Help Manual

Contents






Sigma Magic Help Version 18

Work Combination

Overview

A work combination chart can show the breakdown of activities in a process. It shows the start and end times for each step in the process, along with the overall TAKT time for this process. This chart can then be used to further improve the process by eliminating or minimizing the non-value-added steps.

To add this tool to your workbook, click on Lean and then select Work Combination.

Inputs

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

Setup

A sample screenshot of the setup menu is shown below.
inputs
1
Analysis Type: Specify the tool format for this analysis. This selection is not enabled since there is only one format available.
2
Num Steps: Specify the number of steps in your process. This information is used to reformat your worksheet and create a table for data entry. Note that any data below this table will be cleared.
3
Completion Time: Enter the TAKT time. The TAKT time worksheet can be used to calculate the TAKT time. The TAKT time is the time available to complete all the process steps defined for this study.
4
Time Units: Enter the TAKT time units. Select the right units for this time that make sense for your process.
5
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.
6
Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file on this topic.
7
Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without saving any changes.
8
Create Design: If this is your first time using this template, click this button to format the worksheet template. You can also update the worksheet format any time, but remember that you may lose any data entered on this worksheet. Once you are happy with the worksheet template layout, you must enter any required data on the worksheet. When the data entered into the worksheet is complete, you can click on Analysis Setup and then Compute Outputs to generate analysis results.
9
Analyze Design: Click on this button to save all changes and compute the outputs for this analysis. Review the results of your analysis and make changes to your inputs if required to update analysis results.
A sample screenshot of the worksheet is shown below.
outputs On the worksheet, enter the details of your process.
NumDescription
1Enter the description of the details for each process step.
2Identify if the step is Value Added (VA) or Non Value Added (NVA). If a step contains both VA and NVA elements, try to break it down further so that the step is either VA or NVA.
3Enter the step duration in hh:mm: ss format. This number can be obtained from the time-study worksheet.
4The start and end times are automatically calculated, assuming the steps progress sequentially. If some steps are being done in parallel, you must manually adjust the start and stop times.

Charts

You will see the following dialog box if you click the Charts button. Charts
1
Title: The system will automatically pick a title for your chart. However, if you want to override that with your title, you can specify a title for your chart here. Note that this input is optional.
2
Sub Title: The system will automatically pick a subtitle for your chart. However, if you want to override that with your subtitle, specify a subtitle for your chart here. Note that this input is optional.
3
X Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your label for the x-axis, you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional.
4
Y Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your label for the y-axis, you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional.
5
X Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the x-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to determine the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20, the minimum x-axis scale is set at 10, and the maximum x-axis scale is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then, in addition to minimum and maximum values, the x-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is currently disabled, and you cannot change this setting.
6
Y Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the y-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to determine the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20, the minimum y-axis scale is set at 10, and the maximum y-axis is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then, in addition to minimum and maximum values, the y-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is currently disabled, and you cannot change this setting.
7
Horizontal Lines: If you want to add a few extra horizontal reference lines on top of your chart, you can specify the values here. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colons. For example, if you specify 12;15, then two horizontal lines are plotted at Y = 12 and Y = 15, respectively. Note that this input is currently disabled, and you cannot change this setting.
8
Vertical Lines: You can specify the values here if you want to add a few extra vertical reference lines on top of your chart. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 2;5, two vertical lines are plotted at X = 2 and X = 5, respectively. Note that this input is optional.

Verify

If you click the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the data you entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below. Verify The software checks 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, they are shown as green-colored checkmarks. If the verification checks fail, they are shown as a red-colored cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are shown in the orange exclamation mark, and finally, any checks that are required to be performed by the user are shown as blue info icons.
1
Item: The left-hand side shows the major tabs and the items checked within each section
2
Status: The right-hand side shows the status of the checks.
3
Overall Status: The overall status of all the checks for the given analysis is shown here. The overall status check shows a green thumps-up sign if everything is okay and a red thumps-down sign if any checks have not passed. Note that you cannot proceed with generating analysis results for some analyses if the overall status is not okay.

Outputs

Click on Compute Outputs to update the output calculations.
outputs You can look at the chart to determine whether your total cycle time is less than the TAKT time. If so, your process is capable of meeting customer demand. If the total cycle time is more significant, you may need to reduce this time to meet the TAKT time. You can also look at the VA and NVA activities and perform a Kaizen event to minimize the total NVA time. Once you perform a Kaizen and improve the process, you must create a new work combination chart for the new method. If the analysis is completed successfully, the following message box is displayed: outputs 2

Examples

The following examples are in the software's Examples folder.
  • Create a work-combination chart for the data shown in the Time Study case. (Work Combination 1.xlsx)