Pragmatic Six Sigma

When one thinks of business processes, he or she generally thinks of a 6 sigma production process. However, business processes exist in many more places than just the production line. A process is simply making an output for customers from two or more inputs. The customers can be either internal or external. These outputs do not necessarily have to be physical and are often intellectual. Problem solving processes is one example of an intellectual output. The process of solving problems can change from one organization to the other. Some organizations choose brainstorming sessions whereas others choose interactive sessions. Another example of a process that does not produce a physical output is management processes.

Organizations choose different styles of management. Some organizations choose a relaxed management style, while others have rigid structures. Often times the management process correlates with the employees who work there. Knowledge workers usually have a more laid back management process, whereas production workers have rigid management based on specific working hours, breaks, and discipline. Finally, the production process is all the steps of making a product. The process generally spans from the supplier all the way to the customer. Production processes become rigid in organizations that produce the same product without change. The processes for businesses that make different or custom ordered end-products are generally more flexible. Either way the production process will include how to get the raw products from the suppliers, how to transform those raw supplies into a finished product, and how to get the finished product to customers.

Processes exist everywhere; in fact, just ordering food at a drive through involves several processes on the other end. Whoever takes the order has a process of communication, the kitchen has a process for making the food, and finally there is a certain process to package the food. Processes go beyond the professional world, sometimes processes become a part of everyday life. People use processes to prepare for work, shop for food, do laundry, and before bed. Processes are simply the way to achieve a desired outcome. Processes improve, are improvised, and sometimes get completely reorganized. Ultimately, processes keep everything from becoming unorganized chaos. Processes standardize the way inputs become outputs.

Categories: Case Studies

In this day of advanced technology where processes are done at the speed of thought, a highly efficient organization is important. An efficient organization is achieved by equipping personnel with the necessary skill and knowledge to deliver goods and services at least cost. At this time and in this sphere, Six Sigma training can address this need. This is true for any organization – whether it is for business, an educational institution or the military.

Using the curriculum for Six Sigma training helps an organization achieve its goals and objectives by defining the obstacle which it faces. It sees such obstacles as opportunities and challenges and not as hindrances. Important in defining the obstacle or problem is a person who leads the group and inspires its members to make the best of who they are and what they have. Such leaders have a vision to see a project to fruition. For the team to work together, they must identify which aims are achievable. In order for them to work towards that aim, they must be able to measure their performance as well as the variables that necessitate completion of a project.

When the aims have been identified, the team determines the processes which can ensure attainment of the aim. Members need to analyze which procedures are efficient and which alternatives can be pursued given the possible constraints. Leaders, or champions as they are called in Six Sigma parlance, must teach other leaders the ways of bringing out efficiency in an organization. Those taught, or belts, must already be familiar with project management so that there is a lively interaction among the members of the team. In this way, belts share their experiences and possible dilemmas with their mentors. This is also a way of improving existing processes and potential savings for the organization. Individuals also enhance their own knowledge and skills.

With the development of new and tailored processes, the desired outcome of those processes can be achieved. It is also easier to control the variables which may hold an influence on the outcomes. Even with a lean organization, larger and wider projects can be achieved because manpower is optimized.

Categories: Business

These days it just makes sense that more and more businesses are looking for ways to improve the process of their business and to offer their customers more. Let's face it, any good business owner knows point blank that they need to make sure the end result of their hardwork ensures that their customers are satisfied. The customer, after all, is the central point of any business and their satisfaction is what will make your business fly or fold.

The health care industry is one that is constantly looking to improve since for the most part it is the constant errors and inconsistency of the quality of care that lead to the loss of millions of dollars per month in this industry. Let's face it there are other businesses in which you may get away with poor service but in the health care industry if your customers are not getting the care they need they could wind up dead and that means more malpractice suits which leads to more costly health insurance and higher doctor's bills. These problems send health care costs soaring and while they may be simple to resolve most in the health care industry aren't really sure how to approach the process problems that they know they have.

In light of the necessity for change across the board many in the military as well as in other areas of health care have opted for Six Sigma implementation. Using this type of program most find it easier to target the specific changes that need to be made as well as to create a better overall customer experience.

In the health care industry, in particular making improvements is important to helping to further improve customer experience by reducing the number of errors that are currently occuring on a regular basis. These errors are costing the health care industry far too much money and as a result many have found that Six Sigma is the thing that they need to get the job done.

By using Six Sigma to refine customer experiences and to turn out a better and more quality product, not only are those in the industry itself benefiting but those that are the customers themselves. Six Sigma offers the opportunity to improve a variety of different businesses and has proven itself so effective in the health care industry that even government agencies and the military health care system have gone to using Six Sigma to attain the best possible results across the board.

Categories: Certifications

Believe it or not, it’s becoming easier than ever to ensure the financial validation of projects.

Yes, it’s true. Even in this day and age, validating financial projects accurately and effortlessly is not out of the question. Even more interesting is the fact there are a number of agencies which exist and can actually consult with businesses on how to better manage and financially validate any projects.

With that said, the Six Sigma Training website might just be one of the best options available when it comes to ensuring the financial validation of projects.

Quality improvement is an integral part of any business model. As scope of business is ever changing, staying up to date with current process is an absolute must for business owners, especially when it comes to the financial validation of a project.

With that said, Six Sigma Training’s website might just be one of the best resources available. Their site is not only user friendly, but also features a wide variety of information and resources pertaining financial validation and project management. Additionally, it should be noted the websites main function is to serve as a guide for process management, and in this case – processes to help assist with ensuring the financial validation of a project.

The great thing about taking advantage of Six Sigma Training’s website is they are among the best out there when it comes to not only examining solutions, but also checking to see who well they’ve done and then look further into adding improvements in order to work out any kinks.

The whole ideology behind Six Sigma Training is to place an emphasis on creating better process for businesses. As was previously stated, on such area Six Sigma specializes in is ensuring the financial validation of projects. Essentially, their goal is to make sure clients are making the best decisions possible when it comes to projects requiring a strong financial base.

Let’s face it. All too often a business will take the wrong approach when it comes to the financial management of projects. Validating whether or not the cost of a project is worth the amount of time, labor and money put into is absolutely vital to developing a successful process.

This is where Six Sigma Training can be useful. Their team can help guide business owners into developing the necessary process to help make their business more successful. Even better is the fact their training is easy to understand and efficient.

One of the best means of ensuring the financial validation of a project is by ensure the financial leader is correctly signing off on the actual savings from a project. During the control phase of a project, it’s up to the finance department to manage the reporting of metrics and any savings.

A metric should also be tracked long after a project is created. Such a responsibility should be placed on the shoulders of an authority leader; or, process owner if the duties are handed off by the project manager.

Categories: Case Studies

You spend a lot of money training your employees. How do you get the best possible return on training investment?

First, determine what you spend on training to calculate your return on training investment. If you pay a vendor to provide training, use the invoices as a base. If you train in-house, use payroll hours for the time spent preparing and delivering the training. Add in the payroll employees spend training and the cost of materials used. Use these expenses to figure your return on training investment.

Next, determine the value of the benefit from training to calculate your return on training investment. Increased productivity, eliminated mistakes, increased sales, fewer returns, etc. are examples of measurements that determine the benefit. Effective management reports will help to figure the return on training investment.

Use this formula to calculate your return on training investment:

Return on Training Investment (ROI) % = Benefit-Expenses/Expenses) x 100

Your return on training investment depends on five factors:

1. Cut training costs to boost the return on your training investment. Consider computer-based or online learning. Use on-the-job training to save on payroll. Record training to use more than once. Be creative to cut costs and improve return on training investment.
2. Maximize your return on training investment by using relevant training. Focus on specific skills and knowledge your employees need. Nothing drives down return on training investment faster than wasting time teaching unneeded skills.
3. Determine your training needs to get real value from your return on training investment. Analyze gaps in what your employees know and what they still need. Look at specific tasks.
4. Measure the results to improve your return on training investment. Track factors like time spent correcting errors, customer satisfaction, sales, etc. over time and compare them with before the training. Use the difference to determine the cost benefit and your return on training investment.
5. Use six sigma training effectively to improve your return on training investment. The 80/20 rule states that 20% of efforts produce 80% of results. Focus on training that has the biggest impact on your company’s results and your return on training investment will improve.

Good training not only helps your return on training investment but increases productivity, improves customer satisfaction, saves time and expenses, increase sales, and makes for happier employees. Follow these simple steps and you will get more from your return on training investment.

Categories: Methodologies

When you sell a product you know what you are producing but running a customer service based business is not nearly as clear cut as all that. After all, unlike in a manufacturing based business what you are producing is not tangible and from that standpoint it can offer some unique challenges.

There are only limited ways to assess the function of a customer service based business and when you are doing so you need to assess not only the customer's experience but you also must assess and evaluate the level of service being provided in accordance with what you believe it should be. One way that companies have found to truly assess the customer service experience is to offer independent evaluations of said experiences from a customer's perspective. Most companies do this in the form of secret shopping where and independent assessor will pose as a customer for the sole purpose of assessing their experience and letting the company know exactly what it was like to be in a customer's shoes.

When setting goals for a customer service based company it is best to make sure that you find out as much information as you can from your customers. Most companies use customer surveys and even reward customers for filling them out. Doing so provides customers with an incentive to provide the valuable feedback that a company needs in order to make the positive changes it needs to in order to improve customer experience.

There are of course many opportunities to assess customer experience. You can ask customers for feedback verbally, ask them to fill out phone surveys, or even provide them with a written questionaire. It is of course important that you make it as easy as possible for customers to provide feedback and therefore you will want to select customer inquiry forms that only require the customers to provide number answers or check boxes. This will provide the customer with just a brief inquiry that won't take them much time to get through. After all, you don't want to have your customers encumbered by a survey that is defeating the purpose.

Customer service based industries are a little more complicated to track then manufacturing based ones but understanding how your company is doing especially in the eyes of the customer will provide you with the information you need to ensure that you are meeting your goals. A company is only as successful as its customers are happy. And that is really something you can take to the bank.

Categories: Questions and Answers

When developing a mentoring process, whether it is for six sigma black belt development or any other purpose, the basic elements are the same. The foundation upon which the process is built is the working relationship between mentor and protégé. For this reason, mentors must be selective when choosing their protégés. By its very nature, mentoring involves giving and receiving with the mentor serving as giver and the protégé the receiver. As opposed to a teacher-student relationship in a classroom setting, the mentoring process consists primarily of a teacher and a single student. Consequently, the student must be chosen from among those whose needs and career goals match up with the mentor’s abilities. Since the mentor will be investing a considerable amount of time teaching and coaching, the arrangement should be one that produces the maximum return on the investment of time and effort. Success here results in both growth on the part of the student and fulfillment on the part of the teacher.

Expectations must be set at the beginning of the mentoring relationship to avoid a sense of failure on the part of either person involved. The mentor should expect excellence from the protégé. Anything less would be a disservice. This does not mean, however that perfection is to be expected. Rather it means the mentor is to recognize the inherent talents the protégé possesses and build on them to cultivate excellence. This, by nature, occurs over time and to become too impatient can only lead to discouragement. There is a fine line between making unreasonable demands and challenging an individual to become the best that he or she can be. Knowing the difference comes as the mentorship builds and the ability to communicate openly and honestly develops. There may be times when open communication becomes painful but carefully matching one person’s needs with another’s talents up front will go a long way in making sure any occasional pain does not destroy the relationship. Instead, it becomes a building block for bigger and better things.

Categories: Case Studies

Most business people in the business arena today have no doubt heard of the term Six Sigma, and terms associated with the discipline such as “green belt” or “black belt”. Understanding this concept may require an explanation for the average person, however, in or out of the business world. It is much more than a fancy title or lofty concept.

Six Sigma can trace its’ origin back to the Motorola Corporation in 1986. The overall general concept of Six Sigma is to improve the quality of the “output” product, whatever it might be, by reducing the causes of defects or errors before they have a chance to occur. In its’ infancy, Six Sigma was created for manufacturing processes, but has since mushroomed to cover applications in almost every field of business today. It was conceived by Motorola executive Bill Smith, who borrowed and incorporated various methodologies of previous business concepts, such as TQM (Total Quality Management) and Zero Defects.

The guiding principles behind Six Sigma are built behind the concept that “continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results are of vital importance to business success”, and that processes have certain characteristics that can be measured, documented, changed, and improved upon. The biggest factors that separate Six Sigma from other business improvement concepts are the fact that Six Sigma in fact focuses on measuring and quantifying results, and placing a great emphasis on leadership and infrastructure support.

The benchmark for a process to qualify as being 6 Sigma associated is a rate of 3.4 defects per million, as a manufacturing goal. In accomplishing these goals, many tools are utilized, such as analysis of variances, testing, experimenting, and training. The focus has been, and will continue to be, the measuring of data before and after concepts are implemented.

It is widely recognized in business today that Six Sigma and its’ concepts are a “must” for any corporation looking to improve on their quality and processes. One of its’ larger supporters, General Electric, has estimated receiving benefits from Six Sigma on the order of 10 billion in savings and return on investment during the first five years it was implemented . Six Sigma training is available throughout the world, and has a structure of various “degrees” that businesses try to achieve. It truly is worth the investment in time and money. Through the mentor program, any top flight executive can earn his "belt" with dedication to the concept.

Categories: Case Studies

In order to achieve sustained continuous improvement in any arena, involvement at shop floor level is critical. This holds true regardless of the 6 sigma organization type or nature of the project. The ideas discussed here not only relate to six sigma initiatives, but can be applied to safety, productivity, cost control, on time delivery, or anything else where improvement is desired . In today’s world, failure to improve will eventually lead to failure to stay in business.

Getting buy in from the associates on the shop floor will in itself overcome a number of obstacles. Consequently, giving thought to how the initiative is to be introduced may determine whether it is accepted willingly or resentfully. Associates must be shown that their knowledge is valuable and their ideas are not only welcomed but needed. They must understand that they are a part of the team. There can be no “us” and “them” if success is to be expected. There can only be “us”. Much like a sports team, the members fill different positions but each is necessary in order for the team to win.

The spirit of teamwork is not only vital in the implementation stage but necessary for sustainment as well. As with most initiatives, adjustments in the way tasks are carried out are necessary when things don’t go exactly as anticipated. A sense of ownership among the ranks will result in the determination to make the project work rather than writing it off as a lost cause. Each member comes to the table with a unique perspective drawn from the experiences of the past. Consequently, the odds are much greater that the needed breakthrough idea will come when all members are engaged. Management must realize that the real experts are the ones actually doing the job day after day and must regularly consult with them for ideas. Cultivating shop floor involvement on an ongoing basis will over time result in a change of culture. Once this is achieved, continuous improvement will become a way of life.

Categories: Case Studies

Could your business benefit from a Six Sigma certification? It could if you want to make sure the products you make are right every time. So if it's part of your business, could you benefit from it?

What is Six Sigma, first of all?

Six sigma derives from a mathematical model with practically no room for error. A sigma, which is also called a standard deviation, describes in detail the approximate fault rate. under normal circumstances, your error rate will be less than 5% with two sigma and 0.3% with three sigma. Business models, however, always accomodate for up to 1.5 sigma variation of the mean. So six sigma, with the variation, allows for an accuracy rate of approximately 99.99966%, or 3.4 defects per 1,000,000 items produced.

So what does it do with the business?

Six sigma basically works to reduce process variations and make sure that when you create a product, it's to a standard that any piece used can be safely installed without fear of defects.

It also determines that anyone who has a business process or a manufacturing process has some characteristic that either can be improved, measured or controlled.

Six Sigma states that a person can always improve the product, but this improvement needs to come from all levels, including top management. This is known in Japan as kaizen, or "continuous improvement".

So why would this be important?

When you include the six sigma training in your business plan, you are taking the initiative in saying that your products will be of such high quality and your employees will be well enough trained to identify when a problem arises and prevent it from occurring at all. Whether you use the DMAIC method for existing products or the DMADV method for new products, you are showing that you have a commitment to quality and defect free products.

Six Sigma training is best suited for companies with over 500 employees to show that they are serious about producing the best quality of items. It should be implemented in any company who considers management leadership and support of paramount importance.

In conclusion, a Six Sigma certification is used by huge companies like 3M, Amazon and Boeing in order to reduce customer service costs and the cost of redoing it by simply doing it right, right off the bat. In short, six sigma means business. And if you mean business, your company will benefit from six sigma training.

Categories: Questions and Answers

No matter the size of the company, no project will be completed successfully and on time unless the company's leaders are 100% behind it. They must not only be committed to it's success, they must champion it loudly, clearly and often. Important business activities must be directed from the top down. This doesn't mean micromanagement at all levels, it simply means commitment beginning at the top, flowing through all levels with each level's director in command.

For this to work, the business activity must be clearly defined by top management and communicated throughout the company. Following this, quantifiable objectives must be set at each level of the organization with the project's focus and requirements in mind.

Once the project has been launched, activity involved in all aspects of it needs to be audited each step of the way by someone outside of the project's parameters, not necessarily by someone or some firm outside of the business, but someone removed from the current business activity under way.

Each level of six sigma management needs to report on their progress on a regular basis, possibly monthly and at closer intervals as the project draws to conclusion. It is always the duty of management to make sure everyone involved in the project company wide is apprised of the progress of the activity and engaged in fighting for its success. None of this happens without the topmost leaders of the company fighting along with all those that have a part in it.

In many ways, running a successful company is like coaching a successful team. We are all tired of sports analogies, but there wouldn't be so much talk about it if there were nothing there. A coach of a successful football team knows he cannot depend on one player, he is coaching a team of eleven, not just one. For that team to win a game they must work together and be motivated to that kind of success by their leader, the coach. It may also be trite to say success breeds success, but it does.

Categories: Case Studies