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Lean Vs Six Sigma: Are they different or compliment each other?

In the rising complexities of globalized business, if you are struggling to improve business operations and seeking a long haul business success, your business has left out with no option other than to optimize the business performance through analytical problem-solving approach and also to adopt proven breakthrough methodologies that multiply your ROI.

Are you in a struggle to optimize your business processes, cost and delivery? If so, it’s now high time for your business to adopt the most effective organization process improvement methodologies to meet your business goals and increase profits within this highly competitive business market.

If you are wondering what’s next?

Here’s your business game changer!

Can Lean and Six Sigma be an invaluable resource to achieve your business goals and improve the bottom line?

The answer is, Of course, “Yes”. But how? Let’s see here!

Lean and Six Sigma do both have similarities and differences.  There are debates also as to which is better when it comes to applications in real-world scenarios for business process improvements.  To understand this better, we can relate this specific to a context.

Lean Thinking and Six Sigma essentially have the same primary goal from a business perspective.  Only focus, steps of implementation and approach is different.

Lean Thinking Approach

Lean is a methodology similar to Six Sigma used by organizations to optimize their business processes.  It emphasized the need for zero waste ideal and for delivering value to the customers.  

Traditional organizations are rated to be having more than 95% of waste in the processes as per Lean terminology. Less than 5% of Value-adding activities are seen.  Value Stream mapping is one of the key tools used to identify waste activities and value-adding activities.  

More importantly, lean focuses on achieving the results through Total Employee involvement right from top management to Housekeeping staff.  Lean is also called Toyota Production System or TPS.  

For achieving superior results, tools such as Hoshin Kanri or Policy Deployment, Kaizen, 5S with Visual Management, Quick Change-over or SMED, Load levelling or Heijunka are deployed for effective execution.

Seven Steps Academy is one of the best training centers to get trained in Lean and Six Sigma. The faculties are really knowledgeable, and they make you learn with their experiences. Myself after completing the training decided to work in this domain in future. They also give tips on how to pass the exam from ASQ. if you want to become a complete Lean Six Sigma professional, do the course from ASQ and Seven Steps Academy and pass the exam and get certified.

- Deepak K S

Company’s standing – and your own – in the business world

In this process, Lean methodologies are applied initially with proven similar tools such as Total Productive Maintenance and Theory of Constraints. Upon ensuring stability and good performance, Six Sigma concepts are parallel introduced to the processes for enhanced business results.  

Seven Steps Academy helps in providing both In-house and public training programs in the field of Lean Six Sigma, Lean manufacturing, Lean Hospitals, Lean Construction, Lean Services, Lean Hospitality.  Hands on support through onsite deployment of these methodologies is done through another vertical of Seven Steps Global Group.. Seven Steps Business Transformation Systems. From decades of experience in deploying Lean and Six Sigma in various industry segments, Seven Steps Business Transformation System recommends the usage of a combined methodology such as Lean Six Sigma.  

Many professionals focus on core technical jobs at the entry-level jobs.  As they progress in the ladder of professional development, knowledge of advanced tools such as Lean Six Sigma helps them to be more effective to perform the jobs and to lead their teams.

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TQM; TPM; LEAN; SIXSIGMA: What is the right strategy for my organization’s business excellence journey?

Starting Business Excellence journey is a strategic decision for any organization. Once top management decides to take this journey, the immediate question arises is what is the approach? Where and how to start?

Selection of right approach at the beginning is critical for the successful journey. Each organization is unique and challengers are unique. One solution does not fit other organizations and also same organization at different time periods. During the midway of the journey if organization realizes that the approach they are taking is wrong, they already lost lot of precious time! Also, it will confuse employees if organization changing the approach often.

A study says less than 2 % companies sustain the Business excellence journey beyond 5 years. This is because of selecting wrong strategy or using Flavor of the month approach. If key professionals and decision makers aware of various strategies and their suitability, the journey becomes very successful. In this paper we are making an attempt to provide a frame work for selection of suitable approach.

1.0: The need for Business Excellence Journey?

There are four Cs which drive organization for Business Excellence.

Competition, Customer, Company/CEO Vision and Crisis. Today organizations have one or more of above reasons for taking Business Excellence Journey.

Note: Some organizations call it Operational Excellence which is according to the author is a sub-set of Business Excellence. While Business Excellence addresses the complete business environment including all stake holders, Operational excellence addresses the factors like productivity, quality, cost, delivery, morale, safety and service to customers. For Example:Operational Excellence may not cover market threats. However the scope and learning from this article equally applicable to Operational Excellence.

2.0: Why selection of right strategy is very critical at the beginning of the journey?

During a conversation with one of the top management persons of a multi -national company, I understand that his organization is in business excellence journey from last 5 years. I asked him about the approach they are using for Business Excellence. He said, they started with TQM and after one year, they decided to change it to Six Sigma and later they found that lean is a better approach and currently they are using a customized method suggested by one of the leading consultant.  On further probing, I understood that the overall perception about the entire journey is not good both from process and results perspective. I heard similar experience from many other professionals work for various organizations including manufacturing, process, service and healthcare industries.  We should not forget that the journey comes at a cost and cost is huge.

Apart from direct costs like employee’s time and infrastructure, it also includes cost of losing competitive edge because of wrong strategies. Suppose if the above organization selected the right strategy in the beginning and stayed with it, it would have achieved greater results in 5 years. If we measure the loss in concrete terms in may run into several million dollars. We can call it COPS cost of poor strategy.

3.0: How we know what right strategy is?

Before we answer this question, let us understand highlights of some of the popular business excellence strategies.

3.1: Some popular Business Excellence Strategies

3.1.1:Total Quality Management (TQM):“TQM is a set of systematic activities carried out by the entire organization to effectively and efficiently achieve company objectives so as to provide products and services with a level of quality that satisfies customers, at the appropriate time and price.” – Definition by JUSE (Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers). TQM is being practiced by many organizations from last 50 years and proven to be very powerful strategy for excellence. Its unique features are system driven approach and Total employee involvement.

3.1.2: Lean:“A strategy that focuses on relentless elimination of waste with the objective of making every step, task & activity creates value for customers”.

“Lean production, also known as the Toyota production system, means doing more with less-less time, less space, less human effort, less Machinery, less material-while giving customers what they want”

In recent years, many organizations including hospitals using lean as a strategy for excellence.

3.1.3: TPM ( Total Productive Maintenance)

TPM is a strategy that focuses on improving the effectiveness of the plant, equipment and processes through the empowerment of PEOPLE. Originated from Japan and popularized by JiPM (Japanese Institute for Plant Maintenance) TPM is used by many organizations to achieve excellence. TPM is mostly practiced by organizations where machine utilization is critical however it covers other areas through its 8 pillar approach.

3.1.4: Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a powerful concept pioneered by Motorola, which is practiced by many organizations to achieve break-through improvements.  Six Sigma is a best strategy to address variation. It uses DMAIC (Define Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) for achieving Break-through improvements

3.1.5: Other Strategies

Apart from the above there are other strategies like BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) Balanced Scorecard, 5S, Quality Management Systems, Hoshin Kanri (Policy Deployment) which are either used directly or as a sub-set to one of the strategies above

3.2: Selection Criteria:  What strategy best suits my business environment

One of the Business Guru said

“All Business excellence philosophies including TQM, Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM are like religions. The objective is same but approach is different”.

The secret of success is constancy of purpose. Organizations should choose one philosophy which best suits its requirements and adapt other best practices under the same umbrella. Experts say less than 2 % companies sustain business excellence journey beyond 5 years. This is due to lack of constancy of purpose and not focusing on soft part like culture. Organizations who adopt “Flavor of the month” approach change the course of the Journey often and remain in the same place after several years. Whereas, organizations who follow umbrella principle continue the journey under all circumstances like leadership change, change in external environment etc….”

So the key take away from the above paragraph is, it is not the strategy you select makes the difference but the continuity of the same for longer period without changing the name of the umbrella. Nobody stops organization from adapting best principles from other strategies but the most dangerous decision is changing the umbrella itself!

4.0: Example of a framework for Excellence

Below are the some customized models of Business Excellence adopted by various organizations

Example of harvesting fruits of excellence in stages

Conclusion:

The reason why less than 1 % of organizations sustained business excellence journey beyond 5 years is that they did not change the strategies often but adapted best practices and tools as and when required without changing the main umbrella.  The organizations using TQM strategy does not mean that they are not using Six Sigma for problem solving. Similarly, the organizations using Six Sigma as their strategic umbrella may use Quick Changeover or SMED concept to reduce time taken for changeovers.

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Five Phases of Lean Roadmap – A Thousand Step Journey

A roadmap will prove invaluable to a company during its lean journey. Here, this  lean transformation roadmap is constructed through five phases including the areas of concern—from education to infrastructure.

Some of the considerations influencing the path taken include:

Where a company is before it begins lean transformation;

What conditions or issues it is dealing with through each phase of the trip; and

The company’s willingness and ability to adapt and change based on the actual experiences and learning of its workers.

The lean transformation roadmap includes five phases, but the lines between each phase are typically blurred, and the characteristics can blend together.  It is important to understand that the roadmap can be viewed from the department, plant or company level.  One part of an organization might be at one phase, while other parts, of even the entire organization, are at a different phase.

THE TRANSFORMATION ROAD MAP

As previously mentioned, the roadmap  consists of five phases with common elements, but different approaches within each phase ( see figure 1). The roadmap will help assess what phase a company is in on its lean journey and what needs to be considered at each phase.

Each phase focuses on some common elements; education, application, communication, infrastructure, time frame tools and methodology, and expected results.

Phase Zero: Exploration

Not all businesses need to experience the exploration phase.  Those organizations already committed to lean often skip it and proceed directly to Phase One. Typically, leadership and / or management initiates Phase Zero by trying to understand more about lean, how it fits into the organization, what challenges it may pose and, most significantly, what payback it may offer.

Education

In Phase Zero, an organization develops awareness and general understanding of the application and benefits of lean.  An organization may also assess its current state to identify its lean education gap.

Application

A company latches onto a particular tool, gives it a try, and fails.  The tool might have failed because of poor implementation or simply because it was the wrong tool for the organization.

Communication

There is no formal communication during Phase Zero, but it is likely that a “rumor mill” emerges from the exploration.  Leaders should be prepared to respond to questions about the company’s plans for lean and to allay any fears about its implications.

Infrastructure

Essentially there is no lean infrastructure in Phase Zero.

Time Frame :  0 to Approximately 6 MonthsPhase One: Building the foundation

Phase one assumes that a company has explored lean as outlined in Phase Zero, and a decision has been made to move forward with lean implementation. In Phase One, a company’s leaders will also begin to understand and apply tools to uncover the true current state and build tension in the organization.

Education

Those who take critical leadership and implementation roles in this early state develop a deep understanding and appreciation of lean’s rules and principles.

Application

Application is an important component of Phase One as well as all subsequent phases.  Here, organizations typically focus on one or many small areas

Communication

An organization in Phase One uses communication to build a “burning platform,” a clear and powerful reason to change, and spread the message of lean’s importance and value.

Infrastructure

A company has an infrastructure to manage its business.  It also needs to develop an infrastructure to manage lean implementation.

Time Frame: Approximately 3 – 9 MonthsPhase Two: Expanding with Tools and Deeper Thinking

Phase Two expands lean to a larger part of the organization and burrows deeper into lean tools and lean thinking.  The focus is now on critical business issues, not just localized issues and opportunities.

Education

In Phase Two, an organization needs to expand its lean education efforts. It should build deeper skills and across a wider cross-section of the company to deal with tough problems and capitalize on bigger opportunities

Application

The small localized areas that have already started on the lean journey should move to the next plateau by applying more advanced lean tools and developing mechanisms and structures to sustain performance gains

Communication

A company should use communication of focus on lean’s tangible results and share best practices.

Infrastructure

During Phase Two, the major public gas and electric utility company developed its lean specialists and provided support from a centralized group.

Time Frame: Approximately Six Months to two YearsResults

Phase two focuses 25% upon building knowledge and 75 % on performance results. A company should expect some breakthrough results that start to move the organizational performance needle.

Phase Three: Integration and Reinforcement

In Phase Three, a company integrates lean into every aspect of its business. This phase assumes a company has stabilized lean processes and behaviors.

Education

In Phase Three, everyone in the organization should have a basic level of understanding, a common language, and a fundamental skill set.

Application

During Phase Three, organizations should incorporate application of lean into all areas and all functions of a department or location and validate it with measurable results.

Communication

There is more informal person-to-person or person-to-team communication during Phase Three.

Infrastructure

Depending on resources, a company relies on either a centralized lean group or local lean specialists for its internal infrastructure.

Time Frame : Dependent on VariablesResults

At the end of Phase Three, an organization is building upon already-found gains. It is experiencing major breakthroughs and its performance is moving forward at a constant pace.

Phase Four: Building Momentum

When an organization reaches Phase Four, there is some danger it may fail to recognize lean is a journey that is never complete. Because the company experiences constant breakthroughs in performance, its leaders and workers may become complacent and even arrogant.

Education

Education is the cornerstone upon which lean will continue to grow and develop. It helps keep everyone sharp and focused, and serves as a beacon for ideal states in every aspect of a company.

Application

Lean is now not only integrated into every day-to-day activity in the organization, but is fully integrated into every decision-making thought process.

Communication

In Phase Four, a company should be communicating about lean externally with suppliers, customers, financial institutions – even the community.

Infrastructure

At this point in the journey, lean skills and infrastructure are embedded in the organization of every business unit, regardless of the service or product provided.

Time Frame : OngoingResults

Lean efforts and culture drive performance gains in safety, quality, cost, delivery – even brand value.

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Quality Culture in an Organization | Quality Improvement in the Workplace

Quality is the result of collective effort of every employee in an organization. Quality cannot be achieved only through stringent quality control methods and use of sophisticated instruments or by highly competent quality department. Dr. Deming claims that 85 % of quality problems are created by people who never touch the product. Also quality cannot be achieved using flavor of the month approach. When individuals make quality as a habit, it becomes a culture at organization level. In this paper we are making an attempt to summarize traits of an organization where quality is a culture.

1: What is Quality Culture and how we measure it?

During one of the plant visit, we entered their canteen and found beautiful visuals for keeping the used food plates, cups, waste food etc…And in practice most of the employees mixing cups and plates, partially clearing waste foods from plate etc… We came to a conclusion that this company may be having serious concerns of quality. When we expressed our view with one of the manager he was not convinced. Then we explained him the concept of culture. If your employees not serious about mixing cups and plates, what is the guarantee they are serious about mixing of parts in the shop-floor? Later he was convinced with our logic. In the next stage we observed employees not following lane principle while going out of canteen. They suppose to walk in the left hand side but most of them were not complying with the rule. Simple examples like this will tell us if quality is a culture in an organization.

Below is the Wikipedia definition of Organization culture as a summary.

Organizational culture is  collective behavior of people belonging to organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits are part of its culture.

It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders depends on its Organizational culture.

If we extend this definition to include quality, it becomes, “Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders and ultimately quality of the product

That means “Quality Culture depends on Organization culture”

Now let us look at the other side. Imagine that you entered an organization where quality is a culture; you feel the difference right from security gate. The way security personnel interact with you, the systems they maintain, the time management etc… gives you a feel of world class organization. Once you enter the reception, you will continue to experience the difference. The courteousness of receptionist, the self help displays, hassle-free path ways etc… You will appreciate how much attention given even for micro level things. No need to explain about the behavior of rest of the organization.

Once a company was audited by its Japanese customers for Quality System implementation. The auditors specifically wanted to visit three areas which took the company management by surprise. According to them, the areas customers selected were nothing to do with their quality systems.

The three areas selected were; Security, Scrap yard and workers toilets. Later during the closing meeting, one of the auditors explained to top management about the reason behind selecting those three areas. The logic is, most of the companies give least importance to these areas. According to them, if any company gives importance to these areas, it is obvious that they are serious about other areas.

2: Factors influence Quality Culture

We asked a question to our linked-in group members. In the equation Y=F(x), where Y= organization culture and x1, x 2 etc… are factors influence the culture, identify those factors. Also what are the 3 xs strongly influence the culture? We received various answers like Geographic location, Value system, Vision, Constancy of purpose, leadership, Management commitment, external environment, Quality Management systems, Human Resource development etc…most of them are interrelated.

Example: Poor implementation of quality management system is reflection of poor management commitment and leadership and so on…  Let us discuss about three important factors which according to us have strong influence on quality culture. They are Leadership, Training and development and value system. One may argue that the second and third factors can be influenced by Leadership. However, for ease of analysis we considered three factors separately.

2.1 Role of Leadership for creating culture of quality – The tale of two leaders

One of the organizations was engaged in manufacture of electric motors. All the completed motors were required to go through final auditing process. It was a month end and the factory was yet to deliver more than 50 % of the orders. In such situation one of the quality auditors rejected the entire lot of motors due to abnormal noise. The plant manager was very upset hearing this. He called the particular auditor and asked what is the problem and after knowing the problem, he suggested to release products under deviation.

The reason given was – These motors are used in textile industry and the abnormal noise of this motor will not be audible in the huge noise created by textile machinery. You can imagine what will happen for the quality in future. The quality auditor next time takes his own decision to pass the defective parts and spread the wrong culture.

Another company was making fabricated structures for construction of bridges. CEO of this company used to do surprise audits at different stages to ensure delivery of quality products to customers. Once while doing one of such audit, he found one of the structure having abnormal bend being in the vehicle ready for dispatch. He immediately asked concerned people to stop the shipment and correct the problem. Not only that; he also asked his team to do a root cause analysis for such escape. Though it is un intentional, the response by leader shows his commitment to quality.

One of the key roles of a leader is “Lead by example”. In the above example, the company may lose one delivery but it sends a strong message to all the employees that any deviation to quality is not acceptable at any cost.

Another key point here is continuation of these leadership principles irrespective of change in leadership. This is a big challenge for many organizations.

2.2 Training and Development – Key in creating culture

Cultural transformation is a journey. Training and development plays an important role in creating quality culture. It should happen at all stages recruitment to retirement and for all level of employees from operator to CEO. Below is an example of Induction training topics of a new employee in an organization known for its quality culture. This is apart from her work related topics and this is mandatory for all employees.

Mission and Vision of organization

Values and Principles

Problem Solving

Kaizen and 5S

Quality and Environment Management Systems

Imagine an employee joins a company with great quality culture from a company which is mediocre. He has two choices a) Adjust to new culture OR b) quit the company. This is the power of culture.

Training and retraining should be a continuous process. Otherwise sustenance will be difficult.

2.3 Value System – Driver of Culture

Values of an organization communicate what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior. For example one of the companies had the following values

Quality First

Respect for people

Sense of urgency

Now this will be the guiding factors for every employee. They will be questioned by any one if they deviate from this. Like a compass in the ship showing direction to the captain, the value system tells organization the right and wrong direction. No one can question this including CEO. Once again, it depends on leaders, how they drive it and communicate it.

3: Quality Culture and Quality Management Systems

In our article “IS ISO 9000 CERTIFICATION LOSING ITS CREDIBILITY? We tried to demystify the various factors responsible for dilution of quality management system. It is quite obvious from our study that, organization which has poor quality culture give least importance to Quality Management Systems like ISO 9000. If the systems are weak, naturally product quality deteriorates. The following triangle illustrates the effects of deviation in quality systems.

4: Quality Assurance (QA) and Human Resource Development (HRD) should not just remain as nameplate change:

In the last two decades many organizations changed name of their two departments

Quality Control became Quality Assurance and Personnel department became Human Resource Development. Unfortunately many companies just changed the board and continued to function in the old way. Few companies adopted new philosophy and become very successful. We strongly recommend companies to adopt the philosophy of QA and HRD in true spirits to create Quality Culture.

Seven Steps Business Transformation System provides support in improving Quality Culture in any organization. We use a combination of tools such as Lean manufacturing, Lean Services, Lean Construction, Lean Hospitals, Lean Retailing. Seven Steps Global also conducts training programs on Various Quality tools which include ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt, ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt certification training, 7QC Tools, Experiential Learning on Lean, 5S, TPM, TQM, TOC ETC, through our group company Seven Steps Academy of Excellence.

Seven Steps Business Transformation System is also a most sort after Lean Manufacturing Consulting companies in India through their operating locations from Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Pant Nagar, Gurugram, Ludhiana, Shivamogga, Hosur, Mysore, Hyderabad, Salem, Chennai etc.

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Is Business Excellence Journey Sustainable

The billion dollar question in Business Excellence Journey is,“is it sustainable”?.The next question that follows is, which is the best methodology? TQM, TPM, LEAN, SIX SIGMA, TOC, AGILE, BPM?.After years of practical exposure of working with various  organization, we found the answer. We decided to share it with rest of the organizations.Seven Steps Business Transformation Systems was founded about a decade ago with the mission of Making Excellence a Culture. We have developed a Seven Step methodology to achieve and sustain Excellence.Two major factors that play important role in sustaining Business Excellence Journey and its results are : Leadership and Culture. One of the great Business Gurus, Dr Edward Deming said “The secret of success is constancy of purpose”. If the Leadership believe in long term and aligns & integrates all Business strategies under a single umbrella, the success can be assured.Otherwise all tools becomes Flavour of the Month. Over the years, we have transformed several organizations in adapting best class practices and moving towards World Class Levels. The great news is most of them are sustaining the results and continuing the journey for years. The mantra is very simple but it requires great commitment from the Leadership Team. That is the reason,we work only with those organizations where leadership demonstrates commitment and believes in Cultural transformation.It is a bit longer process like practicing Yoga without side effects!We tell this fact upfront and only after the acceptance and understanding about the way Excellence work, we proceed to the next step. Each organization is different; so our road map also is customized based on the challenges faced by the organization.For Example if the overall Lead-time to delivery is too high, Lean methods will help and if the consistency process or results is a problem, six sigma tools will help. Most importantly, if organization has no set vision, mission and strategies,Hoshin Kanri is the best tool. So a combination of several methodologies blended and a customized business excellence model is created for each aspiring organization. Our first step before accepting any assignment is“Initial diagnostics (in the form of assessment)and feedback”.

We suggest certain principles to be embraced and strictly followed based on our initial study. Once Leadership agrees to the Principles and recommended model,the journey begins Seven Steps Business Transformation Systems Established in 2012 provides Business Excellence Solutions in the areas of Manufacturing, Service, Construction,Education, Infrastructure, IT,Governance and Healthcare. The Company is managed by professionals who have vast industry experience and passionate about Business Excellence.Expertise includes Business transformation Strategies, Balanced Score-card, Policy Deployment(Hoshin Kanri), TQM, TPM, Lean, SixSigma, Quality Management Systems,Business Process improvement and Environment & Safety Management Systems. It has other verticals to complement its vision.Seven Steps Academy of Excellence provides world Class trainings and certifications. Bexsolutionz division supports Visual Workplace standards. SME division provides world class services for excellence for aspiring and committed small and medium businesses. Seven Steps developed unique Standard for 5S called SSAOE-A5S-10 and certifications awarded to organizations after stringent assessment. Seven Steps offers special packages to Micro. Small Scale Industries as a part of its CSR initiative. A 100 crore club is created with a vision of transforming 100 Micro and Small Scale Industries to 100 Crore companies by 2025.

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We at Seven steps global believe in productivity management and with kaizen implementation and lean manufacturing. we work closely to support you in achieving breakthrough objectives.

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Seven Steps Global is a Professional Lean six sigma consultants training and Business Consulting organization located in Bangalore. Our mission is to make excellence not just a habit but culture in any organization. We believe in potential of people.

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How To Customise TPM Implementation To Suit Your Organization Culture

TPM was developed in Japan between 1950 to 1970.  Like TQM, Lean and Six Sigma, TPM also one of the proven strategies for Operational Excellence.  Seiichi Nakajima is regarded as Guru of TPM. The Core of TPM is Machines and Equipments.  Some people called TPM as Medical Science for Machines.

Similar to Lean, TQM and Six Sigma; TPM is also expanded beyond manufacturing Industry. Today even healthcare Industry, Hospitality Industry and Service Industries are exploring the possibilities of Integrating TPM in to their Business Excellence Strategies.

While more details on TPM are available in many websites and Wikipedia, the purpose of this blog is to provide our insights on how to make it work in different Countries, Industries and cultures.

Managing Change is a challenge from Centuries. One of the TPM principles says Operators responsible for maintaining their own machines by doing daily Cleaning, Lubrication, Inspection, Tightening and Adjustment (Popularly known as CLITA).It is easy to sell this concept in Japanese Auto companies like Toyota Honda and their subsidiaries in other countries.  But think about taking it beyond Japan and Automotive Industries. It will be a very tough task. The first resistance comes from Production Managers and Supervisors (not from Operators!)

Based on decades of our experience in implementing operational Excellence in various cultures, we suggest the following steps to make your TPM Journey successful.  These steps are based on a simple and yet powerful tool called 5W1H (What, Why, Where, When, Who and How)

First ask WHAT are the strategies which helps you to achieve your organization goals. If one of the answers is TPM go to next Steps .My post in LinkedIn Synergy of TQM, TPM, LEAN and SIX SIGMA simplified! I tried to explain the application of different methodologies https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/synergy-tqm-tpm-lean-six-sigma-simplified-ramesh-p-r-/

The second question is Where you can implement TPM and WHY. TPM can be implemented only to certain areas to solve some chronic problems OR this can be adopted at the top level as a Strategy. If your objective is Cultural transformation, TPM need to be adopted by the Top Management as a Key strategy

Once it is decided to implement TPM, the next questions are WHO and WHEN. This again depends on Step 2. If it is a top level strategy, then Steering Committee (High Level) should own the responsibility.  The roadmap answers the question WHEN?

The last question Left is HOW? . To answer this, we need to refer JiPM’s 12 Step methodology.JiPM – Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance is the organization provides complete guidelines TPM implementation. Refer https://www.jipm.or.jp/en/for more information

Below are some of the reasons for Failure of TPM implementation.

TPM is just adopted as a problem solving tool by Maintenance department – The core ideology behind TPM is Total Employee Involvement. Many people mis-understand the letter M in TPM as Maintenance department. It is wrong. T stands for TOTAL meaning 100 % involvement including top, middle and frontline management. P stands for Productivity of all functions and processes and M stands for Maintenance or Sustenance of the gains through standardization and cultural transformation.  The secret of TPM’s success is commitment from leadership team.

TPM is used a Flavour of the Monthconcept – Successful implementation of TPM need minimum 3 years of consistent efforts. Some organizations shift gears from TPM to LEAN to Six Sigma. This problem occurs typically in the organizations where Leadership changes within a span of 1-2 years. Every new CEO comes with his own thoughts , ideas and jargons which confuses people and make them cynical.

Try to solve all Problems through TPM – “If hammer is the only tool you have, you tend to see every problem as a nail” – Abraham Maslow. Different problems need different approaches.   Identify bring those tools under TPM umbrella. For example; Tool Changeover is a problem, SMED or Quick Changeover is the solution. This is considered as a Lean tool but can be brought under TPM umbrella. Similarly Six Sigma has good tools to solve issues related to variation (ex: Statistical Process Control) and those tools can be brought under TPM umbrella.

Implementing TPM just to satisfy Customers – Some organizations implement TPM because of customers pressure. This just wastes time and money. It may help in short –term to make customer happy but it seriously affects in the long-term. Both customer and organization play very important role in overcoming this issue.

Not linking TPM to companies Balance Sheet and P&L – The popularity and success of Six Sigma (particularly in companies like GE) can be attributed to its linkage with financial statements. Though we can expect little financial impact during first 12 months, at some point of time, we need to link TPM with financial results. After all every investment need to be justified by ROI!

Not aligning TPM with Management Systems – Management Systems like ISO 9001, IATF 16949, AS 9100, and ISO 14001 etc should be linked to TPM and brought under TPM umbrella. For example Quality Management Systems can be linked to QM pillar of TPM and ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 can be linked with SHE pillar.

Trying to copy and paste – “One size fits all” will not work for Operational excellence. Best examples are the organizations that tried to copy Toyota model and failed. Customization is very important based on Industry and culture. This requires much broader and innovative thinking particularly by the leadership team. Taking the help of a Sensei (Guru) will shorten the lead-time for customization.

By overcoming the above 7 issues organizations can successfully implement TPM and reap the benefits.

The Author is Principal Coach and Consultant at “Seven Steps Business Transformation Systems “

“Seven Steps Business Transformation Systems is Indian Based organization which provides solutions on Business Excellence. Focus areas are Manufacturing, Service, Education and Healthcare.To find our how your organization can benefit from Business Excellence, get in touch with us.

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Seven Steps Global is a Business excellence & lean consulting Companies in bangalore bring specialized skills and knowledge to assist companies in making the best possible business decisions.

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Reliability Engineer is a professional who has sound knowledge and understanding of principles of performance, evaluation and prediction to improve product and systems safety, reliability and maintainability.   There are various institutes which offer training and certification across the world.  There are also educational institutions which offer Reliability engineering course in post-graduation level.  Which course to choose depends on some of the following criteria.

If you are a student who wants prior qualification before starting career, joining full time course might be preferred.

If you are a professional working in organizations which gives importance to reliability or you would like to get additional qualification for career growth, then certifications from reputed and globally recognized institution would be a preferred choice.

Seven Steps Academy of Excellence conducts Certified Reliability Engineer course in Bangalore in association with American Society for Quality – ASQ. Training certification and registration for the course is done through ASQ South Asia. The course content is in line with latest Body of Knowledge from ASQ.

Key steps in getting Reliability engineer Certification

Understand and find the requirements and exam specifics for a Certified Reliability Engineer.

Go through the syllabus and BOK. Reviewing study guides and mock exam papers can be referred.

Get training from reliable academy and training centre like Seven Steps Academy. 7stepsacademy.com. Alternatively, self-study can also be done but it can take long time for preparation.

Do online application for exam from ASQ

Write the exam and pass them exam with prescribed marks for qualifying exam which is usually 70%.

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In Deming’s 14 principles, one of the key principle which he has recommended strongly is to end the practice of awarding business on price alone. This is one of the Mantra adopted by Japanese companies in order to improve and sustain quality. Same logic is applicable when you choose to select the training course and training centre for Six Sigma course. Should you compromise quality, knowledge for sake of cost. You should get more value for money while choosing the best course on Six Sigma certifications in Bangalore.

Six Sigma certifications is offered in various versions such as Virtual class room, Online and instructor facilitated. Also, Six Sigma certification has different classifications starting from Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Six Sigma Green belt, Six Sigma Black Belt and Six Sigma Master Blackbelt. Price for each one depends on the mode of training being preferred by you.

If you are looking for serious learning and career growth, it is advisable to choose courses which are globally recognized such as ASQ or Juran Institute. Seven Steps academy of Excellence offers Six Sigma courses – Six Sigma Green Belt and Six Sigma Black belt in association with ASQ South Asia. This is primarily class room version in Bangalore.

Cost comparison of Six Sigma courses should be done only when you are clear about similarities,course content, faculty profile and reputation of the institute which is offering the course. So the cost of training and certification also vary accordingly. Six Sigma Certification from ASQ only having the fixed training date and fee for Green and Black Belt. The training cost for ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt is Rs. 27,500 and for the integrated Green,Black Belt session is Rs. 50, 000. Whether the course is expensive or not can be concluded only when the course content, coverage and number days are compared. Though the investment for ASQ training program appears to be on higher side, cost per day of training is the lowest among others but value which you get is much higher in terms of global recognition and personal reputation. Seven Steps Academy of Excellence in Bangalore is an official training partner for ASQ Six Sigma Certification Programs. For more details visit Best Six sigma certification in Bangalore.

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Wherever materials/items are stored & consumed, many times we either face stock out situation or excess inventory. Stock out situation can lead to huge production loss and excess inventory may leads to items becoming obsolete which leads to increase in cost. This situation may happen at house, factory, hospital, restaurant, automobile spare parts warehouse etc. To prevent stockout situation and maintain optimum inventory, “Kanban”, a powerful Lean tool is used. Stockout situation happens because we order the items late or order less quantity and excess inventory situation occurs many times due to excess ordering. Kanban is a Japanese word “signal for ordering”, where the system visually indicates when the item to be ordered and how much to be ordered.

Kanban tool is used in Manufacturing, Retailing, Warehouses, Restaurants, Construction and other areas where materials are stored and consumed. Kanban tool is also used in software industries and other office situations to optimise load and monitor different projects to complete as per schedule. Implemented effectively, Kanban will help in meeting “On Time Delivery” and “Improve Inventory Turns” which are two key Management Performance Indicators. For less number of items (less than 300nos) Visual system of triggering can be implemented with use of Kanban cards. When number of items are more than 300, ERP system can be used for implementing Kanban system with customized configuration.

ABC and Runner/Repeater/Stranger analysis for all the items is done to decide for which items Kanban to be implemented.

Seven Steps academy provides training in Lean manufacturing, lean services, Lean Hospitals where application of Kanban has yielded substantial improvement in productivity. For more information and for further training needs on 5S trainings, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Blackbelt, Kaizen, QCO, SMED, Heijunka trainings, visit www.7stepsacademy.com

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Steps for Implementing the 5s Methodology

“If you can do 5S, you can do anything. The company that can do well with the 5S’s can also do well with all the other practices. The company that cannot even implement the basic 5S’s, will not be able to do any of the other things required of a competitive organization”

Takashi Osada in his book The 5S, Five keys to a Total Quality Management.

5s is methodology popularized by Japan. It is an acronym for five Japanese words Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke.

The origin of 5S can be traced back to Henry Ford’s CANDO programme around 1920s. CANDO is an acronym for Clearing, Arranging, Neatness, Discipline and Ongoing improvements. CANDO is translated to Japanese by engineers from Japanese Management Association – JMA. Order of sequence of CANDO and 5S changes marginally.

Once an organization determines to implement 5S, before starting to implement 5S, there is ground work needed.

Seven Steps Business Transformation System has failitated implementation of 5S as an organization wide initiative. Based on our combined experience of over 200 years and being in the field of 5S training and consulting for over 25 years, we have lead effective transformation of organization through 5S.

Our Seven Steps methodology for 5S implementation is as below

Have Top management involvement and commitment right from beginning. We have come across organizations where founders/chairman level members are committed to implement 5S. However, the local leaders of plant levels work in daily fire-fighting mode and give least important to 5S. Fully commitment of Top management and local leaders are one of the first pre-requisites for 5S implementation to start.

A steering team with 5S organization structure is highly beneficial: Without 5S structure,effectiveness for 5S implementation will be very less. Having one champion to lead 5S for entire organization is also not found to be very effective.

Awareness of benefits of 5S is the key. This can be done only through training to 100 %of the members associated with the company. Right from top management, housekeeping, canteen, security. None to be left.

Use 5S implementation to create a good culture and team work. Any implementation should be done through organization level instead of isolated areas. When everyone works together for a common cause of maintaining workplace, trust and team work is created. This paves way for good organization culture. Seven Steps methodology of 5S implementation recommend focused implementation for minimum two days and up to 5days of rapid improvements workshop.

Sequence of implementation for best result is important. Before even attempting to start 1S activity, there should be standard from 4S level which is accepted and approved RED TAG strategy. This is the basis for starting 1S. What item is needed, how much is needed should be known. Without this, no sorting/clearing happens. Every zone leader thinks that they will need everything stored in the absence of approved RED tag strategy. Once we start with 1S, taking decision on RED tagged items within specified time line is very important. Else, all the items will come back to the respective zones.

Once 1S is done thoroughly, instead of jumping to 2S, it is important to focus on 3S through deep cleaning of the work place. It gives feel good factor for doing proper 2S.

Before start of 2S, creating standards for labelling which also specifies what font to use, what size of font to use etc., to that extent of micro details. Else, each zone will have their own way of labelling and doing 2S which defeats the purpose of orderliness.

Standardizing through 4S manual is the next step which will help in maintaining the first 3S.

Ongoing improvement through Sustenance methods in the form of weekly self-audits for each zone and monthly organization wide audits will be effective.

Understanding the 5S methodology is one of the basic foundations of Six Sigma certifications and principles, and can be extremely beneficial for organizations of all kinds of growth.

Are you ready to begin? f you want to learn more about lean methodologies and Six Sigma certifications, check out here.

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How to Synchronize Six Sigma Black Belt in to your Business?

Traditional thought process is that Six Sigma Blackbelt Certification are meant to handle some specific improvement project related to Quality. The truth is it can be deployed across the functions and to high impact business goals.

Six Sigma black belt certification project application goes beyond the idea of improving the critical-to-quality characteristics of operational processes. Expanded the BBs’ work scope and deploying Six Sigma initiative to sales, after-sales support, marketing, customer service and new product development will give further enhanced results.

A successful future BB can synchronize their efforts in business results through the following:

1. Change navigator: BBs will guide the organization through all types and scales of change processes, such as strategic, tactical, structural or operational change. They will lead the organization into what W. Edwards Deming called metanoia or profound transformation. To be successful, BBs will need to develop skills in new areas including open space technology.

2. Human portal: BBs will be network creators and knowledge brokers. They will collaborate, connect, provide and receive knowledge. They will use existing knowledge to improve performance or combine strands of knowledge to create something entirely new. BBs will use their extensive knowledge about who does what and their understanding of what actually is needed to creatively establish connections between knowledge seekers and knowledge holders.

3. Innovation catalyst: BBs will help create a wave of innovations within the company and ride them into the future. They will need to apply the concept of innovation—incremental and breakthrough—not only to processes, but also to new products, distribution channels and business models. They will help inculcate and apply innovation to all functions, including marketing, human resources, financial control, sales and operations. BBs will play a key role in monitoring the innovation process end to end, including idea generation, idea approval, final implementation and benefits harvesting.

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How to implement Six Sigma black belt methodologies in the Education sector?

Educational Institutions require an innovative supporting tool which helps in improving the quality of processes pertaining to the important functions particularly teaching, research and service. Institutions of higher education can also improve their chances of attracting students by improving the levels of service. To find success, they must demonstrate that they can offer what others cannot. The quality of education is more important to the customers of the educational institutions such as students, parents and the organizations where they are getting employment. Six sigma five phase methodology i.e., DMAIC (Define - Measure - Analyse - Improve - Control) is adopted to establish a novel approach with a view to improve quality in a higher education institution. A synergistic approach created by analysing and simultaneously using the benefits of Six Sigma certification in Bangalore plays an important role in the development and improving the quality of a higher education institution.

Recently six sigma as an improvement approach has gained wide popularity in many service sectors such as banks, healthcare centers, utilities services and Airline industry primarily to gain customer confidence and to boast business growth. In fact education segment is of no exception as it is fast inclining as a profit generating business enterprise with minimal impact towards nation building. Six-sigma is an improvement strategy geared towards reducing defects on existing products and strategies efforts in improving business growth and sustainability. This methodology has two techniques which are known as DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) and DFSS (Design for Six sigma). The main difference between these techniques is that DMAIC is a process improvement strategy applied on developed and existing project or system while DFSS is geared towards designing new product or process.

Six Sigma is a process that brings additional benefits and helps institutions to adopt best practices for service delivery through a quality process which ensure its success. This paper has discussed two approaches which are highly complementary and can be used in combination effectively for the continuous quality improvement of an educational process.

The DMAIC, a standard six sigma process is proposed as it has gained vast positive reviews of its capabilities. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to establish a relationship between this popular industrial methodology and the scope of study in an academic environment involving undergraduate engineering program. This is to ensure that academic institutions are committed towards producing innovative talent graduates and are not deviated towards commercial motives. Cultural changes require time and commitment before they are strongly implanted into the organization. In its most common use, education quality refers to the extent that an education system is able to achieve the generally accepted goals of education, central to which is knowledge and skill development.

Our Conceptual Framework propose a new insights to the managers in organizations that typically interact with education and quality. Just like ISO 9000, Six Sigma focuses on quality improvement by reducing the defects and flaws in the processes of delivering educational services. To be successful in universities and colleges, Six Sigma and other improvement initiatives should be aligned with element (e.g., accreditation efforts and/or institutional effectiveness departments which are responsible for data analysis and report submissions). And national quality initiatives, including finally, students should be involved in Six Sigma and other excellence initiatives. After all, students are the ultimate stakeholders. They are customers, in co-managers of the teaching/learning process, and final products as they graduate and seek employment. Higher education institutions should more often consider and refer to Six Sigma black belt certification as a success strategy in maintaining academic quality at high standards, improving it continuously and reaching a higher level of performance.

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How ASQ certification differ from other certification bodies?

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) a global body of Quality professionals, with more than 150 years of history offers several quality certifications on various professions starting from Healthcare, Product Design, Reliability, Software development, Supply Chain, Pharmaceuticals etc. It is the largest and most reputed professional body in the world, committed to raising the voice of quality led by global thought leaders like Dr. Walter Shewhart, Dr. Edward Deming, Dr. J. Juran, Dr. Phil Crosby and Dr. Feigenbaum to name a few.

There are several organizations offering certificate courses on six sigma but ASQ offers professional six sigma certification. ASQ adheres to a strict Certification process that tests the application knowledge of the individual based on an approved Body of Knowledge (BoK) developed by a team of quality professionals. ASQ’s Curriculum (BoK) is created collaboratively with FORTUNE 500 companies, viz, BMW, Coca cola, Pepsi, Google, Apple and many more. The assessment (exam) is based on the Blooms Taxonomy of Cognition. The certification is valid for a period of three years from the date of issue and needs to be kept current by either carrying out activities as prescribed by ASQ for recertification units or taking the exam again before expiry.

ASQ Six sigma certifications are recognized and respected globally by leaders and organizations alike. A certification by ASQ is scientific way to measure an individual’s proficiency and knowledge about various tools and their effective application, analysis and synthesis to deal with practical business challenges. The BOK and question bank for the exam are continuously enhanced by constantly seeking inputs from senior and experienced members of ASQ who are veteran quality professionals with decades of experience.

ASQ floats salary surveys among different groups each year and it is an established fact that on an average an ASQ certified professional draws 15-20% higher CTC when compared to professionals without ASQ certification. ASQ Six sigma certification is recognized worldwide and is considered as one of the most sought-after professionals across the globe.

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What is the use of six sigma Green belt certification?

American Society for Quality (ASQ) is a worldwide globally recognized body, which has more than 85000 Quality professionals as members, who are experts from a wide spectrum of industries, educational institutions, medical colleges and hospitals etc., related to quality. A Best Six Sigma Certification from ASQ is considered a mark of quality excellence and is recognized by more than 125 organizations worldwide. It helps in the advancement of professional development, builds credibility and recognition among peers as a part of the global community. A certification helps in career advancement and significantly helps the professional improve organizations bottom line through effective application of quality tools and methods.

For operational managers who have a day job to oversee line function(s) with teams reporting to them, a Six Sigma Green Belt certification is preferred. Certified Six Sigma Green belts are expected to have knowledge of tools to drive process improvement like ability to analyse charts, use of cause effect diagram and basic data analysis.

Green Belt certification is awarded to professionals who are operational managers and lead a small team of front-line employees. To implement any improvement, it is important to understand the larger organization need and then to guide a team. A six sigma green belt certification in bangalore helps Functional Leaders to drive change in smaller teams. This is the second level of certification in any professionals’ career progression which helps pave the path for higher certifications like Black Belts in the future.

A minimum three years of full time work experience in one or more areas of the Six Sigma Green Belt Body of Knowledge (BoK) is necessary. The BoK is available on ASQ India’s website. Once the experience requirement is met then Green belts need to appear for an assessment (exam online) based on the BoK. The exams are conducted at various centres throughout India. An online application form which is available on ASQ India website must be filled in with all details and submitted. There is an exam fees (INR) which has to be paid online. Once the application is reviewed and approved then the individual needs to schedule and take the exam. ASQ exams are delivered through a computer based testing (CBT) by ASQ’s testing partner Prometric. This is offered across 8 testing locations in India. Green belt exams can be scheduled every alternate month through the year. There will be 6 slots open every year. The first slot is now open in Feb 2019. The exam consists of 100 multiple choice questions to be taken in four hours. All the questions are based on the ASQ GB BoK. The generic pre-requisites for any professional to earn a Six Sigma Certification typically are completion of a structured Training (though not mandatory) by certified and qualified Leaders, completion of Six Sigma Project(s) and to pass an exam which assesses their BOK and application skill.