Welcome to Six Sigma black belt course 6 module 4 lean methods. Waste elimination is an important consideration in lean methods. This lesson will review various lean manufacturing techniques. That are used in the Six Sigma control phase to address waste elimination. These include 5S, visual controls, Kanban, Poka-Yoke and Standard Work. Kaizen can also be used as a means of waste elimination. Because of the importance of Kaizen., a dedicated lesson will be provided later. We will also discuss the identification and minimization of waste. 5S is a fundamental first step for any manufacturing company wishing to call itself world class. 5S demonstrates to outsiders that the organization is committed to workplace organization. Lean manufacturing and the elimination of waste. Strong 5S programs allocate dedicated resources to be provided to the location and on call is needed to support work activities. The steps of 5S are, sort. We identify what we need and eliminate what we don't. Straighten, set things in order are in place. A great application of this idea would be a shadow board that outlines common tools on the factory floor. Shine, make the area clutter free, clean things were practical and feasible. Standardize, design protocols to ensure 5S is maintained on a regular basis. And finally sustain. Implement your protocol, support from leadership will be essential to success. 5S is interpreted in different ways across many organizations. Many organizations have pivoted to a 5S plus one program where the 6th S is safety. Like any other initiative 5S requires constant vigilance and commitment. To maintain visibility, some organizations have instituted muda walks with senior management to walk the factory floor. Muda is the Japanese word for waste. Look for opportunities for improvement, identify and recognize areas that are well maintained. And note areas where attention has been lost. A strong 5S program will lead to an organization with strong controls and raised awareness. Poka Yoke means mistake proofing. In general Poka-Yoke measures facilitate 100% inspection. For golden need for monitoring and control, and are inexpensive. Poka-Yoke devices can be design for near zero defect conditions. Issues such as forgetting a step, incorrect assembly, or material can virtually be eliminated. An example of a Poka-Yoke would be the selection of bolts for a transformer. Often these bolts are made of steel, but in areas of high salt spray a silicon bronze ball is used to prevent red rust. A wrench is fitted with and inductor to detect the presence of the bolt and compare against the bill of materials. If the bolt is correct the wrench will operate, if not the line will stop until the correct bolt is used. Some other applications of Poka-Yoke would include color coded parts, tool and fixture templates to only accept correct parts. A buzzer or light to signal that an error has occurred, visual aids, work standardization, frequent training and checklists. Can you think of some consumer related Poka-Yoke measures? What about electrical plug configurations to ensure the right plug is used in the right socket? A light curtain that deactivates a door or machine when it is crossed. A flow meter to detect water leaks in your home. There are hundreds more. Poka-Yoke techniques are especially effective when we require frequent oversight. The likelihood of a mistake is high. There is high employee turnover, or a high degree of special cause variation. Plant operations require documented work instructions and procedures. Maintaining and improving standards promotes improvement of processes and organizational effectiveness. Processes that are under control are free from customer complaints and corrective action. This is a ripe environment for the implementation of standard work. As processes change or require greater productivity, management and operators must continually revisit and assess the way they perform their job. Instruments such as Kaizen serve as the mechanism for improvement. Standard work is a means of capturing and formalizing these efforts. Standard work can take many forms on the factory floor besides the written document. Some examples include the use of painted areas, control boards, level indicators, cross training, and audio visual signals. Standard Work serves many other secondary purposes as well. Production processes will always have some degree of imperfection. Standard work can help us to minimize these occurrences using tack time, ergonomics, part flow and preventative maintenance. The ISO 9000 standard heavily promotes the use of standard work. Many companies choose to not be ISO certified, but still work to embrace the principles outlined in the standard. In an organization, standard work must be preceded by sound waste elimination processes. Problem solving, and strong quality methods. The elements that make up Standard Work include the time allowed to make a piece of production based on the tack time. Improvements should be considered if the actual time exceeds the tack time. The sequence and interaction of operations that the employee must use to produce a part. The minimum amount of in process materials staged in the work area needed to maintain a smooth flow. For a continuous flow, one piece in the machine, and one piece for handoff is optimal. A document showing the order of processes, times, tooling needs and other pertinent information. An overall high level document that outlines the steps of a task. This would include layouts, quality checks, operational procedures, standard stock required and so forth. Detailed instructions on tool changes, setup changes, or parts assembly. These documents would be far more localized in scope. Finally, it means to capture details from the work instruction with information on equipment performance. Cycle times, inventory, productivity, safety checks and quality checks. Continuous flow manufacturing requires the use of tack time. Tack time is the time element that equals the demand rate. It was first used at Toyota. In one piece flow, the time allowed for each line operation is limited. The line is bounced so that each operator can perform their work in the time allowed. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, factories would use conductors who beat a drum at a regular tempo. The workforce would follow this tempo to complete each respective task. This provided a rhythm to the process. In Kanban product is replenished as it is pulled, it is a method of material control in the factory. Ideally, product is provided to the customer, with the shortest possible lead time. When planning the flow for the day, we seek to group orders based on like features or model variants. While the factory must exercise agility in meeting customer demands, the more we can control the arrangement. The closer we are to a can band state. Recognize that this also requires control of machinery and coordination of employees. Kanban systems often use visuals such as cards. The card indicates the need to resupply. An example of a card is shown here, the trigger for producing a part comes from a Kanban card. This helps to reduce red tape and minimize work in process as well as finished goods inventory. Timing and sequencing are crucial in a Kanban system. There cannot be disruptions due to machine failures or quality problems. Such a disruption creates instability and starves the line. Manufacturing engineers search for ways to eliminate causes of machine downtime and sources of quality issues. The process sustains itself through a constant flow of Kanban cards. As the number of Kanban cards is decreased, there's a resulting decrease in parts on hand. This can also stop the line. For this reason, Kanban is beneficial for production systems involving parts with the maximum commonalities and little model variance.
