IIE Lean Division Newsletter

February 2016

Visit Lean Division Website

Join us! Sign up online at www.iienet.org/myiie and select "Update your member record."

The 2016 Deadlines for Lean Awards are Fast Approaching!

If you have been involved in implementing an interesting application of lean or developed an innovative lean approach, consider applying for one of the Lean Division sponsored awards. Submission deadlines are coming up quickly, so apply soon!

Lean Division Competitions

The Lean Division of IIE is launching its sixth industry best practice award and welcomes applications from organizational teams for the

Lean Division Best Practice Award 2016 . The Lean Division Best Practice Award recognizes organizations for innovative and effective implementation of lean principles and practices that deliver exemplary business performance improvement. Deadline February 29.

The tenth annual IIE Lean Division Student Paper Competition will be held to honor outstanding papers in the field of lean research and practices. The papers should demonstrate or describe the use of techniques such as simulation, lean principle implementation, alternative designs, kaizen implementation, etc. Both undergraduate and graduate students and design teams are invited to submit papers. Deadline February 15.

The Lean Division now invites nominations for the seventh Lean Teaching Award. The Lean Division's Teaching Award is given out annually to honor the services of a person/group of people who have developed curriculum and disseminated courses in the subject area. Deadline February 15.

Upcoming Conference Deadlines

Annual Conference - Lean Division Events
May 21-24, 2016 - Anaheim, CA

The Lean Division is organizing interesting sessions and networking opportunities at the annual conference, including the Best Practice competition presentations, a student career panel, and the Lean Division Town Hall. Registration is open - Register by April 8 for the best rate.

Engineering Lean Six Sigma (ELSS) Conference

September 14-16, 2016

San Antonio, TX

The Engineering Lean & Six Sigma Conference , held in collaboration with the Lean Educator Conference, showcases advancements in Lean and Six Sigma research and applications across a wide range of industries. Abstracts are due by March 25.

Submit an Abstract

Lean Features

February Feature Article

Value Network Mapping

by Shahrukh A. Irani

Introduction
I read the Bible on Value Stream Mapping (VSM) - Rother, M. & Shook, J. 2009. Learning to see: Value Stream Mapping to create value and eliminate muda. Brookline, MA: The Lean Enterprise Institute - when I was still on the faculty of the Department of
Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University. I taught VSM in three IE (Industrial Engineering) undergraduate courses (Methods Analysis, Facilities Planning and Production Control). VSM enriches and enhances classical manual IE tools like
Process Maps, Flow Process Charts and Flow Diagrams. A Current State Map is a clear visual guide to which specific departments (or processes) in a company ought to be improved using Lean best practices. Read more

Definitions

Kaizen-The systematic, organized improvement of processes by those who operate them, using straightforward methods of analysis. It is a "do it now" appr oach to continuous incremental improvement to create more value with less muda. Kaizen establishes what needs to be done and instills the principles of continuous improvement. Also call point kaizen, process kaizen or blitz.

Cycle time-The total time one piece of product or one transaction resides in a process activity. It includes the setup time, process time, waiting for other units processed in the batch until the batch is released to the next process step.

Search the IIE online dictionary of industrial engineering terminology at http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=645.

For lean definitions visit http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=1104

Ask the Expert

Question: What is the difference between Lean and Six Sigma methodologies?

Answer: Essentially, Six Sigma and Lean systems have the same goal. They both seek to eliminate waste and create the most efficient system possible, but they take different approaches toward achieving this goal. In simplest terms, the main difference between Lean and Six Sigma is that they identify the root cause of waste differently.

Lean practitioners believe that waste comes from unnecessary steps in the production process that do not add value to the finished product, while Six Sigma proponents assert that waste results from variation within the process.

Of course, there is truth in both of these assessments, which is why both Lean and Six Sigma methodologies have been so successful in improving overall business performance in a variety of fields. In fact, these two disciplines have proven to be especially successful when working in tandem - hence the creation of Lean Six Sigma.

Source:
Villanova University. http://www.villanovau.com/resources/six-sigma/six-sigma-vs-lean-six-sigma/#.VqjXwjYdSuQ

IIE Webinars

These free* one-hour presentations are a benefit of your IIE membership. They are presented by knowledgeable professionals and experienced volunteers provide deeper insight into topics and issues involving industrial engineers and industrial engineering-related disciplines.

Find out more!

*Webinars presented by the Society for Health Systems and the Society for Engineering and Management Systems require membership in those societies to attend.

About the division

The Lean Division collaborates with IIE to support the mission of the institute, provide member value and promote the entire discipline. Members of this division are interested in advancing their knowledge of lean practices across industry domain. Focus areas include healthcare process improvements, non-traditional lean implementations, use of six sigma and value engineering methods as well as critical thought leadership on various strategic, operational and organizational initiatives. The division members host the annual lean best practice award, the lean teaching award and the lean student paper competition. The lean division is perceived as the voice of technical specialty by developing, maintaining and disseminating a body of technical knowledge in domain of lean and continuous improvement practices.

Submit an article

The Lean Division of the Institute of Industrial Engineers is continuously searching for new material to provide to its membership. If you would like to contribute and see your articles in the newsletter and on the website, please submit your article to Brian Galli , director of the IIE Lean Newsletter at brianj.galli@gmail.com .

Articles should be approximately three to four pages in length, single-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman and in Word format. Graphs, diagrams, pictures and charts can also be included, however, they should be sent as a separate file and saved as a .jpg. Please also include a two or three sentence biography. Contact information can be included at your discretion.