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#1 Woman in the history of Process Improvement and Operational Excellence

The female equivalent of ‘W. Edwards Deming' or Joseph Juran, Lillian Gilbreth understood the principles of Lean and Six Sigma 60 years before those names even existed for process improvement.

 

Together with her husband, Frank, the couple placed high value on efficiency when managing an organization. Their management theory outlined three main points:

1. Reduce the number of motions in a task.

Frank and Lillian coined the term "therbligs," or elemental motions required for tasks in the workplace. They used these 18 units to analyze how tasks were completed – searching for an object with eyes or hands, grasping an object with hands, assembling and disassembling two parts, etc. From there, they'd figure out which motions were necessary, then eliminate any unnecessary motions to increase efficiency.

2. Focus on the incremental study of motions and time.

As engineers, Frank and Lillian closely studied motion and time to calculate the most efficient way to complete a given task. Taking the scientific approach, they measured time and motion to 1/2000 of a second to understand what works best. Their insight was unlike that of most other theorists, as they channeled physical science rather than psychology.

3. Increase efficiency to increase profit and worker satisfaction.

Your main goal as a leader should be increasing efficiency in each individual employee, and in the organization as a whole. Not only will this method save time, it will also afford you a higher profit and happier workers.

Lillian Gilbreth

 

See also:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_9RlfBdLvE8

 

Lillian Evelyn Moller Gilbreth was an American psychologist, industrial engineer, consultant, and educator who was an early pioneer in applying psychology to time-and-motion studies. She was described in the 1940s as "a genius in the art of living." Wikipedia

 

Died: 2 January 1972, Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Hard Facts of Business Efficiency by Frank Woollard

Frank Woollard was a British industrial engineer in the 1920s, and he said:

“This principle of ‘benefit for all’ is not based on altruistic ideals – much as these are to be admired – but upon the hard facts of business efficiency.”     

Minitab analysis of DOE Catapult experiment in classroom

British Shipyards did not learn the process improvement techniques of Shigeo Shingo.

Apart from Shigeo Shingo's obvious success with the Toyota Production System, one other notable achievement was creating a production system in ship building at Mitsubishi Shipbuilding in Japan from 1950 to 1953 that reduced ship production time by 50%.  Why did British Shipyards not follow these same techniques for improvement ? As a result the British Ship building industry was essentially beaten into submission by the 1980's and most British Shipyards were closed.   Were the British managers of Shipyards and British politicians complacent or ignorant or just not up to the challenge of changing the processes and culture and therefore 'threw in the towel' ?

http://www.process-improvement-japan.com/shigeo-shingo.html

Health Care IT using Six Sigma as basis for improvement....not software

Orlando, Florida : Health IT Conference, Feb 19 - Feb 23, 2017

“You have to take a hard honest look at what you are doing today. Six Sigma is good at that,”

said Chuck Spurr the CIO at Shields Health Care Group, speaking on the opening day ofthe Health IT Conference in Orlando, Florida

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/secret-shields-success-six-sigma

“First we were throwing software at the problem, but that’s a problem with IT. We build to the specs we are given. So when software alone doesn’t solve issues, we blame everybody, the users, the specs, we blame all over the place.”

In Six Sigma, “all over the place” doesn’t cut it, especially when it comes to the data leaders need to been able to trust in order to make decisions.

Breaking it down, Six Sigma is all about organizing processes and fostering open communication. For example, Spurr said Shields previously grappled with a low rate of payment from patients, but there were concerns that removing patients who wouldn’t pay would cause an uproar among the referral community. The problem, though, was Shields didn’t have any real data to support those concerns. So Shields isolated one pilot location to measure complaints, and in the end, they really didn’t have many. Couple that with the launch of a pre-service collection process and Shields ended up getting 30 percent of payments up front. Something they had not expected.

See video of Chuck Spurr talking 6-Sigma here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnd0szNrC2A

Respect for the Human Worker in the new Lean world of Robotic Process Automation ( RPA )

The new technology of 'Robotic Process Automation' ( RPA )  has the potential for huge cost savings for companies however NOT by replacing workers with computers or robots.

Instead RPA allows repetitive or logic based process decisions to be done by computer programs ( Robots) rather than humans and thus eliminating the following wastes:

1.  Eliminates the Waste of waiting for a decision from a human. Robots work 24/7 365 days and never take breaks.  They are always available to make decisions and hence there is  zero waiting time. 

2. Eliminates the Waste of the incorrect decision being made by Human Error.  Decisions instead are based on Business Rules and Logic that has been  designed and carefully programmed by a consensus of the process and business experts, with careful consideration of customer needs and expectations.   

3.  Elimination of Re-Work, Scrap, Lost Customers or Penalty costs due to incorrect decisions being made by Human error.   Reduction in the Cost of Poor Quality ( COPQ), an important concept in Lean Six Sigma, first introduced by Joseph Juran in the 1980's.

4.  Elimination of repetitive, tedious and time-consuming transactional activities for Humans that reduce worker moral and reduce time allowed for customer relationship building, sales, design / redesign and problem solving.

Use of RPA allows time for workers to be involved in Value-Added activities that cannot be done by Robots such as 

• Relationship Building with customers,   
• Sales and Marketing/ advertising
• Design or Re-design or products or Services,   
• Design of Re-design of process,  
• Programming of the Robots for greater and greater efficiency.  

By John Dennis

May 28th 2017

Toyota continues tradition of a 'No-Layoff' policy for its full-time workers. Respect for Workers.

Top 5 reasons why the Toyota management model ( also called 'The Toyota Way' ) is so good @lean6st

1. Toyota enjoys a market value that's twice the combined market value of its next five competitors—with only one-sixth as many employees
2. Toyota as never laid off any full-time salaried employees due to economic downturns in its entire corporate history ( it has however laid-off part-time or hourly workers ).
3. Toyota has learned to treat employees/unions and suppliers as partners, defusing potential labor problems before they ever start
4. Toyota makes a strong and genuine commitment to environmental improvement, in an industry widely known for its stonewalling on the issue
5. Toyota will sometimes compensate an entire class of customers, as they did to all Lexus purchasers in 1996–97, following complaints about tire life; every purchaser got a $500 coupon, whether or not they'd complained

Even in 2017 the USA Toyota factories have a policy of relocation of workers rather then layoffs and all workers receive new job offers ;

See http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/foreign/2017/01/03/toyota-workforce-reduction/96103714/

The Kentucky Enquirer  / Detroit News : Jan 3, 2017  Jan. 3, 2017

Workers have begun relocating from Toyota’s Erlanger plant and will continue through the end of 2018, The Kentucky Enquirer reported.

The company, which is moving its facilities to the Dallas suburb of Plano, said the move will affect 648 workers. All employees received a job offer as part of the restructuring, company spokeswoman Kelly Stefanich said.

Lean and Six Sigma Competencies as defined by ISO-18404

Lean and Six Sigma competencies

There are three levels of competency for Lean and Six Sigma described in the ISO-18404 standard: Lean Practitioner, Leader, and Expert; and Six Sigma Green, Black, and Master Black Belt. “Lean & Six Sigma” is simply a combination of the competencies of the equivalent Lean and Six Sigma levels, and follows the same belt structure as Six Sigma. For each level, the standard lists competencies, performance criteria, and suggested evidence of understanding, applying, managing, and training the competency.

LeanThere are 18 competencies described for Lean Practitioner, Leader, and Expert. The focus of the Lean Practitioner level is on understanding and applying the Lean Principles, change at individual and organisational level, workplace optimization (see 5S), and analysis and measurement of data and process improvement. At Lead Leader and Expert level there is additional focus on stakeholder management, team engagement, and reporting skills, as well as a shift towards management and teaching of the competencies. The expectations of the three levels are summarized in the table below:

Level	Expectations
Lean Practitioner	1. Work to implement improvements in the local area 2. Use workplace layout techniques to improve process flow 3. Be required to lead improvement activities and quantify benefits delivered 4. Coach team members on process improvement methods and activities 5. Run training sessions on Lean techniques
Lean Leader	1. Work with the local ‘line management’ to identify and drive improvement within the local environment 2. Use takt times and cycle times to identify appropriate resource requirements 3. Be required to lead improvement activities and quantify benefits delivered 4. Coach Lean practitioners on process improvement methods and activities 5. Run training sessions on Lean techniques
Lean Expert	1. Lead improvement initiatives as required 2. Determine if any training activities are appropriate and effective 3. Provide training in Lean approaches to Lean leaders as required 4. Assist in the identification of suitable areas for Lean implementation 5. Assist in periodic reviews of the implementation 6. Provide internal consultancy in Lean 7. Provide support so that improvements identified are realized and maintained 8. Coach and mentor the Lean leaders in the implementation of Lean principles and the selection and use of the techniques required 9. Work regularly with senior management to build Lean awareness, Lean skills and support for implementation 10. Perform Lean audits at site level and use the results to identify future Lean events 11. Benchmarking 12. Instigate/coordinate reward and recognition as appropriate

Six Sigma
There are 23 competencies for Six Sigma in ISO 18404, which are consistent across all the levels. As with Lean, as one progresses to the higher belts there is more attention to specific techniques and to managing and teaching the competencies. We’re not Six Sigma experts so we can’t comment on the appropriateness of the standard in this area, however, the approach and tools and techniques in ISO 18404 have been drawn from ISO 13053-1 and -2.

Six Sigma Catapult Game Enhanced 2017

National Health Service NHS needs Lean Six Sigma

Watching the Andrew Marr show on BBC TV this morning and Sir Robert Naylor a leading figure in the NHS said something that agrees with the principles of Lean Six Sigma .... he said that is not all about throwing more money at the problems ... or just focusing on reducing costs ... it is the processes that need to be understood and improved and root causes of problems corrected. my colleague Chris Alcock presently helping a health care authority near Milton Keynes in Lean Six Sigma.  I also taught a class of 22 NHS employees last year in London... however they were mostly junior administrators and they told me it is the Medical Consultants and High level doctors who hold a lot of the power and are among the hardest to get to change their habits.

Personalised attention and Chaos or Standardization and Stability ?

Chris Alcock ( Master Black Belt ) asks this question :

Would you rather me go the extra mile for a patient or follow a good process?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/09/nurse-spared-jail-after-fatal-blood-transfusion-mix-up

I know which sounds better, but which would you actually rather have?

Good healthcare by dint of extraordinary effort?

Or a process that leads the nurse or doctor to the most accurate and fastest outcome most of the time?

A good definition of a PULL production system

Good definition of a Pull production system.

What Is main Difference between a Push and Pull production system?

A pull production system is one that explicitly limits the amount of work in process that can be in the system. [...] a push production system is one that has no explicit limit on the amount of work in process that can be in the system. (Hopp and Spearman "To Pull or Not to Pull")

A True pull has an upper limit on work in progress, WIP

The Kanban system dictates a fixed upper limit on the work in progress. You cannot have more material than what is allowed by the kanban card ( or signal). The limit is explicitly defined by the kanban card ( or signal )

Selected Source:

Hopp, Wallace J., and Mark L. Spearman. “To Pull or Not to Pull: What Is the Question?” Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 6, No. 2 (April 1, 2004): 133–48. doi:10.1287/msom.1030.0028.

Ronald Fisher and Karl Pearson the Grandfathers of Six Sigma !

Why are Ronald Fisher and Karl Pearson not celebrated and discussed more in Six Sigma forums and in Lean Six Sigma training courses the same way as the likes of Shewhart, Deming and Juran ?  ( I am already telling my students about them !)  Could it be because Fisher and Pearson's main focus was not on Industrial Manufacturing and Business ?   Nevertheless, many of the statistics used today in Six Sigma tools and techniques ( Correlation, Regresssion, DOE , Capability Analysis etc ) are based on the work of either Ronald Fisher or Karl Pearson.  If Walter Shewhart is the Father of Statistical Process Control, then surely Fisher and Pearson are the Grandfathers !

The truth behind the 7 wastes…not what most people think !

The truth behind the 7 wastes…not what most people think !

In most training courses about the '7 wastes' ( or the 8 wastes … TIM WOOD, DOWNTIME, WORM PIT etc ) it is taught as if there was something magical and all-inclusive about this number 7 ( or 8). This was certainly not the intention of Taiichi Ohno, originator of the 7 wastes at Toyota and architect of TPS. The true intention of Ohno was to give a few examples of some key area where waste if found, however he made it clear that wasted time, effort, energy is present wherever work is being done and can take many different forms depending on what we are working on. The important point is to be able to recognize where the waste is in our work and to always strive to reduce it. On page 175 of the 100th Birthday edition of 'Workplace Management' by Taiichi Ohno ( original Japanese edition 1982 ), Ohno is quoted as follows, and I think this explains all that needs to be said :

‘‘…people often talk ‘ about ‘the seven types of waste’. This might have started when the book came out, but waste is not limited to seven types. There is an old expression : ‘He without bad habits has seven’, meaning even if you think there is no waste you will find seven types. So I came up with Overproduction, Waiting etc., but that doesn’t mean that there are only seven types. So don’t bother thinking about ‘what type of waste is this?’ Just get on with it an do kaizen. ’’

( Quote on p 175, references on p 179 Workplace Management :Taiicho Ohno 100th Birthday edition. )

Top 20 Hospitals in USA all have Lean programs...and some have Six Sigma too !

Chris Alcock and I have recently been researching the penetration of Lean or  Six Sigma or Lean 6 Sigma in hospitals in the USA.

http://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview

The above URL names the top 20 best hospitals in the USA, 2016,  according to a detailed study undertaken by the US News magazine. (See also text attachment)

So I started from the top, seeing which ones had undertaken Lean / 6S / L6S initiatives.

1st place Hospital - yes

2nd place Hospital - yes

3rd place Hospital - yes

4th place Hospital - yes

...

9th place Hospital - yes

10th place Hospital - yes

...

19th place Hospital - yes

20th place Hospital - yes

All yes!

We have the URLs of our research as evidence.

We also found evidence of the use of Lean Six Sigma ( not just Lean )...

...hallelujah!  

http://southfloridahospitalnews.com/page/2014_Year_in_Review__West_Palm_Beach_VA_Medical_Center/9733/1/

Cost Savings/Efficiencies

• Completed 18 LEAN/Six-Sigma projects with substantial sustained improvements; three were VA Network (Florida & Caribbean) award winners.

• Added three new dialysis stations to our unit with a projected savings in Non-VA Care of $500,000.

• Completed first renewable energy project by installing photovoltaic panels on two campus buildings that will reduce FP&L consumption by 50%.

 

 

Charleen R. Szabo is West Palm Beach VA Medical Center Director. For more information, visitwww.westpalmbeach.va.gov.

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Conclusion: Lean 6 Sigma is used by all of the best hospitals in the USA. And Virginia Mason wasn't even in the top 20!

That is a pretty powerful body of evidence in support of Lean and Six Sigma.

Does a Black Belt need to know and use CPM and PERT methods for project management ?

Hello,

I was just asked by Rene C. from Nice, France, while he was preparing for his Black Belt, if he needed to know the details of how to use Critical Path Method ( CPM )  or Program Evaluation and Review Tequnique ( PERT ) in order to be a Black Belt ?

This is a common question so I though I would repeat my answer to Rene here.

Rene,

In order to pass the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt exam ( whether it is IASSC, ASQ or any other examination body ) you will NOT be required to know about the details for how to calculate the Critical Path ( CPM) of a project or use the PERT method for project / activity duration.  You should be familiar will all the concepts of CPM, PERT, WBS and Gantt Charts however this is not tested in any detail in the exams.

A Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belts needs understand that in the IMPROVE phase of a DMAIC project you will need to 1.  Choose the best solution to correct the Root Cause of the problem  2. Pilot or Prototype the solution  3.  Provide a Control and Training Plan for the solution so you and then workers know what to do as soon as it is implemented  4.  Implement the solution into production / business-as-usual.

The details of the skills, tools and knowledge required for the Implementation part of the IMPROVE phase are part of the Body of Knowledge for Implementation Project Managers and are found in such courses as PRINCE2 and the PMP or CAPM certifications ( see PMP.org).   This is where you would be tested on the details of CPM, PERT, Network diagrams, Gantt Charts etc.

It is often appropriate for a a Black Belt to choose and appoint a separate Implementation Project Manager just for the Implementation part of the IMPROVE phase since the Project Management skills required for Implementation have a different focus than those of a Black Belt.

Here are 2 quick 5 minute videos covering CMP and PERT that give everything you need to know as a Black Belt,  but even this will NOT be tested in your BB exam.

CPM  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG3548XNuhM

PERT   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsJeCOzsJVs

I hope this helps.  Let me know if anything is still not clear.

Optimization : Making the most of what your customers want

During my years teaching in Lean Six Sigma I have found myself using the word 'Optimization' at least once a week during my classes...usually during the part about 'Designed Experiments' and 'Response Surface Methods' ,  however I have recently been thinking that the word 'Optimization' should be introduced to Students much earlier during the "Fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma'' sections of the class.  It strikes me that "Optimization' is the perfect ENGLISH word for the goal of Lean Six Sigma with regards to the Outputs of Processes and the resources that provide them in the process.   In general terms we want to Optimize the 'Value' of the Outputs 'in the eyes of the customer',  while at the same time 'Optimizing'  the use of our resources to deliver that value.  In less general terms Optimization needs to be applied to such Output measures such as Comfort, On-time Delivery,  Product Availability,  Product Purity, Battery Life,  Durability,  Price ...things important to our customers....while at the same time also Optimizing the use of our time, people  machines,  vehicles,  storage space, electricity, energy etc.

Kudos to Joseph Burk and his excellent book ' Cost Reduction and Optimization for Manufacturing and Industrial Companies'  in which he points out specifically that the concepts have been used in Operations Management in the west for decades,  however Lean Six Sigma still treats it as something 'new' and not a fundamental method/tool/principal.

Edward C. Lai  and his presentation ' Lean Six Sigma Optimization'  http://www.slideshare.net/elai1001/lssowebsite  does a good job of tying together the fact that Optimization is essentially what Lean Six Sigma is all about .... however it is still somewhat used only as a synonym for 'improvement' and does not examine how a mathematical model of a process can be Optimized for both outputs to customer and resources used by the process.

The Lean Enterprise Institute use the word Optimize twice when describing the essence of 'Lean' on its website http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/  however unfortunately the word and the concept then does not appear again in its tools and techniques or major principles of Lean.

Optimization of both what is important to customers ( VOC ) and internal business measures ( VOB ) often involves conversion of the business problem into a mathematical problem,  and solving the mathematical problem.  This is of course what much of Six Sigma methodology is about,  so fits perfectly into the Lean Six Sigma tool set.    The mathematics is often quite complicated and will require advanced mathematical modelling skills,  however this does not mean that every Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt ( or even Master Black Belt ) needs to know the complex mathematics....that where external consultants / academics who are experts in mathematical modeling can be brought into our teams.  It is however important that all Green Belts and Black Belts are introduced to the concepts of Optimization and are clear how it is an important tool to be used in DMAIC ( A and I phases )...and is another fundamental Goal of Lean Six Sigma projects.  In summary I propose a statement such as 'Optimization of Customer most-valued outputs while also Optimizating the process resources'.
One last point... I believe that if the Japanese had introduced their word for it 'Saiteki-ka" and were using it in their TPS system,  then we would all be using it today in the West !   Too late for them ... let's stick with the Engish !

(Nice summary of the mathematical concept  below ( applied to Optimizing Shelf Space in a Supermarket)  and link to where you can read more about it ).

Optimization

Optimization is the science / process behind finding the best solution for a problem with given constraints. We come across optimization problems on a daily basis. These can be for finding the shortest path between your work place and office; maximizing revenues / customer happiness or minimizing costs / debts etc. We basically take a real world problem, model it mathematically and then solve it using mathematical techniques with in the constraints. Optimization is useful in Marketing, Manufacturing, Finance, Online advertising, Machine Learning and all fields you can imagine.
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2016/09/a-beginners-guide-to-shelf-space-optimization-using-linear-programming/

Optimization : Making the most of what your customers want

During my years teaching in Lean Six Sigma I have found myself using the word 'Optimization' at least once a week during my classes...usually during the part about 'Designed Experiments' and 'Response Surface Methods' ,  however I have recently been thinking that the word 'Optimization' should be introduced to Students much earlier during the "Fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma'' sections of the class.  It strikes me that "Optimization' is the perfect ENGLISH word for the goal of Lean Six Sigma with regards to the Outputs of Processes and the resources that provide them in the process.  Why was it not used more by Toyota,  Motorola or in the books by Womack et al during the growth of Lean Six Sigma in the 1990's ?  In general terms we want to Optimize the 'Value' of the Outputs 'in the eyes of the customer',  while at the same time 'Optimizing'  the use of our resources to deliver that value.  In less general terms Optimization needs to be applied to such Output measures such as Comfort, On-time Delivery,  Product Availability,  Product Purity, Battery Life,  Durability,  Price ...things important to our customers....while at the same time also Optimizing the use of our time, people  machines,  vehicles,  storage space, electricity, energy etc.

Kudos to Joseph Burk and his excellent book ' Cost Reduction and Optimization for Manufacturing and Industrial Companies'  in which he points out specifically that the concepts have been ued in Operations Management in the west for decades,  however Lean Six Sigma still only uses the word either in a very general sense as a synonym for 'improvement'  or else in relation to Designed Experiments.

Interestingly enough,  Lean.org and the Lean Enterprise Institute  ( Womack, Jones, Shook et al ) use the work twice on their webpage giving an overview of Lean,  however it is then hardly mentioned as a tool/method/principle anywhere else.  See http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/

Opimization is also not included at all in Thomas Pyzdek's 'bible' of Six Sigma,  The Six Sigma Handbook,  which is highly promoted by the ASQ as the 'go-to book'  on Six Sigma.

Optimization of both what is important to customers ( VOC ) and internal business measures ( VOB ) often involves conversion of the business problem into a mathematical problem,  and solving the mathematical problem.  This is of course what much of Six Sigma methodology is about,  so fits perfectly into the Lean Six Sigma tool set.    The mathematics is often quite complicated and will require advanced mathematical modelling skills,  however this does not mean that every Lean Six Sigma Green or Black Belt ( or even Master Black Belt ) needs to know the complex mathematics....that where external consultants / academics who are experts in mathematical modeling can be brought into our teams.  It is however important that all Green Belts and Black Belts are introduced to the concepts of Optimization and are clear how it is an important tool to be used in DMAIC ( A and I phases )...and is another fundamental Goal of Lean Six Sigma projects.  In summary I propose a statement such as 'Optimization of Customer most-valued outputs while also Optimizating the process resources'.
One last point... I believe that if the Japanese had introduced their word for it 'Saiteki-ka" and were using it in their TPS system,  then we would all be using it today in the West !   Too late for them ... let's stick with the Engish !

(Nice summary of the mathematical concept  below ( applied to Optimizing Shelf Space in a Supermarket)  and link to where you can read more about it ).

Optimization

Optimization is the science / process behind finding the best solution for a problem with given constraints. We come across optimization problems on a daily basis. These can be for finding the shortest path between your work place and office; maximizing revenues / customer happiness or minimizing costs / debts etc. We basically take a real world problem, model it mathematically and then solve it using mathematical techniques with in the constraints. Optimization is useful in Marketing, Manufacturing, Finance, Online advertising, Machine Learning and all fields you can imagine.
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2016/09/a-beginners-guide-to-shelf-space-optimization-using-linear-programming/