IMPROVING TEST PROCESS DISCIPLINE: COMMON THEMES AND LESSONS FROM LEAN/SIX SIGMA PROJECTS

摘要

A major goal of the Titan launch vehicle program at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company was to provide for process improvement opportunities and employee certifications through the Lean/Six Sigma LM21 initiative. From 2001 through 2005, almost 100 Titan certification projects were completed resulting in over 200 certified personnel. More than 40% of these projects focused on one or more aspects of the verification process, resulting in test process discipline improvements, risk reduction, cycle time reduction and optimization of test sequences and system testing. This paper explores the common themes and lessons from those projects and analyzes the key sources of test process variation that were reduced or eliminated through effective use of Lean/Six Sigma tools and institutionalization of improvement strategies. Some of the sources of variation that were analyzed and improved by multiple projects include test sequence/flow, baseline entry/exit, checklists, personnel discipline, impact of multiple parties, calibration processes and test data adequacy. This paper will demonstrate that Lean/Six Sigma process improvement isn't limited to cost savings and cycle time reduction, but can be used as a tool to reduce risk to mission success.