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About this lesson
The As-is metrics are the measured current state of the process or problem. It is not the best-case, the worst-case, or the “as-designed” case; it is the current average performance of the process or problem.
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Quick reference
As-Is Metrics
The As-Is metrics are the measured current state of the process or problem. It is not the best-case, the worst-case, or the “as-designed” case; it is the current average performance of the process or problem.
When to use
By the end of the Measure phase of a Lean Six Sigma project the team should be able to calculate the As-Is metrics for the process or problem.
Instructions
As-Is metrics are calculated based upon measurements at process steps. In some cases, these metrics are totalled for the entire process. The purpose of the As-Is metrics is to reflect the total process impact on the customer. These metrics should show what is really happening and what the customer experiences. Among the most common metrics are:
- Total Time (ToT) – This is the entire amount of elapsed time from the beginning to the end of each process step. It is often then totalled for the entire process. It includes nights, weekends, and holidays. It is usually calculated by measuring the time from the start of the first step until the start of the next step.
- Process Value-Added Time (VAT) – This is the sum of the value-added time for each step in the straight line flow of the value stream. It is often totalled for the entire process. For those steps with no value-added time, they contribute nothing to this number. VAT is often expressed as a percentage of total time.
- First Pass Yield (FPY) – This represents the percentage of time that all activities within a process step are correctly completed on the first attempt. It includes both the value-added activities and non-value activities. If a step operator (or anyone else) must rework an item, even if it is done as part of the step, then that item is not counted as a successful first pass attempt.
Although not a metric, this module includes an illustration of the Swim Lane mapping technique. This map shows the As-Is flow of process steps through the different organizations or departments responsible for completing a step.
Each Swim Lane in the map represents an organization or department. The process steps are placed in the lane for the organization or department responsible for completing the step. The steps are then connected in the correct “as-is” process sequence. The Swim Lane chart shows when the process flow crosses organization or department boundaries. Every time the process crosses into a new lane, there is a higher probability for delays and errors due to the required handoff.
Hints & tips
- Time is added, yield is multiplied.
- That VAT as a percent of ToT is often low single digits.
- The FPY is often less than 50% when a step requires “tweaking” by an operator.
- The handoffs across lanes as shown in the Swim Lane chart are more likely to have problems than handoffs within a lane. This is due to different organizations having different priorities and the increased likelihood that critical details are lost or misunderstood during the handoff.
- 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
- 00:06 Well, it's no surprise to find that during the measure phase, we measure the process.
- 00:12 These measurements are known as the As-Is Metrics, for the process.
- 00:16 This means that the measurements reflect the process as it is currently performing.
- 00:22 Another way of putting this is that the As-Is Metrics reflect what the process
- 00:26 customer is currently experiencing.
- 00:28 It is the total time from when the process has started until the customer actually
- 00:32 gets what they asked for.
- 00:33 It is a probability that everyone will be doing their job correctly and
- 00:37 doing that on the first try at each step of the process.
- 00:41 And it's the total cost to the business to deliver that process output.
- 00:45 The As-Is Metrics are what is being measured right now
- 00:49 in terms of process performance.
- 00:51 It's not the ideal case or the standard cost and standard time.
- 00:55 It is what is actually occurring on a day-to-day basis in the process.
- 01:00 Sometimes that is better than expected and sometimes it is worse.
- 01:04 Also, the As-Is Metrics include the impact of the problem or
- 01:09 problems that are being analyzed.
- 01:11 If a process has a problem, half the time when you run it then the timing,
- 01:15 quality and cost data will include that impact.
- 01:18 This is because we use the average for the measurements, so
- 01:22 the impact of the problem is included in the average.
- 01:25 By far, the most commonly used two measurements for
- 01:28 describing the As-Is process performance are total time and value-added time.
- 01:34 Total time is just that, the total of all the value and
- 01:37 non-value-added time in the value stream.
- 01:40 It is typically calculated by determining the total time for each step and
- 01:45 then summing those values.
- 01:47 But when doing that,
- 01:48 you should still check an end to end time for you to go through the process to be
- 01:52 sure that you haven't overlooked something along the way.
- 01:55 The total process time starts when Step 1 starts, and
- 01:59 doesn't end until Step Last ends.
- 02:02 That means it includes all of the nights, weekends and holidays.
- 02:06 It does this because this is what the customer experiences.
- 02:10 Now, it's likely that different process steps will be the stopping point for
- 02:13 different weekends.
- 02:14 So use averaged data over several weeks time period
- 02:17 to ensure the effects are included.
- 02:19 Then determine the value-added time for
- 02:21 one unit to go through each step in the straight line flow of the value stream.
- 02:27 Add up the value-added time across the process steps.
- 02:29 Remember, the value-added time can be zero if the step is for internal convenience or
- 02:34 requirements but does not increase the customer value.
- 02:38 The value-added time and total time are often combined to show the value-added
- 02:43 time as a percentage of the total time.
- 02:45 Don't be surprised if that number is a very low percentage.
- 02:49 Single digit percentages are common, and I've even had processes where
- 02:54 the As-Is Metric of value-added time was less than 1% of the total time.
- 02:59 In fact, that's why we were asked to improve that process.
- 03:03 Now we'll consider a quality metric, first pass yield.
- 03:07 The metric is just what it says.
- 03:09 It's the percentage of times that the step is completed
- 03:12 error free on the first attempt with the unit.
- 03:15 Now, just to be clear, it's everything in that step.
- 03:19 All of the step activities, even administrative ones,
- 03:22 also it means that the operator gets it right the first time.
- 03:25 Not that the operator keeps working on it until they get it right.
- 03:29 It is right on their first try.
- 03:31 Of course, it also means that no one else has to come in and
- 03:34 fix the problems after the operator thinks it's done.
- 03:37 And as mentioned before, this is usually an item in the Value Stream Map data box.
- 03:42 The metric also includes completing any non value-added work as part of the step
- 03:46 and completing that correctly on its first try.
- 03:49 It applies to everything that happens during that step,
- 03:52 whether it's part of the standard process or not.
- 03:55 When a step has low first pass yield, it will often create problems with flow.
- 04:00 In fact, watch for that.
- 04:02 Sometimes we think that the step yield is very good,
- 04:04 based upon our review of measurements from the operator.
- 04:07 But the step is always causing problems, delays and
- 04:10 bottlenecks and a need for extra resources.
- 04:13 When I've discovered this,
- 04:15 it usually means that there are some first pass yield problems.
- 04:18 But the operators we're just fixing them and not reporting them as in step rework.
- 04:23 So the reported yield was good because that was at the end of the step, but
- 04:28 there was a lot of rework going on within that step.
- 04:31 And of course, despite the best effort,
- 04:34 some of the problems will make it through to the customer.
- 04:37 The last item I wanna talk about on this module is the swim lane process view.
- 04:42 This is not a numerical metric, but it is an important view of the As-Is process.
- 04:47 In this case, we draw the process map or value stream map differently.
- 04:52 It's not shown as a straight line, rather it is displayed spread across various
- 04:56 lanes that represent organizational boundaries.
- 04:59 That's why it's often referred to as the organizational breakdown of the process.
- 05:04 But I like the term swim lane map.
- 05:06 The diagram looks like a pool where a swimming is occurring.
- 05:09 Each lane represents a department or organization that is responsible for
- 05:13 completing one of the process steps.
- 05:16 The first step starts in the lane for the department completing that step,
- 05:20 each succeeding step is shown in the lane for the appropriate department.
- 05:24 And arrows connect the steps showing the sequence.
- 05:27 The reason this view is so
- 05:29 powerful is that in most organizations when a process item must cross from
- 05:33 one lane to another, there's a delay and an opportunity for confusion and error.
- 05:39 This is less likely to happen within a lane because many times it's the same
- 05:43 person doing each step or at least someone who they work with routinely.
- 05:47 However, when crossing lanes they had to schedule a hand off.
- 05:50 The other lane may be working to a different set of priorities
- 05:53 creating a delay, there may be misunderstandings in the hand off.
- 05:58 The bottom line is that the more frequently the process items must cross
- 06:01 swim lanes, the greater the accumulated delays and the likelihood for errors.
- 06:07 I used this approach with a client one time.
- 06:09 In their process documents, they showed about 35 steps in the process.
- 06:14 However, there are more than 20 swim lane changes,
- 06:17 although there are only three departments involved.
- 06:21 This exposed why this process took weeks longer than expected.
- 06:25 When improving a process, you need to start with the current state
- 06:30 of performance, otherwise you may be fixing the wrong problem.
- 06:34 The As-Is Metrics describe that current state.
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