The fabrication industry has proven itself as a target rich industry that has wide-ranging demands cutting across many other industries and businesses. Since the demand for fabrication is driven by how well the economy is faring, its profitability simultaneously lies on economic development to thrive as it balances productivity with the emergence of unpredictable factors by seeking innovative approaches and systematics to construct a backing for the inconsistency of customer demands influenced by inevitable economic changes. Therefore, the industry continues to transform and adjust to deal with ever changing trends to maintain steady sales volume. Beyond this dynamic, the industry strives to rationalise production processes and direct an attention on its capability to dependably produce high level output for various customer requests. Fabricating companies that study economic trends that affect demand while revolutionizing their manufacturing process to improve the quality of product output by rendering obsolete redundant activities that contribute little or nothing to production process will spearhead the industry.
Here in, comes the lean and six sigma processes that creates special considerations for the fabrication industry and are effective approaches that can be inculcated into streamlining production processes to have high level outputs. Lean is a methodology to management that focuses on producing quality output, making continuous and increasing progress to fine tune the production process by minimizing waste of time and resources, excess manufacturing, needless movement, idle workers and implications from defected output. Lean production aims to be cost effective, time bound and value adding. In lean planning, lean teams provide solutions and ideas to top managers to peruse and make final decisions before execution is carried out. The Six sigma approach is a technique that shoulders on collective team work and aims for general transformation of company’s practices to stimulate productivity and growth in establishments by identifying causes of distinctions to reduce ineptitude and strategically minimize excesses. While lean and six sigma are two different processes that use different approaches and tools, they are complementary in nature as they are both focused on improving output quality, minimizing waste, saving cost for the company and defining that the value of a product or service depends on the customer.
Fabrication is the practice of building equipment and infrastructure from raw metal materials, which includes a variety of processes during manufacturing to have a finished product. Lean strategies adopted during fabrication would be a sequence of tactics employed to help achieve a set of specific objectives prerogative to achieving production goals. For fabrication to move seamlessly, it is important to map out a time scheme that works for everyone involved. Another important strategy would be analysing and improving on each process in the production line to save time and cost, each process should be individually examined and improved upon to cut down on redundant activities or combine processes to save time. Workers and personnel should also adapt and adjust to new time schemes, changes in processes or staff numbers without compromising quality or delivery time. Moving forward on strategies, a proper lean plan should have a competent lean improvement team with specified issues to overcome, objectives to achieve, solutions to combat challenges and new methods to implement solutions with a goal oriented determination towards improving work process, organizing to minimize waste and preventing the occurrence of defects.
In the six sigma approach, personnel earn six sigma rankings to become major players in fine tuning the quality of output during fabrication or manufacturing. These rankings are roles that personnel have earned and are qualified to execute while completing projects. They include the White belt which is a rank associated with personnel that has not gone through a formal training but participates in schemes and problem-solving tasks related to quality management and waste reduction. The Yellow belt indicates an exposure to Six Sigma concepts that goes beyond the essentials provided for a White Belt, they guide small scale projects and assist personnel at higher belt levels. A Green belt holder has full knowledge of Six Sigma approaches towards executing and refining products and processes, they apply the DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control method and other lean principles. Black Belts go on to implement Lean Six Sigma on tasks, track results and supervise teams. They effect quality upgrading and make efforts with potentials to make momentous effects on company’s productivity. The most recognized and critical are the green and black belts. Although, they are in different levels but both play integral roles in an organization and often work together, functioning off each other to assuring that production processes go smoothly. Black Belts possess all the detailed knowledge that Green Belts have and are leaders, responsible for assigning roles and responsibilities to teams but require the assistance of Green belts with relevant tasks designed to eliminate setbacks from achieving quality output and improving overall productivity.
In conclusion, lean management and lean six sigma undoubtedly accrues wholesome benefits to the fabrication industry with their propensity to stimulate improvement, add value, minimize waste of resources, time, space and idle manpower, build strong customer relationship by defining the value of a product based on their expectations, increase profit, build safer work environment by eliminating the existence of unnecessary tools and equipment in work spaces and encouraging collaborative team efforts that consequently lead to coping with factors that influence demand and increased productivity in the industry.