Prevention as Control

Quick reference

• 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:06 One of the best ways to control problems is to prevent them from ever occurring.
• 00:11 Part of good process control is problem prevention.
• 00:15 Let's look at some tools to help with this.
• 00:18 You've probably heard the old saying an ounce of prevention is
• 00:22 worth a pound of cure.
• 00:24 Well, that's what we're talking about right now, the prevention.
• 00:28 Just to be clear, corrective actions are correcting existing defects or problems.
• 00:33 The process has already failed.
• 00:35 Preventive actions are taken before a failure occurs and
• 00:39 act as a barrier to prevent the possibilities of a problem or a defect.
• 00:44 Generally speaking, a Lean Six Sigma project is a corrective action.
• 00:48 The business has identified a problem that it wants the team to fix.
• 00:52 So our process improvement activities have been focused on finding the root cause or
• 00:56 causes, and eliminating or controlling them.
• 00:59 But in our control plan, we can and should provide preventive actions.
• 01:04 So that the problem or similar ones do not impact the process in the future.
• 01:09 In that way we can sustain the process improvement.
• 01:12 There are two excellent methodologies that we can use to do this.
• 01:15 They both originated in Japan, Poka Yoke and Five S.
• 01:19 I'll start with the discussion of Poka Yoke,
• 01:22 which is the Japanese term for mistake-proofing or error-proofing.
• 01:27 Poka Yoke acknowledges that people make mistakes.
• 01:30 You're having a bad hair day or you're distracted, maybe you're tired, or
• 01:35 you misunderstand the situation.
• 01:37 Whatever the case, we make mistakes.
• 01:39 Poka Yoke principles attempt to insulate the process, from these mistakes.
• 01:44 They do this by either making it impossible to actually make the mistake.
• 01:49 You can't put the square peg in to the round hole even if you try, or
• 01:53 they make the mistake so obvious that it is immediately recognized by
• 01:57 the operator and fix before the process continues.
• 02:00 The alarm or buzzer goes off when the bar code machine scans the wrong part for
• 02:04 the assembly.
• 02:06 Now there are five Poka Yoke principles.
• 02:08 These are not an analytical methodology, they are no equations or
• 02:12 statistics, rather the team considers each of these principles and
• 02:16 ask themselves if they can apply them in a way to prevent mistakes.
• 02:20 The first principle is part characteristics,
• 02:23 back to the square peg in the round hole, but
• 02:26 you can also use characteristics such as size, color and weight.
• 02:30 Next is error detection sensors.
• 02:32 This is when an automated device identifies that something was done wrong.
• 02:37 Like you're entering data in on a webpage and
• 02:39 you get a message saying that you haven't completed one of the fields.
• 02:42 Third is the equipment positioning.
• 02:45 This is one of the most popular approaches used
• 02:47 with Lean Six Sigma manufacturing projects.
• 02:50 New tooling or gauging is designed that guides the parts into the proper position
• 02:54 and ensures that the steps are completed in the proper sequence.
• 02:58 The item being produced does not change,
• 03:00 rather it is the support equipment around it that changes.
• 03:04 Fourth is often the easiest to implement.
• 03:06 It is a count of a process parameter
• 03:09 that can indicate when something unusual is happening.
• 03:12 One of the most common is to put a timer that counts seconds or minutes for a step.
• 03:17 If the step takes too long,
• 03:18 a warning signal is sent to say that an investigation should be started.
• 03:23 The last one is checklists and templates.
• 03:26 These are very good ways of reminding people to do things and
• 03:29 to give them the order that they should do them.
• 03:31 One caution though with templates and checklists, they work best for
• 03:35 occasional steps or occasional processes.
• 03:38 People who use these on a routine basis
• 03:40 have a tendency to get numb to the checklist or template.
• 03:45 Now let's look at Five S.
• 03:46 I briefly mentioned this in an earlier session.
• 03:49 I'd like to go into a little more detail now.
• 03:51 The Five S disciplines are a workplace organization methodology.
• 03:55 They may not directly impact process design, but
• 03:58 they indirectly impact performance by providing an orderly workplace
• 04:02 that is less likely to be introducing special cause variation.
• 04:06 That's why these disciplines lead to increased efficiency and effectiveness.
• 04:11 There are fewer mistakes made when the Five Ss have been deployed.
• 04:15 Experiences shown many of the common process errors are eliminated
• 04:19 because the distractions and uncertainty in the workplace have been eliminated.
• 04:23 Let's look at each of the Five S disciplines.
• 04:26 They are named with Japanese words that start with an s sound and
• 04:30 have been translated into English words that start with the letter s.
• 04:33 With the Five S disciplines,
• 04:36 there is a definite order in which you should be applying these to a workplace.
• 04:40 First is sort.
• 04:41 This just means to sort through everything at the workplace and
• 04:44 to organize it into the appropriate piles or stacks.
• 04:47 This reduces the likelihood that the wrong form or the wrong item is used.
• 04:52 Next is to set in order.
• 04:54 Think of this as putting things in the correct order that they will be used.
• 04:58 This can reduce the amount of movement and simplifies the flow.
• 05:02 It's obvious what should be done next because it's the next thing in the line.
• 05:06 Third is shine.
• 05:08 This means to clean and maintain all the equipment.
• 05:11 By doing this, the likelihood of an unexpected breakdown or
• 05:14 failure is reduced, which reduces the chance of special cause variation.
• 05:19 Fourth is to standardize.
• 05:21 The first three disciplines often do not require any process redesign or
• 05:24 additional costs.
• 05:26 This step may,
• 05:27 in this case we create a standardized place for all tools and equipment.
• 05:32 We standardize on how similar steps are done.
• 05:35 We are removing variation which would lead to fewer defects and less waste.
• 05:40 And then finally, there's the discipline of sustain.
• 05:43 Once these other disciplines are in place, they're continually practiced.
• 05:48 The disciplines are audited, they are included as part of the standard
• 05:51 operating procedures and incorporated into operator training.
• 05:55 Ultimately, they become part of the culture of organization.
• 06:01 Poka Yoke and Five S are two good methodologies for
• 06:04 preventing problems from occurring.
• 06:08 While some of the principles will be built into your solution,
• 06:12 they can also be a mindset for how to manage an ongoing process.

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