, the team performs a root cause analysis by posing the question, "Why?"
over and over until they reach the first cause.
• This often is referred to as the Five Whys. When the team arrives at a root cause, the members
should brainstorm solutions.

Mistake and Error Proofing
• Poka yokes are most effective when used for error
prevention.
• Errors typically are caused through the actions of
an operator, such as choosing the wrong part,
leaving out a part, or installing a part backwards.
• To be effective, a poka yoke should inspect 100%
of the items that go through a process and provide
immediate feedback. For example, an error might
trigger a buzzer or light known as an andon.
• A more powerful type of poka yoke shuts down the
machine when an error is detected.
• An application of a poka yoke in woodworking is
installing a jig. The jig ensures the wood is
positioned properly in a manual operation that
requires a hole to be drilled in the same spot
repeatedly across multiple pieces of wood.

Sensible Automation
• Andons and poka yokes are key tools of jidoka.
Jidoka is often referred to as autonomation, or
automation with human intelligence or human
touch.
• Jidoka provides equipment and workers the
ability to detect when abnormal conditions occur
and immediately stop the work. Jidoka can be
broken down into several steps:
• Detect the abnormality.
• Stop the process.
• Identify the root cause of the problem.
• Fix the problem (countermeasure).
• Standardize the change to prevent future
defects.

Kanban
• A withdrawal kanban is basically a permission slip
signaling that the work area consuming parts needs
more parts to be brought to the area.
• Typically this type of kanban contains the vital
statistics that describe the item to be delivered and in
what quantity. There is no information about
production procedures on a withdrawal kanban.
• A withdrawal kanban is picked up at the area that
uses the parts and is carried back to the area that
keeps the store of parts. When the parts are
withdrawn from the store, the kanban card is placed
in the container.
• The container is moved back to the consuming work
area, and the card remains with the parts until it is
time to signal another withdrawal.This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:

Quick Changeover and Setup Reduction
• Companies that seek to incorporate lean processes must
find solutions to reduce the time spent performing product
changeovers. For example, if fixtures are mounted onto a
machine to make a variety of parts, the fixtures should be
similar in size.
• If each fixture were a different size, the time spent setting up
the machine would increase. Instead, the operator uses
standardized fixtures to rapidly change from making one part
to another. Likewise, the use of a standard set of tools can
reduce changeover time. Figure 2 shows a CNC machine
that can rapidly load one part after another to increase
productivity.
• One way to reduce changeover time is through single
minute exchange of dies (SMED). SMED is a setup
reduction method that reduces setups to less than 10
minutes. By using a setup reduction team, manufacturers
target their worst performers and reduce setup times. At the
heart of SMED is the transition of internal steps into
external steps, which can be performed while machines are
running.

One Piece Flow
• For any company—whether it is manufacturing, marketing, or
medical—there are economic benefits associated with single
piece flow. It reduces defects and significantly reduces
inventory and the wastes associated with it, such as managing,
moving, or storing extra materials.
• It can increase capacity, reduce the amount of floor space
needed, and improve safety by limiting or reducing the need for
equipment for transporting or manual lifting or limiting
movement between workstations.
• Moreover, in a manufacturing environment, a factory set up for
single piece flow has much faster product changeovers.
• Product changeovers can be time consuming because
operators must stop the machines, gather a new assortment of
tools and other related components, arrange materials, and set
up the machines.
• Eliminating these activities removes a primary reason for
batching and also removes non-value added elements of the
process.

Supplier Development
• Every company fits within one or more supply chains.
The supply chain is the path of product flow from the
supplier, to the company, to the customer.
• Most supply chains are complicated and consist of
suppliers, production plants, distributors, retail stores,
and most importantly the customers. Customers are
part of every step within the supply chain.
• A customer is any entity that is receiving a part or
service. For example, a roduction plant is a customer
of the supplier.
• Because the supply chain is an integrated system, a
single weak link or choke point can negatively impact
the entire system. For lean to be truly effective, it must
extend throughout the supply chain.
• This means that companies must work with their
suppliers to help them with their own lean
transformation. This is known as supplier
development.

ISO and Other Quality Standards
• ISO 9000:2000 is a written document developed by the
International Organization for Standardization that
contains requirements for quality systems. It is divided into
three sections. The second section, ISO 9001:2000,
addresses five topics:
• Quality Management System covers the documentation of a
company’s quality system.
• Management Responsibility covers the role of management
in developing and supporting the quality policy.
• Resource Management covers keeping the quality system
running.
• Product Realization covers defining the processes
necessary to create products for customers.
• Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement covers
evaluating the effectiveness of the quality system.

Summary
• A poka yoke is anything that prevents someone from taking an action that would create errors, or that
makes you aware of a mistake before it is passed on to the next operation. Poka yokes can be used to
detect abnormalities in the weight, shape, or dimensions of a workpiece, abnormal conditions in
pressure, temperature, voltage, or other process parameters, and errors in counts. Sensors are often
used as poka yokes.
• Jidoka provides equipment and workers the ability to detect when abnormal conditions occur and
immediately stop the work. In the practice of jidoka, defects must never be passed forward to the next
part of the process.
• Kanban is a visual signal that indicates when parts are needed. Traditional kanban systems use
printed cards that travel with parts. There are two types of kanban: production kanban and withdrawal
kanban. Heijunka "smoothes" the production process by leveling the variety and volume of products.
•
• Single minute exchange of dies is a setup reduction method that reduces setups to less than 10
minutes. In one piece flow, only one part is processed at a time, and parts are moved one by one to
the next processing step.
• A cell, or work unit, is a specialized group of people, equipment, tools, and materials designed so that
all the tasks needed to create a part or perform a service can be done in sequence.

Topics Covered
• The role of metrics in lean.
• Tools for measuring waste.
• Takt time and cycle time.
• OEE
• Lead time.
• Inventory turns.
• SMED
• Tools for setting quality standards.
• Tools for measuring quality
• First pass yield
• Cash flow.
• Balanced Scorecard

Measures of Waste
• In order to measure waste, it must first be defined. There
are seven forms of waste, or muda:
• Defects
• Overproduction
• Waiting (Idle time)
• Unnecessary transport
• Excess inventories
• Unnecessary motion
• Over processing
• Other forms of waste include mura and muri. Mura, or
variation, is any change from what is normal and
consistent. Muri is overburdening equipment or
operators. Muri, mura, and muda often overlap.

Takt Time and Cycle Time
• Ensuring that a process can meet takt time often requires
line balancing.
• The goal of line balancing is to load all workers evenly
within the cell or work unit. Work elements are distributed
across workers within that cell or unit so that each worker
can complete one cycle of his or her assigned work within
the takt time for the process.
• Cycle time is the elapsed clock time from the beginning to
the end of a process. In order to achieve line balancing,
cycle time must be adjusted to meet takt time.
• Steps for reducing cycle time include reducing variation,
reducing idle time, reducing set-up time, eliminating
waste, and improving product and process flow.
Cycle Time = 1 min

Lead Time
• Lead time is a metric that provides a
snapshot of the time it takes raw
materials to enter the plant, flow
through production, and be shipped
out to the customer as completed
products.
• Lead time includes all of the time that
elapses, including wait time. Wait
time, or queue time, is the amount of
time that work is waiting to be worked
on.
• Wait time is always considered waste,
regardless of the cause for the wait,
and it should be eliminated.
• Lead time can be calculated as
follows:
• lead time = amount of work in process
/ average completion rate

Inventory Turns
• Safety stock or emergency stock is similar to buffer
stock, but it is kept as insurance for downstream
customers against productivity issues upstream.
Inventory also includes work in process.
• Lean companies encourage smaller inventories with
higher turnover to meet customer demand. Inventory
turns are the number of times inventory is replaced
and are a measure of how quickly material flows
through the value stream.
• The metric for inventory turns is a valuable tool in lean
because it gives you a snapshot of how lean your
company is.
• Inventory turns can be calculated as the annual cost
of goods sold divided by the average value of
inventories for the year.
• The annual cost of goods sold is the cost of making
the part less overhead for selling administrative costs.

Quality
• Quality is conformance to a set of standards or
specifications as determined by the customer.
• If a product or service meets or exceeds the
standards that have been established, it is a quality
product. If it does not meet the standards, it is
defective.
• Standards are set based on data that identifies key
characteristics that are critical to quality (CTQ).
• CTQ reflects what is important to the customer,
whether that customer is an external customer to
whom the company delivers finished products or
services or an internal customer at the next step
in the process.
• There are many problems or errors that make
customers unhappy. However, CTQ applies to
those areas that a customer has specifically
identified and quantified.

Tools to Measure Quality
• The flow chart is a visual representation of the
steps required to manufacture a product. Flow
charts help identify value added and non-value
added activities, as well as errors and waste.
• The check sheet is a table used to collect data
on the frequency of an observable event. For
example, a check sheet can be used to note
every time a certain product defect occurs.
• The scatter diagram is used to determine if
there is a relationship between two variables.
The clustering of points plotted on the diagram
enables you to see if the increase or decrease
of one variable is related to an increase or
decrease in another variable.

First Pass Yield and Rework
• For example, you might ship a batch of 50
error-free items to the customer, but only 45 of
them were manufactured correctly the first
time.
• Of the other five items, perhaps two required
re-inspection, two needed repairs, and one had
to be scrapped and replaced with another item.
This adds up to 90% first-time quality.
• The purpose of first-time quality is to help
identify problems and trace them to their
sources. The goal is to eliminate extra steps,
which are a form of waste, and "do it right the
first time, every time."

Balanced Scorecard:
Customer and Financial Sections
• One of the tools used to measure a company's
financial performance is the balanced scorecard.
• The balanced scorecard is a strategic management
and planning tool that is used to track information that
is not covered in traditional financial reporting
systems, such as safety, people, quality, delivery,
and cost.
• With a balanced scorecard, these areas are
measured and evaluated to determine how well the
business is performing and to identify areas for
improvement.
• The balanced scorecard has four parts: customer,
financial, process, and learning.
• The customer card tracks the ability of the company
to satisfy both internal and external customers by
providing high quality goods and services and
effective delivery.

Summary
• Metrics are important to achieving continuous improvement. A metric is any form of
measurement. When measuring waste, look at the relationship between inputs and outputs to
find where errors are occurring. The Pareto principle asserts that 80% of errors in a system are
caused by 20% of the inputs.
• Takt time is the rate at which the customer requires you to produce the part. It is calculated by
dividing available production time by customer demand, and typically is represented in seconds
or minutes. Cycle time is the elapsed clock time from the beginning to the end of a process. In
order to achieve line balancing, cycle time must be adjusted to meet takt time.
• OEE is a lean metric that consists of a percentage of a machine’s availability, performance rate,
and quality rate multiplied together. The total is the overall effectiveness rate of the equipment.
Lead time is the time it takes raw materials to enter the plant, flow through production, and be
shipped out to the customer as completed products. It is calculated as the amount of work in
process divided by the average completion rate.
• Inventory turns are the number of times inventory is replaced and are a measure of how quickly
material flows through the value stream. Inventory turns are calculated as the annual cost of
goods sold divided by the average inventory level for the year. SMED is a setup method for
reducing product changeover times to less than 10 minutes.

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