a3 report
Budget: $15 – $25 USD
Imagine you are hired as the Quality Engineer. Part of your job is to monitor the processes' variability and guarantee the product's quality. You are assigned to monitor the manual machining of metal blocks. The critical-to-quality dimension (CTQ) of such blocks is their length. The blocks should be about 3 inches long. If the blocks are smaller or greater than 3 inches, it will compromise the quality of the assembly. Mill #32 produced aluminum blocks that were used as part of a medical device. Mr. Smith is the only machinist operating at Mill #32.
On August 15, Mr. Smith came to work late. He had a family situation and felt sad, frustrated, and distracted. Being the only person with the expertise required to do the work, Mr. Smith decided to go to work and stay.
A new milling machine was installed on July 1. Mr. Smith was getting used to a new set of features. Metal from two different vendors (vendors A and B) was used during that time. On September 27, Mr. Smith decided to leave the job. Mr. Logan started producing parts on September 28.
A few months after August 15, the medical devices started to fail, and some patients died. As a result, multiple investigations were made. Data from the quality inspection related to the CTQ (block length in inches), the date, the material vendor, and the operator's name are provided. Undesired variability in the CTQ is suspected.
Instructions:
Using the DMAIC problem-solving framework, address the situation presented in the story. Investigate the potential reasons why the devices failed. *Define a project if you would like.
1. For each framework stage (define, measure, analyze, implement and control), use at least one tool.
2. Make assumptions and describe them as needed.
Deliverables:
1. Submit an A3 report documenting your problem-solving strategy using each stage of the DMAIC framework. Specify your rationale and assumptions.
2. Make sure all your tools and graphs are labeled correctly (x, y axes, titles, legends, captions for Figures (eg. Figure 1,)
3. Make sure you make inferences, conclusions, and recommendations after you analyze the data and based on what you observe.
4. Present the A3 report professionally (professional language, complete sentences, bullets, etc.)
On August 15, Mr. Smith came to work late. He had a family situation and felt sad, frustrated, and distracted. Being the only person with the expertise required to do the work, Mr. Smith decided to go to work and stay.
A new milling machine was installed on July 1. Mr. Smith was getting used to a new set of features. Metal from two different vendors (vendors A and B) was used during that time. On September 27, Mr. Smith decided to leave the job. Mr. Logan started producing parts on September 28.
A few months after August 15, the medical devices started to fail, and some patients died. As a result, multiple investigations were made. Data from the quality inspection related to the CTQ (block length in inches), the date, the material vendor, and the operator's name are provided. Undesired variability in the CTQ is suspected.
Instructions:
Using the DMAIC problem-solving framework, address the situation presented in the story. Investigate the potential reasons why the devices failed. *Define a project if you would like.
1. For each framework stage (define, measure, analyze, implement and control), use at least one tool.
2. Make assumptions and describe them as needed.
Deliverables:
1. Submit an A3 report documenting your problem-solving strategy using each stage of the DMAIC framework. Specify your rationale and assumptions.
2. Make sure all your tools and graphs are labeled correctly (x, y axes, titles, legends, captions for Figures (eg. Figure 1,)
3. Make sure you make inferences, conclusions, and recommendations after you analyze the data and based on what you observe.
4. Present the A3 report professionally (professional language, complete sentences, bullets, etc.)