Measure

Data Collection Plan
A data collection plan was developed to outline the data the team needed to collect and how it should be captured and recorded.  The following headings were used for this;

• What is being measured
• Measure/Data type
• How measured
• How and where recorded

This tool was really useful as it allowed the team to understand what we needed to focus on and how we should go about it.  At this point we were also able to split the data collection between us based on expertise and work schedules. You can see a screenshot of the template we used below.

Team Brainstorming (Current state - Ideal state)
At one of our team meetings we held a brainstorming session to determine the current state issues and what the ideal state should be.

This session proved to be really worthwhile as it opened up a very honest and frank discussion with the team as to what some of the issues are.  The production staff are working closest to the process so are in the best position to outline what the critical issues are.  In some cases it was a surprise to the department manager and engineering that there are such problems with the equipment and the process.  At times production and engineering can blame each other when issues occur during the production process. As a team we felt that this exercise helped to break down some of those barriers.

Detailed Process Mapping
We mapped the process from a high level as part of the define phase so we needed to drill down on the process a bit further to understand what the actual flow is.  There was a lot of discussion when the team were doing this.  It became apparent that each shift carries out the process in a different sequence and there is no clear standard in place.  Again this tool was highly successful as it created excellent discussion and understanding of the process among the group.

As a team we documented the process to the best of our ability.  We would then have to verify it with the other production staff at the second round of workshops.

GEMBA - Process Observation sheet
The team carried out a number of observations on the process.  The purpose of these observations was to observe issues with the assembly/disassembly process and to time the sequence. During the define phase a number of problems were identified in relation to the quality of the process and the variation around standard operating times. These observations were carried out to verify that data.  We used a basic process observation sheet for this and took numerous pictures of the equipment and the process.  You can see the template we used to observe the process below.

In my opinion, this was one of the most useful parts of the measure phase as we began to really understand the process and current issues, as we were observing the process live.

GEMBA -Spaghetti diagrams
During the observations we also used spaghetti diagrams to map out the movement within the process room so we could identify waste in motion.  This tool has identified a huge amount of waste due to movement within the room and outside the room looking for tools and parts. This has helped the team to understand why there is such variance around standard operating times for comprehensive cleans.

VOC Workshops - Part 2
Following the above data collection the team led another set of workshops with each of the production crews.  We used these workshops to verify the process flow and to present the data that was gathered during the observations.  The second set of workshops were a much more positive experience for the team, as the production crews seemed more engaged due to the fact they have taken part in a lot of the observations that have been carried out.


The project is now well into the analyse phase.  The team are beginning to prepare for the improve phase which will be completed as a week long Kaizen event. The team will work together for the full week to identify solutions to problems that have been recorded and prepare any necessary documentation that is required.  This will be the most challenging part of the project to date.