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PROJECTS AND CASE STUDIES



 

The Air Academy Associates  texts Basic Statistics:  Tools for Continuous Improvement  and Understanding Industrial Designed Experiments contain dozens of case studies on the application of statistical tools to real-world problems our students, customers and associates have encountered.   In the course of our fifteen years of successfully assisting clients we have seen significant knowledge gains from our training and consulting programs which generated ROI far in excess of our clients’ financial investment in our services.  

 SAMPLE LEAN SIX SIGMA PROJECTS AND CASE STUDIES:

(All projects/case studies are Adobe files.  Click here to access Adobe Reader for download to your computer.)

Critical Thinking Case Study:  an Example of Simpson's Paradox

Reduce Power Related Defects, Part 1 -  Prestolite DFSS Case Study
Reduce Power Related Defects, Part 2 -  Prestolite DFSS Case Study

 Reduce Process Wire Loss - Achieve reduction in wasted wire in manufacturing process

 Reduce Handling Due to Packaging - Reduce time and materials in production parts   
 handling

 Overtime Reduction - Achieve savings through analysis of factors contributing to overtime
 in production environment

 Supplier Component Qualification Process - Reduce sample plan and build time

 Reducing and Controlling Raw Inventory - Improve cash flow due to lesser inventory

 Increase Paint Booth Throughput - Reduce need for outside processing through 
 increased throughput

 Under Coating Minimums - Reduce variation for quoting and charging

 Silicon Fill -  Mating sheets of glass properly

 Finish Paper Product - Reduce waste and increase FPY

 Ceramic Capacitor Hi-pot Failures - Reduce failure rate

 4U2! Scheduled Maintenance - Increase scheduled maintenance tickets

 Singer Returns - Refurb Process - identify and streamline process failures
                             
 Insurance Claims - Insurance returns inventory analysis

 Refurb Process Kaizen -  Reducing product waste in returns/refurb process

 Muffler Growth Program - Increasing muffler manufacturing capacity
                    
 Harley Megaphone Project - Reducing lead time to process product

 Carburetor Main Body Machining - Reducing labor requirements; improving FPY

 Technical Call Center Optimization - decreasing dropped call rate and increasing sales
                                
 Pricing Project - improving management of pricing credits

 Assembly Line Balancing - Reducing labor costs; improving FPY

 High Volume Header Set-Up - reducing setup times and improving shift production

 Carburetor Final Assembly Line Rebalancing - reducing excess labor costs and 
 variation in assembly process

 Remanufacturing Fit-for-Use Parts Supply - addressing defective components and
 area work loads to increase FPY

 Apogee Enterprises - multiple examples - webinar slides of overview of Lean Six 
 Sigma program at Wausau Windows including project result examples



FOLLOWING ARE EXAMPLES OF SIX SIGMA PROJECTS AND COST SAVINGS FROM A VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES:

Industry:  Oil exploration and drilling company.

Project Results ROI - annualized
Response time to “No Fluid Detected” wells 1.  Well downtime reduced from 467 to 138   days/ month
2.  Production increase of 377 Barrels of Oil per Day (BOPD)		 $2,500,000
Soft water usage by steam generators in oil reclamation 1.  Reduced CGS by 65% through proper chemical mixture
2.  Increased soft water production by 30,000 barrels per day
3.  Increased oil reclamation		 $1,000,000 – chemical savings
$18,900,000 – increased oil production
Improving automatic well test process 1.  Increased test accuracy by 25%
2.  Improved % of successful “workovers”		 $500,000
Oil content of injection water  1.  Reduced content from 40 ppm to 25 ppm
2.  Increased oil production by over 100 BOPD
3.  No increase in chemical use		 $800,000
Periodic well test process 1.  Increased accuracy by 25%
2.  Improved well work decisions
3.  Increased number of tests per month by 423   		 $400,000 – well work decisions
$100,000 – value of extra tests.


Industry:  Water Treatment

Project  Results ROI - annualized
Water Treatment – total solids were 7 times the specification; treatment costs were $.14 per barrel  1.  The quality of the water was improved7 fold while the operational costs were lowered to $.08 per barrel.
2.  Training on “variation reduction” was instituted for all operators.  New SOPs were accomplished. 		 $854,000

 
Industry:  Vehicle maintenance support unit (large company)

Project Results ROI - annualized
Reduce the high cost of vehicle maintenance 1.  Moved technical experts to the field
2.  Improved data collection techniques 
Lower “no evidence of failure” (NOEF) rate 1.  Reduced NOEF rates from 30-40% to less than 5%
2.  Improved training and awareness of operators 
Cut vehicle time out of commission rate 1.  Implemented improved Control Plan
2.  Used Measurement System Analysis to improve diagnostic equipment
3.  Implemented electronic technical manuals		 Total: $1.8 million

  
Industry:  Transactional

Project Results  ROI- annualized
Human Resources:  Employee productivity is reduced when employees transfer to different jobs within the company 1.  Lost productivity due to failure of direct deposits, interrupted health care, large out-of-pocket expenses, as well as lot access to computer/phone was calculated.
2.  DMAIC process resulted in improved process flows and SOPs to include a transfer binder, use of intranet, and pre-transfer training.
3.  Annual survey instituted.		  $479,700

 
Industry:  Large Electronics Company

Project  Results ROI- annualized
Upgrade Monoblock duplexer  1.  Upgraded the product using VOC, IPO diagram, and DFSS tools $724,000
Deflection yoke for TV 1.  Upgraded the design using DFSS tools and improved the overall production process   $240,000

 
Industry:  Automotive

Project  Results ROI- annualized
Crankshaft production failures 1.  Decreased the number of crankshaft failures from 15,000/million to 1,000/million
2.  Used Six Sigma tools to stratify the errors; most were due to grinding failures.  DMAIC decreased the interference caused by design of main axle pocket and flange area
3.  Improved operator training		 $100,000

 
Industry:  Pharmaceutical

Project Results ROI- annualized
Pharmacist Information (PI) Outsert (shrink wrapped on outside)  1.  PI Outsert bottleneck on the drug secondary packaging line was eliminated.
2.  New adhesion process and automated cartoner installed.
3.  Eighteen FTE moved from process to another process within the business
4.  A new, smaller, and less expensive outsert created.		  $4 million (after the cost of capital equipment)

  
Industry:  Alumina Refinery

Project  Results ROI- annualized
High variability in titration measurement system resulting in high variability in the process chemistry (A/C ratio =g/l Alumina / g/l Sodium Hydroxide)  1.  The pooled standard deviation of the A/C Ratio for the four titration systems in use reduced by 69%. 
2.  The variability of the individual components reduced from 41% to 71%. 
3.  Improved plant A/C Ratio control and reduced lost production due to not maintaining target production Ratios
4.  Reduced downstream problems caused by high A/C Ratios		 1.  $180,000
2.  Indirect savings – increased productivity due to less maintenance problems caused by poor ratio control

 
Industry:  Pharmaceutical Company

Project Results ROI- annualized
Packaging- downtime of machines on the packing line was excessive causing lower than expected/desired productivity. 1.  SOPs were developed
2.  Training was improved
3.  Variation in the adjustments and adjustment frequencies was reduced		 $90,000

  
 Industry:  Chemical Production

Project Results ROI- annualized
Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) and Ethanol Separation Unit – improve production capacity and reduce variability  1.  Cpk was increased from .77 to 4.3
2.  Normal production rates for MEK and Ethanol improved more than 4% above previous maximum rate
3.  Ethanol losses reduced		 1.  $100million for MEK
2.  $70 million for Ethanol
3.  Soft savings - $25 million

   
Industry:  Medical Device Company

Project Results ROI- annualized
Combine two existing rejection systems used for tracking defective materials. 1.  The two systems were combined, streamlined, and placed on the web.
2.  Process flow created for new process 		 $118,000

  
Industry:  Machining, Tooling, and Assembly

Project  Results ROI- annualized
Customer Service/Warranty claims- the process too cumbersome and costly  1.  New streamline process created permitting better tracking of supplier related warranty costs
2.  SOPs developed(PF/CE/CNX/SOP)		 $100,000

 
Industry:  Submersible Pump Repair

Project Results ROI- annualized
Process –process to produce submersible pumps was too slow resulting in a large volume of lost sales 1.  Process streamlined and waste removed.
2.  Cycle time reduced from 24 hours down to 19 hours. 
3.  Physical layout and tool control dramatically improved.
4.  Number of temporary storages reduced from 24 to 6.		 1.  Reduced waste yielded $436,370
2.  Sales increased $4.9million


Other examples of project case study savings we have seen as a result of our Lean Six Sigma training and consulting support:

On time drawing deliveries $292,000
Improved procurement system 275,000
Artificial knee joint polishing 309,000
Reduce audits and cost of audits 454,000
Improved water quality and handling 650,000
Reduced plastic part defectives 246,000
Improved accuracy of claim payments 578,000
Pick to Box process optimization 1,940,000
Part washing process improved 58,000
Improved water quality 950,000
Minimized claim liability 950,000
Coil winding process for spinal stimulation 430,000
Corona fan test failure reduction 280,000
Leakage of seal reduced 41,000
Process induced damage reduction 963,000
Radiology set-up process 624,000
Reduced cost of former members 1,015,000
Sampling plan savings 40,000
Shutter spring optimization DOE 150,000
Reduced PCB test failures  50,000
Dimension PTB Box marking  120,000
Reduction in Loop mail/miss sent mail 125,000
Reduction in manual mail handling 86,000
Redefining the Change Mgt. Process during production (2 projects) 347,000
Photo cathode fabrication yield improvement  1,012,385
Reducing sick leave at 8 sites  2,839,327
GPS Nav System Breakout Box initiative proposal  130,000
HVAC refrigerant leak reduction 151,266
Turnover reduction  125,000

  
 

 
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