Managing Process Improvement Projects John Alexander Bowie

Lecture Content Definitions Types of Process Improvement Projects Tips for Managing Six Sigma Managing Process Improvement Projects Case Study: Rolls-Royce Inchinnan Manufacturing Facility Case Study: Implementing and Managing a Lean Six Sigma Culture in Biopharmaceuticals Case Study: Implementing Six Sigma throughout Your End-to-End Value Stream

Project Management Definition A Project is… A planned or proposed undertaking A collaborative enterprise, frequency involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim To achieve defined objectives and goals Project Management is… The application of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques throughout the lifecycle of a project

Process Improvement Project Definition A Process is… a succession of things in order; sequence; progression Examples range from… A manufacturing process to setting up a bank account – and everything in-between! A Process Improvement Project is… A project with the aim of improving a process is some ways For the customer: accuracy, timeliness, product performance, cost, value For the company: Reducing error rates, resource utilisation, unit cost, profit

Process Improvement Projects Definition The below YouTube demonstrates the benefits of process improvement

Lean Thinking Lean is about… Focus, removing waste, increasing customer value Smooth process flows, doing only those activities that add customer value and eliminate activities that don’t Introduction to Lean Manufacturing on YouTube (on the following slide)

Lean Thinking

Lean Thinking In Lean Thinking, the 7 wastes are Do not carry out unrequired activities Eliminate waiting time for people or information The movement of information, people or materials in non-value adding Eliminate process which generate further processing Eliminate wastes associated with building up inventory Avoid the waste of motion Continually strive to reduce the waste caused by defects or mistakes

Six Sigma (6σ) Sigma is… Mathematical symbol for standard deviation The Sixth Sigma is the likelihood that only 3.4 out of every 1 million data points will appear outside the sixth standard deviation Six Sigma is… Focused on specific problems A structured analytical and logically sourced approach to problem solving. A data driven methodology to understand and improve processes The clip on YouTube on the following slide provides another good introduction to what Six Sigma is.

Six Sigma (6σ)

Lean Six Sigma The key difference between Lean and Six Sigma is… Lean deals with material and information flow between processes Six Sigma deals with reduction of variation within each process step. Lean Six Sigma was then invented to Make Six Sigma into a framework for problem solving Integrate Lean and Six Sigma to have a single method which will allow superior results than each method independently

Top 10 Tips for Managing Six Sigma www.isixsigma.com || twitter.com/#!/iSixSigma Top management commitment is essential. Six Sigma is a cultural change programme and if the top level management within a company or not 100% behind the project and understand the benefits introducing Six Sigma into an organisation then the process improvement project will not succeed. The top management should be trained in Six Sigma first. All leaders should be trained as Six Sigma Champions. This allows more people within an organisation to understand the benefits of Six Sigma and make sure they ‘ask the right questions of Six Sigma practitioners’.

Top 10 Tips for Managing Six Sigma Include Six Sigma planning within the business operating plan. By including Six Sigma project savings into future plans of the company, the organisation is buying into the project and engaging the project to ensure it succeeds. Select the right consultant to train your Belts. It is important to remember that ‘you will be best trained by a Six Sigma practitioner (Black Belt or Master Black Belt) rather than an academic who will teach you only the theory’. Investing in Black Belt training programmes for employees takes time (4-5 months) and it is important to make sure the right people deliver the training.

Top 10 Tips for Managing Six Sigma Ensure the Return on Training investment is a least 20 times. This will ensure the financial viability of introducing Six Sigma into the organisation is sound. It can be done by ‘good project definition and correct practitioner allocation’. Create a certification process. And make sure it is ‘rigorous and true’. This will ensure that only candidates of the required standard are certified and it maintains a minimum standard of practitioner while allowing more employees to become certified. Key stakeholders in the Six Sigma project should sign on project certificates ‘declaring that the benefits have actually started accruing’.

Top 10 Tips for Managing Six Sigma Get the movement going at the shop floor level. Don’t just have a few Black Belts or Green Belts in the organisation working on projects all the time. Have shop floor operators and supervisors trained into the use of the tools and techniques of Six Sigma. The will engage them into the process and allow them to ‘own’ projects and make improvements on their own. It is suggested that project leaders and their team members are rewarded when they receive certification (Black Belt, Green Belt etc). Other people in the organisation should aspire to achieve certification so it is important to instil this in employees and certified candidates ‘should be adequately compensated during their annual performance review’.

Top 10 Tips for Managing Six Sigma Develop a mentoring process. Ensure that new candidates are partnered with more experience practitioners to ensure knowledge exchange and guidance for new candidates. This ensures that ‘course corrections are made regularly and the projects get completed on time’. Ensure financial validation of projects. Ensure that the savings made of projects using Six Sigma are recognised. Ensure the ‘project metrics continue to be tracked after the project is declared complete’. This will allow tracking of long term financial benefits of introducing Six Sigma.

Top 10 Tips for Managing Six Sigma Never allow Six Sigma to be classified as a Quality Manager’s job. ‘A Quality Manager's role is distinct and s/he will not be in position to manage the Six Sigma process as for the entire business.’

Case Studies The next section of the material focuses on case studies to provide information of how these process improvement methodology projects are managed.

Case Study 1 Rolls-Royce Inchinnan Manufacturing Facility Opened in 2004 Manufactures aero engine components Initially struggled to manufacture components correctly poor efficiency high costs

Case Study 1 cont. A process improvement project was initiated Managed using large quantities of data to analyse the process AND intellectual capability of employees

Case Study 1 cont. Manufacture process improved dramatically over 4 years, currently manufacturing at 4.5σ and aiming for 6σ How was it successfully managed? High level manager buy in Buy in at shop floor level Financial validation of project insured

Case Study 1 cont. Why were the critical factors in making the project a success? Shop floor employee engagement Process automation Key engagement of shop floor workers into the benefits of process automation Successful cost reduction through an increase in the number of products manufactured Right First Time

Case Study 2 Implementing and Managing a Lean Six Sigma Culture in Biopharmaceuticals Listen to the podcast (YouTube) on the following slide and think about the following questions How did GlaxoSmithKline begin its six sigma implementation? What are the key things to maintain while creating a programme that fits an organisation? Why are some companies inhibited by Lean Six Sigma and what advice do you have for them to take the initial step?

Case Study 2

Case Study 2 Question Answers Answers to the questions posed on the previous slide can be found in the word document hand out

Case Study 3 Implementing Six Sigma throughout Your End-to-End Value Stream Listen to the podcast (YouTube) on the following slide and think about the following questions What major aspects do companies beginning to implement six sigma throughout their end to end value stream need to know beforehand to be successful? What do Mr Coole see as the major challenges of integrating six sigma throughout the entire value stream and how can companies overcome them? What are the key things that would allow a culture to continue to focus on continuous quality improvement once a programme has been fully implemented within the organisation?

Case Study 3

Case Study 3 Question Answers Answers to the questions posed on the previous slide can be found in the word document hand out

Conclusion Definitions have been considered Tips for Managing Process Improvement Projects have been considered in detail Industrial relevant case studies have been examined YouTube has been incorporated to ensure an interactive experience All the points are discussed in more detail in the association word document notes.