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Vol 32 - No 04 - June 2006 National events : Integrating Lean Thinking and Six Sigma into Daily Work Workshop A warm welcome to 20+ IOM delegates was given by Ian Ashley, on behalf of Unipart Logistics [UL]. Ian went on to explain how UL had developed in the 1970s from a small component manufacturing firm, within the car industry, to its present position of being one of the six most visionary companies in the UK, operating in a range of industries from Aerospace, through defence, rail, automotive, telecommunications, technology and retail. Current Unipart turnover being £1.1 bn, employing 10,000 + employees. UL’s achievements follow a Management/employee buyout in 1987 and the start of a 20 year journey of continuous learning. At the heart of the learning process is the ‘Unipart Way’ an adaptation of Lean manufacturing and six sigma tools. Chris Roberts then delivered an interesting presentation based on how UL have integrated Lean thinking and Six Sigma, beginning with the delegates’ attempts to ‘Draw a Pig’. Central to Lean thinking being the Elimination of Waste – anything that does not earn money for an organisation. Traditionally Waste has been characterised by The Toyota Motor Company as being: Transportation – any unnecessary transportation of products Inventory – holding unnecessary stock Motion – actions of people or equipment that do not add value to the product Waiting – for work, materials, etc Over Processing – working beyond what is needed to satisfy the customer Over Production – Producing more or faster than is needed Defects – need to be rectified or re-worked UL have removed waste by adopting the Lean principles developed by Toyota – World Class High Productivity, formed through a combination of Just in Time [JIT] and Jidoka, based on a foundation of Standardisation. Standardisation - achieved through a Standard Work Model where the operating processes are designed to be repeatable, reliable and capable. Standardisation is basic to continuous improvement. Using a standard approach the delegates were able to redraw a ‘pig’ , which actually resembled an animal! Just in Time – achieved through a ‘Pull’ system of operations, initiated by customer requirement, kanban and continuous flow. Jidoka – achieved through concentration on waste removal, Pokayoke and Andon. Martin Scott concluded the pre-lunch formal presentations with an interesting presentation on ‘Six Sigma’. Martin explained how six sigma is a methodology for driving business defect levels down, which concentrates on: Reliable measurement Understanding the cost of failure Analysing data for patterns Discovering the ‘root’ causes of problems Transferring learning to other activities The six sigma improvement process [DMAICT] has been developed as: Define – talk to customers about what is really wanted Measure – in a way that all can agree with Analyse – determine the critical inputs to the process Improve – improve processes to deliver required outcomes reliably Control – control critical inputs to drive process conformance Transfer learning to other areas The delegates had an opportunity to carry out some practical experiments linked to the DMAICT methodology, with some informative results, which demonstrated that the natural variability of often quite simple situations. Martin Scott concluded by emphasising the importance of problem diagnosis, which is primarily a six sigma process of understanding complexity and problem resolution, which is primarily a lean process of implementing simplicity. Ultimately the message is ‘Focus your scarce resources for maximum impact’. Ian delivered the final presentation, focussing on how the complex relationships between People, Process and Technology were integrated with error free data to allow effective decision making. The concepts of Lean operations and Six Sigma have at their centre, Team work which facilitates Speed and Process flow to delight customers, with Quality and defect reduction to improve the processes. Ian escorted the group to visit the ‘Jaguar’ partnership where we were able to see some of the Lean methods in action, particularly the ‘Programme delivery system’ - focussing on Communication, Quality, Delivery and Cost. The Performance Board within the working area gave a physical indication of how communications are central to the operation and its performance, not only at HQ but also at other sites. On-site improvements are communicated via e-mail as ‘better everyday’. The final part of the visit was to the ‘Advanced Logistics Centre’, a working model of a supply chain from the Raw Material supplier through to end consumer/customer, Manufacturer to Wholesaler, and Retailer. Ian explained how the model had been used to analyse and solve actual Supply Chain problems in the safety of an environment that whilst behaving realistically did not threaten the livelihood of any company or personnel. In conclusion – the visit to Unipart Logistics was of great interest to the delegates, who were from a variety of industries and thanks are offered to Ian Ashley, Chris Roberts and Martin Scott for an illuminating and enjoyable day. Alan Jacques, MIOM Page number: 9 Word count: 775 Related Topics: Lean manufacturing