Six Sigma, the total lean tool

After seeing the benefits of the lean approach to manufacturing by working with South West MAS, Wheelers who produce reconstituted stone and concrete products for the construction industry decided to make a long term ‘lean’ commitment by embarking on a rigorous Six Sigma process programme to tackle major quality issues with their products.

"We probably wouldn't still be in business if it wasn't for the assistance and work carried out with South West MAS"

Wheelers

Six Sigma is generally defined as a system which generates 3.4 defects per million but in the case of Wheelers the six sigma process tools were used to identify the quality issues and form a plan for improvement.

They decided to focus on the most commonly produced 18”x16” (BS1D) dragged face block, variations in which (according to a very detailed customer survey) slowed down building time because of alignment problems.

Working with South West MAS over a six month period taking over 2,000 measurements led to the conclusion that the dragging machine was not capable of attaining the proposed variation of <1mm standard and that a new sanding machine should be introduced to complete the blocks.

Big changes = big results.

By committing to the Six Sigma process Wheelers have
established quality awareness throughout the company and made 1mm flatness a key target. They have given themselves the opportunity to increase sales turnover by 50 % and reduced the effective reject rate from 50% to 1%.

How can we help you to be more lean?

Knowing how and where to start can be daunting which is why South West MAS was set up to advise and support companies on the road to being Lean. Once your team has a basic knowledge of the Lean principles we can help by guiding the business through practical projects that can have a dramatic effect on your success. If you’d like to know more about the lean tools that Wheelers Ltd are using you can click on the links below or contact us on 0845 608 3838 and talk to one of our consultants to see how we can help you reap the benefits of being’ Lean’.