AVY

Ashwin,
It is advisable to do MSA- Gauge R&R for all gauges.
But if you have a time and constraint you can prioritise based on the criticality of the parameter that is measured by the gauge. I believe all the parameters must have been identified in the Control Plan. You may first do MSA of gauges that are used to measure parameters which are c…[Read more]

Gottu,
The variation reduction should improve ur Cp and by the accuracy (shifting mean towards the target) should improve your Cpk. So there is no doubt that it would help.
Whether shifting the mean will be expensive or not will be decided by the analysis done by your team and the improvement actions identified. When it comes to investment part…[Read more]

Gottu,
By reducing the 

Hi Milo,
I think, there is some clarity required in the way, you have phrased ur problem.
I would like to know the following :
1. What are trying to plot – parameter name ?
2. What is the freq. of data collection ?
3. Do you know the specification limits ?
From what you have mentioned, you are using the X-bar and R-chart. Remember any point…[Read more]

Onin,
One  suggestion..
If you want to proceed with attribute data, then just define your defect by setting the standards. eg. you have set 90 min/ pc as norm and anything exceeding that is a defect. In this case DPMO will be no. of instances (out of million), you have exceeded the target (doesnot consider by how much ?).
If you want to p…[Read more]

Hi PGK,
Human control cannot be referred to as ‘ mistake-proffing’. Mistake proofing is something, which will help you to prevent the defect to happen.
In this case, depending on the severity of the failure mode, the process may have to be re-desgined, so that the process is ‘mistake -prooffed’. Eg. : We use swip card, which makes the system…[Read more]

Hi BB Boy,
There are a few things that you may have to focus on immediately, before you decide to tak this as a improvement project.
1. Get proper infrastructure in place – If you have a Union, you may have to sit and understand things from their point of view. Why would they participate in your project ? List down all possible reasons, for…[Read more]

Hi BB Boy,
I agree with what Paul has suggested. The metric for maintenance is MTTR ( Mean time to Repair ie. – Avg. time to repair) and MTBF( Mean time between failures – Avg. time between failures). I will suggest you to do the following things for project selection :
1). Pareto is used where 80-20 holds good .ie.- 20% of the Dept.…[Read more]

Hi  Sue,
What is th purpose of calculating the weighted Avg. of the yield. Can you enlighten us ?
You may try to calculate the weighted yield by multiplying the daily yield% by the number that is the result of : scrap on that day divided by the total scrap generated during that pariod.
Hope this will help.
Regards
AVY

Hi Nandini
You may have to get it clarified from ASQ itself, instead of getting an opinion poll. You may take the opinion, but it may turn out to be inaccurate and then you have only urself to blame.
AVY

Vinod,
You may need to do the following taks, before you start with DOE.
a.) Define the defect – What is considered as variation ? What is the measurement scale ?
b.) Do Measurement gauge R&R ( I suspect this is an area for improvement )
c.) Prepre detail process map and understand whether same process is followed by different operators (…[Read more]

Fine ! What is your process background manufacturing or service industry ?
AVY

Hi
The important thing, that ou may need to keep in mind is that all this done to understand the data (information) available with us to deduce something sensible our of this.
Data stratification and sementation is most important in the Measure phase as this is the phase in which you prepare format in such a way that the information is gathered…[Read more]

Hi Amir,
I am not from the textile industry, but I have a manufacturing background and I could tell you from my experience that usually the down time depends on the efficiency factor of the equipemnt used for production.
I think, you may have to considered following factors, before you decide on the downtime figure…[Read more]

Hi Raj
You are most welcome. You can contact me at my personal e-mail address – [email protected]
AVY

Hi Lijo,
Donot worry, if you donot have anyone to copy, you can set an example by urself. Only thing, that is reqd. is having confidence in ur self and the team, in what u want to acheive.
Back to ur question, can you identify the key customers and the deliverables in terms of cost, quality and delivery ? You may list them…….next step will…[Read more]

Raj,
The example of baby is not the right one to consider because , childbirth is not a repetitive process, that you do it in a daily manner. So, sorry mate, your example is not right.
In simple words ‘ Lean thinking always prompts the person to questions, whether he/she is doing the right thing and also for the right reason ‘. It may happen…[Read more]

Hi Raj,
You want to say that process highways are the process steps and the speed breakers are the NVA ( necesary and/ or unnecessary). In fact you have very well defined the CTD as the speed at which product & services are served to the customer.
What remains mystery is the defination of quality from ur point of view ? How can quality get…[Read more]

J,
IMR chart is used when you want to understand ‘ between’ variation i.e you are planning to capture TAT on a hourly basis, you can plot it, but you might see a pattern ( common cause variation) on a daily basis, which will hide the day to day variation as hourly data is poltted. So IMR chart is not desirable to use if you are trying to…[Read more]

Hi Raj
The value of a product or service can be both tangible as well as intangible. It is first important to define ‘ what do we understand by value ?’
Value can be derived by using the CTC (Critical to Customer ) tree.
It constitutes of :
a. Critical to Quality – parameters that define the quality of product or service.
b. Critical to…[Read more]