It's time to Evolve!
Evolve!
Evolve Through Lean is a continuous improvement software and consulting company.
ETL HUB is a software that allows companies to share their rapid improvements across many sites to drive employee engagement. It allows for the easy capture and sharing of improvements in local language to enhance the culture of continuous improvement. Try for free today and create a private area for up to 30 users or join in the open forum to share your rapid improvement.
Register your free ETL Hub
It's time to Evolve!
ETL HUB is a software that allows companies to share their rapid improvements across many sites to drive employee engagement. It allows for the easy capture and sharing of improvements in local language to enhance the culture of continuous improvement. Try for free today and create a private area for up to 30 users or join in the open forum to share your rapid improvement.
Register your free ETL Hub
Need something a little different?
We can customize the software for your business.
- Create your own private site
- Place software on your servers
- Tie into single sign on
- Customized dashboards
- Submittal Reviews/Approval process
- Tagging Best Improvement
Get inspired Get engaged
Get inspired
Get engaged
ETL HUB is your lean community
Get inspired
Check out what others are doing to improve their homes and workplaces.
Get Engaged
Discuss ideas and processes. Give feedback on others' improvements
Inspire Others
Share your improvements and ideas for implementing lean processes.
Get StartedETL HUB is your lean community
Get Inspired
Check out what others are doing to improve their homes and workplaces.
Get Engaged
Discuss ideas and processes. Give feedback on others' improvements
Inspire Others
Share your improvements and ideas for implementing lean processes.
What it is
Incremental improvements to a process
Each individual change may not have a major impact; but many changes over time have a major impact
Drives long term improvements
Aligned with strategic objectives
Quick to gain momentum and build trust
An evolutionary process that looks for "Better" not "Perfect"
Every single person in the organization plays a key role
What it is not
Making all the changes, all at once
Trying something then walking away
A standalone initiative
Taking a long time to implement
Aiming for Perfect
Limited to a few key players
To Remember the 8 Wastes, use the Acronym "DOWNTIME"
- D
- O
- W
- N
- T
- I
- M
- E
- Defects
- Efforts caused by rework, scrap, and incorrect information.
- Overproduction
- Production that is more than needed or before it is needed.
- Waiting
- Time spent waiting on a person, a process, or for information.
- Non-utilized Talent
- Understanding people's talents, skills, and knowledge.
- Transportation
- Unnecessary movements of products and materials.
- Inventory
- Excess products and materials not being processed.
- Motion
- Unnecessary movements by people (e.g. walking)..
- Extra Processing
- More work or higher quality than is required by the customer.
- Defects
- Efforts caused by rework, scrap, and incorrect information.
- Overproduction
- Production that is more than needed or before it is needed.
- Waiting
- Time spent waiting on a person, a process, or for information.
- Non-utilized Talent
- Understanding people's talents, skills, and knowledge.
- Transportation
- Unnecessary movements of products and materials.
- Inventory
- Excess products and materials not being processed.
- Motion
- Unnecessary movements by people (e.g. walking)..
- Extra Processing
- More work or higher quality than is required by the customer.
Process Examples
- Incorrect data
- Scrap or rework from a poorly running process
- Set-up scrap
- Repair of a product or service to fulfill changing customer requirements
- Warranty, customer returns, etc.
Transactional Examples
- Incorrect data
- Repair of a product or service to fulfill changing customer requirements
- Damaged goods
- Warranty, customer returns, etc.
Causes
- Inadequate error proofing and quality checks
- Poor communication of requirements
- Damaged goods
- Lost goods/obsolescence
- Poor/no training
- Misunderstandings
- Storage concerns
- Lack of standard work
Process Examples
- Producing more than needed
- Processing before next operation is ready
- Processing prior to information required for decisions is ready
- Satisfy customer demand
Transactional Examples
- Copying (reply all) people on emails who are not needed
- E+O material write-offs
Causes
- Process is not capable
- Inventory viewed as security
- No standard practices
- Poorly performing suppliers
- Producing to forecast, instead of orders
- Ineffective maintenance
- Long setup times
- Lack of workplace organization
- Lack of training
- Poor forecasting and production plan/schedule
Process Examples
- Manual decisions
- Watching equipment and/or maintenance
- Waiting for material
- Waiting for paper work and/or inspection
Transactional Examples
- Info awaiting an overnight "systems batch run"
- Manual decisions
- System downtime/response time
- Waiting for paper work and/or inspection
Causes
- No clear visual of when to perform a certain task
- When dependent activities are not synchronized
- Insufficient amount of storage containers
- Poor layout
- Poor work balance
- Unreliable equipment
- Approval processed (including testing)
- Confusion on responsibilities or requirements
- Lack of standard work
- Poor process design
Process and Transactional Examples
- Inability to utilize resource talent, skills, abilities, knowledge and experience to create solutions
- Team members are not involved in improving their processes
Causes
- Not conferring with process experts
- Underestimating points of view
- Underestimating peoples' abilities
- Lack of clear priorities
- Job descriptions
- Fear of risk
- Lack of orientation, training, and involvement
Process Examples
- All material movement or handling is considered non-value added by the customer
- Transportation, does not add value and should be minimized or eliminated
- Lifting, pushing, pulling and placing can be sources of injury
Transactional Examples
- Physically moving documents for signature
- Several approval queues
Causes
- Batch processing
- Poor layout/distance between operations
- Long changeovers
- Large lots
- Finite storage areas
- LIFO vs. FIFO
Process Examples
- Excessive raw, WIP or finished goods inventory is wasteful
- Inventory should only exist for two reasons:
- Strategic buffers to compensate for variation
- Satisfy customer demand
Transactional Examples
- Excessive forms, reports, file cabinets, in-boxes
- Inventory should only exist for two reasons:
- Strategic buffers to compensate for variation
- Satisfy customer demand
Causes
- Acceptance of overproduction
- Blind reliance on MRP systems/forecasting
- Inventory is "comforting"
- Long changeovers
- Buffer against downtime instead of addressing TPM
- Lost inventory–WIP and FG
Process Examples
- Any movement of people or machines which does not contribute value to the product or service
- Motion can be wasted within a work cell
- Motion can be wasted between work cells
- Navigating multiple screens to input data
Transactional Examples
- Any movement of people or machines which does not contribute value to the product or service
- Navigating multiple screens to input data
- Looking for data/info
Causes
- Poor work arrangement
- Poor layout
- Poor facilities
- Lost items (searching)
- Poor standards
- Poor tool design
- Poor ergonomic design
- Sorting Product
Process Examples
- Effort which adds no value to a product or service
- Enhancements which are invisible to the customer
- Lack of SOPs, inconsistent work methods
- Printed material / binders
- Duplicate entries into multiple systems
- Work which could be combined with another process
Transactional Examples
- Effort which adds no value to a product or service
- Enhancements which are invisible to the customer
- Navigating multiple screens to input data
- Duplicate entries into multiple systems
- Printing material only to discard it later
Causes
- "That's the way we've always done it"
- Improper fixtures, tools, jigs
- Insufficient amount of storage containers
- Lack of standard work
- Misuse of materials
- Mistakes in process
- Excessive testing
- Separate or post inspection
When talking about Value Add or Non-Value Add, we always talk about the PROCESS and never about the People involved in the Process!
VA
Value Add
An action or process step
that changes the fit, form
or function of a product
The customer is willing to pay for it
NVA
Non-value Add
Any action or process step
that does not meet
the "Value Add"
definition
- Unaware
- All operations are necessary, and cannot be improved? Better results can only be found with new machines, new methods, and more space.
- Beginning
- Believes Process Improvement comes from Reducing Cycle Time or Reducing Defects.
- Intermediate
- Considers a Process as a series of independent operations. Improvement comes about through linking operations.
- Expert
- Recognizes flow of material and work to pull as paramount to the process. Any impediment to flow and pull is considered waste, and therefore must be eliminated.
- Unaware
- All operations are necessary, and cannot be improved? Better results can only be found with new machines, new methods, and more space.
- Beginning
- Believes Process Improvement comes from Reducing Cycle Time or Reducing Defects.
- Intermediate
- Considers a Process as a series of independent operations. Improvement comes about through linking operations.
- Expert
- Recognizes flow of material and work to pull as paramount to the process. Any impediment to flow and pull is considered waste, and therefore must be eliminated.
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