Problem Solving and

Continuous Improvement

PREPARED BY: ARSALAN ZAHID

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If 99.9% is acceptable to you, then…
•Your heart fails
* 20,000wrong
To beat 32,000 Drug prescriptions
Times each year Made every year

* 500 surgical
Operations are * 19,000 babies are
performed dropped by doctors
wrongly At birth
Every week
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Well …..

“ There is only a 1 %

Difference in the DNA

Genetic code between a

chimpanzee and a

Human being”
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Why Six Sigma
Mail Delivery
• 99 % defect free (3.8 Ϭ ) means 20,000 lost articles per
hour
• While delivery at 6 Ϭ (99.99966 % defect free) means 7
articles lost per hour

Electricity
• 99 % defect free (3.8 Ϭ ) means no electricity for 7 hours
per month
• While at 6 Ϭ (99.99966 % defect free) it means 1 hour no
electricity every 34 years
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Surgeries
• 99 % defect free (3.8 Ϭ ) means 5000 errors per
week
• While at 6 Ϭ (99.99966 % defect free) means 1.7
errors per week

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 SIX SIGMA
• Six Sigma is initiated by Motorola.
• Dramatic process improvement is the major
goal for Six Sigma.
• Six Sigma is an innovative approach to
continuous process improvement and a
TQM methodology.
• Six Sigma eliminates human element of
decision making based on intuition and
replaced by statistical tools for interpretation
and classification of data.
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Origin of Six Sigma
• Six Sigma was born in the 1980s at Motorola.
• Concluded the report regarding the impact of
defect on the production process and hence
customer satisfaction.
• Motorola began to improve the quality and
cost by focusing on product design and
manufacturing.
• Motorola incorporate Six Sigma in
manufacturing.
• Result: saved $2.2 Billion in 4 years.
• Awarded MBNQA from the US Governement. 7
DEFINITION

“A business process that allows organization

to drastically improve their bottom line by
designing and improving everyday business
activities in ways that minimize waste and
resources while increasing customer
satisfaction”

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Defining Six Sigma
• The simplest definition of Six Sigma is to
eliminate defects / waste and to mistake
proof the process that create value for
customers
• A Six Sigma initiative is more about
managerial innovation than about statistical
process control. In essence, Six Sigma
initiative leads to a culture that strives for
continuous improvement of products,
services, processes and behaviors 9
“ A vision of quality which equates with only 3.4 defects per
million opportunities for each product or service transaction
and strives for perfection.”

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Sigma and % accuracy
Defects per Million % Accuracy
Opportunities (DPMO)
One Sigma 691,500 30.85%
Two Sigma 308,500 69.15%
Three Sigma 66,810 93.32%
Four Sigma 6,210 99.38%
Five Sigma 233 99.977%
Six Sigma 3.4 99.9997%
Seven Sigma 0.020 99.999998%
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Cost of poor quality
Fig. 1 Cost of poor quality versus Sigma level

30%
Cost of poor quality
as % of earnings

20%

10%

0%
3 4 5 6 7

Sigma Level
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PROBLEM

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PRE REQUISITE OF SIX SIGMA

• Extreme commitment and direct involvement

of CEO.
• Complete participation.
• It’s a cultural change so employee
involvement is must.
• Requires persistence, mental toughness and
dedication to the achievement of perfection.

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Six Sigma Methodology
(DMAIC)
Define

Measure

Control

Analyse
Improve
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 JUST IN TIME (JIT)
A philosophy based on elimination of all waste and strive for
continuous improvement of productivity.

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 Just-In-Time Manufacturing:
A Definition
• Organizes the production process so that parts are available when
they are needed
• A method for optimizing processes that involves continual reduction
of waste

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Features of JIT:
1. Having inventory only when needed.
2. Quality at zero defect level.
3. Reduce lead time.
4. Move towards cellular manufacturing environment.

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Cellular manufacturing

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Basic element:
1. Waste Reduction.
• Storage, inspection, queues at work centers and defects all fail to add
value.
• Increasing cost and slow down production.
2. Variability Reduction.
• Aim is to eliminate variability.
• Source of variability may be inaccurate engineering drawings,
equipment, without understanding customer requirement.
3. Pulling materials into production.
• Traditionally materials and parts are pushed into the system.
• JIT aims is to “pull” items through the system when needed.
• This reduces or eliminates any inventory waiting to be processed.
• Defects are not hidden.

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4. Inventory Reduction.

“Inventory is evil” (JIT guru; Shigeo Shingo).

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Just-In-Time (JIT) Example

Work in process
inventory level
(hides problems)

Unreliable Capacity
Vendors Scrap
Imbalances 25
Just-In-Time (JIT) Example
Reducing inventory reveals
problems so they can be solved

Unreliable Capacity
Vendors Scrap
Imbalances 26
5. Scheduling:
Two types of Scheduling.
1. Level.
• Involves small batches of constantly changing items.
• Production and demand are level.
2. Kanban.
• Means card, billboard or sign.
• To signal that a worksite is ready for a new batch of
materials.
• One station is close to the next that visual signal will be
enough to trigger a delivery.
• A light, empty cards parts bin, colored golf balls, or even
an empty space floor can also signal readiness for
materials.
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 LEAN PRODUCTION

A philosophy of production that emphasizes

the minimization of the amount of all the
resources used in the various activities of
the enterprise.

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Lean Objectives:
Lean manufacturing strive to achieve the following objectives:
• Eliminate almost all inventory through use of JIT.
• Develop system to produce perfect results.
• Reduce distances.
• Find suppliers whose methods will synchronize the lean
requirements.
• Educate and develop supplier for creating value to the
customers.
• Eliminate all processes that add cost without adding
customer value including material handling, inspections,
inventory and rework.
• Develop the workforce by giving more challenging work,
training opportunities.
• Reduce number of jobs and thereby increases worker
flexibility. 29
Implementation:
1. Map the final assembly process.
2. Clean and organize areas to be changed.
3. Install Kanban pull scheduling and work backward
in the production process using Kanban to link
final assembly with internal and external supplier.
4. Reduce batch sizes.
5. Reduce defects.
6. Do employee training.

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Thank You

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