Using Lean Six Sigma Tools to Solve Laboratory Problems
I am Lean certified by the University of Michigan (http://cpd.engin.umich.edu/index.html) and have been using the Lean philosophy and tools for over six years. This year I have completed my Six Sigma green belt training and have one more week of on-site black belt training to complete, scheduled for the week of May 11, 2009 (http://www.sixsigma.us/). So, I am pretty seasoned with the Lean philosophy and a novice with the Six Sigma approach.
Richard Lynch, my Master Black Belt instructor at SixSigma.us, provided my class members and me some helpful guidelines about which tools to use during the analyze and improve phases of the DMAIC process (Define-> measure-> analyze-> improve-> control). An overview of his advice is the topic of this week's blog.
Six Sigma project logic as understood by me today, is as follows:
Define and measure stages - use Project Charter, macro Input, Process, Output (IPO) chart, detailed Process Map, and the Cause & Effects matrix tools. Then ask yourself a couple of simple questions about your practical problem:
- Is your problem a stability situation?
- Is it a waste issue?
- Or, is it a common variation reduction problem, i.e., not meeting customer specifications?
Depending how you answer these questions, the tools you use to complete the improvement project will vary as you progress through the DMAIC process.
- To analyze and improve stability problems use Failure Mode Effect Assessment tool and then implement your recommendations to improve the process.
- To analyze and improve waste-related problems use the Lean tool set including value stream mapping and kaizen to improve the operations.
- If you have a common variation reduction problem, i.e., not meeting customers' specifications, use data analysis / statistical tools to analyze the data and design of experiments to improve the process.
I know that there are a lot of seasoned process improvement specialists out there in the blogosphere, so it would be wonderful to hear your thoughts on applying process improvement tools to the problem-types listed above. I look forward to your comments.
