GSQA:

Six Sigma

Executive Overview

GSQA simplifies each step in the Six Sigma process. GSQA provides the data to perform root cause analysis on both raw material and in process variance that cause variability in a product. This reduces the time to solve the problem, allowing six sigma black belts to tackle more problems, increasing the return on investment on the six sigma program.

Detailed Study

Six Sigma activities use the following methodology to make change within an organization.

Define — What is the problem?
Measure — How is it showing up in your process/product?
Analyze — What does the data say?
Improve — What steps can you take to change the problem?
Control — Do you have proof that this has worked?

GSQA provides manufacturers with the ability to quickly and efficiently move through the six sigma process.

Overview

PaintCo, a paint manufacturer sells paint to the building market, which values having consistent color and reflectivity across their production runs. They keep production samples around so that they can compare product runs to assure consistency with past batches. They have strong supplier relationships, and have multiple sources for their raw materials.

Define:
Contractors have been calling stating that the paint color is inconsistent between cans, and that they cannot trust the paint between cans to have the same color when dried. They are remedying the problem by mixing multiple cans into a larger bucket so that when they paint a house it is all the same color, but that produces significant waste. They want to be sure that the paint color that they are putting on their walls is consistent.

Measure:
After reviewing returned paint and performing lab analysis, the problem has been isolated to one of two factors:

Inconsistent material from the suppliers
Fluctuating issues in the milling process

Solving this problem requires correlating the following data points for the errant batches:

All of the shipping records from the supplier community
Process records within the manufacturing facility
Internal supplier lab test results

Analyze — Without GSQA:
Gathering this data will take a significant amount of time and effort to not only gather the data, but also to perform the analysis.

Purchase order information for those records come from the purchasing department
Shipping records and COA information comes from potentially two different places: the receiving department and the quality assurance department
Internal testing records come from the internal lab (quality department)
Process records come from each individual line operator

All of this record gathering and correlation is going on while the paint is being produced, increasing the cost of poor quality for this problem.

Analyze — With GSQA:
GSQA effectively manages the information that would have prevented this problem from ever occurring.
Example:

GSQA produces automatic alerts based on incoming COA results, which would have highlighted inconsistent materials, preventing them from entering the manufacturing process.
GSQA highlights any variations in the manufacturing process, alerting the line supervisor to issues that needed attention.

But, if a problem like this requires diagnosing, GSQA provides the tools to quickly and efficiently get to the root cause.

With GSQA, gathering and correlating this data is completed within one hour by one person. All certificate of analysis results, as well as the correlated test results are shown on the GSQA time trends report. The internal incoming material lab test results are automatically compared to the supplier's COA results, showing any discrepancies. GSQA correlates production records with batch records, showing the conditions under which the suspected batches were produced

To resolve the above example, an expert in Quality Assurance would look at this and ask:

How does each of the suppliers' materials compare against other?
What COA specifications are being used consistently across the board? ie: What is the manufacture using to measure the quality of product between his suppliers?
Where does the supplier find consistent ways to measure the material? And as such, be able to keep records for themselves and the companies they supply to?

Improve and Control — Without GSQA:
Having found the root cause of the problem, the company goes out to make the necessary changes to their system, as well as fix the problem in the field. This has tremendous impact to their bottom line, as they must take back paint that is already in the field, test it, reformulate some, destroy some, or resell it at a lower price. Once the changes are made, the manufacturer must now test all incoming batches from this supplier. With each test costing approximately $300, this increases their material overhead. In addition, the factory must hold a higher inventory quantity to provide a buffer for these materials.

Improve and Control — With GSQA:
If the problem had been with a supplier's materials, GSQA allows the manufacturer to provide a closed loop tracking system for this problem through its supplier nonconformance management feature. The supplier would have had to produce a root cause analysis on this problem, based on ISO-9000 best practices. In addition, GSQA tracks all costs associated with this problem, and provides a good starting point to recover the costs associated with this problem.

If the problem had been with the internal manufacturing process, changes could have been tracked and monitored, and the results confirmed within GSQA. Also, a history of this problem would be present, and would easily be tracked in case it occurred in the future

Conclusion

GSQA provides the tools for manufacturers to quickly and efficiently get to the root cause of problems. In addition, it improves the return on investment in your six sigma program by allowing your team to complete more projects. Teams spend more time working on.