DMAIC Project: Improving the Turnaround Time of Laboratory Analysis Samples
Baseline (Define)
Speeding up the turnaround time of laboratory analysis samples and eliminating wastage from the process. At the start, the laboratory had been in operation for about 3 months, with production and logistics departments as customers. The production department needs the results for process control, while the logistics department needs the product analyses for deliveries. The laboratory has recently started its operations, so the elimination of wasta was an important objective.
Process performance at the beginning (Measure)
The performance was as expected, and there was a lot of variation in throughput times at the baseline. Results were sometimes obtained quickly, but not consistently on a daily basis. Throughput times varied depending on the sample, ranging from 3-4 hours. Comparative data was obtained from so-called morning samples because they repeat consistently at the same time every day. Therefore, they were the best set of analyses for comparison.
Improvement measures (Analyze & Improve)
The main causes were extra movement in the laboratory, mainly due to the layout of the equipment and the lack of work flow. The flow of samples in the laboratory was not planned and the roles between lab technicians were unclear. These root causes were eliminated by creating a work cell and sample flow in the cell. In addition, standard roles were created for the lab technicians, i.e. each operated only certain equipment. Visualisation was also improved so that incoming, in-process and finished samples are easily identified in the cell. The turnaround times after the improvements were 1-2.5 h.
The main challenges were to find the right instrumentation (the "UDMO" was modified along the way). Also, the scope of the work only became clearer once the measurement was underway.
Value Stream Mapping, spaghetti diagrams, hypothesis testing including one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, ST Deviation test were used. In addition, Capability Analyses, Control Charts, Individual Value Plot, Normality Tests, among others.
Results (Control)
Hard savings in line with the project's target of around 10 k€/year, will come from outsourcing work to an in-house laboratory. Soft savings in terms of saved working time and efficient process. A scorecard is used to maintain the performance level (weekly review). Also, further development is easier, as e.g. equipment problems are easily detected by the scorecard in the current model.
Lessons learned from the project: Relatively simple improvements made a significant difference. A lot of attention needs to be paid to data collection and collection design. In addition, implementing change is a challenge and you need to be able to justify the changes - no matter how obvious they seem in the light of the project results.
This project was a Black Belt training project, which the participant did as part of the training and received a Black 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 earn your Belt Belt certification at the same time, check out the training at the link: Black Belt training.