Si

xSi
gmaandLeanPr
oduc
tion

LeanPr oduction–r eferstoappr oachesi

nit
ial
lydevelopedbytheToyotaMotor
Corporationthatfoc usont heeliminati
onofwas t
einallforms,
inc
ludingdef
ects
,
requi
ringr eworks,unnec essaryprocessi
ngsteps,unnecess
arymovementsmaterial
sor
people,wai t
ingti
me, excessinventoryandoverproducti
on.

Leanpr
oduc
tionf
aci
li
tedby:

 Foc
usonmeas
urement
s

 Cont
inuousi
mpr
ovement

 Cor
ss-
trai
nedwor
ker
s

 Fl
exi
bleandaut
omat
edequi
pment
s

 Ef
fi
eci
entmac
hinel
ayout

 Rapi
dset
-upandc
hangeover

 J
ust
-in-
timedel
iver
yands
chedul
ing

 Real
ist
icwor
kst
andar
ds

 Wor
keri
mpr
ovementt
oper
for
mins
pec
tionsandt
akec
orr
ect
iveac
tion

 Suppl
ierpar
tner
shi
ps

 Pr
event
ivemai
ntenanc
e

Someoft
hebenef
it
scl
ainedbypr
oponent
sofl
eanpr
oduc
tioni
ncl
udi
ngt
hef
oll
owi
ng:

 Atl
eas
t60% r
educ
tioni
ncyc
let
imes

 40% i
mpr
ovemensi
nspac
eut
il
izat
ion

 25% gr
aet
ert
hroughput

 50% r
educ
tioni
nwor
k-i
n-pr
oces
sandf
ini
shedgoodsi
nvent
ori
es

 50% i
mpr
ovement
sinqual
it
y

 20% i
mpr
ovement
sinwor
kingc
api
talandwor
kerpr
oduc
tivi
ty
Someoft
hekeyt
ool
sus
edi
nleanpr
oduc
tion:

 The5S’s–the5S’sarederi
vedfromtheJapaneseter
ms :Sei
ri(
sort
),Sei
ton(
seti
n
order)
,Sei
so(s
hine),Sei
ketso(s
tandar
diz
e),andShit
suke(sust
ain)
.Theydef
inea
systemforworkplac
eorganizat
ionandst
andardiz
ati
on.
a.Sort–ref
erst
oensuri
ngthateachi
teminaworkpl
acei
sini
tspr
oper
placeori
dent
if
iedasunnec
essar
yandremoved.
b.Setinorder–meanst
oarrangemat
eri
alsandequi
pmemt
ssot
hatt
hey
areeasytofi
ndanduse.
c
.Shine–r efer
stoaworkcleanarea.Notonlyi
sthisi
mport
antf
orsafet
y
butasawor kar
eaiscl
eaned,maintenanc
eproblemssus
hasil
oill
eakscan
beident
ifi
edbefor
etheycauseproblems.
d.Standardi
ze–meanstof
ormul
izeproceduresandpr
act
icest
ocreat
e
consi
stencyandens
uret
hatal
lstepsareperfor
medcor
rectl
y.
e.Sust
ain–meanstokeeptheprocessgoingthr
ought
rai
ning,
communic
ati
on,andorgani
zat
ionalstr
uc t
ures
.

 VisualCont
rol
s–ar eindicator
sfortools
,partsandproduc
tionacti
vit
iesthatar
e
placedinpl
ainsi
ghtofal lworkerssothateveryonec
anunder s
tandthes tat
usof
thes ys
temataglance. Thus,i
famac hi
negoesdown, orapaprtisdefect
iveor
dayed,immediat
ecactionc anbetaken.

 Eff
ici
entLayoutandStandardizeWor ks–t helayoutofequipmentandpr oc
essis
desi
gnedaccordingtothebes toperat i
onalsequenc e,byphisi
cal
lyli
nki
ngand
arr
angingmac hi
nesandpr ocesss t
epsmos teffi
cientl
y,oft
eni nacel
lul
ar
arr
angement .
Standardi
zingthei ndividualtas
ksbyc l
earl
ys peci
pyi
ngtheproper
methodreduceswastedhumanmovement sandener gy.

 PullProducti
on–inthi
ssyst
em( al
sodes
cri
betheKanbanorJust
-in-
time),
upstreams uppl
ier
sdonotproc
edureunt
ilt
hedownstreamcust
omer ssi
gnalsa
needf orpart
s.

 Singl
eMi nuteExchangeofDies(SMED)–refer
stoarapi
dc hangeoveroft
ooli
ng
andfixtur
esinmac hi
nes hopssothatmul
tipl
eproduc
tsi
ns mallerbatc
hescanbe
runont hesomeequi pment.Reduci
ngset
upt i
mesaddvaluetotheoperati
onand
faci
li
tiessmootherproducti
onflow.

 Tot
alProduct
iveMai
ntenanc
e–i
sdes
ignedt
oens
ureequi
pmenti
soper
ati
onal
andavai
labl
ewhenneeded.
  SourceInspect
ion–inspec
tionandcontr
olbypr
ocessoper
ator
sguaranteest
hat
productpassedontothenextproduct
ionst
ageconf
ormstospeci
fi
cati
ons.

 ContinuousImprovement
s–pr ovidesthelinkstosi
xsigmatomakelean
producti
onwor k,onemustgettot herootcausesofpr
oblemsandpermanentl
y
removet hem.Teamworkisanintegralpartofconti
nuousimpr
ovementinlean
envir
onment s.

Si
xSi
gmaandSer
vic
es
Leanproducti
oncaneasi
lybeappl
iedtononmanufactur
ingenvi
ronment
s.Pure
servi
cesuchasbanks,hos
pit
als,
andres
t aur
antshavebenefi
tedf
romleanpri
nci
ples.
Leanproducti
onisoft
encall
edLeanEnterpr
ise.

Qual
it
yinPr
ati
ce:AnAppl
icat
ionofSi
xSi
gmat
oReduc
eMedi
calEr
ror
s
Medi cat
ionAdminist
rati
onandl aborat
or yproces
sing/res
ultsr
epor t
ingar
e
exampl esofcomplexsyst
emsi nhealthcarethatarwknownt obeerrorprone.
A
consortiumwascreatedbyfourMi l
waukee- basedorganizat
ioncommi t
tedtothe
developmentofanappr oachtoreduceerrorsandi mprovepatients
afety.

TheCons
ort
iumi
scur
rent
lyaddr
ess
ingt
hreemaj
ors
:
1.I
mpr
ovedi
dent
if
icat
ionsandr
epor
tingofheal
thc
areer
ror
s.
2.Depl
oymentoft
hes
ixs
igmamet
hodol
ogyt
oreduc
eer
ror
s.
3.Tes
tingandi
mpl
ement
ati
onoft
echni
cals
olut
ionst
oimpr
ovepat
ients
afet
y.

Pr
ocessMap(FlowChar
t)t
oreduc
eeac
hst
epi
nthepr
ocedur
eforc
ont
inuousI
V
medi
cati
oninfusi
on:

 Phy
sic
ianor
der

 Or
dervi
ew

 Phar
mac
istor
derent
ry

 Dos
epr
eper
ati
on

 Dos
edes
pens
ing
  I
nfus
ionr
atec
alc
ulat
ion

 I
Vpumps
etup

 Pumppr
ogr
ammi
ng

 Pumpmoni
tor
ing

Keyel
ementsi
nt heac
quis
iti
on,
labor
ator
yanal
ysi
sandr
epor
tingofpat
ients
pec
imens
werei
dent
if
iedthefol
lowi
ng:

 Phy
sic
ianor
der

 Or
derent
ry

 Mat
chi
ngt
heor
dert
othepat
ient

 Col
lec
tingt
hes
pec
imen

 Label
ingt
hes
pec
imen

 Tr
ans
por
tingt
hes
pec
imen

 Anal
yzi
ngt
hes
pec
imen

 Repor
tingt
her
esul
ts

 Ent
eri
ngt
her
esul
tint
othepat
ient
’sc
har
t