Solutions
Six problems teams bring us
The work has different names in different plants. These are the six shapes it takes, and what is in the box for each.
Value & ROI
We cannot show what the improvement work returned.
Estimated, actual and validated savings, and a business case somebody else signed off.
- ROI calculator
- Cost of poor quality with a benchmark gauge
- Business case builder
Continuous Improvement
Ideas come in and nothing happens to them.
Ideas scored, chartered, gated and closed, with a record of each decision.
- Idea hopper with impact and effort scoring
- Kaizen tracker
- Five DMAIC tollgates
Quality
Defects reach the customer and we find out late.
Control charts that say whether the process changed, and a control plan that holds the fix.
- Control charts: I-MR, X-bar R, EWMA, CUSUM, attribute
- Process capability, including non-normal
- Sigma metrics and rolled throughput yield
Process Optimization
The process is slow and nobody agrees on why.
Find the cause with statistics rather than opinion, test the fix, then measure it.
- Fishbone and 5 Whys
- Hypothesis tests, ANOVA and regression
- Design of experiments
Lean
There is waste everywhere and no system for removing it.
Take the waste out, then write down the standard so it stays out.
- TIMWOODS waste walk
- 5S audit
- Kaizen tracker
Operational Excellence
Improvement happens in pockets and never becomes how we work.
One record of the work, from the project on the floor to the number in the board pack.
- DMAIC project workspace
- OE manager board with risk scoring
- Executive portfolio and weekly written digest
Each page lists everything in the box for that problem, the agents that do the work, and how the method is run.