Reduce Unique ICDs by Redesigning the Product or the Process

The objective of this activity is to reduce the number of ICDs by reducing the occurrence of an ICD in producing a unit of Output, or by reducing the number of separate ICDs used in the Output. A unique ICD is one of the key activities in the work center's contribution to the final product (O). It is separate and distinct from any other activity in the work center. For example, the fastening of a part onto a subassembly and a quality control check of the subassembly would be unique ICDs.

B. Redesign the process of producing the ICD or Output

Change the process used to produce the ICD or Output to eliminate activities.

5. Reduce errors in process

Improve the diagnosis of the situation:
Conduct small tests

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	2824	2004	Dow Chemical Co. is seeking a new approach to cutting R&D risk by finding out first what its customers need. Dow solicits a wish list of products or technical characteristics from customers. If Dow can make what they want – and enough companies agree to buy it – Dow scientists will return to the lab and invent to order.
2	3571	1988	IBM uses new computerized design and simulation tools to design high-quality products and simulate their use. A lot of work can be done on the computer, and since time is compressed, you can afford to try different approaches over a short span of time.
3	3599	1988	Theta uses "soft prototyping"–creating 3-D prototypes of a product in software–to reduce the risk of miscalculation and use fewer prototypes.
4	3711	1994	Using a 3D machine, Mercedes-Benz recently checked the fit of 50 parts for a new engine, cutting development time by 80% and saving a lot of money.
5	3711	2004	By doing away with side-gripping pallets, the body line allows about 600 welding robots to fit in just half the floor space required for the old line. That's how Toyota fit two body shops into the area formerly occupied just for one- at half the cost. The flailing arms of the robots move through their their work routines in a mechanical ballet that allows just a whisper of clearance between neighboring machines. To ensure that the robots don't tangle with one another, Toyota used 3-D stimulation software to refine the global body line's choreography. Showing machines collide virtually on a computer screen is far preferable than having them crash physically.
6	3711	2005	Hyundai, whose shabby cars made it the laughingstock just a few years ago, wants to move into the front ranks of carmakers. After Hyundai was passed to new ownership in 1999, the company's first step was to replace the bean counters in top management – who believed in producing for volume rather than quality – with engineers. Then it methodically began working on a strategy to challenge Toyota for leadership in J.D. Power's quality rankings. It hired a raft of consultants and worked closely with J.D. Power experts to benchmark the world's best auto companies. Hyundai also sent Korean quality task forces to the U.S. to study weather and road conditions, as well as driver habits.
7	3711	2005	When General Motors unveils its H3 Hummer, it will feature some distinctive characteristics, designed by everyday drivers. GM was under pressure to build a midprice version of its famous vehicle so it enlisted 481 regular people to critique its designs. The people made a number of suggestions, including a comment that the grille was too similar to Jeep's–important for GM as they were recently sued by DaimlerChrysler for knocking off Jeep's grille on the H2. The H3 will be priced at $30,000. There is no telling whether customer input will boost sales or not. GM hopes the approach will cut 6 months and millions of dollars in the car design process.
8	3714	1988	Instead of using traditional scientific methods to find out where flaws originated in the hoods Budd made for Ford, they did just a few experiments and used Taguchi statistical methods to find the answer quickly.
9	5900	1996	Retailers who must be fast to market should gauge early customer appeal, with tests in different regions to account for regional variation. One successful high fashion retailer air-ships all items that have sold better than expected during tests.
10	5999	2003	Gap also uses the web to test-market new products, including petites at Banana Republic and maternity clothes at Gap and Old Navy.
11	7372	2004	In order to test a market, Sony would produce a small batch of 5,000 copies and test it in the market because they had the ability to manufacture in small batches and ramp up this manufacturing should it be necessary to do so. This was important since some hits in Japan would fail in the US or Europe and vice versa. A successful title could sell two million copies at $50 each so the cost of testing was small compared to the same cost in cartridge technology. This CD approach allowed Sony to have a more intelligent estimate of demand and shipping requirements.
12	8062	2007	As concern over antibiotic resistant bacteria increases, some hospitals are investing in expensive systems designed to identify sources of infections. Many hospitals have found that the systems are so effective in the prevention of hard to treat and deadly diseases that they pay for themselves. The systems can pull data from lab-test results and bedside monitors to track infections, allowing them to isolate ill patients. Patients can also be tested quickly and easily when they enter the hospital and isolated if they test positive.

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