Category: Basics
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Six Sigma – A Socio-Technical System
Published:Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM) and its variants are now widespread in American business. Yet many executives raise serious questions about the their value. Fortune magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Business Week have all presented examples of serious failures. Several recognized Six Sigma companies have experienced financial troubles. On a more personal level, […]
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Breakthrough Change: What It Means and Why It Is Needed
Published:Breakthrough. It sounds good. It even sounds like something everyone should support. The problem, however, comes when people are asked to define breakthrough. There is almost always a slight pause, or in some cases a long one, that says they are not certain what it means. To understand what breakthrough means and why it is […]
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Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) vs. DMAIC: What’s the Difference?
Updated:One of the most confusing issues associated with someone saying “I’m using Six Sigma” has to do with what methodology they are actually using. A majority of the time they are using the DMAIC methodology, because they have existing processes that are wasting resources (hence the big savings you’ve heard about at GE, Honeywell and […]
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Ask the Expert: The Topic – Large and Small Deployments
Published:Joe De Feo, President and Executive Coach at Juran Institute, offers his views on deploying Six Sigma in large and small companies alike.
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Six Sigma Q&A
Published:Learning the Six Sigma methodology can be confusing. Even if you know the Six Sigma methodology, questions arise from co-workers or in daily activities and answers may not be readily available. To help with this problem, iSixSigma has compiled a list of questions that have been posed on the discussion forum. Below are the five […]
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What Makes Six Sigma Work?
Published:Some consultants are earning seven figure salaries, CEOs of large companies are claiming billions of dollars saved, conferences, books, and seminars are popping up everywhere, and yet one can argue that there isn’t much new about Six Sigma that we didn’t have with TQM. Is Six Sigma just the latest management buzzword or is Six […]
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Quantify the Benefits of Six Sigma Projects
Published:Create Six Sigma project charters that are compelling to business leaders by capturing all quantifiable benefits of eradicating a business problem. This checklist will help you do so.
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Is This a Six Sigma, Lean or Kaizen Project?
Published:This is a familiar question that is often addressed by organizations. In fact, it is the wrong question. These concepts are nothing more than tools in your management toolbox. You don’t fix a watch with a hammer, and you get the same results when you deploy Six Sigma, Lean and Kaizen incorrectly. The fact is, […]
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Six Sigma Basics: DMAIC Like Normal Problem Solving
Published:What is the usual way most people go about solving problems? Most people and organizations consciously or unconsciously use this method, as illustrated in Table 1 below. Table 1: Normal Method of Problem Solving Step Example 1. Understand what is to be improved and set a goal I am too fat. I want to reduce […]
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Achieving Breakthroughs by Using Policy Deployment
Published:Some companies approach strategic planning in a way that lends ammunition to those who would question its purpose. Typically, during strategic planning time, executives sequester themselves in a retreat-like setting armed with sales and market projections and some semblance of customer input. The output of this event is a nice, bound presentation that sits on […]
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Managing for Results Using a Lean Six Sigma Strategy – A Conversation with Nick Brownrigg, Chief Executive Officer of Masterlease
Published:In a conversation with iSixSigma, Nick Brownrigg, the chief executive officer of Masterlease Group, offers his views on managing for results through Lean Six Sigma and Line-of-Sight™ strategy deployment. iSixSigma: Tell us about your business and the competitive challenges you face? Mr. Brownrigg: We provide full vehicle leasing services to businesses and public sector organizations […]
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Using the Five W’s and One H Approach to Six Sigma
Published:5W1H (who, what, where, when, why, how) is a method of asking questions about a process or a problem taken up for improvement. Four of the W’s (who, what, where, when) and the one H is used to comprehend for details, analyze inferences and judgment to get to the fundamental facts and guide statements to […]
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Middle-out Change Is Difficult – But Doable
Published:There are many stories written about successful top-down change, but few about successful middle-out change – probably because the latter is much more difficult to achieve than the former. Sometimes, however, middle-out change is the only option – and with the right leader, success is possible. The following story, which took place at a North […]
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Customer CTQs – Defining Defect, Unit and Opportunity
Updated:In order for any process capability to accurately be calculated, one must properly define and quantify the process defect, unit and opportunity of a customer CTQ. This article defines the three terms, as well as provides examples.
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Aligning Six Sigma with Objectives and Strategies
Published:In a well-managed business that has implemented Six Sigma, the organization’s objectives and strategies and continuous improvement are all closely aligned. Organizational objectives enhance the efficacy and importance of Six Sigma initiatives. And Six Sigma specialists can play an integral role in ensuring the execution of strategy. In many organizations, however, there seems to be […]
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Work Design and Six Sigma: Improve Jobs and Processes
Published:The business world keeps revisiting the concept of a high-performance organization, often coining some new phrase or slogan to describe it. Regardless of its newest label or the guru touting its latest incarnation, high performance has virtually always meant achieving a hard-to-sustain combination of six critical elements: High profitability World-class service Accountability Simple workflow Customer-centered […]
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Define and Control: Bridge Between Business and Project
Published:Initially Six Sigma process improvement projects followed four phases: Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. Today, some companies still omit the Define phase because a project’s definition is seen as mainly management work. Following this logic, the same might be true for Control: ensuring that the process improvements are implemented and monitored is only a business […]
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Best of Benchmarking Research: Tools and Methods
Published:From the inception of iSixSigma Magazine, a regular feature of the publication has been exclusive research on aspects of deploying Six Sigma. The topics benchmarked have ranged from “Black Belt Return on Investment” in the inaugural issue, January/February 2005, to “The Lean Six Sigma Toolset” in November/December 2009. In addition, the magazine reports each year […]
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Assessing for Lean Six Sigma Implementation and Success
Published:Successful corporate initiatives such as Lean Six Sigma require proper planning, prioritization, resource allocation, budgeting, training, and proper review and reward mechanics. These initiatives also must consider the stability, accuracy and maturity of the core processes, measurement systems and the people they will affect. In most organizations there is a wide range of both experience […]
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A Roadmap for Deploying Six Sigma in Small Businesses
Published:Many Six Sigma experts have expressed doubt that Six Sigma can be used effectively in small, or even in some medium-sized, organizations. However, while the approach to deployment must be modified, it is possible for small businesses to successfully implement Six Sigma. Here is how. At the outset, several givens must be in place: The […]
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Six Sigma Tools Still Fit in Projects Lacking Data
Published:No data? No problem! The Lean Six Sigma process provides an excellent framework for all types of projects, even when there is little or no data.
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Follow a Structured Approach to Continuous Improvement
Published:The need to deploy a continuous improvement (CI) program is greater than ever. In the global financial meltdown, companies must find ways to produce goods and services cheaper, faster and better, while continuously delighting customers. In an effort to catch up, companies may be tempted to launch extensive training programs or start multiple improvement projects […]
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Aligning Six Sigma with Organizational Strategies
Published:Demonstrating clear alignment between Six Sigma projects and a healthcare organization’s strategic imperatives, vision or mission has been an elusive exercise for many organizations. Judging from a random sampling of web sites and hospital lobbies, most mission statements represent variations on a theme and relate to common issues such as clinical quality, cost management, service […]
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8 Basics of Lean Six Sigma for Manufacturing Firms
Published:It takes more than quick fixes, outsourcing and downsizing to consistently achieve growth and profit objectives. For companies to grow, they need to master eight basics of Lean Six Sigma.
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