Page 75 - Lean six sigma demystified

54 Lean Six Sigma DemystifieD

• Defects occur because operators are generally focused on their function
and not aware of the overall process, so quality suffers when work is orga-
nized in functional cells. Defects created in one cell aren’t detected until
much later in the process.
U-shaped, work cells create the product through a series of operations that
are all done within the cell. Remember Matsushita? The only way to produce
the first phone in 40 minutes versus 3 days is to organize into cells that do
everything.
Many hospital emergency departments (EDs) have their own portable X-ray
machines; the patient doesn’t have to move at all to be X-rayed. Some also have
CT scans and even MRIs to reduce patient’s travel and accelerate diagnosis.
Some emergency rooms are using point-of-care lab testing. If you can get lab
test results in 10 minutes in the ED versus 40 minutes in the lab, it shaves
30 minutes off your patient’s wait time and accelerates flow through the ED.
While the cost per test is currently higher, it also costs an estimated $6000 or
more to turn away an ambulance when the ED is full.

Work Space

C. Northcote Parkinson coined the law Work expands to fill the time allotted to it.
Every student has had that experience, cramming for a test on the last night
before a final. The same holds true for home projects and work projects, unless
you’re really Lean about how you get work done.
Arthur’s Axiom to Parkinson’s Law

Having done many Lean projects with various companies, I have found a simi-
lar pattern.
Work expands to fill the available space.
If you’ve got lots of room on the floor, production machines will spread out
over the space. It’s designed to give people more room which causes more walk-
ing which causes delays which cause longer turnaround times.
When I designed our kitchen remodel, I put the triangle of stove, sink, and
refrigerator close to each other. I barely have to move when I cook. In con-
trast, I look at some of the mansions they’re building, and the kitchen is
immense. You need a golf cart to commute from the refrigerator to the sink
to the stove. It’s no wonder people in big houses rarely cook; it’s faster to go
out to eat.