Spaghetti Diagrams Six Sigma: De-Cluttering Production Shop Floors

Video explains how spaghetti diagrams are ideal six sigma lean manufacturing tools that help you to de-clutter your production shop floor. The process involves mapping out your shop floor on a white board or on paper by clearly defining separate work cells and work stations. The first step involves speaking with your production employees and making sure they understand that you are tracking and measuring how work flows from one cell to the next. In essence, you are analyzing the process of work and not the individuals themselves. Second, once you've mapped out your shop floor, you need to use sequential numbers and lines that define the current flow of work from one cell to the next. Third, go onto your shop floor and use a measuring wheel to define the length in feet from one cell to the next. Fourth, track the time it takes to move parts from one cell to the next. Pay close attention to any obstructions such as pillars and beams. Do not trace lines on your whiteboard or paper through these obstructions. It's called a spaghetti diagram because the lines go around these obstructions and not through them. Finally, be sure to track the times and keep a running list of these times from each step in the production process. At the end of the exercise you should have a summary of distance between steps and time between steps. In manufacturing, there is a cycle time for the finished good and then there are separate times for each operation. Part of the overall cycle time for the finished good involves the transit times between production work cells and stations. This means that reducing the distance between adjacent cells will lower transit times, reduce cycle times and increase production throughput.