Standard Work Activity: Lean Six Sigma Sonnet #1

I've been working on adapting our yellow belt curriculum for presentation via the web. The long-pole in the tent for this curriculum conversion is the process simulation. When I teach the class in-person, we always do a hands-on production simulation that the students "fix" over the course of several rounds.

To replace the hands-on production simulation, I need to come up with about six hours worth of meaningful activities to simulate aspects of a process improvement project. The catch is that I have to be able to facilitate the activities with a large group of remote students.

One idea I'm kicking around is to develop a standard work instruction for writing English sonnets. On the surface, writing a sonnet might seem difficult. However, most people can produce a sonnet in about 25 minutes when you break down the process into a series of steps. Notice that I didn't say most people could produce a good sonnet -- only that they could produce a sonnet that meets most of the stylistic conventions. Here's my first attempt at a sonnet using my draft standard work instruction:

Lean Six Sigma Sonnet #1

To eliminate your deficiencies
You must do more than simply clean.
To improve overall efficiency
You must systematically lean.

Process improvement won't create a stigma;
Reducing variation is good taste.
As you deploy change with lean six sigma,
Bottlenecks get managed with reduced waste.

You will see an end to angry complaints,
And savings will flow from re-arranging.
Production increases free from constraints,
And teamwork will grow as culture starts changing.

Work done right the first time is value add
Rework and mistakes are always quite bad.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers Lean Six Sigma Workshop

Image
We took a different approach to Lean Six Sigma training for the Society of Hispanic Engineers Eastern Leadership Technical Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 24, 2012. We did three things that were just a little bit different from our normal approach: 1. We adapted the Navy's Lean Six Sigma curriculum to offer it in a workshop format. The hands-on nature of the workshop format aligned well with the typical curriculum already, but we had to make some adjustments for the space and time constraints of a conference workshop. 2. We simplified the process simulation just a little bit to minimize the materials requirements. We put together a meaningful simulation experience using only a single piece of paper. It made it a lot easier to travel with the materials. 3. We increased the enrollment cap from 20 seats to 60. The 20 seat limit was originally set to make the instruction highly interactive. To maintain the interactivity, we incorporated more co-facilitators for th
Read more

Key Performance Indicators in a Nutshell

Image
KPI Definition Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) are measured evidence that desired business results are being achieved. KPI's are feedback about how the business is performing. KPI's are essentially metrics linked in a meaningful way to an important business objective. These are the "critical few" measures that you need to know to get the job done. Goals define the end results we hope to achieve, and KPI's define the measurements used to monitor progress toward goal attainment. As a general rule, if you will not make business decisions based on a measure, then that measure is not a KPI. Purpose of KPI's When structured to reflect business strategy, KPI's provide business owners with answers to important business questions, help managers understand how their organizations are performing in relation to their strategic goals, and provide an indicator to determine whether performance is on track. The term KPI tends to be misunderstood and
Read more

Priming the Project Pump: Lean Six Sigma on a Shoestring

When I teach lean six sigma tools and techniques, I always emphasize the importance of application. Withouth projects that produce results, lean six sigma is only another empty training program about solving problems. Regardless of what I say or do during training, the transition from student to practitioner is sometimes slow. The slowness of the student-to-pracitioner transition is partly due to my unique organizational circumstances. I am building on the ruins of a previous lean six sigma deployment. The earlier deployment team had built infrastructure to the point of critical mass; the project pipeline was flowing and beginning to produce real operational results. Then leadership changed and the effort was abruptly cancelled -- existing project teams were disbanded. The re-deployment investment for the current effort consists of one half-time black belt (me) and a small office supply budget. With those resources, I am deploying lean six sigma to a nation-wide enterprise of a few tho
Read more