Tag Archives: Six sigma

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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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 →

Posted in Public Sector, Six sigma | Tagged ,

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

Eight Essential Tools for Six Sigma

Posted on November 8, 2005 by John Hunter

Eight Essential Tools (link broken, so I removed the link) by Ron Snee, Quality Progress: In my experience, eight tools are used most frequently in Six Sigma projects – all eight use statistical thinking and methods. The tools are: process maps, cause and effect matrices (CE), failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), measurement system analysis (MSA), process capability studies, multi-vari studies, design of experiments (DOE) and process control plans. Ron is the co-author of 2 excellent books on Six Sigma: … Continue reading →

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Shackled by Bad Six Sigma?

Posted on October 13, 2005 by John Hunter

Shackled by Bad Six Sigma? [the broken link was removed] by Fred Mullavey, Quality Digest: Technical experts, customers and suppliers–both internal and external–all need to be involved, regardless of their department or discipline. When boundaries aren’t crossed in this manner, problems remain entrenched, and the Six Sigma effort fails.

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Box on Quality

Posted on October 11, 2005 by John Hunter

Dr. George Box is not as well known in the general management community as his ideas merit (in my biased opinion – photo of Bill Hunter and George Box). He is well know in the statistics field as one of the leading statistical minds. Box on Quality is an excellent book that gathers his essays from his 65th to 80th year. The book has just been issued in paperback (which helps as the hardback was pricey). While some of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design of Experiments, Management, Management Articles, Statistics | 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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SPC: History and Understanding

Posted on September 23, 2005 by John Hunter

SPC: From Chaos To Wiping the Floor [broken link removed 🙁 it will be nice when sites start to realize breaking links is not acceptable] by Lynne Hare (who also was the 1997 Hunter Award winner) Shewhart based control chart limits more on the economics of change than on underlying probabilities. Ever the empiricist, Shewhart seems not to have trusted probability limits alone. Setting control limits at 3 standard deviations is a decision based on experience. Shewhart, Deming and others … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Statistics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

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

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

Deming and Six Sigma

Posted on July 15, 2005 by John Hunter

The first Curious Cat Management Improvement blog post was on the Six Sigma and Deming Philosophies Recently the Deming Electronic Network has returned to this topic (broken link removed). The Quality Advisor web site has an article on this topic: Deming and Six Sigma (broken link so removed): The Six Sigma process can be seen to offer a parallel to Deming’s Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle, although Six Sigma brings experimental design and regression analysis to the forefront in the “plan” phase. Six … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Six sigma | Tagged , | 1 Comment