IT Service Manager Lynn Underwood and Strategic Initiatives Analyst Matt Helton teamed up to tackle the problem as part of their Green Belt Certification at the University. After measuring the end-to-end prep time for nine separate Yellow Belt Classes, they found it ranged from 6 to 8 hours and averaged about 7 hours. Their Sponsor, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives Ashley Gambier, challenged them to reduce the cycle time by at least 50%.

A Process Map showed where the biggest bottlenecks were happening:

• Clean Laminate Materials—120 minutes
• Organize laminate materials by job—60 minutes
• Laminate all new materials—60 minutes
• Binder clip & bundle laminate materials—90 minutes

After using a Fishbone Diagram to uncover opportunities for them to improve, the team made the following changes:

• Printing log sheets instead of using laminated log sheets, reducing the quantity of laminated materials that require cleaning after each simulation
• Creating inventory checklist for simulation materials
• Implementing accordion files for organizing simulation materials
• Implementing binder rings to keep simulation materials together
• Asking trainees to put simulation materials back at the end of each class
• Creating a Supplies Inventory Checklist & using it to replenish ahead of time (no last minute needs)

The Improved Prep Process Map

A summary of their gains is listed below:

• Reduced event prep cycle time by ~5 hours (72%)
• Reduced cost associated with each event prep (including cycle time, staffing resources & material costs) from $1,085 to $142 (87%)
• Annualized event prep savings of $49,036 (based on one iteration/week)
• Annualized training event savings of $83,252 (based on one iteration/week)

Watch the video or read the transcript at https://goleansixsigma.com/success-story-reducing-training-preparation-time-72/