Tag Archives: Lean Six Sigma

When looking into the trends for the automotive industry, there’s really only one headline. Electric vehicles. EVs are no longer “the future” of the industry. The future is now. It means many changes for the automotive industry, including changing demand, supply chain and inventory (which are all connected) and workforce challenges, in addition to the specter of new facilities to handle new assembly lines. For auto manufacturers, it means a heightened focus on efficiency, which we at USC Consulting Group are all about.

Electric vehicles (EVs) aren’t dominating the market. Yet. But they’re on the road there. According to research by the International Energy Association, the demand for electric vehicles is surging and is expected to rise 35% by the end of 2023 after a record-breaking 2022.

“Surge” is a good term for it, but “tsunami” might be even better. The EV market share in the worldwide automotive industry was hovering at around 4% in 2020, jumped to 14% in 2022 and will hit 18% by the end of 2023. It shows no signs of slowing down. By 2030, the EV market share is projected to rise to 60% in the U.S. and the EU.

It feels like we’re on the cusp of a great societal change with the surging EV market, the likes of which we’ve seen during the first and second industrial revolutions, the dawn of the internet and the day, back in 2007, when Steve Jobs stood on a stage in front of the world and introduced Apple’s new invention, the iPhone.

Yes, society will be impacted, but perhaps no sector more than auto manufacturers. It means great changes in demand, new challenges with supply chain and inventory, the urgent need for increased employee education, expertise and training, and changes on the line. It’s a whole new world out there for auto manufacturers, from the C-suite to inventory management to the production line, even extending to the dealerships.

How EVs are impacting automotive manufacturers

Here’s a look at the ways EVs are impacting the auto industry today, and how USC can help.

Changing demand

A good analogy for what’s happening in auto manufacturing right now in regard to changing demand is what we saw in the food processing industry during the pandemic. If a company was mainly supplying produce to restaurants, its entire market dried up when the restaurant industry was shuttered. Many processors shifted and began supplying grocery stores — two very different markets. Companies that were agile, lean and light on their feet (so to speak) were able to shift quickly in response to the shifting demand. So, too, with automotive today. Demand for traditional cars is lessening as demand for EVs is rising. It requires auto manufacturers to do a delicate “just in time” dance, which also involves supply chain and inventory.

For more info on how to roll with changing demand, read our eBook, Strategies for Meeting Increasing Customer Demand.

Supply chain

To state the obvious, EVs require different components, technologies and parts than traditional cars. Batteries, electric motors and other types of electronics, to name a few. On a higher level for auto manufacturers, it means developing new relationships that may be outside of the current supply chain, including battery manufacturers, those who deal with raw materials and microchips, and more. Supply chain woes that began during the pandemic are still bedeviling manufacturing operations in many industries, including automotive. New and unforeseen snags in the supply chain are sure to pop up as well. Solidifying while also diversifying your supply chain, with an eye toward reshoring, is critical.

Inventory

With shifting demand and supply chain challenges, this is an especially tricky time for the auto industry, inventory managers especially. It’s important to focus on inventory and output, ensuring a balance between too much and too little. To wrangle all of these issues, demand, supply and inventory, savvy auto manufacturers are employing a methodology we call SIOP: sales, inventory and operations planning.

S&OP is a time-tested business management process that involves sales forecast reports, planning for demand and supply, and other factors. The goal is to help companies get a better, more clear look at their operations and create better-informed strategy decisions, allowing them to deliver what clients need in the most profitable way. We’ve found a lot of our clients do not include inventory as a strategic tool in their S&OP process. Therefore, they leave the “I” out of SIOP. That’s a mistake, especially now for auto manufacturers. The key to SIOP is to emphasize inventory as a strategic tool to help offset variation in demand or production issues.

To find out more about SIOP, download our free eBook: “Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning: It’s About Time.”

Workforce

Ramping up EV production or even transitioning to EVs is going to require a lot from your workforce. In some cases, your best people who have been on the production lines for their entire careers will start to feel obsolete. It means reskilling and retraining of your current people, and hiring workers with expertise in EV technology.

Infrastructure

As the demand for EVs grows, the production line will need to grow with it, shifting from traditional engine vehicles (combustion) to the kind of specialized production that EVs require. It may mean new facilities and new technology.

All of these changes for the automotive industry require a sharp focus on efficiency to meet current demand and planning to gear up for future demand. If there was ever a time for Lean Six Sigma (a methodology involving less waste, greater efficiency and consistent quality) it’s now. Lean was developed back in the day for the auto industry, and it couldn’t be more pertinent today. At USC Consulting Group, we have decades of experience helping our clients navigate changing tides in their industries. To learn more about how we can help, contact us today.

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There’s a popular phenomenon being shared online at the moment: “Instagram vs. Reality.” It’s two photos, side by side. One is doctored and photoshopped and filtered to look perfect. The other is what it looks like in reality. More often than not, there’s a big difference. Perfection is a far cry from reality, and not just on Instagram.

It got us thinking about operational excellence. Some operational excellence consulting firms might tell you their goal is to deliver optimal perfection in which your organization is running on all cylinders 24/7. But in our experience, reality is a lot more complicated than that. We find that operational excellence is a process. And sometimes it’s a moving target. It can change and morph, affected by myriad factors that may be out of your control, like the economy, supply chain issues, hiring problems and snafus, your best leader on the line quitting with a moment’s notice. The list goes on.

As an operational excellence consulting firm, we contend that operational excellence is a process of continuous improvement, not something static and perfect that stays that way in perpetuity. Does it exist? Absolutely. But it doesn’t stay the same.

What is operational excellence consulting?

The textbooks will tell you operational excellence is a process for improving a company’s effectiveness and efficiency — two things we happen to specialize in. The goals of operational excellence consulting read like a playbook of our typical projects: Improving productivity and throughput, reducing waste, focusing on quality and reducing defects, optimizing shifts, updating processes.

Often an end goal of Lean Six Sigma (LSS), operational excellence is a moving target. Striving for operational excellence means continuously improving, rolling with unforeseen circumstances, adapting to ever-changing tides. Here are some effective strategies we’ve honed in the pursuit of operational excellence that you can apply in your operations today.

Strive for process optimization

The cornerstone of LSS, process optimization means finding opportunities to ramp up efficiency, eliminating bottlenecks and waste, enhancing productivity, reducing defects and glitches in both the product and the process, and the whole nine yards of LSS. To read a deep dive into LSS and what it can do for your organization, download our eBook, “Lean Six Sigma: Do You Really Know These Methodologies?”

Get the right people in the right jobs…

Is everyone from the front lines to the corner office in the right jobs? Assess skills, provide training if necessary and listen to feedback so your team is ready to tackle their roles with a great work ethic and enthusiasm.

…and then empower them to do the job right

Many times, the people who work on the shop floor know a lot more about the job than the people in the C-suite. Give them the power to do their jobs and to act quickly when unforeseen situations arise.

Develop KPIs

If you’re not already establishing and monitoring key performance indicators and metrics, get on that. It helps your people know what’s expected of them, and helps you evaluate the quality of the work they’re doing. They also show opportunities for improvement.

Develop standards

Hand in hand with KPIs, standardized operating practices and procedures can ensure you’re getting the consistent results you need.

Manage by the numbers

It’s an oft-used phrase here at USC. Decisions need to be driven by data and hard numbers, not what’s “always worked in the past.” The data can tell you where to improve, what’s working and what needs to change.

Keep the customer in focus

Sometimes, companies can get so caught up in process improvements they lose sight of the end customer. By keeping their needs, expectations and wants in the forefront, you can be assured you’re hitting the mark.

Encourage a culture of continuous improvement

Culture change is easier said than done, but it’s a necessary component to operational excellence. Encourage innovation and ideas for improvement, and reward employees for finding ways to do their jobs better.

Above all, remember it’s a process, not a single achievement. Yes, you may have achieved operational excellence… today. What about tomorrow?

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We’re celebrating a milestone here at USC Consulting Group — 55 years partnering with businesses around the globe empowering their performance. Our goal is to help our clients drive operating excellence, increase throughput, become more efficient and boost their bottom lines.

We got our start in 1968 when founders Tom Rice and Pat Price founded a fully-engaged operations management consulting firm that strives to impart positive, impactful change to our clients. Back then, we were Universal Scheduling Company, communicating with clients over mimeograph and analyzing their schedules. We’ve grown quite a bit since those early days. Over the years, we expanded into other industries like mining & metals, food & beverage, life sciences, transportation & logistics and more. Our reach opened up to serve companies all around the globe. In 2001, we changed our name to USC Consulting Group to better reflect the breadth of our services and a few years later, relocated to Tampa, where our corporate headquarters is today.

That’s a tremendous growth story that we’re incredibly proud of.

During our half-century-plus in this business, we’ve seen a lot of changes come down the pike. The ups and downs of the economy, employment markets that wax or wane, the ongoing challenges brought on by the pandemic, technology advancements in machinery and tools for businesses we serve, and a whole host of other factors that ebb and flow during the passage of time.

We’ve rolled with it all and learned some valuable lessons along the way.

What has 55 years of consulting taught us?

Here are some of the top things we’ve learned during our 55 years in this business.

Experience matters, but every challenge we tackle for our clients is different. Many consulting firms dole out cookie-cutter solutions. But we’ve learned there is no such thing if you want to find sustainable results. Even if two businesses are in the same industry, they are not the same. We understand companies have unique processes, procedures, management styles, cultures, machinery, employees — you name it. So we go into every project with fresh eyes, knowing that what worked for others may not work again. There are too many variables to apply cookie-cutter solutions. That’s why we start by listening rather than talking to learn each client’s challenges before implementing improvements.

Upper management walking the shop floor is vital. We can recommend operations changes all day long, but the meat of the action happens day-to-day on the front lines, no matter the industry you’re in. If you’re a manager or in the C-suite, it’s so important to get down into the nitty-gritty of how their work gets done. You’ll get a better understanding of your operations, spot trouble sooner and also spot diamonds in the rough for promotion. You’ll hear great ideas to improve operations from the people who are actually doing the job, and when those employees are engaged, it leads to ultimate business success. Read more about it in “How to Increase Employee Engagement and Training to Improve Retention.”

Getting people onboard at the outset is a key element of success. Over the years, we’ve learned not everyone in a company is excited about process or operations improvements. Consultants can be viewed with skeptical eyes. That’s why we encourage engagement with employees at all levels, getting people on board early so employees understand they’re part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Going beyond Lean Six Sigma… Lean, which has been around forever and has recently migrated from the manufacturing floor into other industries (they’re even talking about Lean HR methods) and Six Sigma, a newer technique, are two methodologies for improving processes. Two sides of the same coin, Lean looks at making processes more efficient and reducing lead times, while Six Sigma focuses on cutting down on defects. The combination of the two produces powerful results. They’ve joined to become one methodology in some circles: Lean Six Sigma, or LSS, which aims to cut defects and shorten lead times. Striking the perfect balance between the two is tricky. It requires training and certification in the techniques. At USCCG, Dr. Frank Esposto is our Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Senior Director of Quality. He is also a certified LSS instructor. Read more about it in our eBook, Lean Six Sigma: Do You Really Know These Methodologies?

…but we don’t just set it and forget it. Dr. Esposto says: “When we employ the Lean Six Sigma methodology to help our clients’ operations, we don’t simply do it for them. We train clients in these techniques so they can employ them long after we leave.” That goes for any process changes we help our clients make. It’s not about giving them a fish. It’s about teaching them to fish. That’s how lasting change happens and it’s a key differentiator between us and other consultants out there.

We could go on forever about lessons learned in a half-century plus. But the bottom line is, putting our customers’ needs squarely in the forefront of every engagement, understanding the marketplace and challenges the business faces, and focusing on people and processes will help your business reach a state of operational excellence.

Contact us today and let USC put our experience to work for you.

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A little goes a long way. It’s an old adage, but one we’ve seen play out, day after day, during our 55-plus years in the consulting business. It’s the notion that what may seem like small changes actually produce big results. At USC Consulting Group, one of our specialties is the “detective work” we do to find hidden opportunities for greater efficiency. Acting on those opportunities can create great change.

Here are some ways a “little” can go a long way for our clients.

Outage management

Most industries that have 24/7 operations — manufacturing, mining & metals, and others — need to do planned outages, or work stoppages, for regular maintenance. It’s a practice we enthusiastically recommend. Planned outages prevent unplanned crises when a machine breaks down unexpectedly. Managing planned outages correctly is vital, because any time the operation is shut down for maintenance, that time is money.

Intricate detail and planning go into planned outages. That was the case with one of our recent clients in the mining industry. They approached USC to assist in planning and executing an upcoming plant-wide outage. Because of cost and schedule overruns year in and year out, the plant was given an ultimatum from its parent company — make the upcoming outage successful or close the plant down.

Through careful planning and execution, we shaved one day off of their planned outage. You might be thinking, just one day? That “small” improvement saved the company upwards of $1 million. The outage was successful, and the plant stayed open.

Food processing

The commercial food industry has a tough nut to crack (pardon the pun) when it comes to processing and bagging their product to send to grocery stores or other end-clients that sell to consumers. Getting the most of their raw materials is all about improving yield, but it’s not easy to achieve the right balance. Let’s take the beef industry for an example. In processing beef into burger, there is a loss of moisture. That’s why when you start off with a pound of beef you don’t get a pound of burger. But, as a consumer, when you’re buying what is labeled a pound of burger, you can expect a pound — by law. To achieve that, the industry compensates for the loss of moisture and adds more ground beef into each unit. Better to pack a little too much than too little, right? It’s what the industry calls “the giveaway.” It’s essentially overpacking.

Just a little more? How big a problem is this, really? If a company is processing, say, 30,000 pounds of ground beef into burger every day, adding a smidge more into each package can be a very big problem indeed. One recent client of USC came to us when they realized they were giving away over 1.5 million pounds of beef yearly.

With process improvements, equipment fixes and increased speed and throughput, we were able to help our client strike the right balance, decreasing that overpack from 2% to 1%. Just a 1% savings? That’s a pretty small number on the face of it… until you see it resulted in a savings of $84,000 per month. That’s huge.

Change management

Not every “small” change can produce hard numbers like the examples above, but we see the benefits time and time again when we’re helping clients with change management.

We’ve learned that we can effect all the change we can muster — make the line more efficient, increase throughput, get the operation lean and mean, whatever else is needed — but none of it will stick without managing the change correctly. This part of the job isn’t about numbers, planning or complex methods. It’s about people.

Whatever the change you’re making, it’s going to involve people behaving and working in a different way. So at its core, effective change management requires helping people transform their behavior. As we all know, people don’t necessarily love that, especially if they’ve been getting the job done one way for the duration. Research shows 62% of people don’t like leaving their comfort zone.

We find that small changes really go a long way here. It’s about the CEO taking some time to walk the shop floor and talk with frontline workers about the changes that are coming down the pike. It’s about us involving those workers in the process of change from the get-go, asking for their ideas for improvements, their thoughts about what the problems are that need solving. That way, the change that we’re implementing won’t be happening to them. They will be a part of it, champion it, and make that change stick every day on the line.

One other bonus to this tactic? It creates employee engagement and loyalty. Just 36% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, and 74% are actively looking for new jobs, according to a Gallup survey. 94% of employees say they’d stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development, LinkedIn reports. With manufacturing looking at 1 million unfulfilled jobs and the cost of replacing an employee as much as twice their annual salary, those small changes can mean big numbers on your balance sheets.

This is one part of our process that doesn’t take advanced degrees, engineers or Lean Six Sigma black belts to achieve. It just takes a little time and some people skills.

Get in touch today if you’d like to talk about how USC can help your company become more efficient and effective. One small conversation can go a long way to improving your operations.

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In the food processing industry, the name of the game isn’t necessarily doing more with less, although that’s a powerful goal. For many companies, it comes down to getting the most out of their raw materials. To do that, it’s all about yield.

It can be a slightly confusing term to those outside the industry, but yield is generally defined as “the amount of usable product AFTER processing raw materials.” There’s a popular meme on the internet right now with the theme of: “How it started. How it ended.” Essentially, it’s “before and after” photos. When you’re talking about yield, the “before” photos might be a side of beef hanging in a cooler, while the “after” photos would be a pound of hamburger packaged and ready to ship to the grocery store. In that case, how it started isn’t necessarily going to be how it ended. In other words, a pound of beef isn’t always going to end up being a pound of burger. The difference is your yield.

Yield is affected by a wide range of variables, and low yield numbers can mean trouble for a company’s bottom line. It’s a common problem, one USC Consulting Group helps our clients with regularly. Let’s look a little deeper at yield, how and why it can bedevil companies, and what they can do about it.

The challenge with yield

Improving yield is the end goal. But let’s start at the beginning. Staying with the beef industry as an example, when companies start with a pound of beef and end up with .8 pounds of burger, that’s an 80% yield. The reasons for that gap become the problem.

Loss of moisture or weight. In processing beef, moisture is lost. It’s just the nature of the beast. That’s why, when you start out with one pound of raw materials you don’t always get one pound of finished product.

MAV. Government regulations give the food industry a little wiggle room between the expected quantity of any given item and the actual quantity. That’s the Maximum Allowance Variance (MAV). No product should weigh less than the MAV, nor should it weigh more than 100% of the MAV. That’s the gray area, or wiggle room. However…

Label weight. Due to government regulations (and good sense) the actual weight of a product — say, that pound of packaged ground beef in a grocery store — should not be lower than the label weight. End users, in this case, grocery store customers, can’t be told they’re buying a pound of burger when they’re really getting .8 pounds or less. Nor should grocery store owners be told by their suppliers they’re buying 100 pounds of ground beef when they’re getting 80. So to hit that MAV sweet spot and comply with label weights, food processing companies commonly…

Compensate. In the case of the beef industry, it means adding a little more ground beef into each unit. To not take the risk of going below the MAV, companies often prefer to run the process at a higher weight than the label. It’s what the industry calls “the giveaway.” They are essentially giving away beef to compensate for the loss of moisture.

Just a little more? How big a problem is this? If a company is processing, say, 30,000 pounds of ground beef into burger every day, adding a smidge into each package can be a very big problem. One recent client of USC came to us when they realized they were giving away over 1.5 million pounds of beef yearly.

Maximizing yield

This isn’t unique to the beef processing industry. Produce companies can overbag. Companies that process shelf-stable foods can use too much water. The list goes on. But no matter the type of food industry, maximizing yield is about achieving the right balance, hitting the right numbers. Not too little, not too much. Here are a few ways we help our clients do that. Hint: It’s all about efficiency and managing by the numbers.

Operations. Efficiency is the key in any operation, and at USC, we are always looking for opportunities for our clients to improve their processes. Scheduling, the sequence of how the job gets done, and even shift changes can play into efficiency. Creating a solid management operating system that allows you to “manage by the numbers” is vital in evaluating these processes for maximum efficiency.

Equipment. We don’t always recommend the latest and greatest technology. In many cases, it’s not necessary to upgrade. Maintenance? That’s another issue. Machines used to process raw materials into batches need to be at their optimal best. Regular maintenance and monitoring are key. Something as simple as build-up on a machine can lead to overfilling. A processing arm that slows down just a bit can hamper production.

Throughput. One reason for loss of moisture in beef processing is speed, so you need fast, efficient processing. But not too fast, or you can risk issues like bottlenecks in packaging, errors and ultimately waste. The Lean Six Sigma methodology helps companies maximize throughput and eliminate waste while preserving quality.

Yield is a key element to a company’s bottom line. The more efficient, streamlined and effective the operation, the more it allows companies to wrangle yield so it adds to, not drags down, profits.

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What’s on the road ahead for consumer goods manufacturing? Although the industry is multifaceted and varied, encompassing everything from household goods to food & beverage to apparel and more, most arms of the consumer goods industry are facing similar challenges. Supply chain woes. Geopolitical instability. Economic uncertainty paired with rising costs. Ecommerce disruption. Changing consumer preferences. Labor shortages.

A common thread running through all of those challenges: Stress. According to Deloitte’s “2023 Consumer Products Industry Outlook,” which surveyed executives at CG companies with more than $500 million in revenue, seven of 10 respondents said their job is more stressful now than it was five years ago, due to those ongoing challenges. We believe execs in many industries feel the same.

Here are some trends affecting the consumer goods manufacturing industry today:

Consumer Goods Manufacturing Trends

Challenges remain on the road ahead, but the ride is getting smoother.

Continued supply chain disruptions. No, it’s not over yet. The supply chain bottleneck that most industries faced during the pandemic has improved in some areas but has not gone away. According to a new survey by Coupa Software, 82% of supply chain leaders report bracing for continued supply chain issues in the next year. The industry is looking for ways to take the risk out of its supply chain, namely by reshoring or nearshoring supply to offset the worry about once-reliable sources. One of the wild cards in terms of supply chain is the current geopolitical instability, with the war in Ukraine lingering and tensions heating up with China and Russia.

Economic pressures. A recession is looming. (Or is it? Nobody seems to know.) Prices are rising. Inflation is through the roof. In addition to impacting consumers’ pocketbooks and spending habits, these economic factors are in league with rising costs of raw materials, transportation and labor costs to create a miasma of financial uncertainty. It has caused 80% of respondents in the Deloitte survey to report they’re raising prices further to compensate.

Labor shortages. For the consumer manufacturing industry, the labor shortage doesn’t just mean a lack of warm bodies. It also means a lack of skilled workers. The old guard is retiring, and the new generation taking its place needs the skills to operate today’s complex machinery. It means increased training and outreach from trade schools. The problem is, the numbers of young people going into the manufacturing field are dwindling just when we need them most.

Changing consumer preferences. While human behaviorists will be studying the effects of the pandemic on consumer spending for years to come, we see one thing clearly. Preferences and habits are changing. A heightened awareness of the environment is driving younger consumers toward sustainable products, and companies themselves are being held to those standards. Buyers are turning to the comfort and familiarity of known brands rather than taking risks. They are also more focused on health, having lived through a pandemic.

e-and-m-Commerce surge. This is also about consumer behavior, with a twist. The ecommerce surge that started during the pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down. According to Forbes, in 2023, ecommerce sales are projected to grow to 10.4%,with the global ecommerce market hitting $6.3 trillion. Mobile commerce (people making purchases from their smartphones) is poised to hit $415.93 billion this year. For consumer goods companies this may mean the need for a souped-up e-and-m-Commerce site for direct-to-consumer opportunities.

Proven methods for success

At USC Consulting Group, we specialize in helping companies reduce operating costs and improve efficiency… in this economy, or any economy. In our 55+ years in this business, we’ve rolled with a lot of changing tides and helped our clients do the same. We find that trends, challenges, economies and other factors can affect those tides, but tried-and-true operating methods can right the ship every time.

Two of the most powerful methods we use to help companies become more efficient and profitable are SIOP and LSS.

SIOP. Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning takes the normal sales and operations planning (S&OP) process and adds inventory to be as important of a variable and a strategic tool. Following this methodology helps manufacturers eliminate waste, increase efficiencies and achieve an optimal level between not enough and too much. It’s also an unparalleled tool for inventory management, which is a tricky business today given supply chain shortages and changing consumer preferences.

Balancing between too much inventory and too little has been the ongoing challenge after the pandemic, and SIOP can help you get there. If you would like to learn more about SIOP, download our (free) eBook, “Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning: It’s About Time.”

Lean Six Sigma. Two sides of the same coin, Lean looks at making processes more efficient and reducing lead times, while Six Sigma focuses on cutting down on defects. Both are useful goals when aiming to optimize your processes, throughput and ultimately, your bottom line. Together, Lean Six Sigma is a powerful process methodology.

But it takes years to master the balance between speed of throughput and quality of the end product. We have certified black belts in LSS on staff to guide these projects but also train your staff in the techniques. The goal is to make process improvement changes and ensure they are sustainable for years to come.

Interested in hearing more about how we can help? Give us a call and we’ll start by listening.

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The healthcare industry is in the midst of change and challenges, driven by a triple-whammy of technological innovation, the pandemic and the hiring and employment crisis. This triad is affecting how healthcare is delivered and who is delivering it.

Not only are wearable healthcare devices and telehealth changing the way the industry serves patients, but the explosion of this technology is putting increased demands on the manufacturers that make these devices. At the same time, the staffing shortage and pay equity debates that are hitting every other industry are bedeviling healthcare, too.

In the midst of it all, the industry is striving for optimal efficiency behind the scenes in the manufacturing sector and in the patient-facing realm as well. Not an easy task.

Healthcare trends for today and tomorrow

Let’s explore current healthcare trends and look at how USCCG can help healthcare manufacturers and providers level up with process improvements to roll with these changing tides.

Wearable devices + telehealth

These may seem like two separate areas of the industry, but it’s really a chicken-and-egg situation with wearable devices and telehealth. While they’d both exist without the other, the union of these two facets of the industry at the right time has been the catalyst for explosive change. And demand.

Personal healthcare devices are not new to the healthcare market. Internal devices like pacemakers have been keeping hearts beating for decades. So, too, diabetes checkers, wearable heart monitors and blood pressure machines allow patients to track their own numbers at home without going to a doctor’s office or clinic. But it’s one element of that — the ability to do it remotely, at home — that caused the market to rocket skyward. The catalyst? The pandemic.

When COVID hit and took hold, doctors needed ways to monitor the health of their patients without an in-person visit. Hospitals and clinics were overwhelmed with COVID cases and suddenly telehealth was the only option for people needing care that wasn’t an emergency.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported a 63-fold increase in telehealth visits during 2020, with patients utilizing wearable health devices like heart, blood pressure and diabetes monitors, among other devices. The wearable health device market is estimated to jump to $95.4 billion within the next five years.

Although this explosion was triggered by the pandemic, it is not going away as the virus recedes. Doctors found that 24/7 health data monitoring increased the quality of patient care. More information, better care, healthier people. All without the patient leaving home. It’s also a boon for people who live in rural areas without easy access to hospitals or clinics, making this trend nothing less than a blessing to the quality of life of people everywhere. It’s here to stay.

All of it is made possible by the manufacturers of these devices, many of whom found their operations overwhelmed by the increased demand.

AI and machine learning

The healthcare tech trend isn’t confined to telehealth and wearable devices. It has made its way into the clinic as well. Artificial intelligence, namely machine learning, in healthcare is growing rapidly. The market for this tech is predicted to be more than $20 million in 2023. Computer vision, pattern recognition algorithms, predictions of clinical trials and drug interactions, advanced imagery like MRI scans — all growing rapidly in this market. A bot making your diagnosis isn’t that far away. That medical device we’ve all seen on Star Trek, the tricorder? It’s basically here now. All of it can lead the industry to deliver more personalized treatments and diagnoses.

Employment and staffing

In addition to the healthcare tech explosion, the industry is dealing with a staffing crisis. A recent survey by the Medical Group Management Association found 58% of medical practices nationwide find staffing to be their biggest challenge. According to the survey, staffing outpaced the second most important concern, expenses, by an alarming 35 percentage points.

What’s behind the staffing shortages? A quick list:

• An aging population of healthcare workers retiring at the same time as the population at large — patients — are also aging and requiring more care.
• Nurse burnout brought on by the harsh schedules and hours during the pandemic.
• Not as many people entering the healthcare profession.
• Pay and benefits inequity.

All of these challenges require process improvements to get healthcare facilities and manufacturing plants running at peak efficiency. That’s where we come in.

Process optimization in healthcare manufacturing, USCCG-style

At USCCG, we specialize in helping manufacturers of all stripes transform their operations and processes into lean (or Lean) and mean operations, functioning at optimal efficiency levels.

Our expertise is working with organizations to improve business performance by increasing throughput, reducing costs, eliminating waste, increasing productivity, improving quality and leveraging existing assets.

To get there, we will typically focus on Lean Six Sigma methodologies, including:

• Reduced Waste: Aggressively minimizing or eliminating anything that does not add value
• Just Right: Right venue, right conditions, right resources
• Self-Sustainment: Culture of improvement without continuous top-level instigation
• Protected: Anticipation of unpredictable and fluctuating demand
• Provide your organization with the ability to better manage the cost component of delivering quality patient care

One key element in our approach that you may not find elsewhere: We get onto the floor and partner with your employees, the people who are doing the job day to day. And we encourage your upper management and C-suite execs to do the same.

But it’s not just about the manufacturing process. Our healthcare expertise is also about applying process improvements to hospital and clinic operations, too.

Beyond manufacturing

Healthcare manufacturing is not the only area that needs an efficiency boost. Hospitals and clinics are focusing on operational improvements as well.

When we work with healthcare clients, our goal is to improve and enhance healthcare facilities’ Management Operating System (MOS) — basically how they plan, schedule, assign work, follow up, report and drive continuous improvement processes.

Some of the areas we focus on:

• Customer/patient requirements
• Resources, instrumentation and technology
• Staffing levels and clinical requirements
• Planning and assignment of work
• Execution and follow-up
• Clinical and administrative requirements
• Root cause analysis and review
• Identifying the planning and tasks
• Developing a capacity model
• Reviewing of work

We help healthcare facilities standardize their processes, strive for continuous improvement and recognize operational lapses that can impact productivity, quality of care, capacity and customer service.

At USCCG, we are committed to partnering with the healthcare industry to create process improvements that ultimately result in streamlined, efficient operations. In the end, it’s about better patient outcomes. We’re proud to help bring that about.

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Leo Tolstoy once said: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

How true that is. Sure, he was talking about the Russian Revolution, but the words of the author of War and Peace, considered by some to be the greatest novel ever written, are just as applicable in today’s manufacturing workplaces as they were back then. It’s especially true when manufacturers are going through the process of implementing Lean Six Sigma.

When you’re talking about a culture change as big as Lean Six Sigma (LSS), it can feel a bit like your company is going through a revolution. And as Tolstoy so astutely pointed out, changing the “world” — your workplace culture, processes and procedures — is all well and good, but changing oneself and one’s role in it? Is that really necessary? As hard as it is for many managers and top leadership to hear, the answer to that question is “yes.”

It’s hard to hear and even harder to accept because, inherent in the concept of change is the notion that you were doing something wrong. People who have been on the job awhile, from the workers on the front lines to the people in the corner office, are resistant and, dare we say, defensive about that notion. But it’s not about companies doing something wrong. It’s about finding opportunities for greater efficiency, throughput and, frankly, profit.

At USC Consulting Group, we help companies implement LSS. Our Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Dr. Frank Esposto, leads many of these implementations. But as Frank tells companies, LSS isn’t just about a new set of tools and operating procedures. It’s about culture change, too. And managers and top brass embracing that change is crucial to LSS success.

Lean Six Sigma 101

Here’s a quick rundown of Lean Six Sigma.

The whole concept of Lean started with either Henry Ford or Toyota, depending on who you ask. The idea was identifying and eliminating waste in manufacturing operations. Toyota called them the “seven deadly wastes” and that term stuck. At USC, we added an eighth. They include:

• Overproduction. It leaves you with unused product.
• Waiting. Waiting on the shop floor between steps on the line, or waiting on supply or even equipment.
• Transporting. Excessive movement of inventory, causing the possibility of damage, or even excessive movement within the manufacturing process itself.
• Processing. Do you have extra, unnecessary steps in the manufacturing process?
• Inventory. Too much stock on hand.
• Excess motion. Extra walking, lifting, reaching.
• Defects. Defects in product happen to the best of us.
• People. This is the eighth waste. It is about taking a close look at the untapped potential of your people.

The goal is to create greater efficiency on the line.

Six Sigma is a set of techniques aimed at reducing (in a perfect world, eliminating) the probability that an error or defect will occur in the process.

Together, as Lean Six Sigma, the two methodologies pack a punch of efficiency and perfection. LSS enables companies to produce better product faster, increasing throughput and quality.

Learn more about LSS in our eBook – Lean Six Sigma: Do You Really Know These Methodologies?

Why culture change is so important to LSS success

There’s a perception out there that Lean Six Sigma is simply a series of process improvements designed to eliminate waste and increase quality. It is that, for sure. But it also requires the aforementioned culture change. A change in attitudes and behaviors. Everyone, from frontline employees to the corner office, needs to be on board or this change won’t stick. You’ll slide back into your old ways.

It’s vital for the workers performing new processes to embrace those changes. But it’s just as vital for managers and supervisors and the top brass to change, too. Remember, you can’t change the world without changing yourself first.

What managers can do to embrace change

In order for the LSS changes to be sustainable, managers and executives need to demonstrate to employees that they’re on board. And that doesn’t mean sending out a memo of encouragement. It means changing daily work habits, just like employees are expected to do. A few ways to do that:

Walk the floor. This is arguably the most important piece of this puzzle for management. Get out of the office and onto the shop floor. Get into the trenches with your frontline employees. Show them you’re all in.

Ask senior employees for advice and input. You know who we’re talking about. The men and women who have been on your frontlines forever. Shift supervisors. Trusted workers. The people actually doing the job day after day. When you’re in the process of implementing LSS, their input is vital. Not only to the success of the project, but to their buy-in as well.

Roll up your sleeves. If it’s crunch time and you’re shorthanded, take off that suit coat, roll up your sleeves and help out any way you can.

Over the years, we’ve seen how companies that embrace change will succeed in becoming more efficient and profitable. Those that don’t may simply slide back into their old ways.

For leadership teams leading the charge for culture change, we lean on advice from Mahatma Ghandi, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

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With a potential recession looming, inflation and interest rates rising, and the post-pandemic surge in consumer confidence slowing, productivity is stepping into the spotlight. Amid all of this economic uncertainty, manufacturers are turning their focus toward their own operations and processes, making sure everything is running like the proverbial well-oiled machine. Lean and mean. As efficient as possible.

We get it. At USC Consulting Group, we’ve been helping manufacturers become more efficient and productive for 50+ years. Process improvement is our wheelhouse. We can’t do anything about the economy, but we can help our clients increase their productivity so their companies can be at their fighting best to withstand any economic headwinds that come their way.

In the end, it’s about striking that delicate balance between increasing throughput and maintaining quality. Too much speed on the line can indeed increase throughput, but quality could suffer. So, finding that sweet spot between optimal throughput and optimal quality is the key.

Here’s some of the advice we’ve been giving to our clients to do just that.

Focus on the Five M’s

One of the first steps we take when evaluating process improvements in manufacturing companies is to focus on the Five M’s. Many times we find it all starts and ends with this. It’s a tried-and-true management tool — with some debate as to where and when it originated. And now, people put their own spin on the M’s, as they relate to their own operation. At USC, we call them Machines, Methods, Materials, Measurements and Man and Woman power.

1. Machines. Evaluate your machines on the line. Do they need maintenance? Do you perform regular maintenance or wait until something is “broke” before you fix it?
2. Methods. This step involves evaluating the process of getting the job done. Are there any opportunities to make the workflow more efficient?
3. Materials. This is a big headache for manufacturing today — supply chain issues are messing with the ability to have enough material to get the job done when it needs to get done.
4. Measurements. Are your metrics and measurements for success and profitability on target?
5. Man and Woman power. Do you have the right people in the right jobs? That’s the ideal. But increasingly the question is: Do you have enough skilled people to get the job done, or enough people, period?

Focusing on these five elements of your operation can illuminate a host of opportunities for improvement. Let’s look at some of those in more detail.

Schedule regular maintenance

The old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” does not serve manufacturing very well. We recommend regular maintenance. Yes, it causes a work stoppage, but it doesn’t take you by surprise. You’ll know the line will be stopped for a certain amount of time on a certain day rather than having things grind to a halt unexpectedly because of an unknown problem you’ll have to ferret out and fix. It’s also important to talk to your people on the line about the troubleshooting they’ve been using when things go wrong. It could be they’re on to something.

Look at the 7 Deadly Wastes

It sounds rather dramatic, but this is a concept initially pioneered by the Toyota Lean manufacturing model. It’s aimed at identifying and eliminating waste in manufacturing operations. We’ve added one additional “waste” to that list. Here they are in detail.

• Overproduction. It leaves you with unused product.
• Waiting. Waiting on the shop floor between steps on the line, or waiting on supply or even equipment.
• Transporting. Excessive movement of inventory, causing the possibility of damage, or even excessive movement within the manufacturing process itself.
• Processing. Do you have extra, unnecessary steps in the manufacturing process?
• Inventory. Too much stock on hand.
• Excess motion. Extra walking, lifting, reaching.
• Defects. Defects in product happen to the best of us.
• People. This is the eighth waste we thought was important to add. It is about taking a close look at the untapped potential of your people.

Examining all of these areas of “wastes” in your operation will help you become more efficient and ultimately more profitable.

→ For more information about Lean, download our free eBook, Lean Six Sigma: Do You Really Know These Methodologies?

Upskill Your People

About that eighth “waste.” There may well be hidden potential working on your lines every day that is being underutilized. We see it all the time in talking to frontline workers, who usually know more about the ins-and-outs of the day-to-day than their supervisors do. Is anyone on the line ready to move up? It might take some classes in management training, but so be it. Promotion from within is a powerful motivator for your workforce and in this market, where retaining good people is so difficult, it can be a lifesaver. There’s also another part to this. It’s about not being able to find skilled workers to do the job. This is a big problem for manufacturing industrywide. The solution just might be to invest in training courses for new hires to get them the skills they need.

At USC Consulting Group, we’re committed to helping manufacturing companies improve their processes to become as efficient and productive as possible. In this economy, it’s a must. Give us a call to find out more.

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