Six sigma and many other forms of project management use "tollgates"  to check the progress of projects in relation to their objectives.  When an assigned individual approves that the team has successfully completed one stage of the project, the team then can "pass" on to the next stage of the project or initiative.  If the team does not successfully complete a stage they can not "pass" on to the next phase.

  The ©TREAT 1,2,3 methodology is a problem solving methodology used by Lean Strategies International LLC that when applied to processes (technical, methodological, philosophical) can effectively reveal root causes related to issues / problems or opportunities in a process and guide users towards solutions for a more stable, effective, efficient and value adding process.

  Takt time is a German phrase for the baton the conductor uses to set the tempo of an orchestra.  In Lean and Six Sigma applications Takt time refers to the rate at which products, information and/or services need to be completed in, to keep up with customer demand.

How to Calculate:

Takt time is calculated by dividing the available time per day by the customer demand.

If the available time per day is 7.5 hours and the customer would like to receive 350 parts per day, what would the calculated takt time be?

  Transportation waste is any unnecessary movement of people, products, materials or information.

Examples:

1. Moving parts across facilities.
2. Walk excessive distances to retrieve tools.
3. Retrieving or storing, information, files and data.

Caused by:

1. Functional or widespread equipment, poor layout.
2. Minnimal cross-training of work centers.
3. Queue points in and out of operations. 
4. Tools not prioritized by usage and located close to the point of use.
5. Information located in "storage" centers.

  Though the spelling of the word “team” does not include an I, the definition does acknowledge that each individual must do their part.  The word team is defined simply as: a group of individuals who come together for a common purpose or to reach a specific objective.​

  The Theory of Constraints is a philosophy that is used to identify the point in a process where constraints and bottlenecks prevent the process or system from achieving its highest level of performance.  To simplify the definition, the theory of constraints tells us that "the throughput of a system is determined by the systems biggest constraint (bottleneck).  

  Throughput is the rate at which a process or a system reaches its objectives/goals.  The rate was first discussed and heavily analyzed in the book Theory of Constraints.  The metric is most often measured using "rates" or "monetary" measurements (meaning money).  Throughput is often referred to as manufacturing cycle time.

  The Traditional Yield is taken at the final step of a process to measure the effectiveness of the overall process.  This type of measurement does not take into account scrap, rework or any other inefficiencies in a process it only looks at what goes in and what comes out.

Example:
  John is machining 5 parts today.  During the machining phase 2 parts are oversized.  John goes back and machines the parts down to size and they pass inspection giving him 5 good parts.  His yield on the 5 piece run was 100%.

  The icon shown above is used to visually display a truck shipment on a value stream map.  

  Total productive maintenance is a maintenance strategy which focuses on achieving improved performance, reduced breakdowns and better quality through the preventative maintenance and effort of employees.  The strategy is based on 8 pillars:

1. Continuous Improvement
2. Autonomous maintenance
3. Planned Maintenance
4. Quality Maintenance
5. Cost Deployment
6. Early Equipment Management
7. Training and Education
8. Safety and Health