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The As-Is metrics are the measured current state of the process or problem. It is not the best case, the worst case, or the “as-designed” case; it is the current average performance of the process or problem.

Quick reference

As-Is Metrics

The As-Is Metrics are the measured current state of the process or problem.  It is not the best-case, the worst-case, or the “as designed” case; it is the current average performance of the process or problem.

When to use

By the end of the Measure Stage of a Lean Six Sigma project, the team should be able to calculate the As-Is Metrics for the process or problem.

Instructions

As-Is metrics are calculated based on measurements at process steps.  In some cases, these metrics are totaled for the entire process.  The purpose of the As-Is metrics is to reflect the total process impact on the customer.  These metrics should show what is really happening and what the customer experiences.  Among the most common metrics are:

 

  • Total Time (ToT) – this is the entire amount of elapsed time from the beginning to the end of each process step.  It is often then totaled for the entire process.  It includes nights, weekends, and holidays.  It is usually calculated by measuring the time from the start of the first step until the start pf the next step.
  • Process Value-Added Time (VAT) – this is the sum of the value-added time for each step in the straight-line flow of the value stream.  It is often totaled for the entire process.  For those steps with no value-added time, they contribute nothing to this number.   VAT is often expressed as a percentage of total time.
  • First Pass Yield (FPY) – this represents the percentage of time that all activities within a process step are correctly completed on the first attempt.  It includes both value-added activities and non-value activities.  If a step operator (or anyone else) must rework an item, even if it is done as part of the step, then that item is not counted as a successful first pass attempt.
  • Resources – this is a count of the number of resource types that are currently supporting that step.  It is most often either people or equipment.  Since the data box is the same across all steps, the resource type is also the same.  For that reason, the resource is often zero at a step where that particular type of resource is not used.  That does not mean that no resources are that step, just that the type being tracked is not.
  • Inventory – the inventory measure is normally an excess or idle inventory at that step.  It does not include the items that are being processed but rather is a count of the items at the step waiting their turn to be processed and the items that have been processed, but not yet moved to the next step.

Hints & tips

  • Time is added, yield is multiplied.
  • That VAT as a percent of ToT is often low single digits.
  • First pass yield (FPY) means the operator does everything in that step correctly on the first chance. That includes non-value-added activities.
  • The FPY is often less than 50% when a step requires “tweaking” by an operator.
  • When working with a batch process, all items in the batch that are not being actively processed are considered excess inventory and are in the inventory count.
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  • 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Well, it's no surprise to find that during the measure phase,we measure the process.
  • 00:12 These measurements are known as the As-Is metrics for the processes.
  • 00:17 Let me explain what I mean by the As-Is, Value Stream Map.
  • 00:21 During the measure phase of the Lean Six Sigma project, the project team
  • 00:25 is measuring the actual conditions of the problem or process being improved.
  • 00:30 These actual conditions and
  • 00:31 performance will be tracked in the As-Is Value Stream Map.
  • 00:36 As we've already discussed, the value stream map needs to show what's actually
  • 00:40 happening in the process, which may or may not be what is described in the procedure.
  • 00:45 We need to work from reality, not fantasy, if we want to really make an improvement.
  • 00:50 In some cases, especially when there is no set procedure, or
  • 00:54 every person does the process their own way,
  • 00:57 there may be a number of processes that are delivering the same end result.
  • 01:03 In that case, we need to map each process to identify which works best.
  • 01:08 The data in the data box from the value stream map should be the average
  • 01:12 of what is actually happening, not the best case, not the worst case,
  • 01:17 not the estimated values, but rather it's what is actually happening.
  • 01:22 That means that the measurements reflect how the process is currently performing.
  • 01:28 Another way of putting this is that,
  • 01:30 the As-Is metrics reflect what the process customer is currently experiencing.
  • 01:36 It's the total time from when the process starts until the customer actually gets
  • 01:40 what they asked for.
  • 01:41 The measures include the probability that everyone
  • 01:45 has done the job correctly on their first try at each step of the process.
  • 01:49 And it is also the total cost to the business to deliver the process output.
  • 01:56 The As-Is metrics are what is being measured right now in terms of the process
  • 02:01 performance.
  • 02:02 It's not the ideal case for the standard cost and standard time,
  • 02:05 it's what is actually occurring on a day-to-day basis in the process.
  • 02:10 Sometimes that's better than expected and sometimes it's not nearly as good.
  • 02:15 Also, the As-Is metrics will include the impact of the problem or
  • 02:19 problems that are being analyzed.
  • 02:21 If the process has a problem half the time when you run it,
  • 02:25 then the timing quality and cost data will include that effect.
  • 02:29 That's because we use averages for the measurement so
  • 02:33 that the impact of the problem is included in the average.
  • 02:37 Let me highlight a few of the As-Is metrics that best prove very useful on
  • 02:42 Lean Six Sigma projects.
  • 02:44 First, there is value-added time.
  • 02:47 As we discussed in a previous lesson, this is for
  • 02:50 processing one piece through the process step and
  • 02:53 only includes the processing time that is adding an attribute of customer value.
  • 02:59 Another measure is total time for each step.
  • 03:01 And it's the time from when the step starts until the time that the next
  • 03:06 step starts.
  • 03:07 So it includes both the value-added time and all the non-value-added time.
  • 03:13 Another measure is resources that will be included and counted in the data box,
  • 03:17 especially if the resources are constrained.
  • 03:21 This is normally either people or processing equipment.
  • 03:25 Another common measured value in the As-Is maps is a count of how much inventory
  • 03:30 is stacked up in each step of the process.
  • 03:33 This helps to identify bottlenecks and wasted effort processing unwanted or
  • 03:38 unneeded inventory.
  • 03:41 The last measure I want to include is first pass yield.
  • 03:45 This is virtually always in the data box because
  • 03:48 Lean Six Sigma projects are normally fixing a problem and
  • 03:52 the yield helps us to identify the magnitude of that problem.
  • 03:57 In fact, let's dig into this point just a little bit deeper.
  • 04:01 First pass yield is a very insightful process metric.
  • 04:05 The metric is just what it says.
  • 04:08 It's the percentage of instances that the step is completed error-free on
  • 04:12 the first attempt with a unit.
  • 04:15 Now just to be clear, it's everything that goes on in that step.
  • 04:18 All of the step activities even administrative ones.
  • 04:22 Also, it means that the operator gets it right the first time,
  • 04:25 not that the operator gets to keep working at it until they get it right,
  • 04:30 it is right on their very first try.
  • 04:32 And of course, it also means that no one else has to come along and
  • 04:35 fix the item after the operator thinks it's done.
  • 04:38 And as mentioned before, this is usually an item in a value stream data box.
  • 04:44 The metric also includes completing any non-value added effort correctly,
  • 04:49 that's part of the step also.
  • 04:52 It applies to everything that happens during that step,
  • 04:55 whether it's part of the standard process or not.
  • 04:59 When is step has a low first pass yield,
  • 05:02 it will often create problems with the flow.
  • 05:05 In fact, watch out for that.
  • 05:07 Sometimes we think the step yields very good, based on our review of measurements
  • 05:11 from the operator, but that step is always the root cause of problems later.
  • 05:15 Delays and bottlenecks and a need for extra resources are required to fix it.
  • 05:21 When I discover this in downstream steps,
  • 05:23 it usually means that there's a first pass yield problem in an earlier step, but
  • 05:27 the operators were just fighting through that problem with in-step rework.
  • 05:32 So what was reported at the end of the step was relatively good quality, but
  • 05:36 there was a lot of rework going on within that step.
  • 05:40 And of course,
  • 05:41 despite their best efforts, some of those problems made it through to the customer.
  • 05:46 When improving a process, you need to start with the current
  • 05:49 state of performance, otherwise, you may be fixing the wrong problem.
  • 05:54 The As-Is metrics describe that current state.

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