Randy Woods

A U.K.-based manufacturer of electrical and electronic assemblies has attained Six Sigma manufacturing quality levels of 99.97 percent following the installation of fully automated, custom designed wire processing machinery at its factory in the West Midlands. A gradual, phased implementation of automated production machines over the last 10 years – coupled with PP Electrical Systems’ […]

According to the report from Changefirst, more than 40 percent of change managers believe at least a third of the financial gains could be attributable to change management activities alone. This means that, after nine months, for every £1 spent on change management these organisations were getting £6.50 as a return.

By Elaine Schmidt Headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Hertel has operations in more than 20 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The company offers construction, maintenance, modification and dismantling solutions at client sites, such as on- and off-shore oil and gas facilities, power plants and other specialized facilities. For Hertel employees, process […]

A new white paper, co-authored by Professor Alan Braithwaite, estimates that data inaccuracy among the top five retailers and their suppliers is costing as much as £1.4 billion per year – 1 percent of total revenue, and a considerably higher figure than previously estimated.

William Stone, a veteran of 27 years in OEM and tier-one automotive manufacturing, has been hired as the quality director of Grote Industries. Stone will lead the quality management team for the manufacturer and marketer of vehicle safety systems products.

As rising industrial production drives the economic recovery, leading manufacturers detailed their successful rebound strategies at the 25th annual International Forum on Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) in Providence, R.I.

Hard as it is to believe, July 4th is almost here, which means that the deadline for submissions for iSixSigma’s Best Places to Work – Monday, July 26, 2010 – is drawing near. Therecognition is an excellent opportunity for companies and employees to celebrate the strength of their Six Sigma programs. The purpose of iSixSigma’s […]

Rucker and Associates Inc. today announced the addition of Bonnie Smith to the consulting firm. Smith is a sought-after, dynamic speaker and author of numerous articles on the integration of Lean and Six Sigma. She joins Rucker with more than 15 years of experience, having played a pivotal role in creating the synthesis of Lean […]

What is the best way to gain buy-in at a manufacturer that is resistant to culture change? iSixSigma spoke with Zack Chehaitli, Master Black Belt and director of continuous improvement for Sea Ray Boat Group, about his experience with Lean Six Sigma and how he helped bring continuous improvement principles to the boat manufacturing industry […]

Kimberly-Clark announced that it has named Jan Spencer, currently president of Kimberly-Clark Professional, as its new senior vice president, continuous improvement, sourcing and sustainability, according to a company press release.

During its graduation ceremony last week, UC Irvine Extension recognized Volkswagen de Mexico with its Partnership Award. This honor is bestowed on an organization that maintains a top-quality educational relationship with the institution.

When facing an imminent layoff, what path should Six Sigma professionals with a technical background take to get into the information technology (IT) arena? This topic was brought up in a recent online conversation on the iSixSigma Discussion Forums. The suggestions included getting familiar with the capability maturity model (CMM), joining an IT organization, becoming […]

Last year, business process outsourcing firm Firstsource, based in Mumbai, India, was one of the participants in the iSixSigma Live! Summit & Awards program in the Most Successful Start-up category. Recently, iSixSigma caught up with Chandeep Singh, Executive Vice President, Process Excellence and Workforce Management, at Firstsource to discuss some of the recent accomplishments of […]

In an exchange on the iSixSigma Discussion Forums, a representative from a telecommunications firm was interested in learning about what methods are best to improve forecast accuracy at the company’s call center. After some discussion about defining the goals of the project, the responding Six Sigma experts then offered their views about using such tools […]

Until recently, the flow of management and strategy know-how was one-way; it was India that absorbed business models, technology and management systems from foreign corporations and institutions. As “India Inc.” raced to globalize and global companies sought to exploit the country’s low-cost talent pool, such industrialized-economy concepts as Kaizen, The Toyota Way, Six Sigma and […]

The Telefónica team of Buenos Aires, Argentina, took top honors, winning the Gold Award in the 25th International Team Excellence Award Process at the 2010 American Society for Quality’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement, held May 24–26, in St. Louis, Mo.

The rumbling and ash plumes have subsided for now over Europe’s skies, but the echoes from April’s Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in Iceland are still being felt throughout the Lean supply-chain structures of the continent and across the globe.

Roughly a year ago, plastics company PolyOne Corp., located near Cleveland, Ohio, USA, was flirting with bankruptcy. Saddled with high rising material and energy costs, excess inventory problems, production delays, and the crippling global economic downturn, PolyOne looked to a bleak 2009 after suffering $273 million in losses in 2008. In February of this year, […]

By Jeffry J. Smith How can practitioners create a rigorous accounting method for measuring the financial benefits from their Six Sigma projects? The key here is being able to translate measured operational benefits into dollars, either in the form of cost reduction, inventory reduction or a revenue increase. The following five areas should be measured […]

Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted patent rights to MoreSteam.com for inventions developed by MoreSteam’s President, Bill Hathaway.

Awards season is officially open for the iSixSigma Live! Awards, which recognize Six Sigma projects and programs that have demonstrated breakthrough results and people who have made significant contributions to the Six Sigma community.

PolyOne Corp. — an Avon Lake, Ohio-based firm that ranks as North America’s largest compounder — on Feb. 4 reported a full-year 2009 profit of almost $68 million. The firm had reported a loss of almost $273 million in 2008. The improvement occurred even as the firm’s 2009 sales fell 25 percent to about $2.1 […]

Robert Weiner, a recognized Lean Six Sigma expert and CEO of North Kansas City-based PAS Technologies, died on Tuesday.

Royal Philips Electronics subsidiary Assembléon is cutting New Product Introduction (NPI) time on its A-Series pick & place equipment by 30 percent.