Benchmark Six Sigma

Black Belt Training

Supplementary Study Material
Improve Phase

Benchmark 6ix Sigma. All Rights Reserved Version: 11

Tools for Improve

Solution Generation

o Full Factorial

o Creative Thinking

o Fractional Factorial

Solution Selection
o Pugh Matrices
o Multi
Multi--Voting
o Delphi Technique

Design of Experiments

o Brainstorming
o Benchmarking
B
h
ki

Risk Analysis

L
Lean
Tools
T l
o Techniques for Waste
Elimination
o Mistake Proofing (PokaYoke)
o Cycle Time Reduction
o Kaizen and Kaizen Blitz

o PEST
o FMEA

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Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a Proven Group
Technique
T h i
for
f Generating
G
ti New
N
Ideas
Id
on
a Particular Topic

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Brainstorming: Planning

Selection of the right team - people should be process

experts/ stakeholders or those who carry interest in the
issue.
o Avoid people who may strongly influence the thinking of others!
o Avoid groupthink

Assembling
g the team with no work interferences.

To be able to present the issue correctly and lead the

team through the meeting.

Expertise to explain and use supporting tools

tools- Cause
and Effect diagram, Affinity diagram etc.
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Brainstorming: Sequence of Activities

Sequence of Activities
Phrase the issue
Broad and clear statement
Include no cause

Deliver the issue

Participants should be informed preferably before meeting
# Members = 6 to 8
Arrange surfaces for listiing of ideas

I t d
Introduce
the
th session
i
Warm- up
Discuss a neutral subject for 5-10 min

Brainstorming
Explain and write the issue
All contributions must be wriiten and visible to all to create synergy
A
Appropriate
i t ti
time is
i 30 tto 45 minutes
i t

Process the ideas

Clarify each idea
Group them
Discuss and decide evaluation criteria
Develop barriers and aids chart

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Guidelines for
Team Leader
No criticism
No evaluation
No explanation of ideas
Welcome all kinds of
ideas
Gi sufficient
Give
ffi i t time
ti
tto
each member
Contribution may be
made one idea per turn
with passes sometimes
(Round Robin Method)

Benchmarking
Identifying, Understanding, and Adapting
Outstanding
O t t di Practices
P ti

Baseline is the current level of performance.

Z short term is the achievable level of performance with the
already existing resources
Benchmark is the ultimate goal. It is generally the best existing
f
diff
t organization.
i ti
performance
off same or different
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Benchmarking: Sources

Internal : Comparison within the organization

Functional : Comparison with top performers of the function
irrespective of the industry
Competitive : Comparison with the Industry leaders. They are
the top performers with the same operating environment.
Synthesize Lessons Learnt and Determine how to Apply

Internal
Best
Practices

Functional

Competitive

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Pugh Matrix Selection of Solution

A multiple step process that seeks to combine the

strongest
g
attributes and eliminate or improve
p
the
weakest attributes from all of the initial concepts.
The weakest concepts
p that dont have any
y strengths
g
are
eliminated. The remaining concepts are combined to
develop an even better solution.
Steps:
o
o
o
o

Determine evaluation criteria for the solutions

D t
Determine
i relative
l ti iimportance
t
off th
the evaluation
l ti criteria
it i
Select one solution as the DATUM
Evaluate other concepts with respect to this datum.
If the solution is better than datum (+), worse (-), same (S)

o Develop the sums at the bottom

o Attack
A
k weaknesses
k
&d
develop
l newer concepts
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Pugh Matrix - Example

Hotel Check-in Process

Evaluation Criteria

Imp

Ease of guests finding the lobby for check-in

Minimum weight times for the check-in process

Minimum errors in room assignment

Appearance of the lobby area cleanliness

Sum of Same

Sum of Positives

Sum of Negatives
g

Weighted Sum of Positives

Weighted Sum of Negatives

14

Final Score

-14

-9

-2

t
((Leela
(L
L l Place),
Pl
) B (T
((Taj
T
G t
) C (The
(Th President),
P id t) D (C
t R
* A iis th
the D
Datum
Leela
Tajj Gateway),
(Corporate
Regency))

Benchmark 6ix Sigma. All Rights Reserved

EXERCISE: Pugh Matrix

Develop concepts for Hair Removal System using

brainstorming
g
Determine evaluation criteria
Use Pugh Matrix to develop a best concept
Present the best concept to class.

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10

Creative Thinking
Is An Ability to imagine or invent something new, to generate new
ideas by combining, changing, or reapplying existing ideas.
Is An Attitude to accept change and newness, a willingness to play
with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying
th good,
the
d while
hil llooking
ki ffor ways tto iimprove itit.
Is A Process. Creative people work hard and continually to improve
ideas and solutions, by
y making
gg
gradual alterations and refinements to
their works.
The creative person knows that there is always room for improvement.

"Progress is made
only by those who
are strong enough
to endure being
laughed at."
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11

Creative Thinking: Common Myths

Every problem has only one solution (or one right

answer).
)

The best answer/solution/method has already been

found.

Creative answers are complex technologically.

Ideas either come or they don't. Nothing will help.

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12

EXERCISE: Creative Thinking

You are a salesman and sell an aerated soft drink. You

g
get incentives based on the number of bottles yyou sell.
Considering that your company does not believe in
marketing, think of low cost ideas to promote the product
at your end to maximize your incentives. (Hint: Push
strategy of selling)
E
Everyday
d att th
the titime off office
ffi closure,
l
your b
boss gives
i
you additional task which takes 2-3 hours to complete.
The result is that you reach home late
late. Think of ideas to
minimize overstays without upsetting your boss.

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13

Benchmarking: Types

Parameter
Process

Product

Strategy

Benchmarkin
g

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Practice

14

Benchmarking: Sequence of Activities

Identify the Process to Benchmark

o Select the process
o Fully understand the process and identify non-value adding areas/ scope
of improvements
o Find defects
defects, opportunities and sigma level (preferably long term
term, short
term, and entitlement)

Select Organization(s) to Benchmark

o Find out industries/ functions which perform the process
o Identify the best performer (different industry or same industry and
different unit))

Research the process to be benchmarked

Develop a questionnaire based on your requirements

Exchange ideas - Conduct Visit, if necessary

Discuss the comparison with the team

D i an action
ti
l and
d implement
i l
t best
b t practices
ti
Devise
plan
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15

Alternate Selection Matrix

Selecting the best alternate for reducing component failure due to static charges
Vital Few

Alternate

Assess Risk

Selected/ Rejected

ESD grounding through 1Mohm No individual grounding Selected

Antistatic band
X1: High Electrostatic
Antistatic (black) bins
charge generation
Antistatic Gloves
Antistatic floor

Not controlled
Not available
Not available
Not available

Selected
Selected
Selected
Rejected

Criteria for Selection of a particular alternate

Alternate 1

Criteria

Weight

Implementatio
n
Control
Efficiency
Cost effective

10
9
5
8

Total

Alternate 2

Alternate 3

Alternate 4

Alternate 5

Score

Weighted
Score

Score

Weighted
Score

Score

Weighted
Score

Score

Weighted
Score

Score

Weighted
Score

10
7
4
8

100
63
20
64

9
9
8
7

90
81
40
56

9
8
8
5

90
72
40
40

9
6
7
4

90
54
35
32

5
9
4
2

50
81
20
16

247
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267

242

211

167
16

Randomized Block Example

Suppose we are interested in painting of cars. We want to

try out four nozzles with three cars at each nozzle
nozzle. The
nuisance factor is the batch of paint that is mixed. We feel
that the paint batch may impact the results. Nozzle
Paint Batch
o The best way to run this experiment is to use the same
batch of paint and try out the four nozzles on three cars
each.
h
o A nonnon-blocked way to run the experiment is to
randomize the runs across all paint batches.
batches This is okay
but will increase experimental error and mask any true
differences between the nozzles.
o However, if this is not possible, say due to paint
availability, then we can still block the effect of the paint
if we can run the four nozzles with one batch of paint
and repeat this three times.
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3
17

Latin Square Designs

A Latin Square design is a special type of comparative

design where there is one treatment factor and two
nuisance factors. Latin Square designs are a subset of
special case of Fractional Factorial Designs.
The rows of a Latin Square can be assigned to one
nuisance factor and the columns to another nuisance
factor.
Advantages of Latin Square Designs
o H
Handle
dl cases with
i h severall nuisance
i
ffactors that
h cannot b
be
combined
o Can g
get results with few number of experiments.
p

Disadvantages of Latin Square

o Number of levels of blocking factor is same as number of
treatment levels
o Assumes no interaction between blocking & treatment factors
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These results are highly confounded so only look at main effects

18

Latin Square Designs

Block 2

Block 2

Block 1

Block 1
3 Level Factors

Block 2

Block 1
4 Level Factors
5 Level
L l Factors
F t

The 3-level Factor Design can be re-written as:

Block 1

Block 2

Treatmen
t

Output

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This can be analyzed using General Least

Squares in Minitab.
Stat > ANOVA > General Linear Model
Visually the Main effects plot can be
obtained by
Stat > ANOVA > Main Effects Plot
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Risk Analysis: SWOT

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (SWOT)

o List 5 strengths,
strengths weaknesses,
weaknesses opportunities & threats

Strength is a resource an org can use to achieve its objectives

Weakness is limitation or fault that keeps an org from achieving objectives
Opportunity is a favorable situation the org can exploit
Threat is an unfavorable situation that may damage the org ability

o Identified areas of greatest concern & hence develop action plans to

address risk
Strengths
1
1.
2. What does the solution
3. do well?
4.
5.

Weaknesses
1
1.
2. What could the solution
3. be improved?
4.
5.

Opportunities
1.
2. Any interesting trends
3. that arise due to the
4 new solution?
4.
5.

Threats
1.
2. Could an external factor
3. seriously threaten
4 solution
4.
l i implementation
i l
i
5.

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20

Risk Analysis: PEST

PEST analysis is a strategic method to analyze the macroenvironment in which the company has to operate:
Political

Political stability, Economic policies, Trading

agreements,
t Taxation
T
ti Policies
P li i
Economic
Interest rates, Employment levels, Economic
trends
Social
Religion, Demographic factors,
Cultural factors
Technological Innovation, Quality, Technology,
Internet

If any of the above factors contribute to increase risk for the

solution then deploy actions to mitigate risk
solution,
risk.
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21

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a powerful
tool that is a structured team approach to:
o Identify the ways in which a process can fail to meet critical
customer
t
requirements
i
t
o Estimate the risk of occurrence of causes with regard to these
failures
o Evaluate the current control measures for preventing
g these failures
from occurring
o Prioritize the causes and develop actions that should be taken to
improve the process

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22

Types of FMEA

System FMEA:
o Used to analyze systems and subsystems in the early concept and
design stages.
o Focuses on potential failure modes associated with the functions
of a system caused by design.

Design FMEA:
o Used to analyze products before they are released to production.

Process FMEA:
o Used to analyze manufacturing, assembly and transactional
processes.

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23

When to Use FMEA?

When designing new systems, products, and

processes.

When changing existing designs or processes or their

environment

To prevent recurrence of problem

FMEA is
i useful
f l for
f selecting
l ti
hardware
h d
f new System
for
S t
functions.

For a Design FMEA, releasing the design to FMEA after

product
d t ffunctions
ti
are defined
d fi d

Benchmark
6ix Sigma. All
Rights Reserved
For
a Process
FMEA,
when preliminary drawings of the

24

FMEA

FMEA is done after the detailed process map has

been made for the p
process.

FMEA involves team work of representatives from all

affected activities like purchasing, supplier, design,
manufacturing, quality, service, and other process
experts as demanded by the FMEA objective.

FMEA must be updated by the process/ product owner,

if there is a change in the process or design under study,
until the process is removed or the design is successful
in production.

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25

FMEA Process
Preparation

FMEA Process

1. Select process team

2. Develop process map and
identify process steps
3. List key process outputs to
satisfy
ti f internal
i t
l andd external
t
l
customer requirements
4. List key process inputs for
each process step
5. Define matrix relating
product outputs to process
variables
6. Rank inputs according to
importance

1. List ways process inputs can

vary (causes) and identify
associated failure modes and
effects
2 List other causes (sources of
2.
variability) and associated
failure modes and effects
3. Assign
g severity,
y occurrence
and detection ratings to each
cause
4. Calculate Risk Priority
N b (RPN) ffor each
Number
h
potential failure mode
scenario

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Improvement
1. Determine recommended
actions to reduce RPNs
2. Establish timeframes for
corrective actions
3 Take
3.
T k appropriate
i t actions
ti
4. ReRe-calculate all RPNs
5. Put controls into place

26

FMEA Example

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Benchmark Six Sigma Online Communities

Open Forum
www.benchmarksixsigmaforum.com

O
Open to
t ALL
9000 plus members

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g
Open Linkedin discussion group
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 Benchmark 6ix Sigma. All Rights Reserved

Traditional Lean
Training
+ 2 complete
VSM case
studies
+ Learning
through
simulations
Manufacturing +
service
i case
studies
+Multi Industry
Participation

Ma
aster Blacck Belt

Globally
Recognized
Training
+2 Practice
C
Case
S
Studies
di
+ Weekend
Format
+ Online Project
Support
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Certification
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Participation

Lean Manag
gement

Black Belt

Gree
en Belt

Globally
Recognized
Training
+ Lean
concepts
VA/NVA
+ 2 Virtual Case
Studies
+ Minitab based
l
learning
i
Regular &
weekend
formats
+ Online Project
S
Support
t
+ Project
Certification
+ Multi Industry
Participation

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Training
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p
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