DMAIC project: Reducing the the Lead Time for Preventive Maintenance in Production

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Baseline (Define)

The project improved the turnaround time for preventive maintenance work. The client was an internal customer; maintenance and the maintenance manager. The process needed to be improved because it was not clear why some maintenance work was not being carried out on time and why lead times were being extended.

Process performance at the beginning (Measure)

The average lead time for maintenance work was 22.7 days. The organisation was aware that the lead time was long. The data made it possible to assess whether the target set was realistic and to see that a large proportion of the work was already completed on time. Some of the work was significantly delayed.

Improvement measures (Analyze & Improve)

The root causes were identified as operational patterns: the timing of the work could be at the wrong time of year in relation to when the work could be done. Some jobs were also left hanging when they had been completed, resulting in 'clean-up' work. The full potential of the system was not exploited in terms of scheduling the work.
The main challenges of the project were time management and the organisation's own ownership of the development of the activity. The L6S technology used could be described as 5S: sorting, systematisation & cleaning, standardisation, monitoring.

Results (Control)

The lead time for maintenance work was reduced to four days. The team involved in the project introduced a weekly model to monitor and record whether the work was completed on time. The team also records identified development projects, which can also be carried out by the team itself. The process is included in the audits.

Lessons Learned: the L6S-type approach is new to the organisation as a whole, although parts have been used: it takes time to understand and use the new model. Continuous monitoring of progress is important, management involvement is essential.

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This project was a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training exercise project, which the participant did as part of the training and received a Green Belt certificate at the end of the project.
If you are interested in learning how to improve your processes using Lean and Six Sigma, and obtain a Green Belt Certification at the same time, please visit the training link: Green Belt training.

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