Si l or Homeruns?
Singles
H
?
A Winning Strategy for
Improvement
Jeanie Wade
Program Director
Northrop Grumman Corporation
The beginning
Opportunity
Deliveries
behind
schedule (in
one case by
hundreds of
units)
Customer
wants more if
we can deliver
Customers
unhappy
Opportunity
Individual
star
players
Playing
defense
only
(reactive)
Many
g on
sitting
the bench
(disengaged)
e
gaged)
Morale
Low
Opportunity
Strategy
unclear
Variable
outcomes
Minimal
controls
Work
harder
culture
Improvement Strategy
Improvement Strategy
Major Project 1
Initial Performance
40 units per month required
12 units per month delivered (~300 units behind)
Continuous Improvement Process
Value-Stream Map
p
Analysis
y of takt time
Continuous Improvement People Engagement
Solutions identified by floor personnel
Resources provided by management
Today’ss Performance
Today
>70 units delivered consistently for the last 12 months
Today’s People Engagement
Management sees benefit of improvement activities
Employees are empowered
Major Project 1 Continuous
Improvement Efforts
Technicians
Assemblers
Design Engineers
Mission Assurance
Manufacturing Engineers
Program Management
Identify Parts
with Preferred
Characteristics
Design
Value-Stream
ValueMap
= Improvements
Process
= Improvements
Supply Chain
Identify Supplier
= Improvements
Issues
M1A2 Deliveries
100
90
Units Delive
ered
80
70
60
~700%
increase in
throughput
50
40
30
20
Actual
10
0
Oct-07
Contract
Forecast
Employee
p y Involvement =
Empowerment and Improvement
Nov-07 Dec-07
Jan-08
Feb-08
Mar-08
Apr-08
May-08 Jun-08
Month
Jul-08
Aug-08 Sep-08
Oct-08
Nov-08 Dec-08
Major Project 2
Initial Performance
Impacting customer with late deliveries
High customer return rate
Continuous Improvement Process
Step-by-step
p y
p failure analysis
y and corrective action
Clean room and handling
g contamination
Continuous Improvement People Engagement
Daily Failure Review Board Meetings
Employees
E
l
redesign
d i workk
areas/processes
Design Changes
Today’ss Performance
Today
Exceeded contract required deliveries consistently for the
last 12 months
Customer returns significantly reduced
Today’s People Engagement
Management sees improvement benefits
Employees are empowered
Major Project 2 – Data-Driven
Improvements
Focused Actions Based on Data = Permanent Improvement
Major Project 3
Initial Performance
>90% First time through test yield required
51% first time through test yield seen
Continuous Improvement Process
Product Characterization
Keyy Test failure analysis
y
Continuous Improvement People Engagement
Value Stream Map
Design changes
Clean room improvements
Today’ss Performance
Today
Contract deliveries met consistently
Today’s People Engagement
CI tools used to solve complex problems
Employees are empowered
Continuous Improvement Culture
Belief and Understanding through
Demonstration and Participation
QA-Driven
~90 Champions
Culture-Driven
~1000
Champions
A Continuous Improvement Culture is a Force Multiplier
Results
Deliveries
meeting
contract
requirements
Customers
want to buy
more
Customers
happy
Results
Teamwork
((>40
projects in
work)
Playing
offense
(proactive)
Everyone
involved
(engaged)
Morale
Mo
ale
Improving
Results
Strategy
gy
clearly
defined
Predictable
outcomes
Improved
controls
Work
smarter
culture
Bottom Line
18