Opinion
To be able to compete, businesses need to differentiate themselves by providing products or services faster, better and at a lower cost. Jason Barclay reports.
Um im Wettbewerb bestehen zu können, müssen Unternehmen sich von anderen differenzieren, indem sie ihre Produkte oder Dienstleistungen schneller, besser und kostengünstiger anbieten. Jason Barclay berichtet.
Pour être compétitives, les entreprises doivent se différencier de la concurrence en proposant des produits ou des services de bonne qualité, à moindre coût et de manière réactive. Selon Jason Barclay.
What’s next after Lean? T
he application of Lean principles characterised by the elimination or reduction of Toyota’s ‘Seven Wastes’ (transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, over-processing, over-
production and defects) has been instrumental in helping several companies to survive during tough economic times. Lean converts have emerged fitter, more efficient and more responsive to changing situations. Most have found that the effect on their bottom lines has also been considerable – in a positive way. As a business improvement specialist, it is a fantastic feeling to have imbued staff of all levels with my enthusiasm for seeing things differently and re-engineering procedures and practices so that their company can enjoy thousands of pounds in savings. However, business improvement should be a continual process. Organisations are facing stiff competition,
either here in the UK or from abroad and products, services and technologies are easily replaceable. So, assuming that your company has already taken Lean on board, what’s next?
Many businesses have
discovered that Six Sigma, a technique pioneered by Motorola in the 1980s has proved extremely beneficial. So how does it differ from Lean? In actual fact there are many similarities: both focus on creating value for the customer; both rely on data and problem-solving tools and both require cross-functional teamwork to address issues. What’s different is
the manner in which customer value is achieved. Lean focuses on the elimination of waste through re-engineering the value stream; Six Sigma concentrates on reducing the number of defects and the variation associated with the process. In a nutshell, Lean is a ‘bottom- up’ technique whereas Six Sigma is a ‘top-down’ one. Six Sigma is a strategy
used to align business
performance with customer expectations. It uses tools designed to deliver improvements in customer value, responsiveness, quality, cost and delivery. At the heart of every Six Sigma programme is the desire to reduce the number of defects, thus contributing to the bottom line. A defect is classed as anything resulting in customer dissatisfaction – this can apply to product quality, design, processing, speed of despatch, paperwork etc. Simplify the tools and processes used and follow the DMAIC sequence:
■ Define – the business opportunity. ■ Measure – the process current state. ■ Analyse – the root cause. ■ Improve – eliminate waste and variation. ■ Control – evidence of sustained results.
“Company leaders need to make resources and time available to allow breakthrough improvements to be made and new ideas to be explored.”
Jason Barclay, General Manager of
business improvement specialists, Picme.
Some examples of root causes of defects in manufacturing or processing might be equipment condition, ie a poorly maintained machine which produces product of variable quality in inadequate quantities. It could also be the design of the equipment or the technology used is now obsolete, meaning slower operation and wastage. Or it could be that the combination of flow rate, density, pressure, chemical concentration or moisture level settings are out of kilter thereby affecting the quality or efficiency of a processed product. Deployed correctly, Six Sigma can reap huge rewards for businesses committed to the cause, but these often come in small bites. One such example is the Hartlepool Reactor Plant whose recent Green Belt project aimed to achieve a ‘blend first time’ culture. The first phase of the Six Sigma programme resulted in savings of almost £45,000 within a very short space of time. The plant generates part containers and/or ex-tanker line material after almost every batch produced on site. Over the
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