Category Archives: Six sigma

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Posted on March 1, 2006 by John Hunter

What is Lean Six Sigma? – slides from a presentation [the broken link was removed] at MAQIN [the broken link was removed] (Madison Area Quality Improvement Network). FYI, I manage MAQIN’s web site [make that, I used to manage – I wouldn’t have allowed broken links to be created if I was still responsible for the site] and author this blog – John Hunter. I rarely link to slide presentations, but when the slides seem interesting enough I do link … Continue reading →

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Six Sigma and the Mobile Workforce

Posted on February 20, 2006 by John Hunter

Six Sigma and the Mobile Workforce [the broken link was removed] by Lynda Finn and Sue Reynard: This type of data collection also helps process owners or managers spot systemic problems that appear across processes. For example, a process owner reviewing all field agent reports may detect problems appearing in more than one location. Now, a fix made in one location can be incorporated into MTA based systems so all agents will benefit immediately. This type of systemic leveraging of … Continue reading →

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Army – Lean Six Sigma

Posted on February 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Army Adopting Lean Six Sigma [the broken link was removed] “We’ve already identified well over 20 processes that are Army-wide processes that we want to take on using Lean Six Sigma. . . We’re on the very beginning of making Lean Six Sigma, and the disciplined approach that comes with that, a major part of the way the Army does business,” said Maj. Gen. Ross Thompson III, Army G-8. The Army Materials Command has long practiced Quality Management methods. Red … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Public Sector, Six sigma | Tagged ,

Leading Six Sigma

Posted on February 8, 2006 by John Hunter

Leading Six Sigma [the broken link was removed]: Launching the Initiative by Roger W. Hoerl and Ronald D. Snee. An excerpt, of a chapter of their book, Leading Six Sigma: A Step-by-Step Guide Based on Experience with GE and Other Six Sigma Companies discussing the deployment process for Six Sigma. The project must be tied to the bottom line in some way. The project scope should be for improvements that are attainable in the four to six month time frame. … Continue reading →

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Agility vs. Six Sigma

Posted on January 8, 2006 by John Hunter

My response to the agilemanagement list: I agree with David Anderson [the broken link was removed], in this thread [this broken link was also removed], as well as pretty much everything else actually. If I understand his writing correctly I am probably a bit more critical of how Six Sigma is actual practiced, but that is fairly minor difference of opinion. I have posted a couple item on managing innovation You manage processes, such as thinking up a new way … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Process improvement, Six sigma | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lean and Six Sigma in India BPO

Posted on January 7, 2006 by John Hunter

Via Panta Rei, Business Process Outsourcing, Meet Value Engineering [the broken link was removed], Measure for Measure [the broken link was removed] Dedicated Six Sigma, Lean and Reengineering teams continuously spot and improve processes for Genpact as well as its customers. Supported by 500-plus Six Sigma Black Belts and Master Black Belts, 150 Lean Coaches, these teams have implemented 400-plus breakthrough improvements, 3,000-plus Kaizen improvements that enhanced productivity by 6-8 per cent year-on-year. Genpact shares these benefits with customers,” says … Continue reading →

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Selecting Six Sigma Black Belts

Posted on December 27, 2005 by John Hunter

A Question of Balance by Jim Bossert and Larry Krynski, Quality Digest. The articles explores attributes needed by black belts: personal, technical ability, training, experience, aptitude and culture. “This article examines “each attribute to see how it contributes to selecting the right candidate. Organizations can use the information when interviewing candidates, knowing that whomever they select will contribute to the success of their Six Sigma projects.”

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Six Sigma Government for Liberia?

Posted on December 22, 2005 by John Hunter

Using Six Sigma to Reinvigorate Public Corporations by Andre Pope There must be a national policy that spells out the performance metrics for public corporations. The NPCC will then be charged to evaluate the performance of each public corporation on a quarterly basis. These evaluations will then become benchmarks for judging progress and improvement. Unfortunately often in government even once good measures are set, see Millennium Development Goals, things still fail. Still this is a good goal. Oregon has done … Continue reading →

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Six Sigma Hospitality

Posted on December 10, 2005 by John Hunter

The Six Sigma Syndrome [the broken link was removed] by Saurabh Jaggi Starwood has run over 3000 projects worldwide to date in areas such as productivity, menu re-design, resort concierge, email marketing and launching a worldwide sales initiative. Another of its chain of hotels, The Westin Turnberry resort in Scotland won the IQPC’s 5th Annual European Six-Sigma summit in London in April 2004. It won the European award in the category ‘Design for Six Sigma’ for a reservation project.

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Management Improvement Flavors

Posted on November 27, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing Visionary Jim Womack On Frontiers Of Lean Thinking [broken link has been removed], webcast and additional questions and answers: Question: For a firm seeking to improve — what comes first? Six Sigma quality or lean implementation? James Womack: Agh! These are all the same thing. You need to start with the value stream for every product, draw a map of its current state, and ask about each step: Is it valuable? Is it capable? Is it available? Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, quote, Six sigma, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Be Thankful for Lean Thinking

Posted on November 22, 2005 by John Hunter

Topics: Management Improvement and Economics The Dallas Federal Reserve white paper, Supply Chain Management: The Science of Better, Faster, Cheaper [the broken link was removed] by Thomas F. Siems provides a macroeconmic view of what to be thankful due to the practice of lean thinking: Through better information engineering, supply chain improvements have resulted in a reduced bullwhip effect, lower inventory levels, reduced logistics costs, and streamlined payments. These improvements appear to have helped produce macroeconomic benefits such as more … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Six sigma | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Government Lean Six Sigma

Posted on November 9, 2005 by John Hunter

Deep Thinkers [the broken link was removed] by Kimberly Palmer, GovExec.com: “This is not a fad that will die out. It’s been tried, it’s been tested, it’s true. If you look at the best-run companies in industry, this is part of the heart and soul that’s making them successful,” says Mark Price, president of George Group Federal Services, part of Dallas-based George Group Consulting. Unfortunately I would have to say the article does strike me as talking about fadish behavior … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Management, Public Sector, quote, Six sigma | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Statistical Techniques for Quality

Posted on October 2, 2005 by John Hunter

A new book, Quality Engineering Applications of Statistical Design, by T. N. Goh [the broken link was removed], was recently published by Wiley. Links to three previous articles by the author are provided below. Improving on the Six Sigma Paradigm [the broken link was removed] As six sigma has taken the business world by storm in the past 15 years, many organizations have focused on acquiring and implementing the DMAIC methodology with performance benchmarks defined by “sigma levels”. However, after … Continue reading →

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Deming and Six Sigma

Posted on September 7, 2005 by John Hunter

My message in response to messages on Six Sigma [broken link has been removed] on the Deming Electronic Network: I think the DEN members criticizing the problems with Six Sigma make valid points. However, I personally think they often go too far. That is my opinion, and each of us have our own views. While some (probably even many) of the Six Sigma exhortations for Six Sigma quality would properly be seen as a slogan or a target without a … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Six sigma | Tagged | 4 Comments

Six Sigma Pitfalls

Posted on September 7, 2005 by John Hunter

Six-Sigma Pitfalls [the broken link was removed] by Marc S. Morrison, Industry Week. Are Differences In Implementation Creating Different Results? In a word, yes. While an amazingly simple idea, people seem to forget this quite often. When people say “Six Sigma is great” or “Six Sigma is a waste” often they are talking about different things. But because in both instances “Six Sigma” is used people believe that the meaning must be the same in both cases. It often isn’t. … Continue reading →

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Has Six Sigma been a failure?

Posted on August 20, 2005 by John Hunter

My response to the message, Has Six Sigma been a failure? (broken link was removed) on the Deming Electronic Network email list (DEN). I think Six Sigma has been a success. Do I think it the best option? No, I would prefer a Deming based approach. But I think Six Sigma can be a successful improvement strategy. Like most any management strategy, many applying it do so poorly (hacks as Deming would say). But if most any DEN participant worked … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Six sigma, Statistics | Tagged , , | 9 Comments