The Six Sigma approach – Topics to Focus on to make your Operation More Lean
Why is the Six Sigma approach and Lean processes so important for making your operation more efficient, eliminating non-obvious problems, and making you look like a rock star?
With the Six Sigma process you get to take a step back and look at your machine shop or production floor from the 50,000 foot high level. What small changes could have a big impact by smoothing out an already well laid out setup? Refinement by any measure is always a process and is never fully complete. Take a look at the seven typical areas we look at with the lean process to ensure waste of any sort is high on our radar. These seven areas of potential waste include: overproduction, delays, transport, extra processing, extra inventory, excess motion, and defects.
Overproduction= Making Too Much:
It’s a fine balance managing a production schedule and meeting orders without falling behind or exceeding them. Unless there are product or urgent specific reasons for overproducing inventory of a certain line, in general it can cost money. The costs come in the extra space required to store extra product, storage of extra raw materials for processing, and it also makes it harder to find mistakes. Properly laid out work areas is one simple thing that can help you visually identify overproduction creep.
Delays= Waiting Around:
Idleness in any area of the process from machine breakdowns, regular cycle times, breaks for maintenance, loss of qualified machine operators, delays in receiving materials, or delays in most materials through the production line are just a few areas that delays can affect. Much like heavy traffic, delays in one area can affect production far down the line. A machine moving company can help make sure everything flows smoothly, with no waiting.
Transport= Moving Stuff From Site to Site:
If we move things more than necessary, it doesn’t make the product better. In fact, it can cause damage or accidents. A company that moves machines can help plan the movement of stuff to avoid this.
Extra Processing= Doing Extra Steps:
Sometimes we use fancy machines when a simple tool would do. A company that moves machines can help us figure out the simplest way to do things.
Extra Inventory= Having Too Much Stuff Lying Around:
Having extra stuff can hide problems. Problems can grow worse before we notice them. A company that helps move machines can help manage the amount of stuff we have to avoid this.
Excess Motion= Unnecessary Movements:
Walking, lifting, bending, or stretching more than needed can be due to a poor layout and can lead to accidents. A company that moves machines can help set things up so we move less.
Defects= Making Mistakes:
If we’re checking our work a lot, it means we’re messing up. This can cost a lot of money. A company that helps move machines can help us improve our processes to make fewer mistakes.
Starting with the existing process, it’s good practice to work through each of these buckets and list out as many potential pain areas as possible. The next steps after that collaboration and resolutions. Reach out today if you’d like help putting together a plan for your location.
