Measure

Measure

The measurement stage kicked off at the same time as the define stage, as data had to be collected over a number of weeks. Getting one week of data is not enough for a baseline, as it may be a good week or a bad week. Getting the average performance over a few weeks gives a more reliable indicator of performance.

Getting the data down on paper is a very valuable exercise, as it allows the analysis stage to be carried out.
It allows us to gather information on what is good and bad about the process, the machinery availability, first time yield and defect rate, where the bottlenecks are, where improvements can be made, where the process needs to be changed, etc.

Current state

Fig 4

Figure 4 shows the current state of the process, how long each manual and automatic part takes. It is the average manual times that are shown here. The data was  gathered using time and motion studies. The important aspect here is that operators keep to their normal routine while being timed, otherwise the study is distorted.

At all stages, there is wide variation between operators, so reducing this variation will be key, and will be looked at during the Analyse phase. This improvement will, hopefully, lead to cycle time reduction, and thus greater output per hour, reaching weekly production targets.

Stages 7 and 3 are the bottleneck in the process, with 6 also being an issue, as it can stop production on 7 if delayed. This is due to the fact it is not processed in the cell, so its output depends on other people. Getting a more predictable output here is key, as it allow downstream process to work better, and smaller batches to be processed.

Stages 1 and 2 are automatic processes, with regular inspection required at stage 1 to monitor and compare output against specification.

Stage 3 controls the throughput of stages 4 and 5, as it is slower than them. Hence the requirement to keep it working as much as possible.

Stage 6 takes place away from the line.

Stage 7 is the key to output, and needs to be the most productive stage. However, this is not the case, and will be a major focus of the Kaizen.

Stages 8 and 9 are quick and simple steps. However, they are processed in large batches. This needs to change to improve the flow of product through the line.

 

 

 

 

Shift patterns

Fig 5

Figure 5 shows the number of people normally available during various period of each day. This uneven distribution is another reason the line is unbalanced, as work is allowed to build up during the day at various stages so as to keep the evening and night shift busy. This is another area to be adressed later on in the project.

Defects

Fig 6

Figure 6 is a pareto analysis of the defects, and the stage at which they occur.  Stage 1 catches the raw material defects, while stage 8 catches most of the in-process defects. These will be the focus during the analyse and improve stage.

WIP

Currently there are, on average, approximately 12000 pieces of WIP in the line. This ties in with figure 5 above, as quantities are built up ahead of the later shifts; and the current state above, as WIP covers over a few problems.

Line Metrics Board

The layout of the line metrics board needs adjusting. Currently, updates are posted about the progress of each job through the stage, with WIP and finished goods recorded. This is slow to update every day, hard for other people to analyse, limited in giving relevant line information. As a result, a new board layout will be trialled during the analyse stage.

Many issues came to light during the data gathering stage, from environmental issues like noise and poor lighting, H & S issues like adjusting machines during calibration, high defect levels leading to quality issues, shift pattern issues, supply chain management, etc

Gathering all the stakeholders into a room and communicating these issues had a very beneficial outcome. People got a holistic view of the process, realised how problems can affect many areas, and proposed various solutions.

Resistance to change is a feature of this improvement  process. This is very natural, as people are creatures of habit, thus change is viewed with suspicion. Understanding the causes of the resistance is vital to ensure the success of this project. 

To overcome this, communication at all levels is vital, visible management and leadership is required, feedback is continuously sought, a workable schedule will be implemented, and upskilling and training will also be required.

Introduction and Define

Introduction

My name is Hugh O Donoghue, and I am a part time student at IT Sligo, currently doing the Certificate in Lean Sigma Quality(Green Belt).

My full time position is as Production Engineer with a medical devices company. Currently I am working on improving various production lines, one of which is the basis for this project.

The main focus of this project is to balance the line, so as to meet customer requirements during the normal working hours, improve the flow of the product through the process, reduce in-process WIP, reduce batch sizes and standardise the work.

During the course of my investigation, I will be getting an understanding of what happens at each stage of the process, the breakdown of the work content of each step of the process, and from here analysis the data and doing calculations such as cycle time and takt time, identifying areas of improvement and implementing solutions.

The process contains 9 steps, each of which contains areas of potential improvement. These may include, but may not be limited to: SMED, operator variation reduction through standardised work, kanbans, Pareto, Poke Yoke, SIPOC.

Define

The initial meeting with the Operations Manager began with the knowledge that the product does not flow through the process.  Further to this, production on this line has increased due to customer demand. As a result, production is not meeting customer demand within normal working hours, resulting, resulting in overtime being required.

From here, we agreed to collect data over a number of weeks so as to investigate why the product does not flow smoothly, and to have some evidence available when a meeting that included more stakeholders in the process was organised.

Currently, of the nine stages in the process, two stages are processed in large batches, as they are long processes.  As a result, some of the other processes downstream of them are also process in large batch sizes. At the conclusion of this project, the goal is that the line will be balanced, so that the product flows in small batch sizes where possible.

Stakeholders

The Operations Manager, Production Engineer, Value Stream Leader, Quality Engineer, Line Engineer, Line Technician, Health and Safety Coordinator, Financial Controller and production operators all have an interest in the reorganisation of the line. Production operators from the various shifts are involved to give a hands on perspective of the work, and to highlight any issues that are applicable to their work time.

Fig 1

In the beginning, there was no scheduled meetings with stakeholders, just informal conversations to gather information and keep the stakeholders up to date.
As the project progresses, a more formal meeting schedule will be put in place.

Value Stream Map

Gathering of initial data produced the process map below. It highlights areas that require further investigation, the bottleneck processes that are stage 7 & 3, idenifies whether processes are manual or automatic. Operator 1 is responsible for steps 1-4, operator 2 is responsible for 5 & 7, while operator 3 is repsonsible for operations 8 & 9.

Fig 2

Project charter

Developing a project charter for a project is a great idea, as it gives a focus to the project, its outlines why the project is required, what the goals of the project are, it gives all relevant data on one page, it gives a timeline. It gives ownership and responsibility to team members.

For me, developing this charter was a great way to get an introduction to this process, to get to know the stakeholders and understand why it was required by the company.

VOC

VOC analysis was carried out when developing the project charter. Lots of information was gathered as to why the process was underperforming, and this provided a roadmap of the areas to focus on later in the project. Much of this deeper information was unknown to some of the stakeholders, due to lack of interaction with the operators.
It was an important part of the project, to get all the relevant information to the stakeholders. It also highlighted tht communication was an area that needed improvement.

Project schedule

In the beginning, there was no fixed schedule, the main goal was just to start collecting data about the performance of the process. From here, the schedule will be influenced by customer orders, overall business performance, stakeholder availability, etc

The DMAIC process will be run in parallel at different times, as measuring will take place over the duration of the project, initially to get baseline data, then tracking the output after changes are made, then ongoing monitoring to make sure the new standards are still being followed.

Fig 3

Regression back to the old state after a while is one of the big problems associated with any change project.

Key Factors

Managing the change process. Resistance to change is very normal. People are used to their work routine. However, these routines need to change as part of the continuous improvement process.

Communication. All stakeholders need to be kept informed of what is happening during the project, why changes need to be made, what data has been gathered,what changes will be made. Communication will be by email, noticeboard, meetings, informal conversation.

Upskilling and training. Getting to a new improved status requires training, as a new standard work has to become the new normal.