Six-Sigma/Lean Training

[Hippie]

Opinions wanted. Does this training have any validity in a calibration lab? Any takers?

[Winterfire2008]

ohhh you do want to stir the pot don't you?

[scottbp]

Yeah, I've heard anecdotal stories of companies who went through a "kaizen event", which is when a six-sigma team comes through and identifies all the processes and procedures of day-to-day operations of a company, then suggests changes to enhance productivity, and once those changes are implemented, the company operations seem even more stiff and bureaucratic and less productive than ever...

There is an entire forum dedicated to lean and six-sigma at http://elsmar.com/Forums/

[Hippie]

Just cait hep it Winter. Just mah nature.LOL.

[Hippie]

Actually, the reason I posed this question, is, I really do want to hear other techs opinons on what I think is a pig in a poke. Corporations spend a lot of money on something that just boils down to common sense. I know, common sense is an oxymoron, but it was the only way I could think of to describe it.

[griff61]

If you look at it closely, 6 sigma is what we do by definition, so it may have a place, but with PMEL grads it's beating a dead horse.
As for lean, the intention is nice, but like 6 sigma, it's intended for a company that makes or does the same thing over and over and over and over...
I think we find them silly and archaic because many calibrators work that way in the the first place. Not a lot of us trying to find the slowest way to turn around equipment and it's kind of obvious that our profession requires us to be centerred on quality and precision. We find this stuff obvious...MBA and Quality types find it as a way to give themselves purpose

[CalibratorJ]

Shoulda known I was going to bite on this one 


Lean has NO business in a well running, efficient, profitable business that practices the art of metrology.

Where I will soon no longer be working (moving to a new startup lab- gvt of course) lean and continuous kaizen are a way of life. These folks live and breath this stuff. But, let me explain to everyone what I see it doing where I currently occupy space:

I see meetings upon meetings over these "silly" projects. These meetings usually take at LEAST 5-10 people out of the net for at LEAST 2 hours, if not FIVE as some of them that I have been to (only cause they needed a SME, they NEEDED actual techs to tell em how techs do their jobs - they DIDNT KNOW) lasted WAY too long.

And then there is the "belt candidate" that is actually spearheading the "project" so they get their "belt". I have seen instances of someone being allowed not to perform their USUAL duties for an EXTENDED amount of time (think WEEKS) just so they could finish their "Lean" project that actually did not change anything or make anything better. All it did was allow fingers to be pointed at different folks when something does or does not happen in a timely manner.

And these "Lean" projects have timelines, you miss your timelines, you risk not getting your belt. So what does that do? Cause you to shirk your NORMAL duties so you can do this EXTRA project that you ARE NOT paid for. So basically, you are being paid to NOT do YOUR JOB.

And then there was a Lean project about capturing numbers. Folks wanted to get some metrics just so they could....... you guessed it, point fingers when something did or did not happen in a timely manner.

And this continuous kaizen stuff, yup, same deal. The IDEA behind it is AT LEAST better than Lean, as you don't have to have "belts" to do it. The general idea, as I understand it, is if Jack did something in has lab that made it better, then they share it in the meeting with the other folks so they now know the idea and how it helped Jack's lab. If they want to use it, great, if not, now you know. It also works the opposite way, if it didn't work, then Jack shares with everyone how stupid his idea was so Jill and Little Johnnie do not make the same mistakes.


Now, what does this all boil down to? A LOT of folks NOT doing what the company PAYS them to do. If I wanted an "efficiency expert" I would hire one. If a company thinks they need one, THEN HIRE ONE.

Not to mention that any GOOD manager is going to talk to other managers and senior techs and brainstorm ideas and processes and talk about how the business is getting better due to X, Y, and/or Z.

Long story short, if you want a pretty belt, take karate classes. I know a REALLY good place that my SON goes to and I might even get a DISCOUNT for the referral. All I get from Lean and Kaizen is folks that need to be working, not working. Sad too, cause I don't even run the place. Luckily my bosses think the same as me 

[CalibratorJ]

Oh, I forgot to add:

If you happen to have the folks running around and they have the "spare" time to do Lean and Kaizen stuff, then maybe you oughta look at your manpower levels, cause you OBVIOUSILY have WAY too many employees that have NOTHING better to do than to find ways OUT of DOING THEIR JOB which is to MAKE MONEY!

[Bryan]

As for LEAN it's mostly horse crap IMO.  It may have some value in a truck factory that produces the same product over & over.  In our lab we support several generations of equipment.  We are driven by what our customers want.  When we launched our LEAN initiative we were supposed to go through stuff and get rid of things we hadn't used in the last 6 or 12 months.  Some departments discarded it, I hid it.  Since then I have gone back several times to retrieve things that we needed again as a customer requirment generated the need.
My advice is smile & nod, avoid committee assignments and meetings if possible.  Company executives are constantly trying to justify thier existance and attend the latest seminars where new buzz words are used, this too shall pass.

[CalibratorJ]

Bryan, that reminds me of this poor kid I "heard" about that was told he needed to go get his green belt. So he took the course, but since he runs a small lab (4-5 folks TOPS) and he is a decent manager, they were already as "Lean" as they could be. The "crap" that he pulled out for his project got shot down cause it was "too simple to fix". (I think those words were spoken by a "Champion", whatever the heck that means.) Needless to say, NOW the poor guy has to solicit his CUSTOMERS to help THEM do a Lean event so he can get his stupid belt!


Come on, I could use those Karate referrals! The classes are cheaper than Lean and you get LOTS of pretty belts!

[Hippie]

Thanks for your responses guys. It seems ya'll pretty much think in the same lines as I do. But I'm just a dumb ol coutry boy,with limited knowledge of the english language. So I do appreciate the replies,

[Hippie]

By the way, happy Fathers Day Ya'll.

[Bryan]

I hope I didn't sound overly critical, but similar to what CalibratorJ mentioned I too  work in a place where we've been "more with less" for several years.  I just don't see as a lot more than new buzz words.  You should be familiar with the concepts and able to evaluate if any of them are beneficial to your operation.

[Hippie]

Yeah I do agree with the familiar part. I've been doing so much, with so little, for so long, I am now qualified to do anything with nothing. Seriously, they are too infatuated with spread sheets. I just see the obvious. There is an elephant in the living room.

[flew-da-coup]

Opinions wanted. Does this training have any validity in a calibration lab? Any takers?

It used to look pretty on a resume, but then people found out how useless it Six Sigma really is in a cal lab enviroment..