7 steps to 3P heaven

There’s a tool which is used within Lean but doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. It’s 3Ps, which stands for:

• production
• preparation, and
• process.

How does 3P work?
Seven steps to getting 3P to installed in your company are:

1. Define Product or Process Design Objectives/Needs: The team seeks to understand the core customer needs that need to be met. If a product or product prototype is available, the project team breaks it down into component parts and raw materials to assess the function that each plays.
2. Diagraming: A fishbone diagram or other type of illustration is created to demonstrate the flow from raw material to finish product. The project team then analyzes each branch of the diagram (or each illustration) and brainstorms key words (e.g., roll, rotate, form, bend) to describe the change (or “transformation”) made at each branch.
3. Find and Analyze Examples in Nature: The project team then tries to find examples of each process keyword in the natural world. For example, forming can be found in nature when a heavy animal such as an elephant walks on mud, or when water pressure shapes rocks in a river. Similar examples are grouped and examples that best exemplify the process key word researched to better understand how the examples occur in nature. Here, team members place heavy emphasis on how nature works in the example and why. Once the unique qualities of the natural process are dissected, team members then discuss how the natural process can be applied to the given manufacturing process step.
4. Sketch and Evaluate the Process: Sub-teams are formed and each sub-tea member is required to draw different ways to accomplish the process in question. Each of the sketches is evaluated and the best is chosen (along with any good features from the sketches that are not chosen) for a mock-up.
5. Build, Present, and Select Process Prototypes: The team prototypes and then evaluates the chosen process, spending several days (if necessary) working with different variations of the mock-up to ensure it will meet criteria.
6. Hold Design Review: Once a concept has been selected for additional refinement, it is presented to a larger group (including the original product designers) for feedback.
7. Develop Project Implementation plan: If the project is selected to proceed, the team selects a project implementation leader who helps determine the schedule, process, resource requirements, and distribution of responsibilities for completion.

Are there other benefits?
3P also helps you build an entire business case for a new product process before any capital has been invested. And it can help you to accurately predict what your costs and quality will be, long before any production begins. It can purge a great deal of waste from the supply chain and help suppliers protect profit margins while meeting cost-down targets.

Do you use 3P?