Continuous Process Improvement

1. Continuous Process Improvement Ali Al-Hamdani, Master Black Belt June, 2019

2. CPI – What is it? • CPIis a strategy to improve mission accomplishment by using process improvement tools—such as Lean, Theory of Constraints, Six Sigma, 8-step Practical Problem Solving Model and others – to create a new way of thinking that produces more efficient processes that might be taken at/by the enterprise level. • 8-Step is the AF-wide problem-solving model • Tools: LEAN, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, Business Process Reengineering • Develops (through education and practice) a mindset and ability to “see and kill” non-value-added work

3. CPI Benefits • Improve mission capability & performance while reducing cost of operations • 1st Order Effects: Productivity of People & Equipment (Readiness, Cycle Time, Agility), Safety, Energy • 2nd Order Effect: Productivity of Dollars, Developing Leaders • Enable the workforce to “see” and close performance gaps • Identify and eliminate waste across enterprise • Views of Others • DoD, Army, Navy & AF directed to implement Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) programs (DODI 5010) • Other Fed Gov’t pursuing CPI (HUD, FAA, FBI, EPA, NRC, VA, etc.)

4. Strategy and a clear vision drive Continuous Improvement Photo courtesy Shutterstock

5. What is Lean The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. – Lean Enterprise Institute • Identify Value - Specify value from the standpoint of the end customer by product family. • Map the Value Stream - Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family, eliminating whenever possible those steps that do not create value. • Create Flow - Make the value-creating steps occur in tight sequence so the product will flow smoothly toward the customer. • Establish Pull - As flow is introduced, let customers pull value from the next upstream activity. • Seek Perfection - As value is specified, value streams are identified, wasted steps are removed, and flow and pull are introduced, begin the process again and continue it until a state of perfection is reached in which perfect value is created with no waste.

6. Benefits of a Lean Culture From “Lean Success in an Administrative Environment”, Target Volume 20, No. 1, 2004. “The Case for Lean Culture”, Target Volume 19, No. 4, 2003.

7. Waste – What is it? • Waste may not be as easy to recognize as you think! • Value Added Activity - An activity that transforms, shapes or converts raw material or information to meet customer requirements. • Non-Value Added (Waste)- Those activities that take time, resources, or space, but do not add value. • In most traditional processes, the vast number of steps in the process accomplished by people and machines are waste. • To understand what is considered waste, ask “if this step went away, would the customer know or care?” • Transportation – Transporting items or information that is not required to perform the process from one location to another. • Inventory – Inventory or information that is sitting idle (not being processed). • Motion – People, information or equipment making unnecessary motion due to workspace layout, ergonomic issues or searching for misplaced items. • Waiting – Waiting for the previous step in the process to complete • Overproduction – Producing too much of a product before it is ready to be sold. • Over processing – is adding more value to a product than the customer actually requires such as painting areas that will never be seen or be exposed to corrosion. • Defects – Products or services that are out of specification that require resources to correct. Goal is to eliminate waste while increasing value added activity

8. Process Driven Results Inconsistent Process Inconsistent Results Traditional = People doing whatever they can to get results Expected (desired) Results Consistent Process Lean = People using standard process to get results

9. Questions