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LEAN SIX SIGMA

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Manufacturing Green and Black Belts

 

Every project needs organizational support, and each role is important. In manufacturing, “Green” and “Black” belts assist with the data collection and project management roles, respectively. Let Opgrade’s team of Master Black Belt’s train your team to make Continuous Improvement the way of your company and not just another initiative.

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Transactional Green and Black Belts

 

Most people identify Six Sigma with manufacturing, but applying Six Sigma on the transactional side of your business will have just a revolutionary effect on your profits and margins as applying it on your manufacturing processes.

 

Root Cause Failure Analysis

 

Through Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA), persistent defects and recurrences of problems are systemically eliminated, at lowest-cost, in the simplest way. Opgrade are masters at RCFA and if you continue to have the same problems occur repeatedly, please give us a call.

 

Train the Trainer

 

Train-the-trainer allows experienced personnel to assist an inexperienced instructor how to teach workshops and seminars. By using Train-the-Trainer techniques developed by Opgrade, you can quickly build a competent team of instructors, allowing your employees to get updated training at once, rather than piece-by-piece as your sole trainer goes from facility to facility.

 

Value Stream Analysis

 

Opgrade's Value Stream Mapping and Analysis program separates those activities that contribute to the creation of value from those activities that do not, identifying opportunities for improvement. Suitable for most businesses but especially valuable for Manufacturing, Logistics, Software, and Supply Chain oriented companies, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) develops a visual map which depicts the flow of information, processes, and materials needed to make a product with the goal of eliminating those time-wasting actions and pauses that add incremental cost to each unit produced.

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Mapping Hierarchy

 

Knowing how all your processes fit into the big picture is a challenge for all business leaders looking to go Lean. With Opgrade, our hierarchical mapping processes allow you to build a firm foundation of sound process management based upon systemic procedures.

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LEADERSHIP SKILLS

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Leading a Change Program

 

The deployment of cultural and process change brought about by Lean practices is a significant step in your company's path from Good to Great, and without a strong guiding hand comprised of management and executive staff, this effort will fail.

 

Dealing with Resistance

 

A critical component to any improvement process, learning to deal with resistance to change is a critical part of the Continuous Improvement process. From ignoring the new process to arguing against the benefits, Opgrade can provide your company with the tools and training to easily overcome the doubters and get everybody on the same page.

Toyota Kata

 

What is your company’s routine of thought and practice (Kata)? With Kata, the business world is divided up into two sections: Improvement Kata, and Coaching Kata, taking the lessons of Six Sigma and instilling them into your company’s culture.

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Executive Coaching

 

With Opgrade, you can use Six-Sigma techniques to standardize the work of leaders and executives, changing management styles from individuals sitting in their offices reading reports to team leaders actively engaging the workforce both out in the open and in various mentoring sessions.

 

Steering Committee Governance

 

Your internal experts in all things Lean, the Steering Committee will be the drivers in your company's path from Good to Great. In order to implement a Lean program with cultural changes, management must understand the lean enterprise, with a long-term commitment to a strategic vision. Opgrade teaches your Steering Committee how to prevent this from happening: by being the primary mechanism for the management of the Lean initiative, the Steering Committee helps guarantee that the techniques and values of Lean production are displayed and supported in each affected department.

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ASSESSMENTS AND SIMULATIONS

 

PRODSim

 

Worried that the effort involved in changing your culture won’t be worth the results? Before you implement, Opgrade’s team can lead you through a PRODsim simulation, giving you the opportunity to measure results prior to implementation.

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Kaizen Simulation

 

Ready! Fire! Aim! Is your planned Kaizen event actually focused on the right issue. Opgrade can assist in running simulations prior to the Kaizen to ensure you are focused on the right problems, thereby minimizing the risk of the improvement going wrong.

 

Team Building

 

A team-based organization can focus on work processes when the team has been organized around that process. In Lean, each team owns a piece of the operation and is responsible for continuously improving that part of the organization which they own.

 

Project Management

 

Lean concepts such as 5S, Hoshin Kanri, and others can also be incorporated into a project management context, with the main goal being to remove bottlenecks in the production process. Opgrade can assist with this, especially with companies that are unsure if they want to institute Lean organizationally-wide and would like to see the principles in action.

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20 Keys of Manufacturing Excellence

 

The “20 keys” introduce the twenty areas a company must improve itself in order to become a truly Lean organization. Focusing on these 20 keys is crucial so that your Continuous Improvement programs do not result in a company which is out of balance – with some parts being extremely Lean while other parts not having been touched by the new program.

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