2012 icqi vr presentation - sos 031413
TRANSCRIPT
Team-based Variability Reduction: An Application of Statistical
Engineering
Susan O. Schall, SOS Consulting, LLC
Objectives
1. Show how to put data and basic problem-solving tools in the hands of the workforce to generate improved and sustainable results
2. Provide a practical example of statistical engineering.
Agenda• Statistical Engineering• Background• VR Roadmap & Tools• Elements• Examples• Lessons Learned• Benefits• More Information/Questions
Statistical Engineering
• Hoerl & Snee* define statistical engineering as “the study of how best to use statistical concepts, methods and tools and integrate them with information technology and other relevant sciences to generate improved results.
* Hoerl, R. W., Snee, R. D. (2010). Closing the Gap: Statistical Engineering Links Statistical Thinking, Methods, Tools. Quality Progress, 43(5): 52-53.
5 Aspects Underlying Statistical Engineering*
1. A system or strategy to guide the use of statistical tools is needed to effectively use the tools.
2. The impact of statistical thinking and methods can be increased by integrating several statistical tools, enabling practitioners to deal with highly complex issues that cannot be addressed with any one method.
3. Linking and sequencing the use of statistical tools speeds the learning of the approach, thereby increasing the impact of the method.
* Hoerl, R. W., Snee, R. D. (2010). Tried and True: Organizations Put Statistical Engineering to the Test. Quality Progress, 43(6): 58-60.
5 Aspects Underlying Statistical Engineering*
4. Embedding statistical thinking and tools into daily work institutionalizes their application.
5. Viewing statistical thinking and methods from an engineering context provides a clear focus on problem solving to the benefit of humankind.
* Hoerl, R. W., Snee, R. D. (2010). Tried and True: Organizations Put Statistical Engineering to the Test. Quality Progress, 43(6): 58-60.
What is Working in Your SE/Improvement Efforts?
Which Process Would You Rather Have?
Process A Process B
Target
Which Process Would You Rather Have?
Process A• Wide swings in process
performance– Not predictable– High costs for labor &
materials– Constant fire-fighting– Difficulty maintaining
improvements
Process B• Swings in process
performance narrowed:– Predictable– Lower costs for labor and
materials– More consistent process
output– Effective corrective action– Increased flexibility
Background• Printing company with 20+ facilities in
North America.• Began continuous improvement journey in
late 1990’s, including ISO 9000, workplace organization (5S), problem-solving, employee engagement and Six Sigma.– Efforts were originally decentralized and
dependent on local leadership.– Lack of standardization and stabilization
limited impact.
VR Methodology• Design team chartered to develop a
common, team-based variability reduction (VR) methodology October, 1999.
• Methodology defined as: A structured set of tools, metrics, processes, and practices to drive results in one or more parts of a business.
VR Intent• Squeeze the variability out of the process by
instituting a standard process, identifying and eliminating sources of variability within the team’s control, and establishing the daily disciplines necessary to sustain the improvements over time.
Desired Benefits of VR• Operations teams engaged in improving
and sustaining process performance.• Standardize and stabilize the process to
yield fast and efficient results. • Minimize capital expense and risk.• Lower the “noise” in the processes so more
complex methods of understanding sources of variation (such as Six Sigma) can be used to create breakthrough improvements.
VR Roadmap• Twelve week structured roadmap using
data-based problem solving to reduce variability in a primary process metric.
• Aligned with Six Sigma DMAIC.
Key VR Tools• Process
Understanding / Documentation– Process Map / Flow
Chart– Work Instructions– Visual Display– Workplace Organization
• Team / Stakeholder– Action Register– Scorecard
• Process Analysis– Value-added Analysis– Check Sheet– Basic Statistics– Pareto Chart– Fishbone Diagram– Histogram– Run Chart – Scatter Plot
Basic Statistical
Tools
What Other Elements Are Needed for Success?
Elements of VR Methodology• Linkage to business strategy• Roles & responsibilities• Performance tracking• Documentation• Training• Coaching/Audits• Recognition
Linkage to Business Strategy• Opportunities for VR were prioritized based
on savings potential, customer demand versus current capability, availability of resources, and other initiatives impacting the process.
• Led by CI Director for each business unit.
Who Needs to be Involved?
Roles & Responsibilities• VR Sponsor: Manufacturing VP
for business unit• VR Champion: Department
Manager• VR Team Leader: Process Supervisor• VR Team: Cross functional process
members• VR Analyst: Local Six Sigma Green Belt
Performance Tracking• Key Metric: Downtime or Cycle Time• Visual displays in the process created and updated
daily.
• Automated scorecards developed with assistance of IT to inform senior leadership of status.
VARIABILITY REDUCTIONProcess Name
!
Defects
283
90
12 8
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
XXX YYY ZZZ QQQ
Defect Type
Cou
nt
Delays
80
52
16
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
AAA BBB CCC DDD
Delay Reason
Dura
tion
1 2 3 ..................................31DAYS
Prim
ary
Met
ric
Reason
Note
Mean
+3 SD
-3 SD
Variation is the Enemy!
Process:Date:
VR Began: IndicatorVR Champion: Green
VR Lead: Yellow
VR GB: Red
VR Team Members:
Date Who What When Type Status
VR Action PlanStatus
Task In-Process or Needs Follow-up
Alert! Task Behind Schedule
Task Complete
Documentation• VR Implementation Guide
– VR Roadmap – Tools– Roles & Responsibilities– Audit Process– Certification– Examples
• Intranet site for sharing best practices and success stories.
Training• Champion Training
– ½ day focused on basics of VR and Champion role• VR Team Training
– 2 consecutive days focused on VR roadmap and tools– ½ day focused on team chartering and project
management • Provided by plant Certified VR Trainer.
• Audits integrated into the VR Roadmap at 4-week intervals.
• Used to assess team progress and provide firm, honest feedback to the team and champion.
• Used to coach team and champion on next steps.
• Conducted by a second party appointed by the CI Director of the business unit.
Coaching
Recognition• Team recognition at two levels:
–Silver Certification – Granted to teams that demonstrated effective application of VR at the completion of 12 weeks.
–Gold Certification – Granted to teams that demonstrated sustained improvement of at least 15% in their primary process metric for a minimum of 90 days.
Example: Bindery Line• VR initiated on bindery line in mid-2000.• VR Team created flowcharts of line startup and
operation, analyzed for non-value-added activities and different practices between shifts and individuals.
• VR Team agreed to standard process for startup and operation of the line; documented in work instructions and used to train all operators.
• Defined categories of downtime that negatively impacted line performance; incorporated into recently developed downtime reports and used to create a “delay Pareto.”
Example: Initial Bindery Line Delay Pareto
High Book Jam: VR Team Initial Focus
Missing Signature: Six Sigma Black Belt Project
Example: High Book Jam Root Cause AnalysisC&E DIAGRAM
Infeed High Book Jams
People
Machine
Measurement
Materials
Methods
Environment
Not Jogging Signature
Not Trained
Binder Pick-up
Book Size
Timing
LineSpeed
SignaturePlacement
Transfer Setting
SelectronicBinding
Packer set-up
Static
Humidity
Temperature
Dust
Supplied Inserts
Book Size
Curled Paper
Paper Weight
General MaintenanceTransfer Belts
Electrical Transfer TimingBinder Infeed Trough
Gather RacewayRaceway Joggers
LugsInfeed Pin
Feeders
Example: High Book Jam Root Cause Analysis
Effect Multi-vote Count % of Total
Infeed Trough 90 19.48
Not Jogging Signature 72 15.58
Infeed Pin 68 14.72
Transfer Setting 60 12.99
Curled Paper 56 12.12
Packer Set-up 48 10.39
Feeders 36 7.79
Book Size 32 6.93
The trough found to be defective due to design and wear. Stainless steel trough eliminated future wear
concern.
C&E MATRIX
Example: Bindery Line Missing Sig• VR Team worked with
Black Belt to identify critical input: vacuum drop at the sucker cup.
• New gauging methodology perfected to measure and control.
• Control methods for vacuum drop and other critical inputs were transferred to other lines and plants.
Example: Bindery Line Delay Pareto Results
Missing Sig: Two Missing Signatures within Top 10
High Book Jam: Moved From #1 Delay to #3, With Significant Reduction in Hours & Occurrences
Implementation Across the Organization
• Applied to over 600 process teams – Manufacturing– Customer Service– Finance– Logistics
• Variability reduced 2-15%. • Average performance improved 4-15%.
One Function’s Experience • 40% reduction in cycle time. • Error rates reduced 70-89%.• Rework reduced 25%.• Over $300,000 annual savings in reduced
spoilages.• New revenue: Process controls put in place
by VR Team enabled $700,000 of work for a new customer.
Lessons Learned• The structured roadmap and tool set
allowed most teams to successfully implement VR in 12-20 weeks.
• Although not originally developed for nonmanufacturing processes, VR was found to work in customer service, finance, and logistics.– Language and examples in the training
materials and Implementation Guide were modified to be more “user-friendly” for both audiences.
Lessons Learned• Process supervisors have not often had
training in teambuilding, conflict resolution or team dynamics necessary to lead such a team effort and require additional training and coaching.
• VR Trainers need the equivalent of Green Belt training to train and coach teams on the data-based tools.
• Teams need the discipline to perform root cause analysis versus jumping to solution.
Lessons Learned• Consistent audit protocols are needed to
ensure consistency from audit to audit, auditor to auditor. Audit checklists were developed and used to train auditors. Also, coaching skills.
• A compliance management system that provides mechanisms for document management & control and training & audit records frees the VR team from these types of administrative tasks.
Benefits of VR• Operations teams owned daily process
improvement and were more inclined to sustain the improvements over time.
• Capital expenditures for the improvements were minimal.
• Conformance to schedule improved with the reduction in variability. Customer Service was able to commit to new work within a specified time period with more confidence.
Benefits of VR• ISO 9001 activities were integrated into
daily work in VR processes.• Efficiency of Six Sigma resources
increased. • The elements of the methodology apply to
other improvement approaches (Six Sigma, 5S, quick changeover, ISO 9001, etc.).
• Over 4 years of implementation, observed 4-10% increase in sustained throughput of manufacturing assets.
How is this Different from Your Improvement Efforts?
How Might This be Applied in Your Workplace?
What Would be the Challenges?
More Information• Article on VR appeared in recent special
issue of Quality Engineering titled: Variability Reduction: A Statistical Engineering Approach to Engage Operations Teams in Process Improvement.
• Contact Susan Schall at: [email protected] or 540-636-1418.
Questions?