Lean Six Sigma in Minitab Engage
Minitab Engage already incorporates the Lean idea: accordingly, you have to enter essential information just once. Afterwards, this information is available everywhere in a project. Therefore Engage is optimal for the use in Lean Six Sigma.
On the following pages, we will explain some of the functions more in detail.
Statistics and Tools
Statistics and Tools
Results of statistical analyses performed by Minitab or another statistical software can be simply transfered to Engage, making Engagethe tool for your Lean Six Sigma projects. All tools as well as the phases you use are easy to customize. You can even create your own tools.
In total, Engage has over 100 analysis & creative tools, many specialized on Lean Six Sigma, including:
- Process Map
- FMEA
- Project Charter
- Fishbone
- C &E Matrix
- Value stream analysis
- Monte Carlo simulation
- Presentation manager for dynamic presentations
Value Stream Analysis
Value Stream Analysis
For considering the Lean speed while identifying streamlining and optimization potential ("7 wastes"), Engage offers a detailed value stream analysis, which is performed using the value stream map. After the process is visualized in this map and the single key values are assigned, the properties of the overall process, like e.g. the total lead time or the WIP time, will be - as usual - automatically calculated.
Value Stream Analysis with Engage
Now the analysis of individual process steps cannot be explored only in terms of error rate and rework, but also regarding lead time, value-creating share of this time, as well as other typical Lean values.
Process Map
Process Map
The flow process chart - Process Map - visualizes the processes. This, the user-friendly process map of Engage simplifies the modeling of a process. The tool shows the activities within a process and the relations between input and output quantities and decision points. X and Y variables can be simply added and used in other tools.
Process Map in Engage
In addition to the information about inputs and outputs as well as the error rate, it is possible to file essential Lean data in the process map now.
Process Map Overview
All process data as all other data as well is available all throughout the whole project.
Process Map Overview
Lean Management Approach
Lean Management Approach
The idea is the efficient design of a wholesome value-added chain; Lean Management means "creating values without waste". Compared to mere Six Sigma projects, not only Lean speed will be taken into account, but also streamlining and optimization potentials ("7 wastes") will be identified at the same time.
The aim is to bring all value-adding activities in agreement with each other, eliminate superfluous activities and explore two existing systems from two perspectives:
- Customer perspective: availability, individuality, quality & pricing of products – "business on demand"
- Company perspective: profitable processes, improvement of competitiveness
The result are stable processes with high customer orientation, since meeting the targeted and flexible customer requirements represents the basis for economic work and high efficiency.
Lean always starts by comprehending the processes from the customer's point of view and then tries to identify the waste from this perspective.
Ten principles of a streamlined corporate management
- Alignment of all activities according to customers (customer orientation)
- Focus on own strengths
- Optimization of business processes
- Continous quality improvement
- Internal customer orientation as corporate philosophy
- Personal responsibility, empowerment, and team work
- Decentralized, customer-oriented structures
- Guidance as service for staff
- Open information and feedback processes
- Attitude and culture change in company (Kaikaku)
List according to Graf-Götz, Glatz: Organisation gestalten, Beltz-Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-407-36382-6
Minitab Engage provides you as the Lean person in charge with many tools and templates to facilitate your daily work.