1. Using Lean Ideas to Get Jobs to Production Faster
Darren Dolcemascolo
EMS Consulting Group, Inc.
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2. Using Lean Ideas to Get Jobs to Production Faster
You will learn:
Why It is Important to Apply Lean Principles to the Pre-Production Value Stream
How Lean Principles and Tools Apply to Such Processes
How One Company Utilized These Principles
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Presentation Agenda
Lean Administrative Principles and Benefits
Applying Lean Tools to Non-Manufacturing Processes
Case Study
Q&A
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What Is Lean?
“A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection” – James Womack
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Definitions
Value - what your customers are willing to pay for.
Value - A capability provided to a customer at the right time at an appropriate price, as defined in each case by the customer. Features of the product or service, availability, cost and performance are dimensions of value.
Waste (“Muda”) - Any activity that consumes resources but creates no value.
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Definitions
Value Stream - the set of all the actions required to bring a product to the customer. (material + information flow)
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7. Thinking Lean 5 Principles of Lean
Specify value
can only be defined by the ultimate customer
Identify and Map the value stream
exposes the enormous amounts of waste
Create flow
reduce batch size and WIP
Let the customer pull product through the value stream
make only what the customer has ordered
Seek perfection
continuously improve quality and eliminate waste
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Lean Thinking
“All we are doing is looking at the time line from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing that time line by removing non-value-added wastes.” – Taichi Ohno
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9. From Shop Floor to Office
Lean should not be limited to the shop floor:
Support processes often cause delays in the factory.
Support processes create delays in getting existing product to the customer (lead time)
Support processes delay the product development process.
Support processes delay the delivery of materials.
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Eight Wastes
Overproduction
Waiting
Transporting
Inappropriate Processing
Unnecessary Inventory (WIP)
Unnecessary / Excess Motion
Defects
Underutilization of Employees’ Minds/Ideas
MUDA
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11. Eight Wastes Revisited
Overproduction
Printing paperwork out before it is needed
Purchasing items before they are needed
Processing paperwork before the next process is ready for it
Waiting
“System” downtime
Paperwork/Approval queues (waiting in someone’s inbox)
Waiting for information from outside sources (customer or supplier)
MUDA
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12. Eight Wastes Revisited
Transportation (Paperwork or Electronic Info)
Multiple hand-offs
Too many approvals required
Excessive attachments
Inappropriate Processing
Re-entering data or re-checking
Making extra copies
Too many reports distributed
Excessive transactions
Unnecessary details in expense reports, budgets, etc.
Month-end closing activities
MUDA
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13. Eight Wastes Revisited
Unnecessary Inventory
Filled in-boxes (electronic and paper)
Office supplies
Batch processing transactions/reports
Sales literature
Unnecessary / Excess Motion
Walking to/from printer/copier/fax
Walking to other cubicles/offices (or to find someone)
MUDA
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14. Eight Wastes Revisited
Defects
Design errors
Invoice, purchase order, or order entry mistakes
Other paperwork errors
Underutilization of Employees’ Minds/Ideas
Limited authority and responsibility for basic tasks
Management command and control
Inadequate business tools provided
MUDA
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15. Lean Principles for the Office
Understand Customer Needs
Measure and Check Performance to Customer Needs Often
Eliminate steps that do not create value
Find ways to eliminate interruptions/handoffs.
Control the flow of work between interruptions.
Balance the workload/Eliminate bottlenecks.
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16. Customer Needs/Requirements
Who needs the output of the process?
What is specifically required and how often?
When do they need the output?
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17. Determine Performance Check Window
How often will performance (status) to customer requirements (takt time) be measured?
Wide range of answers can be appropriate: from hourly to several times daily (or in some cases, less frequently).
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18. Determine Performance Check Window
Use a visual means of checking performance
If orders are not processed in a timely manner, the team must identify root causes and take corrective actions to return to the desired service level.
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19. Determine Performance Check Window
Lean Example
Printing company developed a goal of three-day turnaround on orders with a one-day turnaround in the preproduction portion of the order.
They set a 2 hour management time frame to review the preproduction process (customer service, artwork, and plate making).
Every two hours reps from each area reviewed orders in process to determine if they were meeting the desired service levels.
If not, they took proper action (redeploy resources, work o.t., etc.)
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Determine which steps in the process create value and which generate waste
Ask questions to determine this:
What does the customer really need?
Why are the current steps being performed?
What can the company do differently or not at all while still meeting customer needs?
Is the order of steps creating waste? At what steps should decisions be made?
What assumptions underlie the design of the current process?
Are current controls and administrative guidelines appropriate?
What knowledge and skills are truly required to perform the steps?
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21. Create a work flow with fewer interruptions
Create flow (one-piece or small batch size)
Ask the following questions:
Can standardizing work improve flow?
Would it be beneficial to dedicate resources to specific tasks?
Can one person be cross-trained to perform several sequential tasks?
Would moving people and tasks together into a “cell” help?
What would be the benefits and issues of a flow approach?
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22. Create a work flow with fewer interruptions
Paperwork Processing
Monday: 40A
Tuesday 10A, 30B
Wednesday: 20B, 20C
Thursday: 40C
Friday: 20C, 20A
Each type processed once weekly
Each type processed once daily
Monday: 14A, 10B, 16C
Each type processed once hourly
8:00AM: 3A, 2B, 3C
9:00AM: 4A, 2B, 2C
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Determine how to control work from step to step (between interruptions)
Usually two possible solutions
FIFO lane - limits the amount of work that can be pushed from step to step and ensures proper prioritization.
Pull system - work is pulled from the supplying process to the customer process. (Example: printing information only upon demand.)
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Determine how to control work from step to step (between interruptions)
Lean Example – Problem
Job shops use job packets throughout production to make sure that the product is made correctly.
At one company, the office released job packets to the floor ASAP, creating overproduction.
Production began work on many of these released packages and spent a lot of time reacting to customer changes.
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Determine how to control work from step to step (between interruptions)
Lean Example - Solution
The company implemented a simple pull system for job packets by having production tell the office when it needed the next job packet.
Company reduced the # of job packets by 50%, and the number of time-consuming changes to job packets by 80%.
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26. Balancing the Activities/Workload
Two issues
Process Level – people who overproduce in big batches, creating queues at the next step.
System Level – lopsided transactions and activities that require different amounts of resources at different points in time (month-end).
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27. Balancing the Activities/Workload
Process Level
Balance by using shorter performance check windows, cross-training, and FIFO lanes.
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28. Balancing the Activities/Workload
System Level
Level work and mix- Distribute transactions and work over a longer period to reduce system chaos and overtime.
Creates a predictable enterprise and improves the visibility and responsiveness to problems and/or shifts in customer demand.
Leveling mix of transactions to improve the ability of the system to flow or respond to particular steps (e.g., ideal # of rush orders to standard orders).
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29. Case Example: Value Stream Mapping
Original State: 5 weeks average pre-production lead-time; 6 week average total lead-time (1 week in production)
Project Objective: To reduce pre-production lead time to < 4 weeks
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30. Case Example: Current State
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31. Case Example: Current State Issues
Redundant data entry of customer orders/reliance on
Multiple shop orders per customer order
No control of release of orders to shop floor
Requirement for shop floor personnel to prioritize work based on MS Excel spreadsheet
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32. Case Example: Improvements
Customer order entry system becomes part of the ERP/MRP system
Customer service person completes transaction- no handoff to production manager (make continuous flow)
MRP system notifies purchasing to order “non-stock” parts for each customer order same day.
Shop Orders are cut after parts arrive and delivered to production based on “kanban.”
Priority spreadsheet eliminated
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33. Case Example: Future State
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Case Example: Results
Pre-production lead-time cut from 25 business days to 17 business days
Processing time cut from 250 minutes to 80 minutes
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Questions?
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