Control

1. Control Plan:
A control plan was prepared to ensure  the improvements made would be sustained following implementation.  The control plan consists of the following aspects;

This acted as an aid to assign actions and track their completion.  I found wk 14-wk 16 extremely busy trying to get actions completed myself and to also follow up with others on their actions.  I spent a lot more time on this phase of the project than originally forecast. I have captured this in the lessons learned section below.

Documents to support the new standard:
All documents to support the new standard were finalised and approved in wk 14.  Prior to this project being completed, there were 10 different SOP's in relation to assembly/disassembly, which was confusing for staff within the area.  On completion of the project there is now only 1 assembly and 1 disassembly SOP. These have been made more visual and easier for employees to understand. 

Feedback on these new improved SOP's has been excellent.  Because the SOP's are so visual and standardised they are easy to follow.  These SOP's were used as an aid when training all crews on the new standard.

Train the Trainer with Subject Matter Expert
I carried out a training session with each of the production guys that were on the Kaizen team.  The purpose of this session was to introduce the TWI (Training Within Industry) method to them and to go through the sequence of the training they would deliver to each of their shifts.

"Training Within Industry (TWI) is a set of learning disciplines and problem solving tools that enable people doing work to effectively create, improve, train and sustain standard work, while increasing productivity through problem-solving.” 
Ref http://www.twilearningpartnership.com/about_round_pond_consulting_serv.asp
You can find more information on TWI at the above link. 


Training sessions for Production crews 
The training sessions delivered were based on the TWI method.  The training was carried out as a 1:1 training session with each production member for 4 hours.  You can see the method and sequence in the slides below;

It was the first time this method was used and the feedback on the training was really positive. It highlighted how critical following the new standard is, as this training was a huge investment of time for the company.

Trial of the new Standard
I conducted a trial on the standards developed and the 5S mats with a production team member and the production support engineer.  The trial followed the same sequence as the training.  The purpose of this trial was to ensure the mats were fit for purpose and the standard sequence flowed correctly.  This was also an opportunity to time each phase of the process, which has assisted in the cost saving/improvements achieved analysis.

You can see a picture of the 5s mats below, these are now in use during the comprehensive clean process which involves, disassembly, cleaning & assembly.

Engineering Equipment Picture Library
Every part was inspected and pictures taken to store in a picture library.  These will be used as a reference point to monitor damage to equipment going forward.  Following the training, trial and launch of the standard, the engineering department are confident we have achieved our goal in reducing spend on parts/equipment repairs and replacements.  This will be monitored on a monthly basis as part of routine engineering equipment checks.

Adherence to the new Standard
We are using the PDCA - Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle to ensure the standard is adhered to and improved when necessary.  Now the standard has been developed and all of the crews have been trained we must ensure that adherence is checked and monitored by the production supervisors.  If the standard is not being followed we must find out why by using RCA and VOC.  The standard will be continually updated to ensure we have the most accurate and best practise methods to complete the process. 

The checks will be carried out as per the below diagram.  This will now become part of the production supervisors, manager's & Director's standard work.  A check sheet was prepared for use during each GEMBA, this will document the process step number and whether it was followed by the production team member. 

You can see the list of roles and responsibilities in the table below to ensure adherence to the standard.

SPC Charts to monitor comprehensive clean times

SPC charts are being used to record the time taken for each comprehensive clean. These are live documents and are being filled in manually by the production team member.  These will be reviewed to monitor progress on the reduction of comprehensive clean times.  If a time is recorded above or below the control limits a comment must be made and an action taken if required.  These are now in use and times have been recorded, which has enabled me to forecast the success/result of the project.

KPI  to monitor adherence to the standard
The following KPI will be updated following a review of the GEMBA Check sheets.  Target for compliance is 100%.  If the target is not reached SMART actions will be taken following RCA & VOC.

The data for the graph above will be entered into the following excel template.

5s Audit sheet & KPI

General 5s will be monitored within the process room to ensure parts/tools are not missing and there is a high level of housekeeping in the area. These audits will be carried out at the beginning and end of every shift by a member of the production crew.  Target for compliance to the 5s standard is 97%. SMART actions should be taken when the KPI is off target.

2. Cost Saving Calculations:
I forecast the cost savings with the assistance of Engineering, Production and the Director of Operational Excellence/EHS - who is the project sponsor.  Following the cost saving analysis we believe the project has achieved its goals and been successful.

3. Lessons Learned
I conducted a lessons learned exercise with the team and project stakeholders on completion of the project.  You can see them listed below;

• Having a manager on the team was a major benefit
• The Kaizen room was a great location to conduct all the document updates, meetings and training sessions
• The team should have been given more notice about their involvement in the project
• The team worked well together - having a cross functional group for future projects is recommended
• Going forward, training time should be included in the original project brief that is submitted into the company PPM (Project Portfolio Management) system
• Would allow more time to get actions completed following the Kaizen event as the last few weeks were very pressurized trying to get actions over the line.

Feedback from Production staff 
Following the implementation of the project, I conducted a VOC exercise with the production staff.  The purpose of this exercise was to get their feedback on the improvements made.  I grouped their comments which you can see below;

• Worth carrying out similar project in all process rooms
• Well managed and communicated project
• Happy with Engineering solutions for difficult tasks
• Small parts aren't going missing - don't spend hours looking for a nut/bolt
• SOP's really easy to follow and work well as training aid - especially for new employees
• Crews are taking more care with the parts
• The material of the mats is quite tacky so it takes time to lay them out, but once they are on the trolleys they work well
• Positive impact on changeover times
• Every task is standardised which makes it easy to do it the right way
• The transfer of engineering task to production has reduced change over time
• Could the SOP's be developed for two people working together in tandem? - (this is something CI are looking into following this query)

Overall I am extremely happy with the outcome of the project.  I have learned a lot over the last few months, especially in the use of the tools.  There was a lot of interest in the project as it was part of the companies PPM - (Project Portfolio Management) system; therefore I believe this has been a really good development opportunity for me.  I'm now looking forward to the next one :-)

Improve

The Improve phase of the project was broken down into two stages - Kaizen Event Pre-planning and the actual Kaizen Event.

1. Kaizen Event Pre-Planning

Kaizen Event Map
I mapped out the Kaizen event by the hour so the team would know the plan for the week and what was expected of them.  This plan consisted of a daily schedule and a list of objectives required as a daily output.

Each task was allocated to a team member or in some cases the full team.  I used the following symbols to do this and to make the plan more visual and easy for us all to understand.

This was very successful as I was able to keep track of the team/their location and the tasks that needed to be completed.

Team Training
Prior to the actual event I delivered some refresher training to the team on 5S and FMEA.  This was to ensure we were all up to speed and had the knowledge and skills required to complete the task ahead of us. The team  previously completed these modules as part of their yellow belt training but we all agreed it was a good idea to have a refresher.

Pre-Event Workshop with Site Leadership Team (SLT)
We conducted a meeting with the SLT to present  our findings from the Define, Measure and Analyse phase of the project.  This was an opportunity for the group to present the project and gather feedback from the SLT.  Each of the Directors agreed to be on-call during the Kaizen week if we encountered any roadblocks.  This meeting turned out to be a really useful exercise as following the meeting the team were extremely engaged and looking forward to the week ahead.  The team and the SLT agreed to meet again at the end of the Kaizen event week so the team could present the improvements made.

2. The Kaizen Event

Brainstorming
The team spent the first day of the Kaizen event brainstorming the improvements that were required for the following;

• Standard  procedure should be trialed and the best practice methods recorded 
• Ownership of Engineering task which identified waste in waiting should be transferred to  production 
•  Standard procedure for the storage of parts to be developed
• 5s aids to be sourced to store parts and equipment
• Standard for the transportation and cleaning of parts to be prepared
•  Engineering solutions (mistake proofing) required for a number of issues identified 
• SOP’s need to be improved and made more visual

This helped us to map out best practice methods for each of the above.

Standardization of the assembly/dis-assembly Process
The team developed the best method for performing assembly & dis-assembly tasks and then trialed these methods observing for possible failure modes and waste in the process.  Whilst doing this the team collected  images and observation data.

Example of images collected during the trials

The team also identified the most suitable locations to store trolleys and tools during assembly and dis-assembly. We trialed these locations and observed the process using spaghetti diagrams, you can see the improvement below.  This was achieved by simply moving trolleys/tools closer and making them more accessible for staff.

Ownership of Engineering task transferred to Production (Risk Assessment)
During the analyse phase we identified waste in waiting as one of the assembly/dis-assembly tasks had to be completed by Engineering.  This involved production raising a work order and then waiting for Engineering to arrive to complete the task.  Depending on other issues that were happening in the plant, production could spend 10 mins to 3 hours waiting on an Engineer to arrive. The team agreed to transfer this task to production.  This required preparing a standard method to carry out the task, raising a change control, conducting a risk assessment and delivering training to all production staff.

Screenshot of Risk Assessment

Standard Procedure for the storage of parts/5S aids 
The team identified locations on trolleys for the storage of parts during assembly, dis-assembly & cleaning.  When this was completed tracings were taken of each part and we transferred them into CAD, we then had the images printed by a company called Dycem onto 5s mats that would be stored on the trolleys.

Sample 5s Mat

Going forward these will be used during the assembly/dis-assembly process which will mean each part has a place and it will be easy to identify if a part is missing.  This will also prevent metal on metal damage to parts and equipment which will improve the quality of our process.  

Standard for the transportation & Cleaning of parts 
We then prepared a standard for use in the washroom for the cleaning of parts, you can see a screenshot of this below.  This standard will help to prevent damage to parts and equipment.

Engineering Solutions
During the analyse phase the team identified some issues that required an Engineering solution and mistake proofing to prevent damage to the equipment.  The Engineer that was on the Kaizen team spent time negotiating a solution with different suppliers during the Kaizen week.  

Standard method documented in a visual format

Following the trials we completed on the new process, the team documented the best practice methods and transferred them into new visual format SOP's.  The new SOP's contain what task needs to be completed, how it should be completed and why it should be completed.  The why is critical as it details the risks involved if the step isn't followed correctly.

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis - FMEA
The team carried out a FMEA on the changes that were made. This worked well for the group as it helped us to identify what some of the possible failures could be, their severity and what we needed to do to ensure this didn't happen.

Screenshot of FMEA

Close out meeting with the SLT
On the last day of the Kaizen event we conducted a meeting with the SLT to show the improvements we had made.  Each team member presented on one of the above improvements.  For many of the team this was the first presentation they had delivered, so although some of them were terrified it was a really good development opportunity.  This meeting was also a chance to recognise the hard work and effort that was put in by the team during the week.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Kaizen event. At times it was difficult, pressurised and we had a number of really long days, but it was fantastic to see the improvements we made and how much we could achieve by focusing on nothing but this project for the week.  The improve phase has by far been my favorite part of the project.