Lean Six Sigma - Quick Study

Craig Gygi

• Publisher: QuickStudy Reference Guides
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781423237600
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Business

Whether curious as to how Lean Six Sigma works, in training for certification or a very experienced champion, everyone will find this tool essential as the ultimate quick reference guide to the combined process improvement methods of Lean and Six Sigma. This amazingly thorough 6-page laminated guide was developed by Craig Gygi, best-selling author, trainer, consultant, and internationally recognized leader in operational excellence. Color-coded sections, diagrams, examples, definitions, equations, flow of the process and tools for improvement are organized and designed for ease of reading and referencing at a moments notice. See for yourself, and then order a set for your team or organization. Suggested uses:
• Introduction – curious about Lean Six Sigma as a certification or for implementation within your business
• Training Tool – certification for yourself, your company or your team
• Expert or Practitioner – as a handy reference to core principles or tools like charts and equations, but also as a giveaway to colleagues who need some support
• Team – make this your company crib sheet

TOOLS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Commercially available software exists for nearly all Lean Six Sigma tools.

Improvement Project Problem & Objective Statements

Use problem and objective statements to scope, gain support, and launch improvement projects.

PROBLEM STATEMENT A careful description of the problem being tackled through the improvement project is a necessary and unifying start for success. The problem statement should include:

• The key metric used to describe the magnitude of the problem
• If possible, an estimate of the hard and soft financial impact the problem is causing
• Where in the work process or organization the problem is occurring
• The period of time over which the problem has been occurring

The problem statement should not include any indication of or speculation on the cause of the problem. (Including possible causes poisons the project team’s ability to objectively and thoroughly find the true root cause.)

EX: The number of issues recorded in Technical Support from European customers during 2015 was 2,375, or about 200 per month. The cost to field and resolve these issues was $743,000 in labor, systems, and materials, with a likely larger amount lost due to decreased customer loyalty and lowered employee morale.

OBJECTIVE STATEMENT

The specific goals for the improvement project are outlined in the objective statement. It should include:

• An improvement goal for the key metric
• A specific target date for completion of the project
• An estimate of the financial value generated or savings (including intangible savings) accumulated by reaching the objective

It should not include any direction on what the solution will be to achieve the goal. (Including possible solutions limits the team’s ability to innovate an optimal solution.)

EX: Reduce the rate of customer issues received by the European Technical Support Office to less than 100 per month by March 31, 2016. This will save the department $31,000 per month on project completion and accumulate to $279,000 savings in labor, systems, and materials during 2016, not counting the intangible improvements in customer loyalty and employee morale.

5 Whys

Use to discover the true root cause that needs solving. When working to understand a problem, the visible symptoms and corresponding causes are often encountered in layers that mask the underlying root cause. Asking “Why?” at least five times is a tool for discovering and peeling back successive layers until the true root cause is found. Discovering the root cause is critical to implementing longterm improvement.

	VISIBLE SYMPTOMS/ UNDERLYING CAUSES	CORRESPONDING LEVEL OF SOLUTION	IMPROVEMENT DURATION
Why?↓	Order is not ready to ship on time	Expedite the shipment	Short term
Why?↓	Production work went slower than expected	Add more production staff	Short term
Why?↓	Raw materials were more difficult than usual to handle	Refresh material handling training	Short term
Why?↓	Bad raw materials were approved for use due to low stock levels	Increase stock levels for raw materials	Short term
Why?↓	Raw material purchases are not well planned	Improve raw material order planning	Short term
Why?↓	Management hasn’t allowed time for purchase planning system improvements	Initiate purchase planning improvement projects	Short term
	Purchasing management is not fully committed to continuous improvement	Coach and mentor purchasing management in principles and benefits of continuous improvement	Long term

Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram

Use to identify or brainstorm a comprehensive collection of possible input factors.

1. Place a statement of the problem or symptom at the head of the fish.
2. Draw a backbone to the fish with six main “branches,” labeled as follows: man, machine, method, materials, measurement, and environment.
3. Use these categories as prompts to thoroughly consider and identify all possible input factors. Record identified factors on the fishbone diagram.
4. Do not be overly critical of ideas while gathering factors, as this will stifle creativity.
5. Later, the identified factors can be prioritized by the strength or likelihood of their impact on the...

Table of contents

• DEFINING THE TOPIC
• PRINCIPLES FOR EXECUTIVES & MANAGERS
• PROGRAMS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
• APPROACHES FOR ALL WORK
• TOOLS FOR IMPROVEMENT
• ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES & CERTIFICATIONS