Cost Saving Excercises in Electronic Manufacturing - Quick and Efficient

[polarsub]

Hi,

I have a team of 4 Engineers I want to embark on some cost saving excercises in an Electronic Manufacturing environment. The saving(s) can be from any eliminating any kind of waste, process improvment, saving footprint, introducing tooling, etc etc.

My question is that I don't want to go down the tedious DMAIC route for every small-medium cost saving excercise. Does anyone have a template or an idea of how I would set out a standard template for what I want to acheive. If the excercise is too long winded then the Engineer will not feel as focused than if it is say a two page document explaining the opportunity, how we plan on fixing/saving money and the amount of cost saved (maybe with a few pictures, before and after if needed). I want the team to start filing these savings away and have them linked to a spreadsheet that will show a rolling cost of the $$ the Engineers have saved. Would the cost saving projects actually fall into DMAIC and if so, is there any short cut/simplified process I can use to start knocking out the cost savings quick wins.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Many Thanks,

Polarsub.

[Atom_Ant]

I have seen some variations on the DMAIC process in classes that blend lean and six sigma methods. They all basically follow the Plan, Do, Check, Act workflow.

DMAIC (Process Improvement) : Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
DMAC (Process Management) : Define, Measure, Analyze, Control
DMADV (Design Model) : Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify
DISC (Lean Initiative) : Define, Investigate, Streamline, Control

I have used the DISC method, basically adding some six sigma style analysis to a lean improvement project. This might fit your needs.

Hope this helps

[insect warfare]

I have heard of the A3 report used in Lean Six Sigma projects (you could Google that). It is basically a 1-page template with 2 sides which lists details for cost-based projects that is supposed to be presenter-friendly for whoever your audience is.

Hope I've helped...
Brian