Written by 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/