Gemba Kaizen

What is Gemba Kaizen?

It simply means “Improvement has no End”.

Gemba Kaizen is Japanese term referred to continuous improvement of employment, production, Services and efficiency. It is a Japanese technique to optimize the workplace.

History-

It is originated from the pioneer work of various experts such as Masaaki Imai, Frederick Taylor, Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Walter Shewhart. This method targets the continuous development of quality techniques. 

Principles and objectives of Gemba Kaizen

In order to arrive at improvement, this continuous improvement method has set a number of principles and objectives that can be used for any organization:

 1.        Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total Quality Management (TQM) is all about reducing and eliminating waste.

 2.        Just In Time (JIT)

Organization can customize and economize stock carrying cost by delivering products and or services as and when needed by customer, Just in Time (JIT) concept.

 3.        Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is all about standardization of production because of which complicated and expensive processes can be avoided.

 4.        Zero Defects (ZD)

The focus of attention is on preventing errors and on adapting the quality and demands of customer need.

 5.        Workplace

Because of a good atmosphere and a pleasant working environment, people will work more effectively and efficiently. This is how it aims for improving the workplace.

 6.        Respect

The employees are especially the driving force behind the continuous improvements within an organization. Understanding the importance of need to improve, respecting each one in the team should be involved together. Organization chart/hierarchy is not important in this since this involves all levels of organization to come together. If necessary, even external stakeholders could

 be involved in Gemba Kaizen.

 Conclusion-

Gemba Kaizen is a continuous improvement and should be implemented by every team member in everyday life. It is easy to apply and leads to efficiency and increase in productivity. It is a critical success of large organization where a workplace can be converted into a show room.

QFD

QFD provides a systematic approach towards prioritizing requirements of our customers, when to implement and why. QFD basically aims at planning and problem preventing technique.

History-

QFD stands for Quality Function Deployment which was developed by Prof. Yoji Akao in 1966. Mostly it was used in engineering field. It is defined as a “method to transform user demands into design quality to deploy the functions forming quality and to deploy methods for achieving the design quality and ultimately to specific elements of the manufacturing process”.

  

Objective-

The objectives of QFD are-

To understand
-          use of QFD design of product
-          methodology of QFD and House of quality.

QFD phases-

QFD level 1- system

Process definition-

1.       Collection of VOC

2.       Translating VOC into product specifications

3.       Competitive analysis

4.       Initial design concept- product performance and specification

QFD level2 – system

Product Development-

1.       The critical parts and assemblies are identified

2.       Critical part and assembly specs.

3.       Specification are then defined

QFD level3- component

Process development-

1.       Designed manufacturing and assembly processes

2.       Developed process flow

3.       Identified critical process characteristics

QFD level 4-

production process control

Process quality control-

1.       Process parameters are determined

2.       Process controls are developed and implemented

3.       Full production begins upon completion of process capability studies.

Steps to build the House of Quality in brief are-

1.       Identify your customer requirements and Prioritize customers

A structured list of requirements derived from the customer statements/ feedback.

2.       Identify relevant and measurable product characteristics to satisfy your customer requirements

3.       Planning matrix.

Illustrates customer perceptions observed in market surveys. It includes relative importance of customer requirements, company and competitor performance in meeting these requirements.

4.       Interrelationships or correlation matrix

It illustrates the QFD team’s perceptions of interrelationships between technical and customer requirements. An illustration using symbols or figures are recommended for appropriate scale analyses.

5.       Technical correlation (Roof) matrix

It is used to identify where technical requirements support or impede each other in the product design. It highlights innovation opportunities.

6.       Technical priorities, benchmarks and targets.

These are used to record the priorities assigned to technical requirements by the matrix. It evaluated degree of difficulty involved in developing each requirement.

Final output- a set of target values for each technical requirement to be met by the new design linked to requirements of customer.

Example-

Benefits of QFD-

-         The process is entirely focused on customer requirements
-         Encourages team efforts and acts as a team builder
-         Improves product and service quality
-         Minimizes costs on wastes

References-

https://www.questionpro.com/blog/surveys/

https://unevoc.unesco.org/e-forum/CompetenceStandardsforTVET.pdf

Audit

   

As defined in ISO 19011:2011- guidelines for auditing management system,

An audit is a “systemic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence records, statements of fact or other information which are relevant and variable, and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the audit criteria (set of policies, procedures or requirements) are fulfilled”.

There are several audit methods and types which are employed to achieve the audit process.

An audit may be classified depending on the interrelationship among participants.

1.  Internal audit- is performed by employees of an organization. Internal audits are often referred as 1^st party audits.
2.  External audit- is performed by an outside agent. It is refereed as either 2^nd party or 3^rd party.

Types of audit- Three discrete types of audit are-

1.   Product/ services audit
2.  Process audit
3.  System audit

Some audit is named according to their purpose or scope of a department or function. The purpose of audit remains same everywhere that is the assessment of area performance or efficiency.

Some audit categories may be summed up as-

1.  Process audit-

It evaluates an operation and method against predetermined instructions or standards to measure conformance to standards and the effectiveness of the instructions. In a nutshell, it is a verification inspection that processes are working within established limits. 

Such an audit may –

a.      Check conformance to define requirements such as accuracy, temperature, pressure, time, etc.

b.     Examine the main resources (equipment, materials, people), the environment, the methods (procedures, instructions) followed, and the measures collected to determine process performance.

c.      Check the adequacy and effectiveness of the process controls established by standard operating procedures, work instructions, flowcharts, manufacturer instructions and training process specifications.

2. Product/Service audit-

An examination of a particular product or service (hardware, processed material, software) to evaluate whether it conforms to requirements, that is, specifications, performance standard and customer requirements.

3. System audit-

“An audit conducted on a management system”

It involves all documented activity performed to verify, by examination and evaluation of objective evidences, that applicable elements of the system are appropriate and effective and have been developed, documented, and implemented in accordance and in conjugation with specified requirements.

a.      A quality management system audit evaluates an existing quality program to determine its conformance to company policies. Contract, service agreements, commitments and local regulatory requirements.

b.     An environmental system audit examines an environmental management system

c.      A food safety system audit examines a food safety management system and

d.     Safety system audit examines the safety management system.

Other types are-

Dock audit-

Dock audit is similar to a product audit only. Dock audit is done on the processed product which is ready to dispatch. The audit verifies that the product meets customer specific requirements. This audit includes dimensional, packaging methods, count accuracy, bar code labeling requirement, etc.  

Layout audit/ Inspection-

Layout inspection is a complete measurement of all part dimensions shown on the design record. A layout inspection may be required by some customers for all products annually unless other frequency is established in a customer approved control plan. 

Layered audit -

Layers” stands for various levels of management in the considered process wherein the LPA is implemented. It is a tried and tested form of assessment for various departments to identify if processes are implemented as agreed, and if the desired results are achieved. For more details refer to-

CQI-8 “layered Process audit”

IATF 16949:2016 clause 8.5.6.1.1- “temporary change of process control”.

Reference-

• http://isoconsultantpune.com/iso-140012015-clause-3-terms-and-definition/ 
• https://asq.org/quality-resources/auditing
• https://www.beaconquality.com/what-are-layered-process-audits
• LPA_brochure-Executives-achieve-process-execution-through-brief-process-audits.pdf

5S System

Background- 5S System

5S system was developed by Sakichi Toyoda in 1970s within the broader Total Production System (TPS). It aims to organize workplace and improve processing for better production.

The 5S System is simple and easy to implement. However, execution needs a proper understanding of importance and planning.

What is 5S?

There are five 5S System phases: Translated in English from Japanese:

S.No.	Japanese word	English Word	Short Description
1.	Seiri	Sorting/ structurise	remove not needed
2.	Seiton	Systematize	assign place and amount to items
3.	Sesio	Shine	Clean to inspect and maintain
4.	Seiketsu	Standardizing	Set standards, agreements and visualize
5.	Shitsuke	Sustain (self-discipline)	Secure for the future

Objectives of 5S-

-      Increase in productivity

-      Safe environment

-      Reduced waste and cost associated with waste

1. Seiri

Segregate all items at work place into necessary ( or Wanted) and Unnecessary (or Unwanted). Gather the ‘Unwanted’ materials in a selected area/ Red bin. As a team decide if indeed it ‘not needed’ or needed but too many of it. Remove unnecessary, dead stocks/ items and dispose of them properly.

2. Seiton

Arrange the items in systematic manner. It will reduce time for search of item when in need. For all items it is preferable to put some identification or numbers. Arrange them by following 5 principles-

a.         Air free

b.         Search free through mapping or zoning

c.         Count free by numbering

d.        Bend free by storing it above the work bench.

e.         Climb free by storing it at the height till you can easily reach.

The objective is “ Place for everything and everything in place (PEEP)”.

3. Seiso

Initially clean to shine and then develop to maintain cleaning schedules. A clean workplace is safer and motivates disciplines. There should be non-overlapping responsibility of “by whom” and :by when” format for cleaning activities.

4. Seiketsu

Standardize the best practices at the workplace. Make your standards visible. By doing so they are better controllable and easier to maintain.  Make use of SOPs, OPLs, displays, Work instructions, so that work is done at same fashion at every corner of organization.

5. Shitsuke

Set up training for employees and housekeeping. Perform regular audits and hand over improvement feedback to the team of the audited area. It’s important, towards sustenance practice all the above 4S day to day. It should start from you and then teach others. 

Benefits of 5S-

1.     Improves organizational efficiency

2.     Reduces waste in all forms

3.     Work in similar fashion irrespective of who is performing

4.     Healthy and safe environment for employee

5.     Improves speed and quality of work performance

6.     Create a visually attractive environment for your customers.

Conclusion-

• The 5S is not a one person’s responsibility, it is actually everyone’s responsibility. 
• The 5S System practices should be part of the performance improvement plan and operational excellence strategies. 

MISTAKE PROOFING (POKA YOKE)

Introduction-

Mistake proofing is the easiest way of avoiding waste!

Yes! You heard it right. Proofing can be achieved by awareness, detection and prevention.

1. Awareness- having the foresight that a mistake can be made. Awareness can be spread by training or sharing experience. At the earliest, by communicating and planning the design of the product, process or service to detect or prevent it.

  

2. Detection- some mean to detect mistake and alarm the operators so that it is fixed before product or services are delivered to our customers.

  

3. Prevention- By not allowing the possibility for the mistake to occur at all at any stage of process.

These mistake adversely affects our customer & consumers, our employees and results in waste! There is always a cost associated with defects and such mistakes. So isn’t awareness, detection and or prevention the easiest ways of mistake proofing? Reprimand worker, one-to-one session with boss, retrain worker, warning, asking to be more careful or pay attention were the old ways towards preventing mistakes.

In today’s high technology word a better way to prevent mistakes is to remove the opportunity for error by Improve process and making wrong actions more difficult to accept manually, automatically as well. Or at the most, make easier to discover the errors that do occur in the process so that it is fixed on time.

BACKGROUND-

Dr. Shigeo shingo invented the Japanese concept called poke yoke as a part of the Toyota Production System in 1960s. “Poke” means “Mistake” and “Yoke” means to “Avoid”. The essential idea of poke yoke is to design process in such a way that mistakes are impossible or at least easily detected and is corrected. It’s objective is to achieve Zero Defects.

Poke yoke devices fall into 2 categories-

1.     Prevention  

2.     Detection

Prevention poke yoke -

A prevention device engineers the process so that it is impossible to make mistake at all.

Detection poke yoke -

A detection device engineers the process that detects the error or mistake.

Typical Errors-

• Processing errors
• Missing operation
• Inappropriate procedures
• Missing parts
• Missing information
• Wrong parts
• Damaged materials
• Tools or equipment improperly prepared or setup
• Human errors

Some mistake proofing strategies are like to-

• Make it harder to error to happen.
• Make it possible to reverse the error.
• Detect deviations caused after error.
• Design process so that it tolerates the error and doesn’t result in defect.

Approaches to mistake proofing should be-

1.     Control approach- controls are design that can tolerate variations. They are robust design and have high capability of achieving Zero defects and outliers.

2.     Warning approach- An automatic stop, lights or sound to brings attention to the problem helps the operator to fix it.

Let’s take an example to have an idea on “COST” of mistake proofing-

 Advantages of Mistake proofing are -

 -        Remove defects

-        Faster defect detection and correction

-        Improve safety of workers

-        Improve effectiveness and assures higher reliability of equipment.

-        Ultimately savings in terms of cost on wastes

Few Limitations are that it

• -        Requires special training in terms of equipment knowledge
• -        Requires work culture of 100% vigilance and perfectionism

How one can implement-

• Design the product so that it can’t be assembled incorrectly
• Design process on services that can be delivered in best possible way which gives 100% customer satisfaction.