Assignment 1:
This week students need to select a process improvement project to work on during this course. There are four parts to this mini-project that students will do throughout this course (read all four parts due Week 2, 4, 6, and 8 before continuing with this assignment to understand how this breaks down in the coming weeks, in the Course Materials there is a file with all 4 parts to easily print, link). Students may select something at work (i.e. a process or quality issue that can be pursued to help grow your career) or it may be something that will simply make your life easier at home (i.e. getting ready in the morning/evening for work, cooking a meal, etc.).
1. Select One Process to Map - Do not pick a huge project as we have a limited amount of time in this class. Do not pick a process that you have no control over as you will be required to implement at least one improvement or change to the process during this course. If your become overwhelmed in this part of the project with defining the process you select, you should consider reducing the scope to a smaller project.
This course requires students to learn and apply the methodologies in the lessons to define, analyze, and improve the process they select. So be sure that you have the fundamental knowledge needed on the process selected so you can focus on evaluating how to apply the lessons and methodologies as required to the project.
2. Assign Ownership and Roles - While this is an individual project, you will need to get family, co-workers, or other stakeholders in the process involved to support you with completing these assignments. Make sure everyone knows and approves of what you are going to do for your improvement project and when you will need to finish the various parts of this project. Make sure they understand that there are specific steps you have to follow to meet your course requirements on this project and that you will also need their support to provide you with input in order to complete the assignments.
3. Analyze Process Boundaries - Identify where the selected process starts and stops, as well as other processes that interface with this process. Make sure you clearly understand your process boundaries or limitations for this improvement project.
4. Map Process - Select any of the mapping tools covered in your textbook, supplemental articles, or lecture in the Week 2 lesson. This map of your selected process should be detailed enough that others could follow your process and have the same result or output as you.
a. Identify the outputs and customers for the process.
b. Identify inputs and suppliers for the process.
c. Map the tasks and decisions needed to transform the inputs into the outputs for the process.
d. Define customer expectations for performance for this process (translate these goals and objectives into measureable metrics for the process). Include what the current metrics or measures of performance are operating at for this process. Students must have at least 3 metrics or measures for their process.
5. Verify Accuracy - Walk through the process definition, map, and metrics with other process owners or stakeholders relative to your selected process. Explain how this process was verified and updated from their feedback.
6. Identify Lessons Learned - Include challenges and experiences while
Assignment 2
This week students need to take the process improvement project defined and analyze that process for waste or non-value added activities.
1. Waste Audit - Review the online lecture and pg. 12-15 in The Lean Pocket Handbook for Kaizen Events. After completing this with textbook and supplemental article readings, you should have sufficient knowledge to critically identify wastes in your defined process. Challenge your current thinking about the process when analyzing potential issues (see waste you never quite saw before, target 3 per category).
2. Analyze a Waste - Select any of the process analysis tools covered in your textbook, supplemental articles, or lecture in the Week 4 lesson to further evaluate the process for a critical waste or issues discovered in the audit.
3. Review Audit - Review the results of this assignment with other process owners or stakeholders as identified in Assignment 1. Get their feedback and input into your Waste Audit and Analysis (update step 1 and 2 above from this input). Explain how this review was completed.
4. Identify Lessons Learned - Include challenges and experiences faced in doing this assignment. Generalize what you learned for use in later process improvement projects.
Assignment 3
Students should NOT procrastinate on this part of the project as students need to plan a mini-kaizen event for the process documented in Week 2 (Assignment 1) based upon their analysis in Week 4 (Assignment 2).
1. Improvement Project (Kaizen Event) - This kaizen event or improvement project does not need to address all issues found in Assignment 2, but students are expected to coordinate and implement at least one kaizen or improvement to this process to tackle some of issues analyzed in Assignment 2. Follow this template to document this mini-kaizen event (link). This template includes some example entries to help students understand how to use it, as well as state a kaizen objective, ideal conditions, brainstorming potential actions (apply the lessons to this project), and prepare an implementation plan for this mini-kaizen event. Students should follow the steps on this template and edit the entries to support their own improvement project using this template (the action items from the course lessons provide further
information to support this assignment).
Students will develop a master improvement plan in Assignment 4 for additional improvements (beyond the scope of this class). While brainstorming improvement alternatives now some options may not fit this time period, but be good considerations for Assignment 4.
2. Review Impact - Students need to plan enough time to complete this kaizen event or improvement project in order to have time to measure the impact the improvement(s) had on the 3 process measures defined in Assignment 1. These 3 future metrics or measures should clearly show the impact these changes or improvements had on the performance of this process. Students need to structure 3 impact statements supporting these measures (see example on the template).
3. Identify Lessons Learned - Include challenges and experiences while doing this assignment. Generalize what you learned for use in later process improvement projects.
Assignment 4
This week students need to develop a master improvement plan and review plan for the process defined, analyzed, and incrementally improved.
1. Master Improvement Plan - Review the online lecture example and develop a master kaizen or improvement plan for your process using the template provided (link). The online lecture will help you understand how to complete and use this tool for your improvement project. Focus on longer term milestones and tasks (beyond this class) needed to support the original goals and objectives you defined in Week 2. Additionally base your future milestones and tasks upon the various improvement tools examined in the Week 5 and 6 lessons that are used to eliminate waste as analyzed.
2. Review Plan - Students had to coordinate and implement one kaizen or improvement project for this process. This review plan template is on the same file as the master improvement plan. The Week 7 online lecture will help you understand how to complete and use this tool for your improvement project.
Students should review the improvements completed and plan further review plan needs (beyond this class).
3. Persuasive Speech - Students need to record a persuasive speech using the SPOC Video Drop Box Tool (located under these instructions in the Week 8 lesson, maximum of 10 minutes, blended students may do this at the Week 8 class meeting). Students should roll play that they are presenting their Master Improvement Plan and Review Plan to their process owners or stakeholder asking for their future support
for these recommendations. Students need to apply their public speaking skills and clearly demonstrate to this audience why they should support these further plans.
4. Identify Lessons Learned - Include challenges and experiences while doing this assignment. Generalize what you learned for use in later process improvement projects. This template includes a box to enter this step at the bottom of each plan (tailor for each criterion).