Six Sigma Simplicity

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Facilitator Notes for Simulation

General Information

• There are four total rounds in the simulation• Three applying the Lean tools• One applying Six Sigma tools

• Do as much pre-work as possible to be ready to run each round with minimal delay• Have WIP ready-made for Round 1• Have teams and their work areas

predetermined• Have runways/launch areas pre-marked with

tape for Six Sigma round

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Paper Airplane Exercise – Lean

3 Simulation Runs

• 6 piece Push• 1 piece Push• 1 piece Pull

Production Requirements

• Customer wants 36 airplanes• You have 6 minutes to deliver

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Simulation Material Requirements

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Per Team … 200 Sheets of Paper (Approx.) 50 Paper Clips Pencil Stopwatch or Watch with a Second Hand Instruction Sheets for Operations 1 – 6 WIP for Simulation Run 1

6 pieces with Operation 1 complete 6 pieces with Operations 1-2 complete 6 pieces with Operations 1-3 complete 6 pieces with Operations 1-4 complete 6 pieces with Operations 1-5 complete

50 Red Dots Masking Tape, Flipchart, Dry Erase Markers

Initial Setup – Lean

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Eight participants Material Identification (Operation 1) Fuselage Fold (Operation 2) Nose Fold A (Operation 3) Nose Fold B (Operation 4) Wing Fold (Operation 5) Shipping (Operation 6) Customer Material Handler

Visual Aids available for Operations 1 – 6 (see attached slides) Customer receives airplane and checks that they are of

acceptable quality (use judgment) Material Handler moves ALL material in Round 1 (6 Piece Push) If there are excess team members, assign them to be Observers

Initial Setup – Lean

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MaterialIdentification

FuselageFold

Nose FoldA

Nose FoldB

WingFold Shipping

Customer

Material Handler: 6pc Simulation(Moves all Material)

Facilitator should assign stations randomly for Round 1. Example below:

Initial Setup – Lean

• Clearly identify incoming and outgoing “queue” boxes between each station

• Line primed• The exercise is produced with the line primed (a

batch set in each “queue” box prior to starting each simulation), so the facilitator will need to have these ready prior to the exercise. This saves time during the exercise. Note that there should be no WIP initially in the outgoing queue at Shipping.

• This applies to all three simulations• Recruit one of the observers as a timekeeper

• The timekeeper will start and stop the simulations

• In addition, the timekeeper will alert the facilitator at 2 minutes

• This is so the facilitator can introduce a “hot” plane to the process

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Rules for Teams – Lean

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General Rules Operators must work in designated work area No work to be done within “queue” boxes All work must be done on a first in – first out basis Fold one sheet at a time! No changes to aircraft design

Round 1 (6pc Push) 6 piece batches Must do work as specified on Operation Sheets Only Material Handler moves material in 6pc simulation Work as fast as you can while maintaining quality No changes to jobs without approval of instructor

Rules for Teams – Lean

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Round 2 (1pc Push) 1 piece batches Changes limited to the tools just seen Must do work as specified on Operation Sheets, no splitting

operations Work as fast as you can while maintaining quality

Round 3 (1 Piece Pull) 1 piece batches Teams to make any changes, except no changes to aircraft design No pushing! Only produce when downstream kanban is empty!

Running the Simulation – Lean

• 6 minutes per simulation -- stop ALL activity at 6 minutes

• Introduce “hot” plane at 2 minute mark• If team has shipped all 36 airplanes required by the

customer, the line should stop – DO NOT allow the teams to flush out WIP to end up with a starved line!

• Record measurables and observations after each 6 minute simulation• The Facilitator needs to report this information on a

white board or flip chart for the group to see and talk to during the simulations

• Calculate Financial Impact (Cash Flow) as Follows:• $2 Million per Plane shipped to the customer (+)• $1 Million per every piece of W.I.P. (-)• This is an excellent tool to exhibit the financial burden on a

company for carrying excessive inventories

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Running the Simulation – Lean

• Start the timekeeper and introduce a “hot” plane at 2 minutes

• Mark the next sheet the material identification operator will process with a large “X” on each side of the sheet

• Take your time. Remember this role is as a person who only cares that he /she identified the “hot” material. This person does not care about output.

• A “hot” plane is a new style or engineering change. It must travel with the batch in which it was identified. All the “old” style planes have been ordered by the customer so they must be built as the customer order states. Think of this as flushing the system of the “old” style.

• Do not expedite the “hot” planes!!

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Facilitator Notes – Lean

Round 1 – 6pc Push

• Give a minimum of instruction to each participant as to their required activity for the 6pc batch simulation• This allows their true experiences with batch production to

be exhibited• Tell the participants that they are being evaluated by their

individual output• Quality is not a critical element here - use your discretion

Round 2 – 1pc Push

• Run same as 6pc Push round• Explain that there will be no changes to the processes (except

that the material handler can be reassigned to another production line). Clearer instructions/training can be given addressing how to perform a specific job and to clarify quality expectations.

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Facilitator Notes – Lean

Round 3 (1pc Pull)

• The paper clips will no longer be used

• Make it very clear that the Customer pulling a shipset out of their Receiving Area is the TRIGGER for Shipping to ship another shipset

• Shipping then pulls a shipset out of their “Queue” box from Wing Fold – this then triggers Wing Fold to replenish this shipset

• And on down the line

• The facilitator has to pay very close attention during the 1pc pull simulation to maintain the integrity of the Customer’s visual trigger to produce - whether the customer is outside the organization or within the organization

• Debrief 1pc Pull round AND entire exercise at the end13

Facilitator Notes – Six Sigma

Round 4 (Six Sigma)

• Use airplanes from the previous simulation run.

• Set up 2 x 4 foot runway prior to class. For purposes of this exercise, airplane does not have to land in runway or fly as far as runway – the runway provides a target for them to throw at. We are only looking at side to side variation in this exercise … but point out that we could also look at flight distance variation.

• Have teams put their problem definition on a flipchart.

• There could be some confusion as to whether they should mark the spot where the airplane hits first or where it stops. This is a good opportunity to illustrate the importance of clearly understanding the customer’s requirements. If they ask, tell them that it is the point where the airplane first hits. If they make an assumption without conferring with the customer, during the debrief you should emphasize the importance of clearly defining what the customer wants. 14

Facilitator Notes – Six Sigma

Round 4 (Six Sigma)

• Teams should review data collection plan with instructor prior to starting data collection.

• Make sure that teams are using a +/- measurement convention from the centerline.

• Use red sticky dots to mark each landing spot. This will create a nice visual distribution.

• Assist them in setting up the histogram, if necessary. Have them put the spec requirement lines on the chart.

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Work Station Examples

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01/0/08 Lot #1

Visual

Aid

01/01/08 Lot #1 04/10/98 Lot #104/10/98 Lot #1

04/10/98 Lot #104/10/98 Lot #1

04/10/98 Lot #101/01/08 Lot #1

04/10/98 Lot #104/10/98 Lot #104/10/98 Lot #104/10/98 Lot #101/01/08 Lot #1

Visual

Aid

Paper Clip “Cart”

01/01/08 Lot #1

01/01/06 Lot #1

MATERIAL IDENTIFICATION

NOSE FOLD A

NOSE FOLD B

WING FOLD

Notes

This exhibits the 6pc Batch

No Paper Clips Required for 1pc Flow

Visual

Aid

Visual

Aid

Visual

Aid

FUSELAGE FOLD

Operation 1 – Material Identification

1. Write date at left bottom corner of 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper.

2. Write lot number at right bottom corner of paper (first lot of six sheets would be Lot #1, second lot would be Lot #2, and so on).

3. Complete lot, paper clip all sheets in lot together, and put in material queue.

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7/25/03 Lot #1

Operation 2 – Fuselage Fold

1. Fold paper in half along centerline.

2. Complete lot, paper clip all sheets in lot together, and put in material queue.

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Operation 3 – Nose Fold A

1. Unfold paper and lay flat.

2. Fold each upper corner down to meet secondary lines on either side of centerline.

3. Complete lot, paper clip all sheets in lot together, and put in material queue.

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7/25/03 Lot #1

Operation 4 – Nose Fold B

1. Fold each upper corner down once again to meet secondary lines on either side of centerline.

2. Complete lot, paper clip all sheets in lot together, and put in material queue.

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7/25/03 Lot #1

Operation 5 – Wing Fold

1. Fold wing down along line 1” above centerline fold. This is a critical dimension so you’ll need to measure and mark one side of the airplane.

2. Repeat Step 1 on the other side of the fuselage.

3. Complete lot, paper clip all sheets in lot together, and put in material queue.

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1”

Operation 6 – Shipping

1. Unclip lot and count to verify correct number is in lot.

2. Record lot number.

3. Re-clip lot together, and place in queue for delivery to customer.

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