NO PLAGIARISM....COMPLETE THE DISCUSSION WITH AT LEAST 5-7 PARAGRAPHS AND RESPOND TO THE TWO CLASSMATE POSTS WITH AT LEAST 2 PARAGRAPHS EACH RESPONSE.

YOUR ANSWER SHOULD LOOK SIMILAR IN LENGTH TO MY CLASSMATES POSTS, AND DO NOT COPY INFORMATION FROM THEIR POSTS! PLEASE SEPARATE EACH ITEM BELOW

DISCUSSION:

Six Sigma is deployed using the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) project management framework. Identify an actual Six Sigma project and write one paragraph covering each of the DMAIC phases. That is, describe a specific problem that has been addressed with the DMAIC approach. Do not discuss a company's general pursuit of Six Sigma withou discussing a specific application of DMAIC.

CLASSMATE POST 1:

Six Sigma DMAIC- BW Food Pantry

The Define phase of DMAIC includes defining the expectations, project boundaries, financial impacts, and the process (Desper, n.d.). BW Food Pantry charities had experienced volunteers being overworked. This was due to excessive time required to put together the food boxes to give to the hungry people of the world. This has also caused some volunteers to leave which not only hinders the food packing process, but also other social programs offered through the organization. Because BW Food Pantry is a non-profit organization and the food that is packed is donated, there are no real financial limitations to reaching their goal. This Define phase of DMAIC took place on July 27th(Grandison & Eureka, n.d.).

The Measure phase includes selection of a variable to be improved, collecting the data, establishing current performance data, and brainstorming relationships (Desper, n.d.). The Measure phase of this project took place on August 8th. By September 30th, BW Food Pantry wanted to see their process cycle time to decrease from 20 minutes per box, to 14 minutes per box. In order to improve the time of the process, the steps of the process must be established. First, the food must be picked up and delivered, then unloaded, stacked, assembled, then packed into the food boxes and stacked together. In order to collect data about the process, lead volunteers were assigned to time each step of the process. However, initial brainstorming indicates that contents of the boxes and small work space may be the leading causes of the prolonged process time (Grandison & Eureka, n.d.).

The Analyze phase includes collecting data, establishing and analyzing cause and effect, and source of variation (Desper, n.d.). The Analyze phase of this project took place on August 11th. Looking at the baseline data it is evident that the average time it took to package the food was 20 minutes, with the quickest time being 18 minutes and the longest time being 25 minutes. That being said, there are many “whys” to the issue of long food packaging times: Why does it take so long? Why is the work space so congested? Root Cause analysis revealed that it took so long because the food was too far away from the packing tables, volunteers kept crossing paths in the process, content of boxes changed during packing due to not counting before, there was no visual aid to help volunteers in packing, and both sides of the tables were used which added to the congestion (Grandison & Eureka, n.d.).

The Improve phase includes improving the process and validating the improvements statistically (Desper, n.d.). The Improve phase of the project took place on August 15th. BW Food Pantry implemented numerous solutions in their efforts to decrease packaging time. They created specific zones for different products that go in the boxes. They restructured the layout of the work area to aid in the continuous flow of volunteers without congestions and running into each other. They counted and sorted food prior to packaging times to ensure the same box contents for each box. They also created and posted visual aids to help volunteers with the packing process. And finally, they had volunteers work from only one side of the table to keep the congestion down (Grandison & Eureka, n.d.).

The Control phase includes quantifying benefits and establishing a way to monitor the improvements to the process (Desper, n.d.).The Control phase of the project took place on August 22nd. After implementing all the improvements listed above, BW Food Pantry was not only able to meet their goal, but they surpassed their goal and did so before their projected date of accomplishment. They reduced their total packing time from 20 minutes down to 9 minutes. They also reduced their total lead time by 55 minutes. In order to keep an eye on the improved process, BW Food Pantry should continue to monitor the process to make sure it remains efficient and continue to make improvements if needed (Grandison & Eureka, n.d.).

Desper, D. (n.d.). BA 670 – Integrated Business Operations [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://brenau.instructure.com/courses/1571823/dis...

Grandison, D., & Eureka, B. (n.d.). Lean Six Sigma Helps Feed People In Need 45% Faster. Retrieved from https://goleansixsigma.com/lean-six-sigma-helps-fe...

CLASSMATE POST 2:

Week Four Discussion Question

An unknown company that produces LCD panels for flat screen televisions was facing a tough problem for their brand; the company was receiving too many defects in the production of the large LCD panels. A large LCD panel that is defect free can be sold for a high price and be used as part of a high-end flat screen television. If the LCD panel has too many defects, then the panel must be cut into a smaller LCD panel that can be used for computer monitors and sold at a much lower price. The goal of the project, in hand, is to decrease the number of defects in the LCD panels so that larger LCD panels can be sold at a higher price (Kemp, 2018).

The first step in the DMAIC cycle is to define the expectations of the customer, the project boundaries, the potential financial impact of the project, and mapping the flow of the project (Desper, n.d.). The engineers begin to determine the cause of the many defects in the large LCD panels. They begin to look at each individual pixel of the panel to determine if one does not work, which would make the entire panel defective. To determine the value of the project, the amount of revenue that will be gained from reducing the number of defective panels will be determined. Overall, this will allow the company to sell large LCD panels at a higher price, which will increase profit. By determining the cause for the defects, the company will be able to increase customer satisfaction for the large LCD panels. For this first step, we have defined and determined the problem to be the pixels in the panels not working properly causing the entire LCD panel to be defective (Kemp, 2018).

Now that we have defined the problem, we must measure what is happening now. The second phase is measure; this includes selecting the variable, collecting data, documenting the current performance, and looking at potential cause-and-effect relationships (Desper, n.d.). Using charts, graphs, and computer software engineers and statisticians are able to be determined everything needed to know about why bad pixels are being manufactured. The company created a process defined as Critical to Quality (CTQ) measurements, which are things that can be measured to determine why defective pixels are being created. The yield, which is the number of large flat screens produced, can be correlated to the rate of failed pixels (Kemp, 2018).

Now that many graphs and charts are created, we must analyze the problem and its causes. The third DMAIC step is analyze; this step includes collecting and comparing the data, analyzing the potential causes of defects, and identifying the cause-and-effect relationships (Desper, n.d.). The problem is determined to be bad pixels but why is the manufacturing process creating bad pixels? The engineers now look at differences and variability between the defective material and the usable material. Then they also will look at the production process. The engineers use microscopic analysis to determine that there are impurities in the plastic. That information is then traced to the chemicals that go into making the plastic and it is determined that the chemicals are not pure when they are sent to the company from the vendor. It was also determined that in April 2017 there were more bad pixels than in March 2017 and May 2017. After not understanding why this was, one engineer determined that it must be because of the weather. In April there was more rain and humidity than in March and May. The weather must affect the chemicals. It was also determined that the LCD panels that were manufactured closest to the east wall of the building between 9:30AM and 11:00 AM were more likely to fail. Now the findings are turned over to the statisticians. Histograms are used to display the findings and the sources of error according to Pareto’s Law. Pareto’s Law says that 80% of the bad pixels come from 20% of the causes. If we determine 10 causes then we will only need to fix 2 of them to make 80% of the bad pixels display correctly (Kemp, 2018).

The next step for the DMAIC process is to improve. The process must be improved to reduce any variations and this can take up to several rounds to get correct (Desper, 2018). The company first contacts the vendor of the chemicals and let them know the cost of the problem. It is determined that the contract, with the chemical vendor, states that they guarantee a purity on the chemicals purchased. A legal course of action is the best step for the company to get reimbursed for the company’s losses and obtain a purity chemical. Next the problem of humidity must be addresses. The amount of humidity can be looked at in two different places; the first place is inside the manufacturing plant and the second place is inside the machinery. Two teams are assigned to each place and the results from each teams finding will be compared. The last problem on the east wall can be fixed with better temperature control. An option would be to insert solar panels that create shade, which would solve the problem, and reduce energy costs (Kemp, 2018).

The final step is control; this includes quantifying financial benefits, monitoring the success of the project, and insuring that improvements continue (Desper, n.d.). The changes to the chemicals purchased and the manufacturing plant has decreased the number of bad pixels and increased the number of larger LCD screens sold. The company must continue to check the purity of the chemicals used to produce the LCD panels. This will ensure that the chemicals purchased are not impure. The humidity, in the manufacturing plant and machinery, must continue to be checked. If weather changes suddenly, increase in the humidity in the factory can lead to a decrease in the number of larger LCD panels sold once again. The solar panels that were put on the building were removed by the senior executive. This increased the temperature, once again, on the east side of the building creating the same problem as before. The reason the solar panels were placed to being with needs to be documented and this error can be prevented. The entire goal is to make the improvements be lasting for the company.

References

Kemp, S. (2018, February 2). Business Success Using Six Sigma Tools: DMIAC. Retrieved

from https://toughnickel.com/business/Business-Success-...

Desper, D. (n.d.). BA 670 – Integrated Business Operations [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from

Canvas.