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The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Consider a Lean Six Sigma programme with a number of projects in-flight. It’s a good mix of projects with varying delivery-timescales and range of benefits. Projects are run by dedicated black belts who manage the DMAIC phases in the waterfall approach. Its what you might call the “standard” approach to delivery. The customer couldn’t care […]

Our help desk decided this semester to start a project where we would create a cookbook of our processes and procedures. This cookbook would be in the form of a manual that would be in print and electronic formats and would serve as a basis for choosing Six Sigma projects and for training our staff […]

One of the main reasons I signed-up to Lean Six Sigma was because I had discovered a great set of tools to help me deliver change quicker & better. Through my training I wondered how I had survived so long without sampling & confidence intervals, SPC’s, regression and FMEA. Being able to look at a […]

When I’m looking at a process, it often seems like there’s more than one way to approach aproblem – without a clear-cut “right” or “best” solution.One of the issues that seems to be a frequent”let’s-flip-a-coin issue”is centralization vs decentralization, specifically related to decision-making. In some projects, a particular process has been decentralized – the rationale […]

We’’ve all been to the post office and waited in line for what seems like eternity…. At the post office, it’s first in, first out. One postal worker for each transaction. With the holidays upon us, I’’m sure we’ll all have the experience again soon. The following story didn’t happen in a post office. This […]

I have been wrestling lately with the question of when a Six Sigma project should be considered “done”. From the perspective of the organization, it’s common to say that done means finished through the control phase or it’s equivalent, including process changes or other implemented solutions. From the financial perspective it’s tempting to say that […]

It’s the holiday season and that means one thing: shopping! This is the one time of year where I will seriously shop, making my seasonal impulsive buys and spending money on items such as clothing, candy, electronics, etc. that I rarely buy throughout any other time of the year. Evidently, I am not alone in […]

I read a very cool article in BusinessWeek yesterday called The Making of…a LEGO. (Brought to my attention via Slashdot.) While the article doesn’t actually talk about Six Sigma it does tell us a little about the manufacturing process of the LEGO bricks: “The bricks are so meticulously made that the company claims that out […]

Reading Gianna Clark’s latest blogmade me thing about all the “sayisms” that I’ve developed over the past three years of my Lean-Six Sigma journey. I have added lots of acronyms, sayings, and jargon in my daily speech – and I keep forgetting that not everybody is familiar with these terms (yet) – including my husband […]

Nayism 37: Six Sigma touts a lot of benefits for the company but what’s in it for me? The answer to this question could be the turning point for this individual. Can you give them the right answer to their WIFM (What’s In It For Me?). Where do you begin? Here’s what I say . . […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

I was up late practicing one of my favorite hobbies, web surfing, and after a chain of clicks on tonight’s topic of interest, optimization, I stumbled upon something I thought I’d share. I’ve been a practitioner/advocate of simulation for some time now and recently I’ve decided to educate myself beyond what the typical software packages […]

Dilbert and his pointy haired boss tackled two topics that are near and dear to my heart: Six Sigma and innovation. In one fell swooop, he reduced both topics to buzz words and hype. While I’m sure there are many people who may agree with Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, I’m hoping this site […]

Seth Godin points us to a positive customer service story regarding a flat tire. I’d like to tell you my story…the exact opposite experience at my local big chaintire shop. My tire went flat while I was out. Luckily I happened to be next to a gas station. I managed to fill it up enough […]

Our organization is starting to have a very constructive discussion about rewards and recognition for Black Belts. (Green Belts, hold on, you’re next.) We canvassed our current Black Belts and- as you might guess – the variation was wider than the mean! Ideas started fromcertificates, pins, and belts… through public recognition at organization-wide events… through […]

Last year to celebrate Six Sigma and Thanksgiving, I directed you to a couple of Thanksgiving DOEs. This year let’s talk apple pie. The Bama Companies make a mean apple pie. In fact they make millions of them each year. Not quite the same as the apple pie that my wife bakes for Thanksgiving, but […]

Is it related to design for Six Sigma? Is it TRIZ? Is it that guy in the corner cube who has 50 patents and tons of papers piled on his desk high enough to obscure anybody’s view as they walk by?

What a great way to return Six Sigma savings back into growing the business: Fund innovation projects. It’s also a nice synergy between Six Sigma and Innovation.

I recently took a long train journey to Wales to attend a user group for a software package that defines Enterprise Architecture (Zachman et al). More details in a future IT blog. But what caught my eye was an article in The Times newspaper: Tax staff told to clear their desk Being told to clear […]

The 30 Rock Six Sigma reference got me thinking about Six Sigma at NBC Universal… not much searching later I found a Six Sigma educational video produced by the quality team at NBCU and narrated by Linda Hildebrandt, a Master Black Belt on the quality team. The self-made video is professional quality (would you expect […]

Okay, time to pick up where I left off last month. You may or may not remember my post about assessing organizational maturity in order to discern the appropriate scope and/or starting point for continuous improvement efforts so I’ll refresh your memory with a quote from the post: “Our target end state for an organization […]

“Are quality and change one of the same thing, can you have one without the other or are they inextricably linked?” What is Quality ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality Quality can refer to a. a specific characteristic of an object (the qualities of ice – i.e. its properties). b. the achievement or excellence of an object (good quality […]

My mother-in-law (we call her TiVo) said she was watching 30 Rocklast week…(just one of the many, many showsshe records, hence the name TiVo) and told me about a scene where Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) explains Six Sigma to his staff writers. Well, I went a looking for it and thanks to YouTube here’s the […]

I am trying to make Six Sigma meetings at my project in the UK fun and a little ‘different’ than the normal meetings there. I am gathering up fun exercises and video clips to play in between facilitation of the DMAIC tools. I will share with you one GREAT team exercise (I got from my […]

In my previous two posts, I talked about the fugue and the symphony as metaphors for Six Sigma deployment. A fugue is a musical form in which a single theme is repeated or imitated successively by different instruments until eventually the entire orchestra is involved. This strategy isn’t a bad one for Six Sigma deployment, […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

I spent the afternoon with the North West Quality Forum (NWQF). Today’s meeting took place on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, just North East of Seattle. It was my first time to Redmond, besides my house-hunting trip to the Seattle area a couple of years ago. The NWQF is a group of Seattle-based deployment […]

Nayism 36: “Six Sigma won’t work because. . .” As we approach Thanksgiving it is only fitting that we reflect on the things that we are thankful for. Believe it or not, I am thankful for Six Sigma naysayers. Yes – those stodgy, old school, dig in their heels, change resistant individuals who lurk the […]

Some vendors have recently expressed concerns about the review of project tracking software programs that was published in the November/December 2006 issue of iSixSigma Magazine. I would like to share with you a statement regarding this article that will be published in the January/February 2007 issue. It was written by magazine editor Erin Ducceschi, and […]

On 31st October, Sir Nicholas Stern, working for the UK Government, released the Stern Review. This review looked at the potential economic costs for global warming with a headline that global warming could shrink the global economy by 20% and up to 200 million people could become refugees as their homes are hit by drought […]

Nortel Networks recently hired Ellen Bovarnick to run their newly deployed Six Sigma program. Ellen was previously the VP of Process Excellence at Coca-Cola. Mike Zafirovski,CEO of Nortel, is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Motorola and before that spent 25 years at GE…No wonder he is pushing Six Sigma at Nortel! Six […]

The TRIZ Journal is now a division of CTQ Media LLC and a channel under Real Innovation (which will launch November 15th).

The most difficult problems in any Lean Six Sigma project or initiative relate to changing mind-sets. However, the right combination of vision, resources, incentives, skills and planning significantly increase the probably of success.

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

First, a special thanks to Dominic at the Fortune Business Innovation Insiderblog for directing me to this story. OK, this Halloween/Six Sigma connection is a small stretch… ConocoPhillips, the sponsor of this giant pumpkin, is a Six Sigma company. If you are in Southern California stop by the refinery for a visit: “ConocoPhillips extends an […]

Blood Systems Laboratories, a division of Blood Systems, is the second largest blood testing company in the United States (second only to the Red Cross). They launched a Six Sigma program early in 2004. The Blood Systems 2005 Annual Report highlights Blood Systems Laboratories’ Six Sigma achievements: “Completed 18 Six Sigma/Rapid Action Planning (RAP) projects […]

I imagine that Halloween is to Hershey’s as St. Patty’s Day is to Green. You can’t have one without the other. I love Hershey’s Chocolate…. whether it’s a Kit Kat, Reese’s, Mounds, or Almond Joy (sometimes I do feel like a nut), a Kiss or a Hug, or my favorite, a Special Dark Miniature, when […]

In my last blog entry, I wrote about the fugue as a model for deployment. A fugue is a musical form in which one or two themes are repeated or imitated by successively entering voices, until eventually the entire orchestra is playing the same tune. I suggested that this might not be a bad way […]

DearFantastic Sports Network, I’d like to thank you for choosing me to be your first-ever Master Black Belt. To start things off on a positive note, let me share some suggestions I have for the World Series broadcasts this week. These are all easy to implement and will make the show even more exciting for […]

Recently a colleague suggested Ken Miller’s book , ” We Don’t Make Widgets”as a strategy base for dealing with resistence from employees in the public sector. Abrief overview is available at: http://www.governing.com/books/widgex.htm. It looks like a good read. Thanks to all the comments on my last blog. It is clear performance and philosophy can be […]

To help prepare you for theHalloween spirit, this week I’ll be posting Six Sigma stories with a Halloween twist… I’ll cover the frightening, the sweet and the orange…. Today, let me introduce you to the Dark Side of Six Sigma – Six Sigmathe fuzzrock trio based out of Long Branch, New Jersey. These guys seriously […]

There are 3 kinds of lies: lies, big lies and … statistics. Many news topics are based on so called statistical studies. In average … the conclusions are based on the average. In average … there is no mention of the data range or other variation metrics, like standard deviation. In average … there is […]

Nayism 35: Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble, Send me a Black Belt on the Double. I have a problem and he needs to fix it! At first, this statement may not sound like a “nayism” but beware. Something is brewing in this organization and it is definitely trouble. Why? Here’s what I say . . . […]

When it comes to defects here is a great example I suspect other readers may have experienced. But as you will see it has made me question the Six Sigma approach. I would like to ask for guidance. It’s an example I find is happening with increasing regularity and seems to be linked to the […]

I recently attended my graduation ceremony for an Advanced Manufacturing Specialist certification in Kansas City.With Six Sigma methodology being a key component of the certification, I began to listen to the keynote speaker elaborate on the many projects and cost savings achieved by the seventy class graduates. As I reflected over the last year and […]

(Continued from “Lean Journeys – Part 1“) There were two departments in the plant, and the press area served both with most of their raw material. After about two weeks on the job, I found that my area was shutting down one assembly cell per day on average. As you could imagine, my stress level […]

Six Sigma Academy has announced that Mikel J. Harry, author of Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World’s Top Corporations, and founder of Six Sigma Academy, will rejoin the firm as Vice Chairman & Chief Knowledge Officer. This is big news for the Six Sigma community and as well as a strategic move […]

Gauging organizational maturity is one of the most critical tasks undertaken prior to the implementation of Lean / Six Sigma. Not only is it important relative to determining where to start, it’s also an indicator of how much of a cultural shift will be required to make sure the methodology sticks. The U.S. military seems […]

According to Wikipedia, the internet encyclopedia, Kaizen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizenis : “Japanese for “change for the better” or “improvement”, the English translation is “continuous improvement” or “continual improvement.” The goals of Kaizen include the elimination of waste (defined as “activities that add cost but do not add value”), just-in-time delivery, production load leveling of amount and types, […]