Six Sigma Mistake Proofing

Mistake Proofing (or Poka-Yoke as it is known in Japan) is one of several control concepts where the solution is not dynamic by nature, as is the case with a closed loop feedback control system. It should be noted that poka-yoke is very consistent with the fundamental aims and philosophy of Six Sigma and has wide applicability in manufacturing, engineering, and transactional processes. It involves actions designed to eliminate errors, mistakes or defects in our everyday activities and processes. The methodology involves complete understanding of the cause and effect relationship and identification of the simplest remedy that can be applied to eliminate the occurrence of that particular error in the future. Sometimes this involves an addition of a simple feature, the creation of a check list, a change in the sequence of operation, a highlighted field on a form, a software message that reminds the operator, or some other way of helping to ensure that mistakes are going to be totally eliminated or substantially reduced. Often, Mistake-Proofing focuses on errors produced by humans, whether it is the machine operator, the person filling out a form, or someone packing materials, etc. While this source of error can be large, it is also possible to apply Mistake-Proofing methodology in many other aspects of our business. The emphasis should be put on modifying processes so those mistakes are impossible to make, instead of blaming employees for making mistakes. The point is we must improve all aspects of our Business to be robust to mistakes or errors, no matter what the source. The traditional application of Mistake-Proofing is in a production environment where a change is made to an assembly sequence or a tool to prevent an error from being made. Examples include: o A stop is added to a drill press o A hydraulic ram is added to align a component during assembly o A lever is designed into an assembly fixture to index the part o A pin is added so the part cannot be installed backwards Mistake Proofing is the primary form of Control for transactional procedures in that it can be used to prevent a process from going out of control or to bring a process back into control. Some examples include: o Fields on a data entry form are highlighted as being critical o An authorization procedure is introduced to control spend o A check list is created to ensure all items are taken into account when planning a training session o A new policy is developed to ensure that expense claims are completed properly
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Employee Empowerment VS Lean Manufacturing

The management concept of employee empowerment can be defined as the creation of an environment in which people at all levels feel they have real influence over standards of quality, service, and business effectiveness within their areas of responsibility. It is a strategy and philosophy that enables employees to make decisions about their jobs. In an organization where this style of management is not natural, adopting a management style that embraces empowerment will be a difficult but critical change in order to succeed in the effort of implementing Lean Enterprise Thinking. Organizations that support empowered people have some common characteristics: - There are few management layers in the organization - Wide spans of control exist with relative responsibilities and accountabilities - A process-based organization structure is used as opposed to a purely functional based structure - Management stands behind people being empowered Most experts who are familiar with implementing Lean in an organization will probably state something to the effect of "... the major inhibitor to get a lean environment is the inability to trust the workforce and really give up a certain level of control in order to give people the power to implement their own ideas and be respected as experts in their area..." . Without this level of trust within the workforce, those who know best how to improve the operation will not feel they can make the changes required to eliminate all of the waste possible and the thought of continuous improvement will not become a way of thinking as it must for Lean to be truly successful. Empowering the workforce does not mean that management gives up control and lets people do whatever they please. Instead, guidelines and boundaries need to be set so that everyone knows the limits of how they can operate. A process needs to be established that allows management to set the direction for the organization but lets the workforce finds unique ways to achieve these goals and objectives. By letting the workforce be free to implement ideas within their work areas, management will find that the organization is much more productive than by following the direction of a few select individuals. The trick is to leverage one's self though the talents of everyone involved. The process of adapting an empowerment style of operating within the organization is not solely the responsibility of management. True, a manager needs to learn to let go without giving up total control, but in order for empowerment to work, the employee must accept it and the responsibility that goes with it. In short - they have to take it. However, not all are willing or able to do, or they do not know how and what it means, so care must be taken to educate and transition those involved. Changing to a mode of operating that truly empowers the members of an organization is a difficult transition to make but is one that can be accomplished. It does take time and having a coach can be a real help. Everyone involved should be patient and realize that the organization is learning a new way to operate, but once it is successful with this transition, the organization will have taken a major step towards to Being Lean and not just Doing Lean.
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The Characteristics of a Lean Enterprise

While Lean can be beneficially applied to any process within an organization, its greatest benefit comes when it is applied across the enterprise. that Lean thinking can be applied by any company anywhere in the world but that the full power of the system is only realized when it is applied to all elements of the enterprise." Over time, it can be said that an organization that implements Lean becomes a Lean Enterprise. While there is no precise definition of a Lean Enterprise, I believe those organizations share common characteristics. A Lean Enterprise can be defined by these 15 characteristics: 1.Customer Focus - The external customer is both the starting point and ending point. Maximize value to the customer. Optimize not around internal operations, but around the customer. Seek to understand not only the customer's requirements but also their expectations of quality, delivery, and price. 2.Purpose - The purpose of an organization encompasses your vision (where you want to go), your mission (what you do), and your strategies (how you do it). Focus on purpose, not tools. 3.Organizational Alignment - You want people to understand their purpose, not just their job description or the tasks that are assigned to them. All the people involved need to have a common understanding of the organization's purpose, and practical understanding of the consequences of failure and the benefits of success. 4.Knowledge - People are the engine of the company, so it is vital to build knowledge and share it. This includes explicit knowledge (like that from books) as well as tacit knowledge, involving soft skills. Knowledge is built through the scientific method of PDCA. 5.Questioning - Encourage a questioning culture. Ask why several times to try to get to the root cause. Encourage everyone to question. "Seek first to understand, then to be understood," said Stephen Covey. 6.Humility - The more you strive for Lean, the more you realize how little you know, and how much there is yet to learn. Learning begins with humility 7.Trust - Build confidence in your promises and commitments. Building trust takes time. 8.Empowered employees - Give frontline employees the first opportunity to solve problems. All employees should share in the responsibility for success and failure. 9.Flexible workforce - As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said "The only constant is change." Flexibility is the ability to react to changes in customer demand. The key to success is to maintain redundancy and hence flexibility within the core competency. 10.Partnership - Use teams, not individuals, internally between functions and externally with suppliers. Employees are partners too. As Covey says, "You must find a win-win, never win-loose, solution and if you can't you should walk away." 11.Simplicity - Lean is not simple, but simplicity pervades. Simplicity is best achieved through the avoidance of complexity, than by 'rationalization' exercises. 12.Process - Organize and think by end-to-end process. Think horizontal, not vertical. Concentrate on the way the product moves, not on the way the machines, people, or customers move. 13.Improvement - Continuous improvement is everyone's concern. Improvement should go beyond incremental waste reduction to include innovation breakthrough. 14.Prevention - Seek to prevent problems and waste, rather than to inspect and fix. Shift the emphasis from failure and appraisal to prevention. Inspecting the process, not the product, is prevention. Use poka yoke to mistake proof process errors. 15.Visualization - Visuals translate performance of every process into expected versus actual, throughout the management systems. It is regular, frequent, and factual data driven. Visuals provide the opportunity to quickly spot and take action at the earliest point that performance has not met what was expected. A Lean Enterprise is not created quickly. When a business applies lean thinking, culture, and methods throughout the entire organization and beyond its four walls to customers and suppliers a Lean Enterprise is formed.
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Logistics and Supply Chain

Most entrepreneurs and business leaders would have heard about Logistics and supply chain management. A business has to manage all of the systems within itself and has to deal with several factors within the productivity line in order to cope up with orders, withdrawal, refunds, relations, and other issues. The Logistics and supply chain management is generally a method in business that includes planning, controlling, data collecting, carrying and storing, other services, communication services and network which enhance product quality and promote improvements as well as further developments from the beginning of a productivity line to the end of a productivity line to ensure that customers at the end will receive the best of all. The management itself cares about feed backs in order to compute out the percentages of likes and dislikes so that products can be improved or produced to supply the demands and wants of the customers. The supply chain managements allow relationships within a business to flow smoothly. A relationship between a purchaser and a manufacturer is also one of the chains within the supply chain management. There are different kinds of supply chain management in logistics which vary from case to case due to different demands and situations. Its complexity in management could also vary from each other depending on the size of a business and the numbers of items manufactured. Elements of the Supply Chain Logistics and supply chain management has numbers of elements that are linked together to allow a smooth flow of productivity. The chain begins with a supplier always, and ends with a customer once the whole system is processed. 1. The customer or purchaser starts off by purchasing and deciding on items needed for sale offered by a company. Then, by contacting a sales department of any specific companies or suppliers, the amount of items needed, the date of delivery, and a specific receiving place should be written down or noted down once asked and ensured. If products are needed to be manufactured, the sales order will include additional fees and requirements that are needed to be fulfilled by the production facility. 2. The requirements by the customer's ordered sales will be combined with other orders. The production facility would also have to make plans and discuss about several topics in relation to productivity to ensure customers high quality products and make sure not to jump out or move away from the deadline. Plans include records of what is needed to be bought; items that are needed to be manufactured, and raw materials. 3. The purchasing facility receives all the information and raw materials; what is left are for them to follow the orders made by the customers and know what is needed. The purchase facility then sends all information including orders to selected suppliers to deliver raw materials and other things that are needed to the manufacturing department for them to complete the production of products within a required time period. 4. Once raw materials are accepted and received by the suppliers, they will have to check for quality and accuracy; if approved, materials will move into a warehouse. The suppliers will then send an invoice to the company the amount of materials delivered; these materials will be kept in storage until they are called out by the production department. 5. When the time has come for products to be produced, raw materials will be called out to the production department to complete orders. The finishing products ordered by customers are manufactured by raw materials that were once purchased from suppliers. Once production is done, all products will be sent back to the inventory or storage and will later be delivered to the customers. 6. After finished products are moved into warehouses and kept in storage, the shipping facility will determine which method to use in order to ship all products efficiently and consider the costs of transportation to minimize as much expenses as possible plus, deliver all products on time. Once all finished products are delivered successfully, the company will send an invoice repeating the amount of products delivered, time, date, and what products are delivered. A Healthy Operation To make sure the supply chain management will work well it is important to have associated technology and tools. In order for a business's productivity to improve, operate efficiently, and have the highest level of customer satisfaction, the supply chain management has three main activities where businesses and different parts of companies have to focus on: strategic, tactic, and operational activities. 1. Strategic activities- the company has to consider the size of the whole system, the location, partnerships with suppliers, products needed to be manufactured, and other factors that will affect the whole organization. At this level, managers will have to look closely at strategic decisions whether or not it covers the whole entire system. 2. Tactical activities- Tactical decisions include various techniques and ways to reduce costs and use up its benefits for the system. These decisions might include performing ethical practices, working with logistics companies for suggestions and tips, and get advices in order to reduce transportation costs and warehouse or storage costs. 3. Operational activities- Decisions are made daily within the system from the beginning of the productivity line to the end of the line of production. Operational practices include making plans, schedules, purchasing agreements with suppliers, taking orders from customers, and moving products into warehouses. Technology and its Effects on Businesses In order for a business to succeed and be able to compete with other businesses (especially international businesses) it is a must to have technological devices, tools, and a working or an operation system. Technology has now become our daily tools we use in life; without technology, businesses wouldn't flow or run efficiently in our modern world today. Behind the scenes, every large businesses have technological systems and one of them is called the Enterprise Resource Planning. This expensively purchased software does so many things that will squeeze down the need for employees and reduce costs as a long-term effect. This software will monitor the whole supply chain system and keep records of all information which includes date of purchase, time of purchase, amount of orders, and other information set by the settings of the software to ensure safety and accuracy.
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Benefits of Utilizing a Quality System

How do you currently handle quality control in your business? If you offer products to clients, you must have some system in place to make sure every product delivered to every client is of high quality.

If this is neglected, you will lose your customers and gain a reputation for producing products that do not live up to their hype. This is bad for business and one low quality product could stick with your business in a negative light for many years to come. This is why you may consider working with a quality management system designed by a professional ISO consultant.

There are four main benefits to moving beyond your own system to a quality management system that can be ISO certified:

1. Longevity and growth for your business.

When you work with an ISO consultant to improve the quality of your products, you ensure that your business will be around for a long time to come. When your products become more valuable and are consistent over time, you start to gain the trust of the consumer. Your excellent quality is talked about in communities and word of mouth spreads. You become one of the most trust brands in your market because you care enough to work with a quality management system that keeps your products at the top of the market.

2. Increased prestige and enhanced reputation.

Along with increased quality comes prestige and a positive reputation in your industry. As your customers note your exceptional and consistent quality, so will your competitors. So will others who may be looking for someone in your industry to do business with. A lot of great things can happen for your reputation as you start to implement a quality management system.

3. Greater opportunity to sell in markets around the world.

There are untapped markets that you cannot get into today without being ISO certified. The only way to get ISO certified is to work with an ISO consultant who knows all about quality control and the standards for certification. They can help you implement a quality management system that passes for certification and that you can afford to continue implementing in the future. In order to remain a competitor in these worldwide markets, you will need to be very consistent with implementing and documenting your system as it pertains to quality.

4. Peace of mind that you are delivering what you promised your customers.

Finally, you have your own peace of mind that you are doing the right thing for your customers and the market when you implement an efficient quality management system. Whether you are interested in ISO certification right now or just might be open to it in the future, you will feel good knowing that the products you sell are of high quality.

All product lines require high quality today. Whether you are baking donuts and cakes or selling swing sets or baby cribs, you have to make sure the products stamped with your brand name represent your name very well. Your reputation and the future of your business is on the line!


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Importance of ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised certificate which evaluates how well an organisation manages its environmental responsibilities by guiding them through the process of putting an Environmental Management System (EMS) into use.

An EMS is a widely used and recognised standard which concentrates on both continued improvement of how you manage the impact you have on the environment while implementing a 'plan, do, check, act' methodology to ensure that no stone is left unturned.

The process by which a business becomes certified is relatively simple and unlike before it is much more accessible in terms of cost and time. You can be certified within 30 days after completing an assessment in which your business is examined and advised on areas that need to be rectified to comply with all the regulations set out for the ISO 14001 accreditation.

There are many benefits to becoming ISO 14001 certified and it can in fact directly help to drive profits of your business. After completion of the assessment, you will receive along with your certificate an environmental manual which will not only outline the guidelines you have to work within but also advice on obtaining maximum publicity and marketing from your achievement which will help you to gain new customers.

In the current climate, seeing to be environmentally friendly is of paramount importance and with the ISO 14001 certificate you are letting your customers, clients and competitors know that the environment is something you take very seriously. This in turn will earn you the respect and reputation of a trustworthy business. There are some customers who are obliged only to work with or purchase from certified organisations therefore with the certification you can be safe in the knowledge that you are not ignoring potential clients and gives you a competitive edge over rivals.

Organisations now are legally obligated to conform to rules and regulations regarding their waste management and energy consumption, an ISO 14001 certificate proves that you are definitely complying with any legislation and avoids potentially being liable for a large fine and any legal cases.

The processes the EMS puts into place will also save your organisation money in the long run. By reducing waste fewer resources are used and by looking at ways in which your organisation consumes energy bills can be reduced.

An ISO 14001 certification also grows alongside the business. When you expand there is no reason to waste time and money on new environmental management systems as they are already there and as the certificate is recognised internationally if you expand into other countries the certificate just effectively moves with you.


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Qualifications of a Six Sigma Project Manager

Some people have worked in their business positions without a higher education. However, to obtain and keep a managerial position, you will need to make yourself a better candidate than anyone else. Getting a four year college degree is a start. However, a graduate education will put you even further ahead to start.

You cannot work in the Six Sigma field without some level of certification. How will you know the practices and procedures to follow if you are not trained properly? When you enroll in Six Sigma Training, you get the total amount of information necessary to take it to your place of business in order to succeed. You know how to solve problems and come up with solutions for your employer or clients.

If you have experience on an actual Six Sigma Project in any capacity, you can put that on your resume. Sometimes a training provider will allow you to work on sample cases during your training. But in the real world, people want to know that you can affect change on actual business processes. If you have the experience and can demonstrate a marked improvement, this is another way to increase your advantage.

As a project manager you will be required to work with a team and even supervise it. If you have any managerial experience, it will help to fortify that you can do the job. Every team needs a leader. If you do not currently have leadership experience, try to take leadership enrichment courses and ask for leadership responsibilities at your current position.

It may seem obvious, but you will need to know how to effectively use a computer. You will need to know more than just basic operating procedures. It is good to understand all computer software that will be used to document and report your quality findings. You do not just need to be computer literate, but proficient.

There are many manufacturing industries that you can work in. Even if you do have certification and managerial experience, you will not get hired if you do not understand the industry that the job is in. Try and stick within one or similar industries to improve your chances of gaining employment.

One cannot simply get certified and expect to obtain a Six Sigma project manager job. There are many attributes that are needed to get the position. These are managerial skills, computer knowledge, higher education and degree, industry experience and project experience. It is important that you stand out to the person doing the candidate selection. These qualifications will get you noticed. If you have them, you are one step closer to getting hired.


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