Track: Lean Six Sigma Competition

Abstract

Reducing process lead time is one of the manufacturing industries' challenges to boost productivity and minimize the time required to develop new products. One of the processes that may improve further during new product development is the Failure Analysis Process. It is finding the root cause of a failure to address the issue and prevent future failures. The Failure Analysis Process of Company-ABC, a hard-disk drive manufacturer, was evaluated in this study to optimize the process and reduce investigation lead time by fifty percent. A shorter investigation lead time benefits the company since it enables faster discovery and correction of errors, expediting new product development. Process improvement can be achieved in various ways. One is by applying ECRS concepts (Eliminate, Combine, Rearrange, and Simplify), which involves eliminating insignificant activities, combining or rearranging the order of related activities, and simplifying activities. The VA/NVA (Value Added and Non-Value Added) and 5M1E (Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Environment) analyses can help determine which tasks have opportunities for improvement and can be optimized through ECRS. By utilizing the ECRS concept, Company-ABC was able to cut the investigation lead time in half. The significant improvement is primarily due to the simplification concept of ECRS, which led to the development of an excel macro that automates the manual log data analysis and script creation. Aside from the investigation lead time reduction, the ECRS concept has eased and lessened the members' fatigue due to the simplification of repeated tasks.