Report on

Lean Manufacturing System

and Six Sigma

Submitted To:-

Mr. Tanvir Mohammad Hayder Arif

Associate Professor
Department Of Finance,
Chittagong University

Submitted By:-

Sumon Bhowmik
ID:-BG 173072255
Department Of HRM

Submission Date: - 10 Nov, 2018

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LEAN MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS

Businesses, irrespective of what industry they belong to must focus on delivering value to the
customer in order to succeed in the business environment (Cudney & Elrod, 2011).

Melton( 2005) identified lean as a philosophy built on three main concepts: the identification of
value, the elimination of waste and the general flow (of value to the customer). Cudney & Elrod
(2011) also share the same opinion that it focused on the identification and elimination of waste
in production, product development and service industries.
Lean started in Japan within Toyota and the production system was a ceaseless flow of relatively
shorter production lines which were more efficient (Emiliani, 2006). The Western world, with
FORD Motors as the leaders, was using mass production based around materials resource
planning(MRP) (Melton, 2005).This system used complex computerised system for the
production process (Melton, 2005).

Lean principles are derived from the Japanese manufacturing industry.

THE CONCEPT OF WASTE

Emiliani (2006) emphasises waste as a perception from the final consumer that an activity does
not add value to the production process. This means that what the organisation thinks is
important may not be the case for the consumer. According to Bhasin & Burcher (2006),there
could be up to a 40% reduction in waste if lean management is implemented. There are 8 kinds
of waste (Kavanagh & Krings, 2011)

1. Transportation
When work is transferred from one place to another is a non-value added activity. Moving
cuttings from cutting department to sewing lines, transporting stitched garments from sewing
floor to finishing department, Moving garment bundles in the line using center table or trolley.
Where transportation can’t be eliminated, think how transportation time can be reduced. By

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using overhead transportation rail in sewing lines, transportation of bundles or single pieces can
be automated.

2. Excess inventory
Inventories of a factory represent those items which are either in the process of manufacturing or
idle resources (material) of a factory or materials in stock. And excess inventory means keeping
or generating inventory for the following process more than the demand of the following
process. Excess inventory is found in fabric and trim stores, cutting racks, finishing trolleys.
Excess inventories are wastes for the factory, as per lean philosophy. Doing market research and
produce products as demand basis.

3. Excess motion
In workstations where operators sew garments, press-men press garments, workers finish and
pack garments, excess motions exits there. Excess motion at workstations is found due to poor
training of workers in working methods and habit of working in traditional ways. Design
workstations layout and use automated machine to reduce excess motion.

4. Waiting
This waste is defined as people or things waiting around for the next action. This term has been
discussed in an earlier published article as one of the non-productive times in production. In
garment factory, waiting as waste is found in all processes. Like, sewing operators wait for
cuttings (no feeding), supervisors waits for final instruction and go ahead for quality approvals.
Merchandisers wait for buyer approvals

5. Over Production

This waste can be simply defined as doing or making things those are not required now. Over
production generate excess inventory. In the garment factories, over production is found in
cutting department and in sewing operations. For example, if daily production demand from

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sewing is 5000 pieces, and factory makes/cuts more than that quantity (demand). Expertise
persons should be involved here to eliminate this waste.

6. Over processing
This waste can be defined as doing task or adding features to the product those are not
requirement from the customer. In garment construction, some operations may not be essential to
give the final look and construction. Example: Multiple checking in finishing (initial checking,
pre-final checking and final checking).

7. Defects
Producing defects while making garments are waste of money and effort. As everyone in the
factory are aware that no defective garment can be shipped then why to produce defective
pieces? Defects in garment manufacturing are like shade variation, wrong cutting, stitching
defective garment etc. Always look after each and every steps for final goods and skill
manpower joined for critical works.

Lean Manufacturing: 5 Ways to Cut Down on Waste in Your Warehouse

Lean principles are typically associated with manufacturing operations — in fact, lean
manufacturing was originally developed by engineers at automaker Toyota and helped the
company become one of the most efficient manufacturers on the planet. But lean manufacturing
approaches can also be adopted effectively in the warehouse.

A lean approach focuses on the elimination of waste: wasted employee motion, excessive
inventories, unnecessary transportation, material waste, etc. In the warehouse, these concepts can
be applied to help reduce inventory expenses and create new operational efficiencies.

Below are five ways that lean manufacturing principles can help reduce waste in the warehouse.

1. Eliminate unnecessary inventory movement. The lean approach calls for demand-
based flow so that inventory is only moving forward in response to customer orders.
Evaluate where your inventory is and how it moves in response to orders. You should
work to reduce the amount of time and steps required to take inventory out of storage and

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 into the packing/shipping process, as well as reduce the amount of time inventory sits on
the shelf. Lean requires accurate demand signals and real-time communication.

2. Reduce excess inventory. Right-sizing your inventory levels will free up space in your
warehouse, reduce the cost of carrying that inventory, and reduce the risk of damage or
obsolescence. Using a lean approach enabled by real-time inventory visibility, you can
better match on-hand inventory to demand forecasts.

3. Reduce wasted employee motion. Minimize the time it takes for your employees to
accomplish picking, packing, and shipping tasks via lean manufacturing methodologies.
Look at the movement of employees through your facility. Adjust the way pick orders are
presented. Re-arrange inventory so that fast moving items are positioned closer to the
shipping area and items that are frequently ordered together are co-located in the aisle.

4. Eliminate manual processes. Automation can play an important role in a lean

manufacturing initiative. Deploying automated picking systems and material handling
equipment and utilizing automatic identification technology (including barcode scanners,
RFID, and voice technologies) will make it easier for employees to locate stock, pick or
put it away, and transport it through the warehouse.

5. Reduce paper waste. Utilizing lean principles in conjunction with technology not only
makes your warehouse more efficient, it can also help you create a nearly paperless
warehouse by eliminating paper pick tickets, packing slips, and other paperwork.
Workers can access orders in real-time on their mobile computers, scan the items and
confirm that they pick the right items in the right quantities without ever picking up a
pencil. Eliminating paper forms can add up to substantial savings over time, in addition to
making your operation greener.

The Benefits of Lean Manufacturing

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Lean manufacturing improves efficiency, reduces waste, and increases productivity. The
benefits, therefore, are manifold:

 Increased product quality: Improved efficiency frees up employees and resources for
innovation and quality control that would have previously been wasted.

 Improved lead times: As manufacturing processes are streamlined, businesses can better
respond to fluctuations in demand and other market variables, resulting in fewer delays
and better lead times.

 Sustainability: Less waste and better adaptability makes for a business that’s better
equipped to thrive well into the future.

 Employee satisfaction: Workers know when their daily routine is bloated or packed with
unnecessary work, and it negatively affects morale. Lean manufacturing boosts not only
productivity, but employee satisfaction.

 Increased profits: And, of course, more productivity with less waste and better quality
ultimately makes for a more profitable company.

Six Sigma:

The term Six Sigma originated from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically
terms associated with statistical modeling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a
manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its yield, or the percentage
of defect-free products it creates. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products
manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million). Motorola
set a goal of “six sigma” for all of its manufacturing operations, and this goal became a byword
for the management and engineering practices used to achieve it.

Historical overview

Six Sigma originated as a set of practices designed to improve manufacturing processes and
eliminate defects, but its application was subsequently extended to other types of business
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processes as well. In Six Sigma, a defect is defined as any process output that does not meet
customer specifications, or that could lead to creating an output that does not meet customer
specifications.

The core of Six Sigma was “born” at Motorola in the 1970s out of senior executive Art Sundry’s
criticism of Motorola’s bad quality. As a result of this criticism, the company discovered a
connection between increases in quality and decreases in costs of production. At that time, the
prevailing view was that quality costs extra money.

Methods

Six Sigma projects follow two project methodologies inspired by Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act
Cycle. These methodologies, composed of five phases each, bear the acronyms DMAIC and
DMADV. DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving an existing business process.
DMAIC is pronounced as “duh-may-ick”.

 DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating new product or process designs. DMADV
is pronounced as “duh-mad-vee”.

DMAIC

The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:

 Define the problem, the voice of the customer, and the project goals, specifically.

 Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.

 Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what
the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out
root cause of the defect under investigation.

 Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such
as design of experiments, poka yoke or mistake proofing, and standard work to create a
new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.

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  Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected
before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process
control, production boards , visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.

DMADV or DFSS

The DMADV project methodology, also known as DFSS (“Design For Six Sigma) features five
phases:

 Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise
strategy.

 Measure and identify CTQs (characteristics that are Critical To Quality), product
capabilities, production process capability, and risks.

 Analyze to develop and design alternatives, create a high-level design and evaluate design
capability to select the best design.

 Design details, optimize the design, and plan for design verification. This phase may
require simulations.

 Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it over to
the process owner(s).

Origin and meaning of the term “six sigma processes”

Graph of the normal distribution, which underlies the statistical assumptions of the Six Sigma
model. The Greek letter σ (sigma) marks the distance on the horizontal axis between the mean,

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µ, and the curve’s inflection point. The greater this distance, the greater is the spread of values
encountered. For the curve shown above, µ = 0 and σ = 1. The upper and lower specification
limits (USL, LSL) are at a distance of 6σ from the mean. Because of the properties of the normal
distribution, values lying that far away from the mean are extremely unlikely. Even if the mean
were to move right or left by 1.5σ at some point in the future (1.5 sigma shift), there is still a
good safety cushion. This is why Six Sigma aims to have processes where the mean is at least 6σ
away from the nearest specification limit.

The term “six sigma process” comes from the notion that if one has six standard deviations
between the process mean and the nearest specification limit, as shown in the graph, practically
no items will fail to meet specifications. This is based on the calculation method employed in
process capability studies.

Capability studies measure the number of standard deviations between the process mean and the
nearest specification limit in sigma units. As process standard deviation goes up, or the mean of
the process moves away from the center of the tolerance, fewer standard deviations will fit
between the mean and the nearest specification limit, decreasing the sigma number and
increasing the likelihood of items outside specification.

The table below gives long-term DPMO values corresponding to various short-term sigma
levels.

It must be understood that these figures assume that the process mean will shift by 1.5 sigma
toward the side with the critical specification limit. In other words, they assume that after the
initial study determining the short-term sigma level, the long-term Cpk value will turn out to be
0.5 less than the short-term Cpk value. So, for example, the DPMO figure given for 1 sigma
assumes that the long-term process mean will be 0.5 sigma beyond the specification limit (Cpk =
–0.17), rather than 1 sigma within it, as it was in the short-term study (Cpk = 0.33). Note that the
defect percentages only indicate defects exceeding the specification limit to which the process
mean is nearest. Defects beyond the far specification limit are not included in the percentages.

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 Short- Long-
Sigma Percent Percentage
DPMO term term
level defective yield
Cpk Cpk

1 691,462 69% 31% 0.33 –0.17

2 308,538 31% 69% 0.67 0.17

3 66,807 6.7% 93.3% 1.00 0.5

4 6,210 0.62% 99.38% 1.33 0.83

5 233 0.023% 99.977% 1.67 1.17

6 3.4 0.00034% 99.99966% 2.00 1.5

7 0.019 0.0000019% 99.9999981% 2.33 1.83

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