Manufacturing Improvement
Accelerating and Manufacturing Improvement
The Current State of Manufacturing
Manufacturing incurs Costs of Quality due to production at production rates below 4.0 Sigma. Above all too many defects steal Profit Margins and damage reputations. Supplier costs are too high and partnerships with them are one-sided. Customers desire a more solid product. Assembly lines are static rather than dynamic.
Therefore competition is fierce and the direction they’re coming from is unpredictable. Management does not understand the path to greatness. If manufacturers don’t improve every day then they are quietly falling behind.
Lean Business’s Manufacturing Position
Consequently, Manufacturing Improvement uses Lean Six Sigma to drive Operational Excellence. Operating your system utilizing the tools of the Toyota Production System supports the growth of your manufacturing business.
Lean Six Sigma and the Toyota Production System put you in a position of constant change in a manufacturing benefiting direction, constant defect eradication, and furthermore a system that works with Suppliers, not against them.
The major benefits include creating adaptable, Lean manufacturing businesses are:
- Firstly, constant defect removal,
- Increased Profit Margins and above all decreased operational costs, and
- Profound Knowledge of your assembly lines and business.
Other benefits include:
- Continually improve by 11 ideas from every person per year in a manufacturing improvement direction,
- andon defect reduction,
- Minimize assembly-line employees,
- Move forward guidance for everyone in the company,
- Build a culture of greatness for your business,Stress and measure assembly-line performance,and finally,
- In addition pull through the assembly line.
Certainly, the ideal manufacturing business should have a culture of greatness. Manufacturing improvement performance should be monitored with metrics and constantly improve.
The video below demonstrates that there is a sweet spot for manufacturing at about four Sigma. If you want to get to 4 Sigma you should really shoot for 4.25 or 4.5 Sigma since manufacturing processes degrade over time. If you have a complex product I would shoot for something above 4.5 Sigma. Certainly achieve Manufacturing Improvement through building goals:
Seeking Perfection -Manufacturing Greatness Means Sigma Should Constantly Improve
Manufacturing Improvement means Seeking Perfection as Toyota does at 11 ideas per person per year. All directed in a business improvement direction. This includes every person in the company. Above all, that level of perfection requires Value Streams. Toyota is built on Value Streams. Therefore this would change your Manufacturing business to a culture of greatness. See my page on Continuous Improvement, Policy Propagation, and Realization. Manufacturing Improvement requires that Sigma should constantly improve. Continuously Improving consequently leads to meeting business goals.
Toyota Stresses Their Assembly Lines to Improve
Stressing your Assembly Line for manufacturing improvement and should always be happening. Stress is constantly moving forward, therefore without stress, you fall behind. Furthermore, Manufacturing Sigma will constantly improve.
An area that was instrumental in making Toyota great was the concept of andon. An andon is a stoppage of an assembly line when a defect is detected. Toyota still averages about 800 andon calls a year and andon calls are a metric of stress. If they go up, Toyota is pushing too hard, if they go down, Toyota needs to push harder. Therefore Manufacturing greatness requires managing and stressing the assembly line.
This is how Toyota does it:
Performance Metrics to Monitor
Manufacturing Improvement uses Metrics that are key to any manufacturing business. In addition, metrics provide you with a window into assembly line performance. Subsequently, Constantly monitor and improve manufacturing sigma with metrics. This requires a Value Stream which should be constantly improving. Consequently here are Toyota’s metrics:
In Conclusion
Above all, manufacturing improvement is achieved slowly as culture is changed, employees are empowered, and navigation is to greatness. Manufacturing Sigma should be monitored with metrics and constantly improved. Adopt the power of the Toyota Production System and leap ahead of your competition. Click on the button below to use the tools of Toyota to reach greatness.