Lean Sigma for Continuous Process Industries

Learning to See in the Dark

As much as the capital-intensive production processes may differ from the discrete manufacturing world, there is much that continuous process operations can learn from the practices pioneered by Toyota. In fact, the Lean Sigma methodology and tools can be even more valuable because they reveal problems and sources of waste—sometimes repeated hundreds of time per minute—that are normally hidden from sight. 

By definition continuous process manufacturers convert raw materials at one end of a capital-intensive machine, or series of machines, into a final product at the other end. Fixed costs are high and variable, raw-material costs can be subject to wild market fluctuations driven by factors outside of your control. TBM clients convert soy beans into vegetable oil, potatoes into frozen French fries, plastic pellets into frozen food trays, raw compounds into industrial fabrics, and chemical ingredients into life-saving medicines. 

TBM has helped continuous process manufacturers achieve double-digit improvements in capacity utilization, process yield and equipment reliability. With many process steps occurring out of view, accurate measurement and statistical tools are essential to pinpoint root causes. In high-volume operations an outwardly small reduction in product loss, from 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent for example, can add millions of dollars to the bottom line.  

TBM can help your continuous process plants adopt our unique combination of Lean and Six Sigma time-based management techniques and personnel development, which we bring together as Lean Sigma. Our clients turn to our experienced advisors to work with their managers to: 

  • Reduce variation and improve yields
  • Increase raw material utilization
  • Reduce wasteful energy consumption
  • Speed changeover and cut downtime
  • Boost equipment productivity
  • Reduce stops and slowdowns
  • Improve process capability
  • Eliminate wasteful reprocessing
  • Avoid capital expansion. 

One of the keys to rapid, sustainable improvement is selecting the right projects. It’s not uncommon for management teams to spend several days setting strategy and selecting projects the highest potential return on investment. We help our clients apply value stream analysis to identify opportunities as well as the bottom line impact, and then align resources to those targets. The end result is an accelerated implementation that will allow you to reap the benefits of Lean Sigma much more quickly than your competitors. 

TBM’s Long-Term Transformation services help continuous process establish a foundation for lean leadership and culture change. TBM’s Rapid Rightsizing process helps companies get started or resume their journey by prioritizing projects and achieving immediate results that are sustainable from day to day, month to month and quarter to quarter.  A targeted Lean Sigma approach to Energy Conservation and Capital Productivity can move your organization forward by eliminating wasted energy and improving equipment effectiveness. 

In many cases, huge efficiency opportunities often lie outside of the factory, in the front office, in the engineering department, back into the supply chain, and forward into the dealer or distributor network. TBM’s Lean Value Chain services can help synchronize supply and demand chain activities to maintain consistent quality, cost and delivery performance. Our Lean Sigma Product Development process slashes the time required to develop profitable ideas from the initial concept to full production. Business Process Improvement applies Lean and Six Sigma techniques outside of your production operations to improve quality and responsiveness, increase efficiency, and reduce costs.

TBM’s Lean Leadership and Sustainment practice provides leadership knowledge and guidance customized to the unique requirements of your company and your executives and managers. That knowledge foundation is transferred throughout your management team by the TBM Lean Sigma Institute. Collectively, such efforts can unleash market potential that an operationally superior company has the resources to exploit.

To learn more about how TBM has helped our clients leverage Lean Sigma to transform their continuous process operations, check out these related articles:

 

“We are running more set ups a day than we did three years ago and this in turn means that we can be more responsive to our customer base. We have transformed from a rigid production schedule to a flexible one.” —John Crum, V.P. of Operations, Seaman Corporation