Sigma Magic Help Version 15

True North

Overview

True North is like a compass that points an organization's lean deployment in the right direction. It might be viewed as a mission statement, a reflection of the purpose of the organization. It is a concise and universal set of ideals that provides a compass that transcends any particular organizational strategy. True North refers to what an organization should do not what it can do. It is an ideal state of perfection that a business should be continually striving towards. True North is a vision of the ideal condition both from a standpoint of the customer and the business. It should be simple, challenge the status quo, and guide the organization to make the right choices. The different elements of the True North statements should reinforce one another and help a business move towards the ideal state. This particular tool helps with a simple format for documenting the True North. Once a True North has been created, it has to be approved by management to ensure everyone aligns with the proposed statements, and then it should be rolled out to the entire organization. Ideally, every member of the company should be able to reel out the True North in their sleep.

To add this tool your workbook, click on Lean and then select True North.

Inputs

Click on Analysis Setup to open the menu options for this tool.

Setup

A sample screenshot of the setup menu is shown below.

1	Analysis Type: Specify the tool format for this analysis. This selection is not enabled since there is only one format available.
2	Num Tasks: Specify the number of rows of data you would like to enter on the worksheet. This information is used to format the worksheet. Note that any data below this formatted area will be cleared.
3	View Example: Click on this button to open the example file. You can view the example to get an idea of how to fill out this tool or you can use the example as a starting point and modify it to meet your project needs.
4	Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file on this topiic.
5	Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without saving any changes.
6	OK Button: Click on this button to save changes and update your analysis result

On the worksheet, you will need to enter the True North statements finalized by the team. The worksheet is broken up into common sections used for these statements such as:

• Safety & People
• Delivery
• Quality
• Financials

For each of these areas, you need to document some metrics and specific targets. It may help to capture the actual values but make sure that the targets are the ideal condition which may be hard to achieve.

Checklist

If you click on the Checklist button, you will see the following dialog box. The checklist contains a few pointers on things you need to pay particular attention to while performing this analysis. The checklist has been derived from experience working on past projects. Not all the checklist items need to apply to you. However, you should carefully review the checklist and apply any recommendations that make sense for your project. Make sure to read each checklist item and mark it as completed after you have read and taken actions as appropriate for your project.

Verify

If you click on the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the data you have entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below. The objective of this analysis as well as any checks that are performed is listed in this dialog box. For example, the software may check if you have correctly specified the input options and entered the required data on the worksheet. The results of the analysis checks are listed on the right. If the checks are passed, then they are shown as a green-colored checkmark. If the verification checks fail, then they are shown as a red-colored cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are shown in the orange color exclamation mark and finally, any checks that are required to be performed by the user are shown as blue info icons.

Outputs

Click on Compute Outputs to update the outputs. If you have answered all the questions in the input dialog box in the affirmative, then it is recorded as such on this worksheet. There are no specific outputs to interpret on the True North worksheet.

Notes

Here are a few notes regarding this analysis:

• If you modify the True North format but make sure you update the header information.

Examples

Following examples can be found in the Examples folder within the software.

• Select a business and create the True North statements for this business. Make sure to consider any existing Vision, Mission, and Values statements when you finalize your True North. An example of True North for Toyota is shown in the reference file (True North 1.xlsm).