Archive for August, 2009

Aug
30

Best Practices using Lean Six Sigma

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Embarq Corporation’s General Manager of Process Excellence, Deron Ertel, was my guest on the Business901 Podcast. We discussed Embarq’s business process improvement initiatives and how they differed from other companies Lean Six Sigma initiatives. Particular attention was paid to the relevancy of Lean, Six Sigma and business process improvement in a down economy. This is a transcript of the podcast.

Deron will be presenting “Best Practices on Cost Reduction using Lean Six Sigma” at The Global Lean, Six Sigma and Business Improvement Summit. This summit represents the largest gathering of leading experts and senior executives across various industries who are passionate about achieving process and business excellence. It is held October 13-16, 2009 in Orlando, FL.


Best Practices on Cost Reduction

News Release

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Categories : Lean
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Aug
28

Lean Six Sigma applied to Supply Chain

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This 20-page e-book is a transription from an earlier podcast with Jeff Slater of Sonoco. Jeff will be presenting at the WCBF Conference in Orlando this year. An excerpt from the Transcript:

Jeff: “It’s a great concept to talk about because what we’re really trying to say is: How do we achieve that perfect experience for the customer? They order it; they enjoy the ordering process; we manufacture it in a timely manner for them; and we deliver it at the time that they requested it be delivered. So in a sense, you’re trying to achieve this perfect experience – this perfect order.

Applications of Lean Six Sigma to the Supply Chain

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Categories : Lean, Product Launch
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Value stream mapping is a tool that helps you to see and understand the flow of material and information as a product or service makes its way through the value stream. Value stream mapping is typically used in Lean, it differs from the process mapping of Six Sigma.

A value stream map will take into account not only the activity of the product, but the management and information systems that support the basic process. You will gain insight into the decision making flow in addition to the process flow. The basic idea is to first map your process, then above it map the information flow that enables the process to occur.

Val Stream.JPG

Why use Software for Value Stream Mapping? I think th euse of software that is written specifically for Value Stream Mapping is importnat. It forces you to make a decision to drill down into the subject as you are doing it versus later in the process. This particular tool is interesting because of the ability to Excel’s powerful scenarios to analyze multiple sets of numbers without needing to redraw an almost identical map over and over again. Take a look at some of the other features.

  1. Visually see your entire process flow using the language of Lean to learn to see and eliminate wastes
  2. Answer the question How can we make only what we need when we need it?
  3. Form a blueprint for Lean implementation to rally your team to eliminate wastes
  4. Instant o n-line training for Lean concepts and techniques
  5. Easily customized written in Excel with all of its familiar formulas and charts
  6. Professional deliverables easily stored, emailed, and shared
  7. Drill down to swim lane flowcharts and other related documents
  8. Import Old comparison data with the click of a button
  9. Inexpensive to easily share & collaborate

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