Project Selection

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Project Selection

• Rachel Humphrey
• Master Blackbelt
• General Cable

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Your guide to a successful project selection
process

• In this session you will learn how to identify,
  prioritize and approve projects in your Lean Six
  Sigma programs
• Top tips to selecting the right project
• How to match projects with belts and select
  candidates
• Kaizen, Greenbelt or Blackbelt Project which
  program to choose?
• How to improve your recognition and project
  management process
• Rachel Humphrey, Global Master Black Belt,
  GENERAL CABLE
• 40 mins

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The Lean Sigma Program at General Cable
Tiered training program, each level is a
pre-requisite for the next
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The Structure

• Master Blackbelts (4)
• In-house training activities
• Support Business Teams
• Support Blackbelts and Greenbelts
• Blackbelts (67)
• Dedicated and non-dedicated resources at plant /
  group
• Focused on improvement projects
• Leading improvement teams
• Greenbelts (197)
• Support Blackbelts key improvement team members
• Some will lead improvement teams
• Lean Technicians (114)
• Facilitate Kaizen events
• Support improvement projects and cultural changes

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LeanSigma Councils

• Attendees
• Facility Staff and Blackbelts
• Functional Leadership, Business Leaders, and
  Blackbelts
• Purpose
• Candidate selection
• Align projects with business priorities
• Set team goals and provide resources for projects
  
• Monitor progress of candidates align resources
  and break down barriers
• Assure smooth handoff of projects
• Ensure use of DMAIC

LeanSigma Councils manage the process locally
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Council Format

• The councils meet once or twice a month
• Standing agenda includes these items
• Current candidate and project review
• Training needs
• Project selection and assignment
• Review of Control phase of completed projects
• Mentor assignment
• Include HR and Finance in the meeting

Lean Sigma Councils drive progress in the
facilities
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Why is Project Selection so Important?

• Selecting the right projects- and scoping and
  chartering them well- can mean the difference
  between a flourishing, successful Lean Sigma
  Culture and flailing training program
• Project successes are needed to nurture the
  LeanSigma culture

Successes
Failures
Lean Sigma Culture
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Pit Falls of Poorly Selected Projects

• Projects take too long
• Leads to the perception that DMAIC takes to long-
  I dont have time to do a Lean Sigma project,
  just fix the problem!
• Candidates are trying to Lean Sigma and a new
  process at the same time
• Important concepts and tools are often missed
• Candidates already know the answer and get the
  perception that they can skip important parts of
  DMAIC
• Projects are not completed, giving the perception
  that Lean Sigma doesnt work

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Critical Elements of a Well Selected Project

• Related to a key business issue
• The answer is not already known
• Appropriate scope
• The skills of the project leader can be matched
  to the project

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Why a Key Business Issue?

• Lean Sigma projects will draw time and resources
• There is also a cost associated with the training
  and ongoing management of these resources (non
  value-add activities)
• In order to maintain focus and support, the
  project must be something important to the key
  stakeholders

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Key Business Issues

• The definition of a key business issue will vary
  depending on your location and sphere of
  influence
• However, project selection should always be
  driven by the metrics you are measured by
• In Manufacturing, the common metrics are
• Scrap
• DPMU
• Material Usage
• Work Order Delivery
• Safety metrics
• Inventory
• Projects can also be driven by other key areas
• Customer Issues
• Complaints, returns
• Business Priorities
• Lead times
• Impact on competitiveness

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The Answer is Not Already Known

• DMAIC is a problem solving methodology which by
  definition implies the solution is not know at
  the beginning
• DMAIC does not suit all types of projects, in
  some cases more traditional project management
  skills are needed
• Installing new equipment
• Rolling out new Information systems, telephone
  systems
• Implementation of a tried and tested Best
  Practice
• Having suspicions about the solution drives
  people to skip or rush through the Analyze phase,
  which in turn often means missed root causes and
  problems that keep re-occuring

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Look Carefully at the Problem Statement!

• The Problem or Purpose statement is worded as a
  solution or a tool
• Implement RF scanning for all pick locations
• SMED for two color changeovers at CV
• Problems with this
• How do you measure success of the project?
• Blinkers the team to other possible solutions
• If you truly know the answer, just do it

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Project Scoping

• Appropriate scoping allows a project to be
  completed in a timely manner while also reaching
  Root Cause and eliminating problems for good

An inch deep and a mile wideFinding out
little about many things
Superficial
Depth of Analysis
An inch wide and a mile deepFinding out a lot
about few things
Very Deep
Few
Number of problems investigated
Many
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Project Scope can (and should) be adjusted

• When a project is first launched, it is not
  always possible to know what an appropriate scope
  is
• Current measurement systems do not always capture
  enough data to pareto or stratify to find biggest
  contributors to problems, or stratify to develop
  several better scoped projects
• The Measure phase should help develop project
  scope by understanding the Problem better
• If the scope is the same at the end of the
  Measure phase as it was at the start of the
  project, you have likely not learned anything
  else about your problem, and your scope is
  probably too large

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Identifying Project Leaders

• Is this a good certification project?
• Allows the use of tools
• Depth of problem and corresponding tool use
• DMAIC can be followed
• Appropriate expertise
• Highly technical projects need technical leaders
• Projects involving diverse team members need
  leaders with good interpersonal skills
• Other commitments?
• Can the team leader complete the project in a
  timely manner given their current work load?

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How to Match Projects with Belts

• Project leaders should be matched to projects-
  not the other way around
• As the needs for projects arise, use your list of
  trained experts and potential candidates to
  determine who should lead
• Avoid the trap of finding a project for a
  candidate
• Leads to poor project selection
• Is often driven by a quota system of counting
  certifications
• Does not support the quality improvement culture

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Other key characteristics of a well selected
project

• LeanSigma projects will likely have greater
  success if
• The problem is linked to a clearly defined
  process (you can identify the starting and ending
  points)
• If you cannot see the process you likely cannot
  not improve it
• You can identify the customers who use or receive
  the output from this process
• Output can be a product or service /piece of
  information
• We need to be able to understand quality in the
  eyes of the customer
• You can clearly identify what a defect is and
  count its occurrence
• Without understanding what the defect is we
  cannot measure the success of the project
• We will not know if we are attacking the right
  issues

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Prioritizing Projects

• There are several ways to prioritize projects,
  but the most common are

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LeanSigma Projects

• Whats the difference between a Lean Tech, a
  Greenbelt and a Blackbelt Project?
• Lean Techs tackle small basic Lean problems that
  can be solved quickly and simply (Kaizen)
• Usually only need a few basic Lean tools
• Greenbelt projects are more complex and need a
  variety of Lean and Six Sigma tools
• Blackbelt projects are the biggest problems and
  may need an array of LeanSigma tools to complete

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Kaizen, Greenbelt or Blackbelt Project which to
choose?

• Initially we spent much time trying to
  differentiate between Lean and Six Sigma,
  Greenbelt and Blackbelt
• Generally speaking dont worry about it too much
• Let the scope of the project drive the decision
• With the best scoping in the world, occasionally
  a simple project will need a tool that requires
  Blackbelt or Master Blackbelt level tools or
  experience
• Thats why all Greenbelts and Lean Technicians
  have mentors

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Recognition

• Recognition usually falls into two categories
• Financial
• Non Financial
• Although sometimes the line is blurry
• The challenge we have found with the Financial
  Recognition is how to make it fair
• Are all Blackbelts created equal?
• Does a Greenbelt deserve the same as a Blackbelt?
• Should project size have a bearing on the reward?
• Should ongoing contribution affect the reward?
• Often a negative message can be sent unwittingly

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Ideas for Recognition

• Symposium
• Community of BBs
• Project Competition
• Internal Audit Completion (opportunity to visit
  other facilities)
• Temporary Assignments

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Questions?