Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers



Engineering Lean & Six Sigma Conference 2013

Sept. 23-25

Atlanta



Tuesday, September 24

TRACK: Teaching Lean & Six Sigma

9:15 – 10 a.m.

Electronic Medical Records: Post-Implementation Process Improvement

Sarah Bonzo, director of the transformation management office, Rochester General Health System

#15 (All)

Objectives:

• Highlight opportunities for post-EMR (electronic medical record) implementation process improvement and optimization.

• Review the concept of clinical intent in future-state EMR design with multidisciplinary clinical teams.

• Understand the importance of combining process improvement methodologies with structured IT project management.

• Review differences and challenges in sustainment and operational ownership of technological improvements.

The implementation of the electronic medical record (EMR) is a period of great challenge and opportunity for the health system. Post-implementation, the system will typically go through both stabilization and optimization phases. The optimization phase, in particular, presents great opportunities for leader and physician engagement in lean activities. This presentation will review the importance and role of process improvement within the optimization phase. Specifically, we explore the timeline, approach, and lessons learned in EMR optimization through case studies and participant observation.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Manufacturing

9:15 – 10 a.m.

Harnessing Poke-Yoke for Process Control and Product Quality

Merwan Mehta, Ph.D., associate professor, East Carolina University

#37 (B)

Objectives:

• The concept of Poke-Yoke

• Tools to implement Poke-Yoke

• How to harness Poke-Yoke to make processes robust through actual examples

In this session, attendees will learn how to harness Poke-Yoke for process control and improve product quality. The concept of Poke-Yoke was created by Dr. Shigeo Shingo, who worked for the Toyota Manufacturing Co., and is a Japanese term for mistake proofing. The concept professes to prevent errors from happening in the first place. As a backup, if an error has happened due to any reason, Poke-Yoke then shows techniques that can be deployed to quickly detect the error and not allow it to affect process and product quality. The application of Poke-Yoke requires a change in traditional thinking from managers blaming lack of quality and errors on slack employees. The concept forces managers to appreciate that people are fallible and will always make mistakes, but there are ways to control processes that will prevent errors from happening, and it is the manager’s job to create a process that is fool-proof. The jewel of Poke-Yoke, the checklist, will be discussed in detail through actual on the job applications.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Healthcare

9:15 – 10 a.m.

Improving On-Time Appointment Starts – A Retrospective Overview

Grace Bourke, certified black belt, Sutter Health

#6 (B)

Objectives:

• Methods, results to date and lessons learned for reducing patient wait times on appointment days

• Includes baseline and improved metrics and specific improvements made

Reducing the amount of time patients wait to see a physician on the day of the appointment was a lofty goal for a medium-sized physician office in Northern California. After eight months of process improvement efforts, this office was experiencing patient dissatisfaction at having to wait. Initial data showed the DPMO was approximately 782,000 for patients waiting less than 15 minutes. Into the project, the office realized that the critical function was getting the physician walking in the exam room at the scheduled start. The project became: On-Time Appointment Starts. Focusing improvement efforts on this target, the office reduced the variation in on-time appointment starts from 11.4 minutes to 9.2 minutes and reduced the average minutes late from 14.4 minutes to 11 minutes. The improvements have been noticeable to patients with both patient satisfaction and access metrics showing improvement.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Energy

9:15 – 10 a.m.

Lean Applications to Enhance Shale Oil Production

Alfred D'Ambrosio, Hess Corp., and Ertunga Ozelkan, Ph.D., associate professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

#53 (I)

Crude oil production in the U.S. has embraced new technology and is capable of capturing previously uneconomical quantities of hydrocarbons. This production methodology has many of the qualities of a manufacturing process utilizing continuous and repetitive processes. With the implementation of lean, the oil production techniques have shifted from unique single-point batch processes to repetitive processes requiring continuous improvement to maximize value. This research builds on an initial study that examined how lean system strategies have been incorporated into the oil production development process resulting in cost savings and enhanced recovery. The expanded research looks at validating previously reported results in the public domain and in the literature through the verification of field data to identify best practices.

TRACK: Teaching Lean & Six Sigma

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Team Member Learning in a Lean Environment

M. Abbot Maginnis, instructor and senior technical transfer manager, University of Kentucky

#16 (All)

Objectives:

• Establishing stable and standard conditions are fundamental to creating an environment of continuous improvement

• Significant learning takes place during the process of stabilization

• The use of systematic problem solving to establish and maintain stability contributes significantly to team member learning and improvement productivity

• Focusing on eliminating challenges to performing standardized work reduces team member burden and improves quality

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of standardized work, waste elimination and systematic problem solving as practiced by Toyota on team member (TM) learning during the improvement process. Two-station production cells making the same product were used to conduct learning curve studies on TMs from two treated and two untreated teams. Learning curves (LC) were constructed using cycle time data collected during all runs by both teams. The results of LC analysis indicate improvements made within a lean environment resulted in a significant increase in relative learning compared to those conducted under more traditional improvement conditions. The increased learning was also accompanied by a decrease in defects and resulted in less TM burden. This study highlights the importance of focusing transformation activities on creating the ability to support standardization before conducting kaizen activities.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Manufacturing

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Lean-Six Sigma in low Volume-high Diversity Manufacturing Environment

Raquel Reif, senior quality engineer, Curt G. Joa, Inc.

#22 (All)

Objectives:

• Applying lean Six Sigma in a low-volume, high-diversity, unique design parts manufacturing environment

• Creating a machine shop rejects and nonproductive time measuring system

• Six Sigma practice with attribute data

• Reducing nonproductive costs in a machine shop using lean Six Sigma

We are applying lean and Six Sigma in a manufacturing environment with high diversity, low volume, and unique design parts. We established a reject and nonproductive time measuring system, which gave us the necessary data to determine the main type of reject, frequency and nonproductive costs related. We were able to analyze these data and find the root causes to apply corrective actions. Our goal was reducing the main failure mode in a minimum of 20 percent using lean and Six Sigma tools, reducing the rework and scrap costs as a consequence.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Healthcare

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Engaging Frontline Employees in Problem Solving to Provide Ideal Care

Isaac Mitchell, lean practitioner, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital

#13 (B)

Objectives:

• Utilize lean methodologies for daily problem solving through A3 thinking.

• Develop frontline staff as thinking problem solvers.

• Create a lean management system that engages frontline staff.

Healthcare providers have traditionally been praised for their ability to work around problems and create quick fixes. By using lean management methods, frontline staff can engage in problem solving that gets to the root cause of problems and develop sustainable solutions. Hospitals are filled with highly educated and skilled employees who are extremely passionate and dedicated to their work. Why then are only a select few managers and change agents expected to solve problems? By engaging all frontline staff in problem solving, hospitals can improve patient/staff satisfaction, reduce waste and accomplish the best possible patient care. To accomplish this, employees are trained in lean, value stream mapping, and A3 thinking. By engaging staff in this bottom-up approach to problem solving there is an increased adoption rate, ownership, and sustainment of projects over a top-down approach where solutions are created by management. Frontline staff has initiated several changes to the way care is delivered. From reducing wasted employee time inventorying to reducing the patient’s length of stay, these far-reaching projects have improved the efficiency of care while ensuring the best usage of the caregiver’s time and talents.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Energy

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Lean Implementation in Energy Sector

Rajitha Nakka, Student, University of Southern Mississippi

#67 (I)

Objectives:

• Focuses on various lean methodologies that can be implemented in the energy sector

• Identify best practices for enhancing energy efficiency, emphasizing lean Six Sigma and value stream mapping techniques

• Describe innovative techniques for optimization of cost by minimizing energy use

Among many challenges faced by the energy economy, higher cost of energy production is the prime driver of the growing energy crisis. Increasing cost of energy due to the decrease in the production of oil and natural gas products will have tremendous adverse effects on the growth and development of the industrial sector. The producing companies are focusing more attention on reducing the energy waste that would have a significant impact on the bottom line. Lean technique has proven to be a promising tool for increasing energy efficiency in the industrial sector. The lean and energy approach, if coupled together, would be an elegant pairing that promises transformation of operations rather than a piecemeal approach. Various lean tools and techniques have proved to be potential tools in improving the energy efficiency in several industries. This presentation will emphasize more, inter alia, on various outstanding lean methods that can be implemented in the industrial sector for increasing energy efficiency. It includes innovative techniques for cutting down the costs involved in the production of oil and natural gas products to save the industry from incurring unnecessary expenditure.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Legal

11:05 – 11:25 a.m.

Lean Six Sigma to Reduce Lead Times in Legal Business Processes

Kevin Divine, Cara Clausen, Tiffany Smith, Cameron Scott, Kim Beacham and Matt Hunoval, Hunoval Law Firm, and Ertunga Ozelkan, Gary Teng, and Jonathan Mayhorn, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

#44 (I)

In partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte), the Hunoval Law Firm has begun to redefine process standards, reduce lead times and drive fact-based performance into an industry that has gone vastly unchanged for hundreds of years. The purpose of this presentation is to present how the Hunoval-UNC Charlotte team introduced metrics and measures into the legal business processes and present step-by-step results from green belt projects, which produced significant improvements reducing lead times in the first legal action milestones for default services of both judicial and nonjudicial foreclosure states – North Carolina and South Carolina, respectively.

11:30 – 11:50 a.m.

Lean Six Sigma to Enhance Incentives Plan in Law Offices

Kevin Divine, Cara Clausen, Tiffany Smith, Cameron Scott, Kim Beacham and Matt Hunoval, Hunoval Law Firm, and Ertunga Ozelkan, Gary Teng, and Jonathan Mayhorn University, North Carolina at Charlotte

#45 (I)

Virtually unheard of in the legal services industry, lean Six Sigma provides powerful tools and methods for improving and standardizing repetitive processes. One important factor in the success of implementing lean Six Sigma is to motivate employees in the process. As a capstone for aligning incentives and rewards to process improvement programs, this presentation will discuss how the Hunoval Law Firm introduced metrics and measures into legal business processes and tied them to quarterly and annual incentives, thereby tying individual green belt projects to overall company goals and individual compensation.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Manufacturing

11:05 – 11:50 a.m.

New Engineer Onboarding: How Lean Can Reduce Costs and Accelerate Competency

Todd Hudson, head maverick, Maverick Institute, LLC

#27 (All)

Objectives:

• Apply lean to training and development, specifically onboarding engineers and technical staff

• Quantify the 'cost of ignorance', i.e., the impacts of new hires NOT learning what they need to when they need it

• Identify and eliminate 'training waste', namely activities that don't directly help learners perform better on the job

• Improve 'knowledge flow' in an organization

Description: A car company used lean to improve the onboarding and initial training of new design and manufacturing engineers. By eliminating waste and improving knowledge flow, they reduced annual program costs by $400,000 and are delivering more competent engineers to project teams 4 weeks earlier. In addition, new engineers are making fewer mistakes, which are having a positive impact on projects costs and schedules. The challenges dealing with internal support groups, external training providers and company management will be highlighted.

Note: I’m working to make this an attributed case study, but cannot promise the company will allow it.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Healthcare

11:05 – 11:50 a.m.

Simplifying Process Improvement/Lean/Six Sigma Programs for Healthcare

Craig Stevens, manager process improvement, HCA Physician Services

#25 (All)

Objectives:

• Learn our framework for a sustainable program using the Westbrook Stevens Mobile of the seven attributes of excellent management:

1. Build excellent leaders and empower practitioners

2. Develop an excellent culture of commitment to process improvement

3. Ensure an excellent customer focus

4. Motivate people and build excellent improvement teams

5. Build excellent core competencies and skills in problem solving and CPI tools (lean, Six Sigma, SPM, etc.)

6. Apply excellent change management and CPI to systems and processes

7. Use the seven steps of excellent performance measures in each of the three phases.

• See how we apply an approach to continuous process Improvement (CPI) using the framework of a total quality management (TQM) approach applied with lean, Six Sigma, and strategic project management (SPM) tools.

• Learn how we simplify CPI using three easy to understand phases: assessment phase, problem solving phase, and implementation phase.

• See how we apply all of the above to about 600 healthcare practices (doctor offices).

The biggest problem with many of the process improvement programs is that you have to have a degree in statistics or engineering to understand them. Not so with this process improvement program. We focused on three easy-to-grasp phases: assessment, problem solving, and implementation. In this presentation, we will walk through a three-phase process that incorporates the concepts of continuous improvement, lean, Six Sigma, common sense, and the Westbrook Stevens seven attributes of excellent management found in the book Geronimo Stone.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

11:05 – 11:25 a.m.

Lean Six Sigma Approaches to Improve Automobile Technician Productivity

Telford Locklear, student, East Carolina University

#63 (I)

Objectives:

• Learn about the unique challenges of implementing lean Six Sigma in an automobile service organization.

• Learn the critical-to-quality objectives in a repair facility environment.

• Determine specific application of DMAIC methodology in an automotive service environment.

This session presents a lean Six Sigma Black Belt project that was initiated to help improve technician productivity in an automotive dealership repair shop. Lower technician productivity leads to lower revenues for the dealership and may lead to a lower customer satisfaction rating. Technician productivity is defined as the ratio of flagged hours to clock hours, expressed as a percentage. The repair order process in the repair shop is the focus of this project. The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) method was employed to carefully assess the repair order process, determine process capability, analyze process data, and suggest improvements. Once the improvements were verified, procedures were implemented to control the gains. Lean procedures were used to identify and eliminate wasteful processes. The project is expected to result in excess of $100,000 in annual savings and/or revenue improvements for the local dealership.

11:30 – 11:50 a.m.

Analysis of Risk in a Supply Chain System with Damage Costs

Samir Alsobhi, Krishna Krishnan and Abdulaziz T. Almaktoom, Wichita State University

#64 (I)

Objective: Understand the concept of OR models for supply chain with a view to minimizing damage costs.

In a supply chain system, products get damaged during transportation. The damage loss can be reduced by selecting the appropriate packaging and transportation method and by shipping under assembled or unassembled conditions. Some of the damage costs can be recovered by reusing the parts. An OR model that minimizes the damage costs, shipping costs, and packaging costs has been developed to address the issue of damage costs. Case studies to illustrate and validate the procedure are also shown.

TRACK: Sustaining Lean Six Sigma Efforts

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.

The Ninth Muda: Failure to Sustain. Processes Need Maintenance, Too!

Michael McCarthy, consultant, Quality Leadership

#2 (All)

Objectives:

• Learn how to analyze why new processes often fail to sustain.

• Learn a methodology to sustain your hard won process improvements.

• Learn how new processes always require new behaviors.

• Learn the skills needed to maintain new process behaviors.

• Learn how to add this methodology into your leader standard work.

According to the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, one of the most common complaints heard during a lean transformation is “We cannot seem to sustain the changes that have been made.” And the Society of Manufacturing Engineers has indicated that 95 percent of lean applications fail to sustain. No sustain = no gain. Is this the ninth muda? Come learn why new processes fail to sustain. Learn a methodology to sustain your hard won process improvements: Process Behavior Maintenance™. Just as machinery requires preventive maintenance, new processes require sustaining maintenance. New processes = new behaviors. Learn the skills needed to maintain new process behaviors, construct your own schedule of PBM for newly improved processes, and add PBM into your leader standard work.

TRACK: Industrial Engineering & Lean Six Sigma

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.

Tools and Techniques to Improve Company Bottom Line: Client Needs and Services

Foad Hosseinkhanli, director of quality assurance, Amor Health Services Inc.

#10 (I)

Objectives:

• Learn to reduce costs, improve processes and increase productivity.

• Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques intended to help organization meet customer, vendor, staff and stakeholder needs and requirements more effectively and protect the bottom line.

• Learn to reduce or eliminate defects, waste and deficiencies.

This presentation will demonstrate how to achieve a reduction in clients lost, improved quality of services and client care. The Six Sigma methodology DMAIC identifies and resolves root cause issues within companies and organizations and eliminates or improves deficiencies.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Healthcare

1:45 – 2:30 p.m.

Mayo Clinic's Lean Journey to Manage Medicare's Reimbursement Rates

Tony Chihak, unit head - value creation and diffusion, Mayo Clinic

#71 (I)

Objectives:

• Understand where there are major opportunities to reduce expenses.

• Learn how to use lean Six Sigma for major clinical expense reduction projects.

• Learn about Mayo Clinic's governance structure over enterprise cost reduction projects.

• Learn how to structure enterprise teams (across many states) for coordinated cost reduction projects.

• Learn about Mayo Clinic's change management techniques for clinical staff.

Hospitals and clinics in this current environment are finding themselves in a difficult position as the ability to obtain rate increases from commercial payers has become increasingly difficult. The pressure to reduce “cost shifting” is strong, and ultimately, hospitals will have to learn how to survive on Medicare rates – even as these are also decreasing. Future medical reimbursement is hard to forecast. We don’t know what that target is going to be in the future. What we do know is that we need to make our care affordable to patients while improving the value of our care. We do that by standardizing our care, improving our quality, and managing our expenses. Mayo Clinic is embarking on an enterprisewide cost reduction effort in order to manage Medicare reimbursement. This presentation will outline their journey and highlight the many lessons learned.

TRACK: Panel Session (90-minutes)

1:45 – 3:20 p.m.

Performance Metrics Panel Discussion

Ken McClymonds, principal consultant, OpEx Solutions Inc.

#48 (All)

This panel will discuss good practices and pitfalls in the use of measurement systems in the company’s pursuit of operational excellence. The panel will be composed of industry and academic leaders and will introduce sub-topics for discussion. The audience will be invited to offer questions and comments.

Operational excellence relies heavily on performance metrics. Metrics channel organizational energy to achieve challenging goals. Lean and Six Sigma implementations have frequently used the company’s measurement system to drive implementation.

TRACK: Sustaining Lean Six Sigma Efforts

2:35 – 3:20 p.m.

Lean Six Sigma Mentor- Best Practices, Tools and Techniques

D. Junell Scheeres, lead master black belt, Headquarters National Guard Bureau

#12 (I)

Objectives:

• Definitions and application of mentor/coaching roles

• How to establish and sustain an effective mentoring relationship

• Concluding the mentoring relationship

• Mentoring tools and techniques that support lean Six Sigma project execution

Lean Six Sigma training is offered in a variety of training modalities. Mentoring by a seasoned performance improvement professional can enhance the student learning experience and accelerate project execution. But adding a mentor can be expensive. Organizations need to know when and where to apply this resource to its highest benefit. This presentation will provide ways to establish an efficient and effective mentoring program to complement your lean Six Sigma and process management activities. The speaker will share real-life examples of mentoring resources, tools and lessons learned. Some of the key topics to be covered include:

• Definitions of mentor/coaching relationships

• Needs assessment

• Finding best fit

• Introductions and building rapport

• In-person and virtual support

• Documenting and reporting progress to goals

• What to do when things go wrong

• Transitions and self-sustainment

TRACK: Industrial Engineering & Lean Six Sigma

2:35 – 3:20 p.m.

Work Measurement in Low-Volume, High-Mix Manufacturing

Haleh Byrne, lead industrial engineer, North Carolina State University-Industrial Extension Service

#7 (All)

Objectives:

• Practical approach for work measurement in low-volume high-mix manufacturing

• Combination of time study and computer simulation that validates the obtained results

• Increased efficiency and productivity in data collection and analysis process

Traditional work measurement methods have an established place in the high-volume, low-mix production environment, but are not always suited to low-volume, high-mix production. However, low-volume, high-mix production is rising as customers demand more products that are tailored to their needs. This presentation focuses on cases where numerous product configurations and their work contents were categorized in matrix format. The associated work content was then validated through computer simulation. This approach reduced the number of direct observations required, and generated a more efficient and practical way to measure work in low-volume, high-mix manufacturing.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Healthcare

2:35 – 2:55 p.m.

A Modified Six Sigma Roadmap for Multiple Sclerosis Patients on Hand Assessment

Venkata Marella, Rogerio Santana Peruchi, Rapinder Sawhney and Diogo Nunes, University of Tennessee

#19 (I)

Objectives:

• Gain knowledge of unique application of lean Six Sigma on hand assessment

• Use presented method for evaluating the degradation of body motion

• Application of design of experiment and GR&R on hand measurement system

The aim of this research is to propose a modified Six Sigma roadmap to help in evaluating patients in healthcare systems using design of experiments. This session presents how the initial part of the Six Sigma project involving define and measure phases was implemented. The proposed roadmap was applied to patients affected with multiple sclerosis for evaluating the degradation of their hand grasp motion. Define phase has presented the problem to be solved and business case for the project. In the measure phase, first, GR&R (gage repeatability and reproducibility) study was used to assess the capability of the measurement system. Second, statistical process control techniques were conducted to determine indexes for classifying patients in different categories of disability. Future work on analyze, improve and control phases are also discussed.

3 – 3:20 p.m. (20-minutes)

Improving Patient Care with Lean

Rajitha Nakka and MD Sarder, University of Southern Mississippi

#68 (I)

Objectives:

• Explore the specific underlying concepts of lean thinking and how it can be used to benefit the worsening situation of inefficient and unnecessarily expensive hospital and clinic operations.

• Illustrate a case study.

Healthcare has evolved into one of the most expensive industries, especially with the current state of the economy wherein all the prices have skyrocketed in just a matter of a few years. In the advent of modern day diseases and ailments, it is important for the healthcare industry to innovate in terms of the manner in which care to the patients is being administered. More efficient means of delivering healthcare mitigate and dramatically reduce the costs that the institutions and the patients themselves have to handle. In this session, the presenter will explore the more specific underlying concepts of lean thinking and how it can be used to benefit the worsening situation of inefficient and unnecessarily expensive hospital and clinic operations. There is a need to explore and elucidate on how the lean concept can serve as an innovative paradigm that can be used by the hospitals. A case study will be used in order to illustrate how inefficient systems in hospitals can be improved by lean strategies that employ more sophisticated technology and more vigilant leadership from management.

TRACK: Sustaining Lean Six Sigma Efforts

3:35 – 4:20 p.m.

Supporting and Sustaining Your Efforts

Christopher Sweem, senior industrial engineer, Minnetronix

#33 (B)

Objectives:

• An understanding of how to recognize when your company is beginning to struggle with lean Six Sigma

• An example of how you can restructure training and expectations of participants to create a better support system

• Some examples of how to re-energize and deploy lean Six Sigma in your organization

This session presents a business example of what happens when a lean Six Sigma program can begin to fizzle and how to support and sustain future efforts to regain the enthusiasm behind lean Six Sigma. Deployment of continuous improvement programs is never easy for a company. Companies struggle with training, deploying, and supporting LSS programs, and despite these challenges, many companies have successfully rolled out lean Six Sigma over the last two decades. However, beyond initial implementation, many companies go through periods where sustainment is a struggle and can lead to LSS implementations slowly fizzling out. Minnetronix is no different than other companies in this regard and has experienced some challenges in sustaining LSS energy and impact. To address this challenge, Minnetronix works to continually evaluate and improve LSS through a continuous improvement initiative. Using updates to the training, along with updates in communication around lean Six Sigma, the initial lag in sustainment is turning around. This presentation walks through the practices that Minnetronix uses to support and sustain its lean Six Sigma program.

TRACK: Teaching Lean Six Sigma

3:35 – 3:55 p.m.

Deploying Lean Six Sigma to Transform University Administration Services

Kay Tan, associate professor, National University of Singapore

#8 (I)

Objectives:

• Relate what the National University of Singapore went through in developing an LSS training program, project consultation, staff motivation, and recognition system.

• Show a successful deployment in university administration as well as the challenges faced.

This presentation covers case studies in university administrative services including estate services, financial services, student services, etc. It describes the deployment of lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology in university administration services and discusses the areas where the LSS methodology has great potential to be applied. It also recognizes the tools and techniques that are frequently applied in improving university administration services. Deploying a lean Six Sigma methodology requires substantial effort in training, project consultation, as well as staff motivation and recognition. There have been very few published success stories of LSS deployment in university administration, especially in Asian universities. This presentation bridges the above-mentioned gaps by introducing a successful framework of LSS deployment in university administration. It shares the LSS training and consultation scheme, project types, benefits achieved, as well as challenges faced. Frequently used LSS tools and techniques are summarized. In addition, a few successful applications of lean Six Sigma projects in the areas of library processes, building energy consumption, and university feedback management, will be discussed also. The information should be most useful to an audience of university administration personnel.

4 – 4:20 p.m.

University Printing: Looking Inward and Outward to Achieve Self-Sufficiency

Dan Lewis, director - center for business excellence, University of West Georgia

#55 (B)

Objectives:

• Process flow charting

• Value added vs. non-value- added process steps

• Empowerment

• Synergy

The University of West Georgia’s Publications and Printing Department (Pub and Print) supports the institution’s service mission by providing printing and duplicating services for faculty, staff, and students. Pub and Print became a part of Auxiliary Services in 2011. At the time of that transition, Pub and Print had been adequately funded from a combination of state funds and revenue that was generated on campus and from limited work for nonprofit and government entities outside the university. Decreases in state funding, however, made it necessary for the department to become a self-sufficient operation by 2013. Pub and Print used a combination of new products and services along with process improvements to achieve a 50 percent increase in revenue in 2012. Based on its achievements, Pub and Print received the 2012 process efficiency award from the University System of Georgia and a Model of Efficiency Award from University Business Magazine.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

3:35 – 3:55 p.m. (20-minutes)

Process for Defining Specifications and Tolerances of a Consumer Product

Jesus Gonzalo Palacios, professor, JGPV Operations Management Consulting

#66 (B)

Objectives:

• Apply base time and motion studies to define the study process

• Utilization of acceptance sampling technique to sample

• Use graphs of relation between the study variables

• Document the procedure to define the variation that must be accepted in our decision variable

Basic descriptive statistical concepts should be used to determine product requirements. These should be based upon designed experiments which identify optimum product performance characteristics.

Through basic statistical concepts such as mean and standard deviation in the development of topics including the uncertainty of how the data should be specified standard of a consumer product. Considering the concept of independent variable, which should have a positive or negative effect on their dependent variables, the study includes two variables that will influence observed a factor, they want the amount specified to define own variables use of the elements involved and generate data for the calculations become defining the specification and tolerance. It includes an operational process that is definitely supported by basic studies of time and motion applied to the steps required to obtain samples that are included in the decision of the study.

4 – 4:20 p.m.

Cultural and Expertise Impacts on Lean Six Sigma Teamwork

Enrique Macias de Anda, Diogo Nunes and Rapinder S. Sawhney, University of Tennessee

# 18 (All)

Objectives:

• Determination of relevant cultural and expertise factors that affect teamwork performance in lean Six Sigma projects

• Provide decision makers with a methodology and evaluation of efficient cross-cultural teams

• Definition of DRIVES model for the proper measurement of cultural effects in each stage

This presentation aims to identify cultural and expertise patterns between teams and team members learning and executing lean Six Sigma projects. The metrics were clustered based on the DRIVES (Define, Recognize, Identify, Visualize, Execute and Sustain) model to identify specific lean skills. A design of experiments was conducted to analyze the impact of the factors. Additionally, analysis of variance and regression analyses were performed to different factors to provide further insights. A sample study was performed on international students at the University of Tennessee. Anticipated results are that cultural and technical factors have shown statistical differences on the performance of teams and their understanding of lean Six Sigma implementations.

Wednesday, September 25

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

8:15 – 8:35 a.m. (20-minutes)

Mitigation of Sentinel Errors in Healthcare

Jesus Gonzalez, United States Military Hospital

#39 (I)

Objectives:

• Reduction of sentinel events in a hospital

• Factors that contribute to sentinel events

• Applications of LSS to non-quantitative attributes

Sentinel events are serious medical errors that may potentially cause permanent harm to a patient. This is definitely undesirable for both parties as facilities may face lawsuits as well as emotional and physiological damage to patients and their families. LSS methods can be implemented to mitigate such errors using control methods, human factors, and design of experiments to find the most effective outcome to prevent such grave errors.

8:40 – 9 a.m.

Analysis Techniques to Estimate the Energy Use for Industrial Facilities and Case Studies

Khaled Bawaneh, assistant professor, Southeast Missouri University

#20 (B)

Objective: Learn new techniques to estimate and reduce industrial facility energy use.

In addition to common lean techniques of inventory reduction and setup, energy use is increasingly important in the operation of production facilities. In this study, two important techniques for estimating the non-process energy in industrial and manufacturing buildings were examined. The building energy data for two industrial facilities were collected and analyzed. The building non-process energy includes lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation. The power intensity (W/Square Feet) for each energy type use was estimated using two methods and then analyzed. This non-process energy needs to be clearly defined to allow more quantity improvements. Previous analysis of industrial energy use often expressed non-process energy as a percentage of total energy but without clear values of actual non-process energy. This information is a low value since the actual non-process energy is then dominated by the dominator, which is unspecified.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Manufacturing

8:15 – 9 a.m.

Optimization of Assembly Workstation Design

Madina Joshi, ergonomist, and Will Ferguson, industrial engineer, Raytheon

#40 (All)

Objectives:

• Process of engaging employees in workplace standardization

• Description of development process for workstation optimization tool design

• Pilot results of workstation optimization survey

• Planned research

Lean Thinking authors James Womack and Daniel Jones define lean manufacturing as a five-step process: defining customer value, defining the value stream, making it “flow,” “pulling” from the customer back, and striving for excellence. Industry has applied the principles of lean to varying degrees of success, achieving reductions in batch sizes, inventory quantities, process variation, and numerous other waste reduction strategies without achieving what Jeffrey Liker refers to as “pervasive cultural transformation” in his widely read reference, The Toyota Way. What measures, if any, exist today to indicate the pervasiveness of an organization’s lean culture and how effective are these methodologies? Several tools, scorecards, and maturity matrices do exist and have been implemented to varying degrees at Raytheon. In an effort to engage employees and push the needle on standardization, an employee survey was designed and administered to “check the pulse” of the factory floor from the assembler’s perspective. The desired outcome of the employee survey was baseline data for future CI initiatives. Key indicators embedded in the assessment are: waste reduction, space and tool utilization, continuous improvement opportunities, and customer value in workstation design. Ultimately, the team hoped to accomplish a survey tool for standardizing the workstation design and objectively measuring the performance of the workstation with respect to optimization. The design process, outcomes and results will all be presented during the session.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices - Healthcare

8:15 – 9 a.m.

Hard-wiring Lean Improvement in the VA

Tom Rust, senior systems engineer, Veterans Health Administration

#57 (I)

Objectives:

• How and why tech developers and lean coaches should work together

• Illustrate the benefits of tech solution to ensure sustained lean improvement

• How-to guide for using technology in kaizen event

The VA faces increasing service delays and patient dissatisfaction with one of its key services – disability assessment. Focusing on reducing delays in information handoffs between two government agencies, we implemented a high-impact, low-cost lean technology solution targeting communication waste. Observation revealed the process of addressing exam discrepancies was unreliable and highly person-dependent. The average time to fix an assessment error was approximately 20 days, with outliers at more than 300 days. Errors were poorly tracked; many errors that could be fixed within hours were ignored or lost for weeks. Management had no visibility into the process to monitor an individual doctor’s performance. We held a kaizen event with the goal of reducing rework turnaround time though clarifying roles and responsibilities and seamlessly incorporating time-saving automation and database technology. Effectively balancing twin goals of technology creation and process improvement created a synergy that led to unprecedented reductions in both error creation and turnaround time.

TRACK: Panel Session (90-minutes)

8:15 – 9:50 a.m.

Future of Lean

Rapinder S. Sawhney, Ph.D., department head and professor, University of Tennessee

In order to achieve a new direction of lean Six Sigma, we need to create the appropriate environment where ideas and actions can interact harmoniously. Professionals and academicians provide different perspectives of a common concern to match detected needs in different fields, addressing them with innovative approaches, and pointing the way, which will allow advancing the future of the area in research and application. Experts in lean, Six Sigma, and improvement methodologies are invited to participate in a panel discussion that has the objective of creating these new opportunities.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

9:05 – 9:25 a.m.

Six Sigma Implementation at Cumberland County Landfill

Brittany Ryan, first lieutenant, East Carolina University

#62 (I)

Objectives:

• An original application of the DMAIC process to the improvement of a sediment basin process

• An original application of the DMAIC process to a nonmanufacturing process

• An original application of various process improvement tools

The Cumberland County Landfill in Fayetteville, N.C., serves approximately 320,000 residents and operates four permanent sediment basins in order to collect the sewage run-off from the surrounding landfill. Historically the basins become contaminated and must be drained and excavated. The contamination is an environmental hazard and health risk to the surrounding area. A sediment basin process begins with precipitation that flows into a drainage ditch and eventually empties in the basin, and the particles in the water settle out. This Six Sigma project focuses on the elimination of non-value-added activities such as, excessive water testing, drainage, excavation and wasted man hours. The corporate goal is to reduce the levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 50 percent in each sediment basin. This project used the DMAIC methodology for improvement of the sediment basin process and showed an expected cost savings of a minimum of $100,000

9:30 – 9:50 a.m. (20-minutes)

Life Cycle Lean Six Sigma Solution

Jianjun Carl, professor, Jiangxi University of Science & Technology

#30 (All)

Objectives:

• Life cycle lean Six Sigma academic breakthrough

• Combining DFSS and DMAIC to decease product life cycle cost

• Sharing lots of practical cases in China

We study a new insight into life cycle lean Six Sigma solution, which combined with DFSS and DMAIC subjected to multiple bottlenecks based on an optimal multivariate Bayesian model. With an increasing demand in industry in recent years, lean R&D and manufacturing phases often are subjected to multiple bottlenecks such as reliability, availability, maintenance, safety, production planning lots, delivering requirement and so on. Therefore life cycle theory for lean Six Sigma has become an emerging research topic in both industry and academia. This presentation is focused on improving product life cycle performance as well as keeping product whole life cycle low cost through developing new life cycle lean Six Sigma methodology. The method incorporates Markov chain and multivariate Bayesian model techniques to address key challenges and critical issues in exploring new life cycle lean Six Sigma methodology. This approach can be used to improve product life cycle lean performance as well as bring great benefits for industry and academia. An illustrative example is given.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Manufacturing

9:05 – 9:50 a.m.

John Deere Company – Lean Six Sigma Project Winner

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Healthcare

9:05 – 9:50 a.m.

Improving Patient Transport Services Using Lean Six Sigma

Du Meyer, manager of process engineering, and Sara Correa, senior process engineer, Tampa General Hospital

#61 (I)

Objectives:

• Evaluating patient transport process flow

• Evaluating and analyzing patient transport turnaround time

• Standardizing patient transport process flow

• Conducting a staffing study

• Applying time studies

• Applying work sampling

A 1,018-bed academic hospital in Florida uses lean Six Sigma tools to evaluate the feasibility of centralizing patient transport services. The objective of this multi-departmental initiative is to identify opportunities to reduce patient transport time and improve staffing levels based on demand. A process flow assessment was completed for 10 departments that currently have decentralized transport staff. Work sampling and time studies were conducted as part of a workload analysis. The distribution of work for transporters was calculated based on transport activities, nontransport activities, and idle time. An analysis of transport response time and total transport time was completed. Based on findings, three departments may benefit from a hybrid centralized model. Process improvement opportunities were identified to eliminate manual process steps and provide for automated transport request notifications with the expanded use of an electronic tracking system. A pilot of the proposed process changes and staffing model are required.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices

10:05 – 10:25 a.m.

If It Is Not Broke, Don’t Fix It: A Lean Failure

Craig Downing, department head and associate professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

#4 (All)

Objectives:

• Recognize factors leading to an unsustainable change initiative.

• Outline a multi-phase lean implementation strategy.

• Develop educational interventions to overcome resistance to change.

In today’s manufacturing environments, many organizations have chosen Six Sigma, lean management, or lean Six Sigma as their preferred process change methodology. These process improvement initiatives are often combined with new technology-driven production strategies to gain improved efficiencies. While these programs typically yield great success in the technical aspects, the results of the human aspects of the change process all too often fall short. Changing an organization’s DNA, both technically and socially, to adopt true lean principles requires strong, long-term, transformational leadership. Effective lean initiatives require all employees to embrace a new paradigm and culture that thrives on continuous improvement and forward thinking. Regardless of station and rank in the organization, this change will force nearly every employee out of their comfort zones. The following case study describes a less-than-successful six-month effort to implement lean principles and practices in a start-up organization during the second and third quarters of 2012.

10:30 – 10:50 a.m.

A Knowledge Management Based Approach to Quality Management

Andreas Garstenauer, Timothy D. Blackburn and Bill Olson, George Washington University

#5 (All)

Objectives:

• Challenges with current quality management systems and the quality management communication methods

• A new quality management method that is based on knowledge management

• The improvements to an organization by using the new system and future potential advantages

Traditional quality management (QM) tools are demanding to operate, have an inherent communication lag, and have a long time delay from the discovery of a quality issue until implementation of the corrective or preventive measure. Further, they do not provide sufficient and timely knowledge sharing opportunities to prevent a quality problem from infecting other areas of the supply chain. High scrap and rework costs, defective products that reach the marketplace, product recalls, declining customer satisfaction, deteriorating market share, high product liability and legal costs are still common events arising from insufficient quality. The author presents a new QM approach that is focused on rapid knowledge sharing within a large organization by its stakeholders through rich communication methods and a QM tool that is easy to operate. The research shows that the new QM approach is highly effective and provides organizations with sustained quality improvements.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Supply Chain

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Implementing a “Connected Flow” Supply Chain

Earl Chapman, manager, ThermoFisher Scientific

#42 (I)

Objectives:

• Techniques to help people through the transition from MRP to leveled kanban pull

• Use of desktop simulation as a way of "seeing" the entire supply chain and as a tool to learn, experiment, and refine operational rules in a risk-free environment

• An approach to supply chain configuration called "components of inventory" being used in several companies to create an awareness and focus on root causes of inventory and their elimination

• A methodology for enterprisewide lean supply chain implementation

In 2013, ThermoFisher Scientific in Penfield, N.Y., began implementation of kanban pull in a program called “Connected Flow.” The targeted flow is a collection of injection molding equipment, producing laboratory consumables products. This presentation chronicles the implementation and should be of interest to any organization travelling this path. Of special note will be the use of desktop simulation as a training vehicle on rules of kanban and a method of determining kanban card counts called “components of inventory,” which emphasizes the “causes of inventory” in eight separate buckets to facilitate the continuous improvement process for inventory reduction. Many of the techniques and approaches can be used in a wide variety of situations to help operations work through the transition from MRP to lean, leveled pull.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Healthcare

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Using Lean Six Sigma to Enhance the New Physician Experience

Marque Macon, operational excellence practitioner, Loyola University Health System

#50 (B)

Objectives:

• Tools and techniques: eliminating a paper-driven process

• Methods: Setting clear and realistic targets for physician candidates

• Results noted to date: Physician onboarding time cut by 50 percent

A first impression is a lasting impression. Maintaining positive working relationships with our physicians play an integral part in the success of our organizations. The onboarding experience is the very first experience an onboarding physician has with our organization. Creating a "wow" factor during this experience will set the tone for the way the organization conducts business. Loyola's Faculty Recruitment Department in partnership with Loyola's Department of Operational Excellence teamed up and used lean Six Sigma to enhance the new physician experience.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

10:05 – 10:50 a.m.

Lean Communication: Building/Sustaining a Culture to Support Quality

Judith Pauley, CEO, Process Communications Inc

#35 (All)

Objectives:

• Learn how to establish relationships with clients/employees to build trust.

• Learn how to individualize the way you communicate with and motivate clients/employees so that the employees are more productive and more willing to implement a quality program, thereby improving organization productivity and profitability.

• Learn what each client/employee will do in distress and receive research-based strategies to reduce stress and deal successfully with people in distress.

• Learn how to improve client/employee satisfaction.

To be really effective and to be sustained, a quality program must have employee buy-in. This session is about the people side of quality. Lean and Six Sigma focus on streamlining processes. This session could be called lean communication and focuses on streamlining communication. Research shows that managers and executives who individualize the way they communicate with and motivate people they interact with are more successful in establishing a quality culture in their organizations. Research also shows that employees who get their motivational needs met daily can deal with daily stress better and are more willing to work toward common goals, embrace quality principles, and sustain a culture of quality. This session gives participants a tool that will enable them to effectively communicate with and motivate people and enable them to persuade colleagues of the benefit of sustaining a culture of quality.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices

10:55 – 11:15 a.m. (20-minutes)

Lean Enterprise at Medivators

David Bazinet, Medivators, A Cantel Company

#14 (B)

Objectives:

• Take away an understanding of the benefits of lean enterprise.

• Gain a basic understanding of what is required to launch and sustain a lean enterprise system in an organization.

• Gain an understanding of how to effectively organize manufacturing for lean enterprise success.

This presentation follows the history of lean enterprise at Medivators, A Cantel Medical Company, how it has impacted and enabled the growth of the company, and the future plans to launch an operational excellence program company wide. Attendees will gain insights and ideas to apply to their lean enterprise launch activities

11:20 – 11:40 a.m. (20-minutes)

Impact of Six Sigma on BPR in SMEs in Manufacturing Industries

Joseph Adebayo, CEO and president, Joseph Adebayo Limited

#24 (All)

Objectives:

• Effect of Six Sigma on business process re-engineering

• Current state of business process re-engineering

• How business process re-engineering is manage in small and medium-sized enterprises

The essence of Six Sigma is found in the reality that business processes are inherently unpredictable. Six Sigma provides a way of measuring the variability in a process as it delivers services to an end user or customer. Since BPR speaks to “radical redesign and wiping the slate clean,” the BPR approach would, from a purist’s standpoint, align more with Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) than it does with DMAIC. DFSS is typically used for designing a new process or redesigning an existing one from scratch to better meet customer needs and reduce variability in the process.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Supply Chain

10:55 – 11:40 a.m.

A Systems Approach to Change – Understanding Successful or Not

Craig Stevens, management, industrial and systems engineer, HCA Physician Services

#28 (All)

Objectives:

• Understand the overlaps and differences of first order changes (Continuous Improvement) and second order changes (major step changes).

• Understand the overlaps and differences of change with the many change-oriented tools and systems (project management, CPI, lean, Six Sigma, etc.).

• Look at the differences between positive and negative change curves at different levels (people, departmental, organizational, industry, national, and global).

• Look at the different predictors and drivers of change and how they relate to positive or negative outcomes.

Whether first order continuous improvement or second order major step changes, not all changes have positive outcomes. In this presentation, the presenter addresses the subject of change and the elements that predict success or failure. He compares the three phases of a change (before, during, and after) to other life cycles (business/organizational, products, project management, CPI, lean, and Six Sigma) and shows how these overlap. He introduces change curves associated with both success and failure at different levels (people, departmental, organizational, industry, national, and global change) with the goal of learning how to minimize failure.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Healthcare

10:55 – 11:40 a.m.

Lean Contributing to Variation in Healthcare

Tom Rust, senior systems engineer, Veterans Health Administration

#60 (All)

Objectives:

• Understand how lean projects can unintentionally increase variation in healthcare.

• Explore possible consequences of increased variation.

• Develop new countermeasures to demand variation amplification.

Healthcare systems redesign is currently dominated by lean, a paradigm that focuses on reducing process waste to achieve sustained increases in throughput. This presentation is based on a study that revealed the following: Applying lean to individual clinics in healthcare service delivery chains exacerbates demand variation amplification (i.e., bullwhip effect) inherent to most service supply chains, leading to the unintended consequences of wider distribution of service delays, increased provider fatigue, reduced quality of care, and the possibility of increased patient mortality. We use system dynamics to explore possible countermeasures adapted from the agile redesign paradigm to mitigate these structural effects. This research highlights the importance of collaborative planning and performance measurement in healthcare and offers critical managerial insights for hospital systems considering applying lean methods to their service delivery chains.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

10:55 – 11:40 a.m.

Warriors Bring 5-S to the Fight – and Win!

Alexander McLemore , chief, Georgia Army National Guard, and D. Junell Scheeres, lead master black belt, Headquarters-National Guard Bureau

#9 (All)

Objectives:

• How lean Six Sigma tools were used to address an organization's performance problems

• An outstanding example of the 5-S method applied to a military work center

• The way financial and operational benefits are quantified to demonstrate how lean Six Sigma tools bring value

• The power of team ownership in a lean Six Sigma effort

Members of the Georgia Army National Guard were looking for ways to improve customer service in their Information Technology Division. Learning lean and Six Sigma provided them with an opportunity to put the 5-S method into practice and yielded improvements in cost, quality and service. This case study will demonstrate how following the 5-S method to sort, set-in-order, shine, standardize and sustain improvements brought tangible financial and operational benefits to the organization. Lean Six Sigma tools are providing our military warriors with real solutions in a time of budget constraints and high operational tempo. Hooah!

TRACK: Industrial Engineering & Lean Six Sigma – Measurement

1:30 – 1:50 p.m.

Addressing the MSA Repeatability Dilemma

Victor Kane, associate professor, Kennesaw State University

#17 (I)

Objectives:

• Gage studies uncovering repeatability concerns have multiple choices of countermeasures

• Within-part variation can cause repeatability, bias or random bias concerns

• The new concept of random bias can be used to diagnose some gage issues

• A new gage triage analysis (GTA) can be used to determine a prioritized list of gages having concerns

The traditional GR&R (gage repeatability and reproducibility) study uncovers any lack of gage repeatability that increases observed product variation. When present, the belt must attempt to diagnose the problem source: gage, part or process. By adding reference standard measurements, the proposed method provides a quicker diagnosis with specific problem-solving direction. The new concept of random bias is shown often to be an indicator of within-part variation, which can increase repeatability variation. The proposed approach provides the belt with a directional tool for reducing repeatability variation. The new gage triage analysis is shown to provide an easy-to-use form for conducting the analysis.

1:55 – 2:15 p.m.

A Six Sigma Approach to Optimize Measurement System Capability

Rogerio Santana Peruchi, Pedro Balestrassi, Anderson Paiva, and Rapinder Sawhney, University of Tennessee

#11 (All)

Objectives:

• How to improve a measurement system using Six Sigma roadmap

• How to analyze a multivariate measurement system using principal component analysis

• How to identify causes of variation using analysis of variance and graphical analysis

This presentation aims to apply a DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) roadmap to optimize the measurement system of a welding process for cladding of AISI 1020 carbon steel using tubular wires of AISI 316L stainless steel. After define, the problem to be solved, PCA (principal component analysis) and GR&R (gage repeatability and reproducibility) studies were used to determine the current capability of the measurement system. Analysis of variance and graphical analysis were performed to identify specific causes of variation of the measurement system. Design and implementation of adjustments to the measurement process were applied in order to improve precision and accuracy of the measurement system. Adjustment of the process management and control system were proposed to sustain the improvements in the measurement process.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Manufacturing

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

Use of Component Search Method in Root Cause Analysis

Christopher Sweem, senior industrial engineer, Minnetronix

#34 (I)

Objectives:

• Background for use of component search method

• Formulas and approaches needed to perform component search method

• An example of the tool in use to identify a root cause of failure

The goal of this presentation is to present an example of a methodology that was used during a root cause investigation called component search. In a high-mix, low-volume setting, traditional root cause analysis and statistical experimentation can be challenging to implement effectively. With few samples available at times and constantly changing parameters of devices, identifying a true root cause of failure in a low-volume product can take time and resources that are not available. Quick and accurate analysis is needed to identify the root cause and begin brainstorming ideas for improvement. During a black belt project on a product line at Minnetronix, a different type of statistical analysis method was used. The method, called component search, allowed the black belt team to analyze a new failure mode with a small sample of units and short time frame. This presentation walks through the approach taken and the advantages and disadvantages of the method. It also provides a case study example of how to interpret results and outcomes of this method.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

Strategy Linked to Mission and Vision is Key to Significant Gains

Martin Nazareth, president, OpEx Solutions

#49 (All)

In the midst of a weak global economy, it is imperative to have rapid, significant, and sustainable gains which can only be achieved through a perfect alignment of strategy, mission and vision of the organization. Unfortunately, too many companies are implementing continuous improvement tools that result in mediocre or counterproductive changes. This presentation will present an industry-independent approach and application that achieves these rapid, significant and sustainable gains through strategic and aligned application of continuous improvement methodologies.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Case Studies

1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

A 100-Plus Years Old Manufacturing Company Begins a Lean Journey

David Lippert, president, Hamilton Caster & Mfg. Co.

#52 (All)

Objectives:

• A lean journey is just that – a journey – and can’t be successfully put on hold.

• Corporate leaders must be on board for the journey to be successful, which means more than an initial OK.

• While the factory floor generally gets the attention, don’t forget the office.

• Company culture must change to accept and embrace a lean journey – the most difficult concept to master.

One would expect a 100-year-old, family-owned manufacturing company to be somewhat resistant to major change. Yet in 1995, a 70-person company in Hamilton, Ohio, made the decision to begin a lean journey. Listen to the story of why it happened, how it happened, and learn some of the amazing results. Hear "the good, the bad, and the ugly" as the story unfolds, with major pitfalls along the way. Understand how this company is now firmly entrenched on the journey 18 years later and is truly seeing continuous improvement. Finally, witness the blending of technical application (such as kaizen, hoshin) with organizational development to sustain the journey.

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Manufacturing

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Reliability – The Often Overlooked LSS Tool

Mark Nestle, global director of productivity, Praxair Inc.

#23 (B)

Objectives:

• What is reliability and how to apply it to lean and Six Sigma projects

• The definitions and applications of key reliability metrics such as failure rate, MTTF, MTBF, MTTR, OEE, and TEEP

• How to perform basic component or system reliability calculations

• The six "Rights of Reliability" to consider when designing or improving a process

This presentation covers the standard terms and metrics in reliability engineering with emphasis on applying these tools in lean or Six Sigma (LSS) projects. Many LSS training programs do not cover reliability analysis so most green belts and black belts are not experienced with these basic process analysis tools. Reliability is essentially measurement of process or component capability changing over time. Continuously supporting customers’ needs is the essence of lean and Six Sigma. This presentation explains failure rate, MTTF, MTBF, MTTR, OEE and simple reliability calculations. This knowledge helps the green belt or black belt include evaluating the system’s reliability when running a productivity improvement project so that it’s clear if the process can support the customer’s needs over time.

TRACK: Future of Lean Six Sigma

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Six Sigma to Improve Estimates for Fabrication/Construction Jobs

Brady Beckham, continuous improvement engineer, and Gary Stiles, Thermal Engineering International Inc.

#58 (I)

Objectives:

• Using Six Sigma methods to judge the quality of job estimates

• Using statistical methods to improve estimating formulas/algorithms

• Comparison of table-based vs. continuous functions estimates

• Unexpected outputs and discoveries from a Six Sigma focus on labor estimating

TEI Joplin’s primary product line is custom engineered and fabricated heat exchangers (about 2,000 man hours per unit). With production of around 50 units annually, estimating data are not available in large quantities. Additionally, product uniqueness creates problems for traditional estimating methods, resulting in large variances and uncertainty in cost, schedule and resource capacity. The presentation will discuss the use of Six Sigma methods to quantify and address variances in our estimate vs. actual and the use of Six Sigma methods to improve the estimating formulas (namely, linear regression).

TRACK: Lean Six Sigma Industry Practices – Healthcare

2:30 – 2:50 p.m.

Critical Success Factors for Six Sigma Projects Implementation in Hospitals

Roberto Hiram Ramirez, M.D., Quirino Ramirez, Eduardo Rafael Poblano Ojinaga, Calidad Total Empresarial, and Manuel Rodriguez, Tecnologico de Ciudad Juarez

#26 (I)

Objectives:

• A state of the art about Six Sigma experiences when implementing projects in companies

• A list of factors that impact significantly the rate of success in any project to be implemented

• A questionnaire to test human factors affecting implementations

• An invitation to participate in a survey and share findings

Hospitals are part of a system that has the ultimate goal of the adequate treatment of patients in order to improve the health status of the society. Adapting Six Sigma methodology to the management of medical centers and hospitals from a systems perspective can improve process performance and thus reduce the number of potential errors – mostly those related to the care of patients – and assist in improving the satisfaction of internal and external customers. Six Sigma methodology uses data analysis to achieve defect-free processes and decrease variation in quality. It promises an increase in earnings for companies adopting this new culture. The information has not been found about success rate and contributing factors when implementing Six Sigma projects in hospitals. This presentation proposes a list of general factors to be considered in a Six Sigma project implementation research survey.

2:55 – 3:15 p.m.

Application of Lean Sigma to Healthcare Quality Improvement

Wolday Abrha, University of Tennessee, and Ahad Nasab, MTSU

#36 (All)

Objective: Learn to apply Six Sigma to healthcare facilities.

Quality concerns in a hospital environment directly affect patients. Patient falls is one of the most often occurring problems in hospitals and is associated with serious consequences. This presentation describes an application of a lean Sigma model to inpatient falls and related quality concerns. A 10-week study at a local hospital implied about 62 percent of the falls occurred in patients’ rooms, 16 percent in the bathroom, and the remaining fallers were in other locations within the hospital. Moreover, the rate of female fallers was greater than the male fallers in general; the results were opposite within the more affected patient care units.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download