E6S-003 Recognizing and Selecting Projects
In this episode number 3, “SSSSSS” ***Seek, See, Surveil, Strategize, Sell, Start***
The E6S phases to recognizing and selecting performance improvement projects.
1. Seek: Look for opportunities
- What to look for.
Internally: Look at inventory levels. Look at overtime work. Company metrics (OTD) . Balanced Scorecard. Scrap and rework rates. Customer complaints.
Externally: Customer feedback; Sales hit-rates; Repeat sales. Market reports, competitive benchmarks, surveys, Net-Promote Score
- All these require some sort of measurement. The key is that you are measuring your processes to know how you are performing
2. See: Recognize an opportunity
- (COPQ) Cost of Poor Quality (Iceberg analogy)
The “tip” of the iceberg represents only a small portion of the opportunity, but is an indicator of much greater improvements to be had.
- (COW) Cost of Waste: Toyota’s 7 Wastes.... Are they visible?
Inventory levels and WIP are a dead give away for value-stream problems.
3. Surveil or Study: Gather additional information
Who, What, Where, When, Why, How much?... Why, Why, Why, Why
4. Strategize: Create business case
- Also known as “Define” - to make business case;
- Why should this project be done?
- What are the benefits and opportunities?
- What about the "Do nothing" option?
5. Sell: Building a consensus
- Fit with company visions, needs,
- Establish sponsorship (Identify key stakeholders)
- Prioritize
- Various consensus building / prioritization tools:
Affinity diagram, vote & discuss, C&E matrix
6. Start: Kick-off
- Determine the type of project needed (Lean, DMAIC, DFSS,?)
- Continue with the project phases
- Kick-off the team
- Continue to “Sell” and Build consensus
Key Question: Who should be doing these all these S’s?