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52 Lean Six Sigma DemystifieD

The Redesign Process

1. The first step is to focus on the part, product, or service itself. Follow the
product through its entire production cycle. In a hospital, you would fol-
low a patient through from admission to discharge. In a printing company,
you’d follow a job from start to delivery. In a manufacturing plant, you’d
follow the product from order to delivery. You can use a spaghetti diagram
to show the movement of parts, products, and people through the current
production maze.

2. The second step is to ignore traditional boundaries, layouts, and so forth.
In other words, forget what you know about how to assemble the product
or deliver the service.

3. The third step is to realign the workflow into production cells to eliminate
delay, rework, and scrap.

4. The fourth step is to right-size the machines and technology to support
smaller lots, quick changeover, and one-piece flow. This often means
using simpler, slower, and less automated machines that may actually be
more accurate and reliable.

The goal of flow is to eliminate all delays, interruptions, and stoppages and
not to rest until you succeed.

Work Cell Design

A cell is a group of workstations, machines, or equipment arranged such that a
product can be worked progressively from one workstation to another without
having to sit and wait for a batch to be completed and without additional han-

dling between operations. Cells may be dedicated to a process, a subcompo-
nent, or an entire product. Cells can be designed for administrative as well as
manufacturing operations.
Cell design helps build products with as little waste as possible. Arrange
equipment and workstations in a sequence that supports a smooth flow of
materials and components through the process, with minimal transport or delay.
Cells can help make your company more competitive by

• cutting costly transportation and delay

• shortening lead times
• saving floor space