KNOWLEDGE CHECK Flashcards
What are the methods and analysis tools in production and administrative areas?
- In administrative areas one person normally has several parallel roles, the processes are usually not visible.
- In production areas one person usually has just one role. Processes are visible.
Before we start of how to map a process, in which phase of a process do you map the current process and why?
- In the diagnose phase to get transparency about the process and problems.
- To create transparency about waste in the process in the diagnose phase.
What are the 7 steps in process mapping?
- Process name
- Roles/Function
- Input/Output
- Process Box
- Set Course
- Kaizen flashes
- Connecting lines
How do you get a value stream map out of a process map?
Add details like process time, frequency etc.
What are the benefits of value stream analysis in indirect area?
- Transparency of the real process (talk with the people who perform the process.)
- Transparency of complex interactions between different information flows and interfaces (IT, meetings, etc.) on one page.
- Compilation of ALL activities (process steps) that result in the process result requested by the customer (value-creating/non-value-creating).
What do you do to ensure holistic and sustainable optimization in an indirect TOS project?
- Focus the dimensions on process & customer
- Firmly establish a CIP culture
- Avoid interface losses in the organizational structure
How many dimensions are there to cluster the main direction of the methods?
1 – 6
Which statements regarding the Operational Excellence project approach are true?
- The target is to increase the overall efficiency of a organizational unit by improving core processes.
- The scope is one organizational unit with focus on its core processes.
- Two core elements of the Operational Excellence project approach are the analysis of core processes and internal interfaces
Which statements regarding Strategy Deployment are true?
- A TOS Assessment is a structured analysis covering a whole L1-area with standardized analysis methods to create an overview of weak spots and potential for improvement.
- Hoshin Kanri is a Lean Management approach to establish and operationalize a vision/strategy.
Read the customer’s main challenges and choose the right project approach.
- Identified improvement levers are not sufficient to achieve target expectations…
- Defined process chain needs to be redesigned as process output is not satisfying
- Inefficient organization structure with double work, jumping responsibilities, redundancies, …
- Inefficient/ in-transparent steering model, recurring problems with inefficient escalation
- Operational Excellence (OpEx)
- Value Stream Optimization
- Organization Structure
- Performance Culture
Which method or output belongs to which phase of a TOS Assessment?
Preparation
• Baseline
• Process Overview
Assessment Phase
• Lean Maturity Check
• Deep Dives per focus process
Consulting
• Roadmap
• Result presentation naming strength, weaknesses and recommended actions
How does the result of the TOS Assessment look like?
- You create a roadmap with the area to tackle the identified problems in a structured way and aligned with the existing strategy of the area.
- You name weak spots of defined core processes and propose improvements.
- You present the overall maturity level per strategic cluster, including the identified strength, weaknesses and recommended fields of action.
What are the 5 strategic pillars of the Lean Maturity Check?
- Strategic alignment
- Customer orientation
- Process efficiency and effectivity
- Performance management
- Staff development and lean leadership
Please bring the 4 core elements of a Hoshin Kanri in the right order?
- North Start
- Blue Sky
- A3 Strategy Sheet
- Roadmap
What is an A3 strategy sheet?
The A3 Srategy Sheet documents the initial situation and target state on one page.
For each Blue Sky you derive activities and KPIs including responsibilities and a timeline and document those on one A3 Strategy Sheet.
The A3 Srategy Sheet operationalizes the BlueSky elements.
What are the benefits of a Hoshin Kanri?
- Involvement of various management levels to ensures feasibility and commitment in the area for its strategy.
- The Hoshin Kanri process breaks down the vision and the strategy to steerable activities/projects that are put on a road map.
Please match the in inputs to the Hoshin Kanri elements.
North Star • Product innovations • Market development • Profit requirements • Organizations structure • TOS Assessment
Blue Sky • North Star • Existing targets • List of running projects • Strategic documents
Why do we need a special Operational Excellence project approach?
- In order to find the right improvement levers for the needs of the customer, the Operational Excellence project approach considers to look at all dimensions.
- Our customer may have unstable and insufficient processes, ineffective meetings or unused potentials in Performance Management and hence wants to increase his/her efficiency but does not know where to start. Here the general Operational Excellence project approach makes sense.
What are the different phases of a classic indirect project in the right order?
- Preparation
- Pre-analysis
- Analysis
- Design
- Implementation
What is involved in each part of the project phases?
Preparation
• Employee are informed about the upcoming TOS project
• project scope is defined
• Baseline and target setting are aligned
Pre-Analysis
• Main improvement levers are identified
• Process overview SIPOC including meeting structure and portfolio analysis is available
Analyze
• Analysis completed
• Work packages defined
• Immediate work packages already started
Design
• Expected savings are calculated
• Target state and measures per work package are defined for all work packages
• Potential waterfall shows the identified and quantified expected savings per work package
Implementation
• Implementation of work packages finished / properly handed over to line function
Which additional roles do you have in the consulting team of an indirect project compared to a direct one?
- A Lean Consultant who acts as Streamlead and is the main contact to project leader regarding project progress, required decisions and problem solving.
- The Streamlead, who is also case of a training project your Lean Consultant Coach.
- The Managing Consultant to coordinates all ongoing projects.
Which activities usually belong to the role of a Junior Lean Consultant in an indirect project?
- The Junior Lean Consultant carries out workshops to derive the current and future process state.
- The Junior Lean Consultant is the main contact to work package leader and members.
- The Junior Lean Consultant acts as Lean Navigator.
Which characteristics belong to the classic and which one to an agile project approach?
Classic approach
• Work packages are detailed in the design phase
• The work package descriptions including KPIs, savings needed, resources etc. are completed during design phase
• Regular Result-Workshops complete the project phases
Agile approach
• A Scrum Master is part of the consultant team
• A Sprint covers Analysis, Design and Implementation
Which statements are right and which statements are wrong in the agile approach?
Right
• Retrospectives and feedback are conducted for constant ability and trust-based collaboration
• If there aren’t enough immediate WPs defined to ensure the project success, process idea/analysis sprints are done.
• In several sprints - which include Analysis, Design, Implementation - product increments are delivered.
Wrong
• Indirect Operational Excellence projects are usually conducted the agile way since 2019.
• The Achieved savings are only documented in the Project Potential-Aggregation-Sheet in the classic approach
• A baseline is only done in the classic approach
Which statements regarding an agile mindset are true?
- Product Sponsor/Owner have a good understanding of agility (way of thinking, operation, structure)
- Inspiration, focus on customer experience, culture of fast learning, pioneering spirit
Which statements regarding agile working methods and processes are true?
- Iterative (frequent) short cyclical work (e.g. Sprint)
- Results focus on small lots (e.g. Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog)
Which statements are right and which statements are wrong in the agile approach?
Right
• Retrospectives and feedback are conducted for constant ability and trust-based collaboration
• If there aren’t enough immediate WPs defined to ensure the project success, process idea/analyse sprints are done.
• In several sprints - which include Analysis, Design, Implementation - product increment are delivered.
Wrong
• Indirect Operational Excellence projects are usually conducting the agile way since 2019.
• The Achieved savings are only documented in the Project-potential-Aggregation-Sheet in the classic approach
• A baseline is only done in the classic approach
In which situation do you consider process shadowing?
- To create process transparency
* To identify waste and potential for improvement
What are the steps to perform process shadowing in the right order?
- Carrying out
- Documentation
- Process waterfall
- Presentation
What is the result of the process shadowing?
Process waterfall
- Processing time divided into added value and waste (in%)
- List of possible action areas and improvement options that have been observed
- Starting point to quantify the action areas
Why do you do an activity structure analysis in a project?
- to determine improvement potentials
* to determine waste which cannot be identified within the framework of a process analysis and value stream analysis
What are the steps to perform process shadowing in the right order?
- Preparation
- Execution
- Evaluation
- Further processing
What should you DO in the Activity Structure Analysis?
- Explain the method before the start (explanation for employees)
- Involve the works council in the structuring and evaluation
- Involve employees in developing the activity catalog
For how many working days should you run the Activity Structure Analysis (ASA)?
5-10
Why do you do an ideas workshop?
- to find ideas for improvement connected to all processes
Why do you do portfolio analysis?
- to prioritize the department’s services/products
- to analyze the common understanding of the core services of the management hierarchies
- to create a basis for process prioritization for further analysis steps
- to define critical issues for customer interviews
What is the result of the portfolio analysis?
- Graphical representation of service rankings
Why do you consider analyzing the meeting structure and efficiency?
- to create transparency concerning the meeting structure of the department
- to create transparency and fields of action concerning meeting efficiency
- to create transparency concerning time used in meetings
What should you do or not do when conducting a meeting analysis?
It is beneficial / useful / helpful …
… for managers to provide insight into their calendars.
… to add screenshots of the calendar entries
It is unhelpful / obstructive / disruptive …
… to communicate analysis results too early - they should be discussed with managers first
DO
• get calendar screenshot of manger to prepare the table before meeting the manager
• discuss results with mangers
• ask for improvement ideas
• add rating of meeting quality to evaluation table
Not DO
• only rely on calendar screenshots
• communicate results after first manager meeting
The output of the management diary is displayed in a similar way to the what?
Activity Structure Analysis (ASA)
When you do a management diary, what should / should you not do?
It is beneficial / useful / helpful …
… to address the issue at an early stage in the project
… to have support of higher management in scope
… to select a representative week, where all managers are on site - if necessary, extend to 2 weeks
… to find a uniform basis / scale
It is unhelpful / obstructive / disruptive …
… to have unclear tasks - make sure that everyone understands how to use the diary
Why do you do a customer interview?
- to create transparency with respect to the services provided by the unit from the customer’s perspective
- to see where we are exceeding or falling short of customer expectations
What are the targets and scope of the Process Quality Management System (pQMS)?
- Identify and solve problems at interfaces within a process
- Define relevant service portfolio and service level
- Define roles & responsibilities and service agreements
- Implementation of steering and quality feedback loops
What are the steps for the pQMS in the right order?
- Process analysis and structuring
- Interviews with involved parties
- Deduction and implementation optimization
When conducting a pQMS what should / should you not do?
It is beneficial / useful / helpful …
• … to define a review cycle for defined agreements with relevant partners.
• … to ensure a lean understanding of all involved parties about roles at the interfaces: input provider = supplier; user of output =
customer
• … to use visualization techniques (e.g. GreenYellowRed logic) when interpreting the interface evaluations.
It is unhelpful / obstructive / disruptive …
• … to use different terminology for the same process/result/etc. amongst involved parties.
• … to apply the complex pQMS methodology for small, insignificant processes (bad relation of benefit and required effort).
• … to work an all identified fields of action at once. Better: prioritize based on ratio of benefit and required effort!
What are benefits of Robotic Process Automation?
… enables employees to focus on value-adding work.
… allows handling of fluctuating capacity due to scalability.
… significantly reduces error rates.
Sort the following types of process automation principles regarding their automation level, from the lowest to the highest.
- VBA
- RPA
- IRPA
- AA
- AI
A RPA is feasible when?
- process needs to be run >100 times a day
- digital templates used in the process
- steady process with no exceptions
Assign the tasks to be done in an RPA implementation process to the respective phases.
RPA Discovery
• evaluating the process regarding feasibility and costs
Process Analysis
• recording the process
Solution Design
• documenting the process in the PDD
Implementation
• building and testing the robot
What does ergonomics directly have influence on?
- productivity
- quality
What are useful tips for a healthier office workspace?
- use “crtl+ s” to save a document instead of clicking the save button with a computer mouse
- use a height-adjustable desk
- use a footrest if necessary to keep knees in line with or slightly lower than hips
In the office, how often should you move or change position?
30-50 minutes
What are the Dos and Don’ts in production regarding ergonomics?
Do
• two-handed work
• foot controls
• reduce reaching distances
Don’t
• one-sided movements
• working over head
• longer wait times to recover from strains
What are the four basic ergonomic rules?
- Reduce motion distances
- Make movements easier
- Conduct movements simultaneously
- Reduce number of movements
What’s the allowed max. load weight for manual handling of loads (men & women)?
25 kg
Which activities happen in which step of the planning process of Truck Assembly Plants?
Pre-Planning
• Cost estimation
Concept Planning
• Project Spec Book
Detailed Planning
• Validation by simulations and conformity checks
Realization Phase
• Hand over to operations
Which statements regarding eHPV and eHPU true?
eHPV: a whole vehicle is considered
eHPU is part of HPU
eHPU: a unit of a truck (e.g. an engine) is considered
Where do you start improving your eHPU-mv-ratio?
reducing mv
Which activities are considered eHPU and which are mv?
eHPU
• adhesive bonding
• riveting
• screw driving
mv
• cleaning
• picking up material
• unpacking of parts
What predictions can be derived from a trend or demand analysis?
trend analysis
• Price development
• Variant development
• Volume development
demand analysis
• Product life cycle/age
• Product families
What are possible reactions for fluctuations in demand?
- increase working hours
* reduction of takt time
What are possible adaption strategies to the following trend developments?
volume is sinking
• Orientation toward future base capacity
product diversity is increasing
• Integrate extendibility of variance (individualization) into planning
25% price reduction forecast in the next 5 years
• Include price developments in planning
increased functionality will increase production time of the products
• Integrate extendibility of work content into planning
Think about the following examples and think about whether they are categorized as waste, variability or inflexibility?
waste
• Large storage areas
• waiting times between processes
• long distances between assembly lines and storage facilities
variability
• No regulated delivery window
• Complicated material supply
• Traffic jams on transport routes
inflexibility
• No extendible area
• Inflexible work-time models
• narrow pillars
What are the key design factors for green field and brown field planning?
- Organizational specifications
- Technical specifications
- Logistical specifications
Which of the following statements are true regarding the specifications?
- … the future value stream.
* … the takt time.
