For many years, most companies have focused on selling, regardless of how or at what expense: the point is to sell. Although selling in itself is always profitable, when the surrounding processes are inadequate, we begin generating selling expenses that often exceed the cost of the products and services sold.

That is where the decline begins for companies with great potential that neglect operational problems and make sales however they can.

But do not worry: call a... BLACK BELT! Yes, it is not a bird, it is not a plane, it is a... BLACK BELT!

Why? What do they do, and how can they help? Simply put, they are your company’s superhero, focused on solving and eliminating the villains that create costs and prevent profitability and full organizational success. Above all, they generate major savings and increase profits across every process—yes, every one, including Sales and Marketing, HR and Finance, and, of course, Production and Logistics.

How do they do it? With their superpowers, which are:

1)     The Power of LEAN – With this power, BLACK BELTS eliminate a powerful group of villains known as “WASTE.” This group of malevolent entities consists of:

·        Overproduction – This villain slips unnoticed into production and service facilities, mainly through poor planning, inflexible production lines, inaccurate inventory records or poorly maintained machinery. But do not worry: with the power of LEAN, BLACK BELTS use tools such as SMED, HEIJUNKA, TPM and MRP to eliminate this villain and improve production efficiency and optimization.

·        Excess Inventory – Like the previous villain, this arises for similar reasons but focuses mainly on purchased products. In addition to those earlier causes, poor supplier management is a major reason it appears in companies. BLACK BELTS eliminate it with LEAN tools such as Supplier Development and KANBAN.

·        Defective products – The ultimate villain, the easiest to identify but also one of the hardest to eliminate. I would even venture that we are unlikely to eliminate it 100%, but we can significantly reduce its impact. LEAN powers we can use against it include 8’Ds PROBLEM ANALYSIS AND SOLVING and KAIZEN.

·        Rework – How difficult it is to eliminate this villain! Like the Invisible Man, it enters your organization and stays forever, so much so that we often consider it part of the organization itself. As with the previous villain, the best way to attack it is through 8D PROBLEM ANALYSIS AND SOLVING, combined with other tools such as SMED, TPM, KANBAN and POKA YOKE. It is so powerful that many tools are needed to eliminate it, but the first essential step is identifying it.

·        Unnecessary transport of materials – A headache, because materials disappear as if by magic and are difficult to find afterward. One of the main powers for fighting this villain is the famous 5S.

·        Unnecessary movements of people – This villain primarily causes employees to tire from traveling so many meters to perform their work. Tools such as STANDARDIZED WORK and MANUFACTURING CELLS can help us begin fighting it.

·        Waiting times – Who likes waiting? Nobody, yet this villain remains present in many organizations. Have you never queued at a bank? To eliminate it, use tools such as the VALUE STREAM MAP to identify activities that truly add value to processes and remove those that get in the way.

·        Waste of Human Talent – This is definitely the villain that hurts organizations most: your Human Talent leaving you for another organization. To fight this great evil, tools such as HOSHIN KANRI and BALANCED SCORE CARD help give our people direction and focus them on activities that motivate their talent.

 

2)     The Power of SIX SIGMA – With this power, we fight a villain called VARIATION. We want increasingly controlled, stable processes that deliver better results. Statistical tools include control charts, MSA, the Theory of Constraints, QFD, FMEA (AMEF), APQP, PPAP, DOE and histograms, along with process performance measures such as OEE, YIELD and DPMOs. These and other tools are highly effective and achieve immediate process control.

 

3)     The Power of Project Management through DMAIC – This third great BLACK BELT power enables proper project management focused on substantial savings and increased organizational profits. Through DMAIC, we can analyze data more deeply and establish stronger improvement processes, delivering excellent results and fighting the villains that prevent growth, profitability and success.

 

And you're ready to train your own superheroes as the BLACK BELTS?

 

Ask about our international CERTIFICATIONS LEAN SIX SIGMA