As a Lean Practitioner, whenever I visit a factory for the first time my initial observation is always excess material movement on the shop floor.  That is why before starting any improvement journey, mapping the process flow and the spaghetti diagram is the first step that is taken. The objective is to identify the scope of improving throughput by establishing a well-planned facility layout.

An unplanned factory layout planning results in major wastes like transportation, waiting, and Inventory.  A proper factory layout impacts the throughput time and boosts productivity, and worker morale & reduces unevenness in work & stress. So basically, it acts as a direct action against the three wasteful practices, Muda, Mura & Muri.

What is a Lean Facility Layout?

Lean Facility Layout is a systematic approach used in designing the production facility or warehouse which is based on the principles of Lean Manufacturing. The focus is on creating a flow that has no unnecessary steps, or activities, one that adds “Value” to the Product that is manufactured. A lean facility layout emphasizes easy-to-adapt and flexible workplace operations.

What do you need?

Always get a clear understanding of your processes. Whether you are planning a new facility, or refining the existing one, it is very important to identify the pain areas in all processes of your facility. These could be directly or indirectly related to Manpower, Machine, Method, or Material. Interact with the shop floor workers and get their opinion on the current Operations.  You need to be very clear on the strategic requirements of your organization.

The Approach

A planned facility layout should take care of the following things: –

1. 1. Space Utilization: Material stored horizontally on the floor is a common picture in the shop floor, & in most cases, there is clear vertical space available that can be utilized by implementing vertical material storage solutions.
3. 2. Material Movement: Long material movement results in longer lead times, lower throughput time, and Productivity loss and creates uneven and stressful plant operations. A well-planned facility will ensure higher throughput, least lead time & optimize Productivity. This will reduce manpower costs and overall operational expenses.
5. 3. Space for all: Area allocation for Maintenance, RND, QA, Rejections (Incoming and internal), Daily Plant Meetings (PPC and Quality), Segregation in the storage of Material (Incoming, FG, Buffer), etc will give a clearer shop floor picture to Managers, Customers, & Auditors of all activities well managed & sorted. Also, machines should be placed with enough clearances around for maintenance checks, repairs, part replacements, lubrication & cleaning.
7. 4. Inventory: Machine-wise storage area for WIP (segregated as IP & OP), Supermarkets (to control inventories), Centralised trolley storage, Packing Material Storage, FG Area, and Hold Area. All these help in maintaining & controlling inventories across the facility. Non-moving material, rejections are brought to the notice of the management & decisions are made faster on the disposal of these materials, and lesser inventory means more profits.
9. 5. Visual Management: The most efficient tool for communicating across the shop floor is Visual Management. Your Layout should have machines, areas, storage, walkways, and gangways Visually Identified. Not just this, it also helps in communicating standard procedures, highlighting problems, and bringing consistency & transparency to work.
11. 6. Improved Worker Morale: With smooth material flow, sequenced machine areas, and well-managed inventories there remains a very low chance of ergonomic stress on workers, which boosts their productivity and helps in nurturing the Process Excellence culture in the shop floor.
13. 7. A plant layout should also ensure safety standards are followed. Power units, cables, hazardous chemical storage, etc. should be isolated from the Operational areas. Effective use of safety shoes, PPEs, etc. should be promoted by using Visual Management tools. Such factors while planning a facility will help in sustaining a Safe factory culture.
15. 8. Flexibility: Keeping in mind the Plant operations, one should analyze whether there are multiple SKUs. Do all the SKUs have standard processes or there are multiple process routes? If the demand is not steady, the layout should be planned considering the excess capacity requirements.
17. 9. A detailed diagnostic study of the existing state should determine the requirements before Planning the facility, and the final layout should be flexible to changes, the mentioned constraints should be taken care of.
19. 10. Visibility: Plant layout should be planned in a way that the machines and ongoing activities are part of the value chain and should always be observable.  The arrangement of departments, offices/cabins should be made in such a way that the shop floor is easy to supervise.

Types of Facility Layout?

While you plan a facility layout, it is necessary to understand what ideally fits you the best. To begin with, one has to understand 4 major types of layouts and relate those with the Operations of the Plant in mind.

1. 1. Product Layout: Plant, where there are large volumes & standardized products involved, with very few SKUs, a Product Layout, is the ideal choice. Product layout or the Assembly Line has workstations arranged in a sequential way where the RM enters the line, and at the end of the line, you get the finished Product. A product layout is usually in a U shape or a straight line.

Figure 1 Ref: https://keydifferences.com/

1. 2. Process Layout: A process layout is one where machinery, equipment, or workstations with the same process/functions are grouped together. Basically, equipment with similar functions is combined at one location. Ex. All the welding activities for a Panel manufacturer are grouped in one common area.

Figure 2 Ref: https://keydifferences.com/

1. With this approach, you can establish a Plant with a functional arrangement of the layout, where the Product will move to different areas as per its process route & then finally get finished at the common assembly or FG area/process. A plant with non-standardized products should opt for such a layout.

Figure 3 Ref: https://www.javatpoint.com/types-of-layouts

1. 3. Combination Layout: When there are multiple types of products & the quantities are on the higher side, Process layouts arranged in a line in a sequential manner are implemented. Simply the machines performing similar functions are grouped, and these groups are arranged in sequences to manufacture products of different specifications in large quantities.

Well, the question arises here. How to do it?

The systematic way to begin with would be as follows: –

1. 1. Define the objectives: Understand the strategic requirements of the organization & define the key milestones to achieve.
3. 2. Current State Mapping: Map the existing procedures, manpower, equipment, capacity & storage requirements.
5. 3. Material Flow Analysis: If it is a re-layout activity, prepare a spaghetti diagram of the material movements, and measure the distance traveled for runner items. Analyze the flow of the material & target measure Non-Value adding, zigzag, reverse movements of material that are wasteful & avoidable.
7. 4. Space Allocation: Understand the architectural drawing of the plant, and understand the limitations with respect to pillars, walls, or other obstacles. Brainstorm with key stakeholders and note down their requirements, priorities, and constraints. Allocate tentative areas for machines, processes, storage, etc. Make sure future expansion plans are considered while doing this.
9. 5. Dimensioning: Note machine dimensions & clearances required, storage equipment dimensions, and gangway width required.
11. 6. Design: Start plotting machines as per factors studied one by one. Focus on a particular stage of the manufacturing process. It might involve 2-3 machines and a storage area. The next step is to check clearances around the machine, & prediction of possible constraints. With this approach start following the process route & go on the plotting machine. One has to understand that once a tentative layout is done, multiple constraints, & ideas will be visible.
13. 7. Brainstorming in Design: The first tentative plan will highlight multiple constraints, also it will give out many ideas. Constraints might be related to material movement, storage, operating space, material handling equipment, etc. Categorizing the constraints in multiple ways will help in finding solutions, and in this way, multiple layout options can be developed.
15. 8. Future State: Create a “to be” spaghetti diagram for key products & check the material travel distances reduced for each layout, comparing with the current state. Highlight the top 3 cases with a major reduction in movement. These are the layouts you have to focus on.
17. 9. Feasibility check: Once you have 4-5 options on paper, then it’s time to review these with the stakeholders. At this stage, you have to check the most feasible layout as per current & future demand. Stakeholders can give deeper insights into possible challenges.

Conclusion

Space utilization, higher throughput, reduced inventories, reduced material handling costs, improved safety & high worker morale are your key milestones. As we are into the World Class Manufacturing Era, these are the milestones that will take you toward the goal that is Lean Facility Layout, and by the way the goal is just the first step towards Process Excellence or Lean Manufacturing. Because it is not the destination, it is the pursuit of “Continuous Improvement”.

Introduction:

In the realm of quality management, organizations are constantly striving for excellence, seeking ways to improve processes, reduce errors, and enhance customer satisfaction. One vital tool in this pursuit is the Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) process. CAPA is an integral component of quality management systems, enabling businesses to identify, investigate, and rectify issues while implementing preventive measures to prevent their recurrence. This article delves into the concept of CAPA, its importance, and how it contributes to organizational growth and continuous improvement.

What is CAPA?

Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) is a systematic approach employed by organizations to identify, address, and prevent non-conformities, deviations, or deficiencies in products, processes, or quality systems. The primary objective of CAPA is to detect and correct problems, as well as to implement measures to prevent their recurrence, ultimately enhancing the overall quality and reliability of products or services.

The CAPA Process:

The CAPA process typically involves the following key steps:

Issue Identification: The first step in the CAPA process is to identify the issue or non-conformity through various means, such as customer complaints, internal audits, quality data analysis, or regulatory requirements. This ensures that problems are captured and addressed promptly.

Problem Investigation:

Once an issue is identified, a thorough investigation is conducted to determine its root cause. This involves gathering relevant data, analyzing the problem, and using various problem-solving techniques such as the 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, or fault tree analysis. The goal is to uncover the underlying causes and understand the contributing factors.

Corrective Action:

Based on the investigation, corrective actions are developed and implemented to address the identified root cause and eliminate the problem. Corrective actions can involve process modifications, retraining employees, updating procedures, or implementing technical fixes. The effectiveness of these actions should be monitored to ensure their success.

Preventive Action:

In addition to addressing the immediate problem, CAPA also focuses on preventive measures to avoid similar issues in the future. This step involves identifying potential risks, implementing preventive actions, and monitoring their effectiveness. Preventive actions can include process improvements, regular training programs, enhanced quality controls, or updated documentation.

Verification and Monitoring:

The final step in the CAPA process is to verify the effectiveness of the corrective and preventive actions taken. This involves evaluating whether the implemented measures have resolved the problem and assessing their long-term impact. Ongoing monitoring and measurement are necessary to ensure sustained compliance and continuous improvement.

Benefits of CAPA:

Implementing an effective CAPA process offers several benefits to organizations, including:

Enhanced Quality:

CAPA helps organizations identify and eliminate the root causes of quality issues, resulting in improved product or service quality and customer satisfaction.

Compliance with Regulations:

By addressing non-conformities and implementing preventive measures, CAPA enables organizations to comply with industry standards, regulations, and customer requirements.

Continuous Improvement:

CAPA fosters a culture of continuous improvement by promoting problem-solving, data-driven decision-making, and proactive risk management.

Cost Reduction:

Through the identification and elimination of issues, CAPA helps organizations minimize rework, waste, and customer complaints, leading to cost savings.

Organizational Learning:

CAPA encourages knowledge sharing and organizational learning, as the process involves analyzing data, identifying trends, and disseminating lessons learned throughout the organization.

Conclusion:

Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) is a fundamental process within quality management systems, enabling organizations to proactively identify and address issues while preventing their recurrence. By embracing CAPA, organizations can achieve higher levels of quality, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction.

What is Kanban?

The Kanban system is an information system that harmoniously controls the production of the necessary products in the necessary quantities at the necessary time in every process of a factory and also among companies.

Bullwhip effect

The Bullwhip effect in supply chain management refers to a situation where even small changes in customer demand can lead to significant fluctuations in production quantities for manufacturers.

To minimize these variations and ensure smoother production, a method called production smoothing is implemented. This process is facilitated by using Kanban cards.

Kanban cards – application

1. IT support: A support ticket can move through different stages like triage, assignment, resolution and closure. This helps keep track on number of support tickets.

2. Healthcare service: Each patient can be assigned a Kanban card and its movement can be tracked. For e.g. entry stage forms are filled, payment is done, progress in the health etc.

3. Manufacturing: To help reduce WIP (work in progress), inventory and prevent over or under production

4. Event management

Classification of Kanban cards

Production ordering Kanban

Ø These signals prompt the preceding activity to begin manufacturing when the inventory in the “semi-finished goods store” reaches a reorder level.

Ø For e.g. For an engine assembly line, Kanban’s will be attached on scheduling board which has “color-coded scale”.

Ø Inventory racks which hold semi finished goods like crank shaft, piston and cylinder are being consumed, assemblies are completed and thus inventory reduces reaching the reorder point.

Ø Kanban’s are attached on these scheduling boards signifying inventory of semi finished goods store. When Kanban’s reach the top of the red area, the respective machining shops (preceding activity) are notified to start manufacturing of the respective items.

Withdrawal kanban

Ø These signals prompt the material handler to withdraw items from the centralized store for different workstations.

Ø For e.g. There is an assembly line which produces smartphones. It has four different types of assembly lines: electronic board, screen, batteries and casing

Ø Each workstation will have its individual store where respective parts will be stocked.

Ø As the assembly progresses, parts are consumed, leading the individual stores near workstations to reach the “reorder point” levels.

Ø The Mizusumashi (kanban and material handler) will take the Kanban card of the required item as an “authorization” to withdraw the item from the central store.

Ø The central store too will have re-order points set for its inventory. Once the inventory levels reach the reorder point, the Mizusumashi (Kanban and material handler) will notify the store keeper to re order the items from the supplier.

Supplier kanban

Ø Supplier Kanban will help notify the supplier to refill the inventory levels.

Ø It is very crucial to minimize the fluctuation in ordering of inventory from the supplier. Thus two types of information are conveyed to the suppliers.

Ø There are certain calculations done by the supplier after taking into consideration monthly production schedule as follows

Supplier Kanban – Monthly Information

Supplier Kanban – Daily production schedule

Ø Depending on the withdrawal system either “later replenishment” or “sequenced withdrawal system” is used to convey the daily production schedule.

Ø Later replenishment uses supplier Kanban (now E-Kanban for supplier) to refill the inventory levels of Toyota and sequenced withdrawal system uses scheduling table conveyed by E-Kanban.

Supplier Kanban – System of later replenishment

The idea of later replenishment system is to have simultaneous activities of:

1. Loading of goods from supplier which were made on the prompt of supplier Kanban delivered one day prior. Also to submit today’s request of inventory with supplier Kanban.

2. Unloading of goods of the truck which carries the requested inventory of the prior day from the supplier on Toyota’s site.

Benefits of kanban

Ø Kanban cards help manage work in progress

Ø Reducing excess inventory of raw material

Ø Eliminating over production to a great extent

Ø Kanban board also help spot the bottle neck process/stage

Ø Kanban boards also help prioritizing the work

Ø Helps provide transparency to all the stake holders regarding current stage in any given process through Kanban board

References

1. Michel B.(Reprint 2017). Lean logistics. Productivity Press.

2. Yasuhiro M. (4th Edition). Toyota Production System. CRC Press.

3. Website: theplanningmaster.com

4. Website: talentvis.com

What is Root Cause Analysis?

The Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a technique that allows people to determine the reasons why a particular problem has occurred.

This technique identifies the source of the problem using precise steps and tools so that necessary steps can be taken in the future to avoid the problem from happening again. The root cause analysis is done in a systematic way. It involves different steps such as describing the existing problem, collecting the necessary data linked with the problem, identifying possible causes, identifying causes that need to be addressed to prevent the problem from recurring, identifying solutions, implementing changes, and observing the changes.

This particular tool can analyze a particular system at once. This is often used in complicated systems when multiple problems exist, and it is important to immediately get to the root cause of the problem. The current reality tree is created by listing all the undesirable events and problems observed in a particular process.

RCA is an important problem-solving tool used in quality improvement. It is one of the most useful tool in lean Six Sigma process improvement projects.

Basically, in the DMAIC approach the 3^rd phase analyse is all about analyzing the data and finding cause of problem so in that phase RCA is used to identify the root cause of problems.

RCA is not a single person approach, it is completely a team-based approach where a team of 3-4 members come together and focus on finding the root cause of the problem where they use a lot of different tea, decision-making techniques.

So that this team-based activity produces good results with consensus of all team member. Now let’s see the three basic types of causes because of which all the problem happen

There are three basic types of cause:

1. 1. Physical causes– Tangible, material items failed in some way (for example, a car’s brakes stopped working).
2. 2. Human causes– People did something wrong or did not do something that was needed. Human causes typically lead to physical causes (for example, no one filled the brake fluid, which led to the brakes failing).
3. 3. Organizational causes– A system, process, or policy that people use to make decisions or do their work is faulty (for example, no one person was responsible for vehicle maintenance, and everyone assumed someone else had filled the brake fluid).

How to perform Root Cause Analysis

The 1^st step of RCA is to identify the problematic situation and then analyze that situation to understand what’s happening there, and what are the different factors that are impacting the problematic area.

1. 2. Gather data.

A critical step in root cause analysis is the collection of relevant data about an incident or a problematic event. Documenting all the characteristics and specifications of the event will help you answer questions like What are the contributing factors? When did the problem occur? Is it a repeating event? What is the observed impact?

2. 3. Determine possible causal factors.

Creating a sequence of events is important to identify causal factors that can contribute to the observed problem or event. The project team tasked with the analysis of the problem should establish a timeline of events and brainstorm as many potential causal factors as possible by asking “Why?” questions. Using a causal graph, for instance, helps to visually represent the connection between events and enables tracking of the root cause.

3. 4. Determine the Root Cause of the Problem

This is the time to identify as many causes as possible. The analysis team can use techniques such as the 5 Whys, Fishbone analysis, or Pareto chart to narrow down the potential underlying cause or causes of the problem and the major contributing factors. During this phase, stakeholders and other relevant teams should be involved.

4. 5. Prioritize the Causes

Once the root causes are established, they need to be prioritized and tackled accordingly. To determine which cause or challenge to address first, the analysis team needs to assess what is the impact of the cause – the higher the impact, the greater its priority. Another point when prioritizing root causes is the number of causal factors triggered by a specific challenge – the greater the number of causal factors, the greater the impact of the root cause is and yields immediate addressing.

5. 6. Solution, Recommendation, and Implementation

Next step upon establishing root causes and their prioritization is finding solutions to the problem and their implementation. Brainstorming is a great way to attempt and come up with a variety of potential solution scenarios. Another approach is interviewing as many people as possible. Gathering input as well as the implementation of the solution requires involvement from everyone. On one hand, every recommendation counts, and on the other, a successful implementation is the one that sticks with everyone affected.

6 Popular root cause analysis tools

The ultimate goal of root cause analysis is to find out the root cause of the problem and organize all the cause as per their impact on the problem and then action to prevent those problems from happening again.

In this entire process of finding the root cause of the problem, RCA uses 6 powerful tools.

1. 5 Whys Analysis

The 5 Whys is a method that uses a series of questions to drill down into successive layers of a problem. The basic idea is that each time you ask why, the answer becomes the basis of the next why. It’s a simple tool useful for problems where you don’t need advanced statistics, so you don’t necessarily want to use it for complex problems.

One application of this technique is to more deeply analyze the results of a Pareto analysis. Here’s an example of how to use the 5 Whys:

Problem: Final assembly time exceeds target

• -> Why is downtime in final assembly higher than our goal? According to the Pareto chart, the biggest factor is operators needing to constantly adjust Machine A
• -> Why do operators need to constantly adjust Machine A? Because it keeps having alignment problems
• -> Why does Machine A keep having alignment problems? Because the seals are worn
• -> Why are Machine A’s seals worn? Because they aren’t being replaced as part of our preventive maintenance program
• -> Why aren’t they being replaced as part of our preventive maintenance program?

2. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

The failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a technique that is used to determine the failures within a particular system. A lot of companies use this RCA tool to find out which parts of the processes are faulty so that they can be corrected. It also determines the number of times the failure occurs, the actions implemented by the organization to prevent the failure from recurring, and determining areas, where actions taken, were effective. This tool is often done every time a new process or product is generated.

An FMEA chart outlines:

• -> Potential failures, consequences and causes
• -> Current controls to prevent each type of failure.

Severity (S), occurrence (O) and detection (D) ratings that allow you to calculate a risk priority number (RPN) for determining further action

3. Fault Tree Analysis

The fault tree analysis is another method of determining the root cause of a particular problem. It uses Boolean logic to determine the cause of the problem in any undesirable event. As the name implies, this tool involves creating a diagram that looks like trees where all potential causes are written down as branches.

4. Fishbone Diagram

Also called the Ishikawa diagram, a fishbone diagram is a useful tool in conducting root cause analysis. Similar to the fault tree diagram, it is named after its shape–a fishbone–and is used to group causes into different sub-categories like methods, measurements, materials and many others for easier determination of the cause.

5. Pareto Charts

A Pareto chart is a histogram or bar chart combined with a line graph that groups the frequency or cost of different problems to show their relative significance. The bars show frequency in descending order, while the line shows cumulative percentage or total as you move from left to right.

The Pareto chart example above is a report from layered process audit software that groups together the top seven categories of failed audit questions for a given facility. Layered process audits (LPAs) allow you to check high-risk processes daily to verify conformance to standards. LPAs identify process variations that cause defects, making Pareto charts a powerful reporting tool for analyzing LPA findings.

Pareto charts are one of the seven basic tools of quality described by quality pioneer Joseph Juran. Pareto charts are based on Pareto’s law, also called the 80/20 rule, which says that 20% of inputs drive 80% of results.

6. Scatter Plot diagram

A scatter plot or scatter diagram uses pairs of data points to help uncover relationships between variables. A scatter plot is a quantitative method for determining whether two variables are correlated, such as testing potential causes identified in your fishbone diagram.

Making a scatter diagram is as simple as plotting your independent variable (or suspected cause) on the x-axis, and your dependent variable (the effect) on the y-axis. If the pattern shows a clear line or curve, you know the variables are correlated and you can proceed to regression or correlation analysis.

References:

• 1. ease.io/5-root-cause-analysis-tools-for-more-effective-problem-solving/
• 2. https://www.6sigma.us
• 3. https://ashwinmore.com/how-root-cause-analysis-can-help-you-solve-complex-problems/
• 4. https://kanbanize.com/lean-management/lean-manufacturing/root-cause-analysis/perform.
• 5. https://www.mindtools.com/ag6pkn9/root-cause-analysis