Bottleneck A process step that becomes a congestion point or a blockage for flow of work. It is like the neck of the bottle - smaller (in diameter) - that restricts the flow of contents from the bottle. In Lean manufacturing, the process step that is having highest cycle time in a value chain is considered as bottleneck. Theoretically, any process steps having the lowest capacity are called bottleneck processes. The strength of the chain is as high as the...
5W2H 5W2H is acronym for the set of seven question What, Where, When, Which, Who, How and How-much. This technique was developed in Automobile industry as 5W1H to gather and report information in full. It is intensively used across industries to report non-conformances, quality incidents, safety incidents, accidents etc. Off late we have added the 2nd ‘H’ How-much to quantify the risk associated with the condition being reported. In LSS, it is used to define a problem condition with full...
What is a control chart? We have already seen what a control chart is in an earlier short article. It helps the process owner to predict when his process is going to produce a defect. Control charts are made by drawing mean line and control lines superimposing the simple line chart of process data*. Here depending on the type of data we possess the type of control chart, and the process data will vary. What is I-MR Chart? I MR...
Process Stability Process A process is a set of sequential activities that convert the input to the desired output. Stability Process stability is the ability of the process to perform within a predictable limit. We can also state stability of a process refers to its predictability. Why processes become unstable? Processes tend to become unstable over time due to variations. The variations occur either because of the inherent nature of the process or some external or forced changes, called disturbances....
Quick Wins are the actions/projects that require minimum efforts and would offer a reasonable benefit in a Six Sigma Project. Six Sigma Framework Six sigma is an investigative problem-solving methodology. It provides a proven framework and sets of tools and techniques to help us solve problems.We call this framework the DMAIC method, depicting five steps of problem-solving. They are Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. Six sigma also prescribes tools and techniques for application in each phase.It also helps us...
What is Kano Model? Kano Model is the tool used to prioritise the features or quality parameters in a product or service. More about the Kano Model This simple and powerful tool was first used by Prof. Kano in Japan to understand various customer needs and product features and to decide on what features to be provided and how to sequence or prioritise them. As per his model, any requirement for the product or service might fall within 3 categories,...
OEE is an abbreviation of Overall Equipment Effectiveness. It is a measure of the effectiveness of a machine or a line. Here, effectiveness means ‘efficiency + quality’. OEE is one of the key driving metrics of Total Productive Maintenance. Why is OEE important? Imagine that an organisation has invested ‘x’ amount of money in its infrastructure and facility – out of which a significant portion say ‘y’ would be consumed by the machinery and equipment. If the equipment is maintained...
What is Cash to Cash Cycle? Cash to cash cycle time is the time lapse between payment to suppliers and getting payment from the customers. Every business exists to provide a tangible or intangible product to the people in need and make money out of those provisions in the form of profit. A company has to invest money in the business. There are 2 types of investments - Asset Capital and Working Capital. When a company spends money on creating...
What is Lead Time? Lead time is the time required to complete the set of processes - from start to finish. There are 3 types of such measures in Business Process. Order LT The time required to complete the order - from order receipt to product/service delivery to the consumer. Processing LT The time required to convert the Raw Material into Finished Product (or Production LT) or The time required to convert input information into output information (Service Production LT)...
Muda Muda is a Japanese word meaning Waste. So, any activity that consumes time and effort and fails to produce the desired outcome is termed as Waste. In a production plant, people transport materials from one place to another for storage of for next processing. The activity of transporting consumes their time and effort. But the material does not get any value addition because of the mere transportation. Hence, transportation is termed as waste. Origin Muda is one of the fundamental...