Defects are the undesirable results of an error in a process. In most cases, this shows up as a product or service not conforming to a specification. Defects are often expressed as either yield of good parts, such as a 95% yield (meaning a 5% defect rate), or as Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO). In the 5% defect example, the DPMO would likely NOT be 50,000 (5%). This is because in this calculation, there may Read more…
Decision making is the process used to select from two or more competing options. You make decisions on who you will marry (one open spot, multiple candidates), where to go on vacation (vacation locales competing for your time and money), and how you want to invest the ten grand you got from your Aunt Elizabeth. You also make decisions in business every day. You have to decide on a configuration for the call center. You Read more…
Criticism is negative feedback about something. At work, criticism can be about personal performance or a process. In a Lean culture, discussing problems is an essential part of making improvements. The key to success at addressing these issues is to make every attempt to separate the failure of a person from the failure of a process. The first step should always be to examine the process to look for areas of improvement. Only after the Read more…
“Aha!” moments are the instances when the ‘light bulb’ comes on. It is the point in time when someone makes the transition from not knowing something to full understanding. Fortunately, “Aha!” moments are often visible on the faces of people experiencing them. Many instructors, especially those mentoring Lean students, live for “Aha!” moments. It is very rewarding to help coach someone to that moment when Lean suddenly makes sense for them.
Changeover is the time it takes to go from the last good part of one product run to the first good part of the next product run. Quick changeover is critical to Lean. It provides the flexibility to match the product mix to actual demand. In turn, this prevents the accumulation of inventory that can add cost and substantial waste to a value stream. Watch out for a terminology issue with this term. Setup and Read more…
Random means occurring by chance. There are formal mathematical definitions regarding probability distributions, but the basic definition is how the typical non-mathematician looks at randomness. But even with that simple definition, we often think of things as being random when they really are not. In truth, even something as simple as flipping a coin is not really random. It is governed by the laws of physics. The weight distribution of the coin, the speed of Read more…
A night shift is just what it sounds like. It is the second (or third) shift at a facility after the normal day shift ends. A night shift usually exists for one of two reasons. In production environments, a night shift adds capacity without needing to buy extra equipment. This is very useful for production requiring large amounts of space or expensive capital equipment. In service environments, you may find a capacity-related night shift, but Read more…
Milestones were originally the stone markers along a route that told travelers the mileage. In modern times, milestones serve the same function for projects. Milestones are specific, definable points on a project that are used to indicate progress. If milestones are vague, they are hard to tell when they are reached. For example, “learned to speak German” is a hard milestone to quantify. Passed a German aptitude test is much more specific. Knowing where a Read more…
Monitoring indicators give companies a sense of what is going on, or what is going to happen. An indicator is a signal that can be used to understand or predict a behavior of a person or system. A poker player has “tells”. By identifying and monitoring those indicators, his opponents try to predict the player’s behavior. Another example is a machine that starts to vibrate before it breaks down-an indicator of a future event. And, Read more…
Who is a customer in the modern world? He is demanding. He wants his product immediately. He wants value, but that doesn’t mean cheap. It just means that he wants to feel like he gets a little more for his money. And he wants products that work, and services that deliver on their promises. These demanding customers are the reason Lean exists at all. The demands they place on companies, and their willingness to vote Read more…
Engineers, not surprisingly, are people who are specially training in an engineering field. In a nutshell, they design solutions to a problem. Types of Engineers Design engineers solve problems by creating a product. Software engineers solve problems with code. Manufacturing engineers create processes to solve problems. Engineers are key players in Lean companies because of their focus on problem solving. Lean, however, changes the nature of the problems that need to be solved. For example, Read more…
Eliyahu Goldratt put together his “Theory of Constraints” and presented its principles in his book The Goal. He explained that systems generally have a single (sometimes more) bottleneck that limits, or constrains, production. In a more general sense, a constraint is anything that prevents you from accomplishing something that you want to do. Constraints come in a variety of forms. Laws (like speed limits), regulations (like those that OSHA administers), and customer preferences are all Read more…