Category: Energy

Nearly 150 change management professionals representing more than 60 companies in the oil & gas and utilities sectors attended the 2011 iSixSigma Live! Energy Forum for Process Excellence on May 16-19 in Houston. Those attendees came from 19 states and eight countries (United States, plus Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Thailand and the United […]

One of the “holy grails” of continuous process improvement is the reliable collection and analysis of real-time data. At Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the largest utilities in the United States, this fine level of data is being given not only to the process improvement teams, but to their customers, as well, in the […]

Wark will be presenting on the role of the CSB and the lessons learned from its investigations during a keynote address at iSixSigma’s Energy Forum for Process Excellence on May 17 in Houston. In an interview with iSixSigma Senior Editor Kirsten Terry, Wark offered a preview of some of the topics he will cover during […]

With assistance from Spanish wind-turbine manufacturer Gamesa, nonprofit foundation Tekniker and several other European technology firms, COSMOS seeks increases in turbine quality, as well as lower costs and faster manufacturing times, according to a release from Ibermática. According to the COSMOS consortium, many European turbine assembly operations involve both manual labor and work done by […]

Top process improvement professionals in the energy sector met recently at the 2010 iSixSigma Live! Energy Forum for Process Excellence, May 24-27, in Houston. Presentations covered a broad range of topics – from innovation to leadership and getting started to giving back. Each of the topics was tailored to the specific needs of professionals in […]

From environmentalleader.com Businesses today generally understand they need to do as much as possible to conserve energy and water, reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize their environmental impact overall. Societal pressures from customers, increasing regulation and economics all make this a fact of life for them. Most are taking steps to address these […]

At the iSixSigma Live! 2009 Energy Forum for Process Excellence, leaders from across the energy industry shared how they are implementing process improvement efforts at their organizations. Some common questions and lessons learned – about methodology, implementation and benefits – came up over the course of the three-day event. Here are a few highlights. Combining […]

Again and again, culture change comes up as one of the most important aspects of a successful Six Sigma deployment. Yet effecting culture change is one of the most difficult parts to master. Almost 50 percent of respondents to a 2007 iSixSigma survey said their company was far from achieving its desired culture change (“Organizational […]

“Train and hope for the best.” Acting on that tenuous proposition, a small group of Chevron Corp. employees initiated a business unit deployment of Six Sigma eight years ago. The odds that it would spread enterprise wide were not good. But fueled by proponents’ zeal and impressive results, the grassroots effort crossed national and business […]

In this case study, a manufacturer investigates customer complaints regarding welding flux used to fabricate oil, gas and water pipelines, among other products. A Pareto chart and DOE help point the way to a solution.

The Six Sigma methodology contains many tools that can be used successfully throughout an organization to improve processes and prevent failures, regardless of whether the full DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) roadmap is used. Demonstrating the efficacy of these tools for preventing or solving real business problems is a powerful way to market Six […]

US Fuels is responsible for the wholesale fuels operations in the United States for its parent company, BP, one of the world’s largest energy companies. US Fuels supplies branded gasoline to company-owned gas stations and branded fuel jobbers, and diesel fuel to commercial accounts such as railroads, trucking companies, transit authorities and truck stops. The […]

There is a great story this morning about Halliburton’s efforts to lead suppliers to Lean and Six Sigma. Having just completed a research feature (to be published in May) on this very subject I can attest the article is a living example of what to do when encouraging suppliers to become more efficient: Len Cooper, […]

Hess, the energy company formerly know as Amerada Hess, got its first taste of Six Sigma from GE back in the year 2000. GE came in and gave a presentation but Six Sigma didn’t stick. Four years later it was introduced in the Marketing & Refining division of the company as a CEO driven initiative. […]

Roger Cockroft, Corporate VP, Business Performance Improvement, spoke brilliantly about the way Constellation Energy is using Six Sigma to manage change in their organization. Constellation Energy is the oldest utility company in the United States and also one of the largest. Cockroft said that post 911 there were a lot of changes in the organization […]

Dominion is now in its fifth year of an enterprise-wide Six Sigma initiative. Their unique approach encourages the entrepreneurial spirit and has led to $300 million in savings since 2001. Dominion is active in the Six Sigma community, speaking at conferences and sharing best practices on deployment issues. A quick stroll through Dominion’s history and […]

The Energy Sector consists of the Energy and the Utilities: Gas & Electric industries of the Fortune 500. Six Sigma companies in the Energy sector: Constellation Energy Dominion Entergy FPL Group Public Service Enterprise Group TXU Notable Fortune 1000 companies using Six Sigma are: Alliant Energy Allegheny Energy Aquila