Achieving optimal performance Lean Principles and Practices

EGRM 6639 ESSAY Responses. Answer each questions completely and succintly. Enter responses to all

questions on BB in the space provided. (DO NOT ATTACH DOCUMENT). Label each question number with your

response. Make sure your reponses are clear and readable. Thank you.

Affordable housing is not a new concept now, it has become a very crucial part of the developing real estate

sectors. It is not only an ambitious mission to be achieved, it is the need of the hour in many developing

countries. A roof over the head is a basic necessity and making homes affordable is the only way to make it

possible for everyone. Many governments are taking major steps in the direction. One such method is Value

Engineering.Value Engineering The Mantra of Cost-Cutting in Construction Industry. What is Value Engineering?

Value Engineering is the systematic way of reducing the costs involved in construction of projects while

maintaining the superior quality of the resulting product. In a quest to offer something unique and better than

their competitors, builders try to use high-grade raw material of construction. This only adds exorbitant costs to

the process but the end result is not very satisfactory. This is where Value Engineering comes into play. It

segregates the reasons behind high costs of large-scale construction and devises a proper planning to cut down

those costs. It is not only concerned about the techniques of construction, but starts right from planning and

designing, this is why sometimes it is also referred as ‘Value Management’. A vigilance over the planning phase

could save 15-20%. Value engineering focuses on the development of innovative methods of construction that

will be very helpful in overcoming the ambiguities in the construction industry and solving the same through a

set of creative alternatives. Increased productivity, cost reduction and quality end product are the three main

advantages of value engineering. Under affordable housing, builders are expected to provide the trending

residential housing options at a defined price limit. So, instead of using the higher grade elements, developers

can resort to value engineering to increase productivity at the same cost. When unnecessary costs are cut down,

construction will become less costly,thus the end product will be more affordable. Value engineering is the

futuristic method of changing the face of real estate.

Q1a- Describe the overall steps a Lean consultant focusing on value engineering.

Q1b- For this affordable housing case, list each step in detail and include hypothetical outcomes based on the

Q2 - Consider a process / product / routine failure from your personal or professional life. Conduct and

document the 5 why's analysis method. Make sure you search for a meaningful example to substantiate clear

and crisp points for the 5 why's. What was your learning in conducting this analysis?

The histogram shows the efficiency level (in miles per gallons) of 110 Honda Accord cars.

Q3a- How many cars have have an efficiency between 15 and 20 miles per gallon?

Q3b- How many cars have have an efficiency more than 20 miles per gallon?

Q3c- What percentage of cars have have an efficiency less than 20 miles per gallon?

Q3d- Suppose we have another 100 Honda Civic cars with available data for mileage effciency. Would it be

helpful to update the historgram provided or would it be better to create a new histogram? Why or why not.

Explain your answer thoughtfully.

You have been recently hired as a Lean consultant by a Hotel owner who is experiencing some issues with

complaints from patrons. The owner would like your help in analyzing the problem so that he can better

understand where to focus on first. He has shared with you some data regarding the complaints.

Q4a - Use one of the tools you have learnt about in class thus far to analyze the problem and steer the Hotel

owner in the right direction. Since the Hotel owner has limited resources, he would be very pleased if he could

focus on three key areas. Which areas should he focus his attention on first and what would be the net potential

impact? While you DO NOT need to show / attach any visuals, you are expected to use the tool, analyze the

result, and then describe what you did and your analysis.

Q4b- Do your proposed efforts pass a sanity check? In other words, do the top problems really stand out as

most important for the Hotel owner and his customers?

We discussed the Kaizen Incremental Improvement "S" Curve in class (see below). As all curves, this "S" curve

has a changing slope. Now consider two processes a)The process of making a fresh cup of Indian Masala Tea

(gosh we spent a ton of time in class discussing this process too funny! But if you don't remember or were not

present, you may research a receipe on the internet) and b)The process of brushing your teeth each day (gosh

we did not discuss this in class, but I am hoping everyone in the class is an expert on this process. (lets hope!

ha!)).