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The troubled Airline industry is a classic example that solidifies the fact that Six Sigma can do wonderful things for your bottom line… until gas prices rise dramatically or other market variables change and offset the Six Sigma savings.I know of only three Fortune 500 Airline companies that are using Six Sigma: Delta Air LinesSouthwest […]

Below is a list of Fortune 500 Automotive companies that use Six Sigma: ArvinMeritorAutolivBrunswickCooper Tire & RubberDanaDelphiFederal-MogulFord Motor CompanyGeneral MotorsGoodyear Tire & RubberJohnson ControlsLearNavistar InternationalPACCARTenneco AutomotiveTRW Automotive HoldingsVisteon

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2005 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Johnson Controls began their Six Sigma initiative in October, 1999. Six Sigma is practiced worldwide throughout the organization to improve manufacturing as well as business processes. Over 2,000 employees have been trained to drive projects that “eliminate defects and mistakes, reduce waste, drive out excess cost, enhance work efficiency, and shorten work cycles – helping […]

The 2005 Fortune 500 is out! I have been anxiously waiting for the new list to perform my annual ritual of updating my Six Sigma Fortune list with the new rankings. I have been keeping tabs on Six Sigma in the Fortune 500 since 2001 when Wal-Mart was #2 wedged between Exxon and GM. Wal-Mart […]

Not surprisingly, the Aerospace & Defense Sector companies of the Fortune 500 are all using Six Sigma.Six Sigma has even found its way into the US Military – Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.Other government organizations using Six Sigma include the Florida Department of Corrections, NASA and the Pentagon. BoeingGeneral DynamicsGoodrichHoneywell InternationalL-3 CommunicationsLockheed MartinNorthrop GrummanRaytheonTextronUnited […]

Pharmaceuticals is a place where Six Sigma does more than save money. Less defects in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare industries save lives. All the Fortune 500 Pharmaceutical companies are using Six Sigma. Abbott Laboratories Amgen Bristol-Myers Squibb Eli Lilly Johnson & Johnson Merck Pfizer Schering-Plough Wyeth

Six Sigma has really taken hold in the financial services industry.Early pioneers included GE Capital, Sun Trust Banks, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.Below are the Fortune 500 companies in the Financial Services sector that are using Six Sigma.The Financial Services sector includes the Fortune 500 industries: Diversified Financials, Commercial Banks, Savings Institutions and Securities. […]

The Computers & Electronics sector consists of the following Fortune 500 industries: Computers, Office Equipment Computer Software Computer Peripherals Computer and Data Services Semiconductors and Other Electronic Components Electronics, Electrical Equipment Early Six Sigma pioneers were Texas Instruments, IBM, Solectron, and Sun Microsystems. Below is a list of Computers & Electronics companies that are using […]

The Coca-Cola Company is featured in the e-Zsigma March, 2005 Six Sigma Spotlight.Rod Morgan interviewed Ellen Bovarnick, VP Corporate Business Excellence, and asked her all the right questions about Six Sigma at Coca-Cola.Below is an excerpt from the interview: Rod:During your presentation, you mentioned “Six Sigma” several times, both in the context of The Coca-Cola […]

The Consumer Food Products Sector includes the Fortune 500 industries, Beverages, Food Production and Consumer Food Products. The following companies are using Six Sigma: Campbell Soup Coca-Cola Kellogg PepsiCo

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2005 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

IKON Office Solutions is quickly becoming a major voice for Six Sigma in the Business Services industry. Matt Espe came to IKON in August, 2002 and less than a year later his GE roots revealed themselves with a corporate Six Sigma initiative. An overview of IKON’s Six Sigma initiative is told best through their annual […]

Pfizer currently uses Six Sigma as one of the tools in their “Right First Time” initiative. Right First Time also includes Process Analytical Technology (PAT) which is an FDA prescribed framework for quality assurance in the pharmaceutical industry. Food & Drug Packaging published a Special Report in May 2004 that reveals details of their program: […]

As early as 1999 the Cessna Aircraft Company was using Six Sigma as one of its business improvement tools.This early work laid the foundation for Textron Six Sigma, the corporate-wide initiative that would follow in 2002. Overview 2004 Annual Report “Textron Six Sigma We have achieved substantial savings through our Black Belt and Green Belt […]

McDonald’s adopts business practice that made GE famous “Selected management at McDonald’’s, a GEFF client, are learning about Six Sigma through GE’s program, “At the Customer, For the Customer,” that brings GE’’s resources and management tools to customers. In 2003, GEFF initiated a meeting with McDonald’’s executives at the John F. Welch Leadership Center at […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2005 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Overview Circuit City began their Six Sigma initiative early in 2001 as stated in their 2001 Annual Report: “Given the challenging retail climate, we will even more closely examine our operating practices. Specifically, we are undertaking initiatives to…apply the Six Sigma methodology to critical processes so that we measurably increase customer satisfaction while also reducing […]

Larry Johnston, a seasoned General Electric executive, took over as CEO of Albertsons in April, 2001. Unlike his colleagues, James McNerney and Bob Nardelli, Johnston did not immediately sing Six Sigma in the key of G & E. He waited. Instead, he quickly got to work restructuring the company and three years later announced it […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2008 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Overview May Department Stores has not released very much public information about their Six Sigma program. I have found job postings for positions at May and their brand stores that desire Black Belt certification, a “What is Six Sigma” presentation by the Divisional Controller for May Merchandising Company and the biography of a Six Sigma […]

Thousands of people per year use the “Make a Suggestion” box found on every iSixSigma.com page. We love it because it provides a tremendous amount of new ideas for us to think about, prioritize and develop. Keep them coming. Every once in a while we’ll receive a suggestion like, “There seem to be a large […]

The Cox-Box, Six Sigma Guy, and associated characters are the brainchild and creative outlet of Rookie Six Sigma Black Belt Gary Cox. Gary has combined his passion for drawing cartoons with his newly acquired Six Sigma experiences through the characters and tales in The Cox-Box. The situations, characters and bureaucracy are all hypothetical and any […]

As my previous blog described, this is the location that I will be posting thoughts, rants and anything else that I have time to post. Everything you read here will be written by me, Michael Cyger, and it reflects my unique perspective of this Six Sigma community that I’ve helped build and foster since 2000. […]

At the recent IQPC Six Sigma Summit Six Sigma conference, the auditorium was packed to standing room only with executives and practitioners there to hear a question and answer session with Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. Many delegates I spoke with said they registered for the conference just for the chance to hear […]

Federated Department Stores announced their plans today to acquire May Department Stores. You can read all about it in the February 28, 2004 Press Release. Both companies are currently involved in Six Sigma initiatives. Although I don’t know much about May’s Six Sigma ways, Federated is very proud of what they have done, and they […]

I’ve spoken to the iSixSigma editorial staff about creating a blog and received mixed reviews. On one hand, I would personally like to start a conversation with others that doesn’t have to be proofed, edited, or polished before printing. My staff, on the other hand, is probably cringing at the idea of allowing unedited content […]

Overview 3M’s corporate Six Sigma journey began shortly after James McNerney took over at the helm in January 2001. Prior to his arrival, there was some Six Sigma activity taking place in parts of the company, but not at all like 3M would see with McNerney’s corporate driven approach. Now, more than 4 years later, […]

Bank of America is one of the most prominent financial services company with a corporate-wide Six Sigma initiative, and they’re not afraid to talk about it. Their unique blend of Hoshin planning, Kanri management and Six Sigma separates them from the pack. Bank of America began their Six Sigma journey in 2001 as a corporate […]

Michael Dell has built a successful business model that scores of companies are trying to emulate.Dell Inc. is the perfect example of a company that is using Six Sigma not as an end in itself but as an enabler to achieve results. Early in 2000 they started a corporate initiative called Business Process Improvement (BPI).Nearly […]

SixSigmaCompanies.com is dedicated to providing information about the Six Sigma initiatives at Fortune 500 companies. The author is a Market Research professional currently working in the Six Sigma Consulting Industry. He has nearly 4 years experience tracking the evolution of Six Sigma in companies throughout the world. Currently, over 40 percent of the Fortune 500 […]

I have often noticed a disparity between the objectives of CXOs (C-level and top executives) and those of aspiring Six Sigma professionals. Look at your company’s goals for 2005. CXOs almost always express them in terms of financial targets for revenue growth, expense reduction or net income enhancement. In contrast, ask any ambitious Six Sigma […]

Welcome to iSixSigma Blogosphere Help, a collection of help documents for those posting to the Blogosphere. Search through our collection with Article Search (above) or just browse through the categories (to the left). If you can’t find what you need here, post a comment to this Help section and we’ll do what we can to […]

In my deployment and implementation experience, Black Belts should not be pooled into a central organization and then farmed out like a bunch of “rented experts.”  To my knowledge, only a few organizations have successfully implemented this type of approach.  When executed in a large-scale corporation, there is a certain amount of “up-front management appeal.”  […]

The first Black Belt project is just that – a training project.  It is not a platform from which to attempt solving world hunger, or the like.  The purpose of a training project is two fold.  The first purpose is related to the reinforcement of learning.  The second purpose is to realize an operational objective […]

Is the process broken because of poor process control?  Is it broken because of inferior technology?  Is is broken because of inadequate operational knowledge?  Is is broken because  of a mismatch between the process technology and the design specifications?  Is is broken because of some interaction thereof?  How can you expect anyone to rationally answer […]

It is widely known (in the field of quality management) that Motorola inaugurated Six Sigma in the mid eighties.  At that time, Six Sigma was employed to make a dramatic gain in customer satisfaction (by way of quality improvement).  Almost by nature, the initiative was based on the idea of defect reduction.  For the sake […]

I do not believe that any of the Six Sigma roles should constitute a career, as they are temporary job assignments.

It is possible to analyze non-normal data when conducting a capability analysis – even if it cannot be transformed to a state of normality.  Of course, this position assumes that the underlying distribution is unimodal in nature (i.e., not multimodal).  Technical details aside, this particular type of problem can quickly become an analytical nightmare for […]

In my opinion, between 25 and 50 percent of variable pay must be directly linked to “hard” Six Sigma goals – throughout the organizational hierarchy.  This tactic usually gets everybody’s attention and quickly sounds the alarm to “align goals and objectives.”  It also sets the mood for “win-win” and generates a lot of leadership energy.  […]

I assume you mean “sustainability of project results.”  In other words, the resulting benefits are not to be enjoyed just one time – they are recurrent in nature.  The best way to ensure that recurrent benefits are continually realized is to monitor the situation.  This would normally involve a proactive accounting system and someone to […]

The first generation of Six Sigma (1984 – 1994) was initiated at Motorola.  At this time, Six Sigma was primarily focused on the reduction of defects (quality improvements).  It was widely believed that the reduction of defects would naturally and invariably offer certain economic benefits – even though such benefit could not often be directly […]

Rhetorically speaking, what is the purpose of ISO9000?  Is it a standard of expectation, much like Six Sigma?  If an organization is currently performing to a Six Sigma level, would there even be a need for this standard?  If this standard was perfectly deployed and implemented in a corporation, would it be a Six Sigma […]

The gentlemen referred to as “Pareto” long ago advocated that 80 percent of the world’s wealth was controlled by 20 percent of the world’s population.  This phenomenon is also called the “Pareto Principle,” and will be designated as “PP” for our discussion.  For the case just given, it should be noted that the 80 percent […]

Obviously, you know how to ask a “huge” question.  In terms of scope and depth, it is nearly equivalent to the question: “How does one go about boiling the ocean without harming the ecosystem – give me some examples (case studies), tell me the best tools to use, how to use the tools, and kindly […]

Having “been there and done that,” I deeply appreciate your question.  A simple literature search will yield a lot on this subject.  However, you should first read the Rath and Strong book on Six Sigma.  I highly recommend this particular reading, especially for “middle management level” guidance.  This book provides a number of relevant templates […]

The following references will provide a very nice overview of the field – from general theory to in-depth case studies: 1) Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World’s Top Corporations by Mikel J. Harry, Ph.D. and Richard Schroeder, Doubleday 2000. 2) Six SIGMA Leadership Handbook by Rath and Strong Staff, John Wiley & […]

As humans, we often seek insight by way of reasoning.  In this case, we are concerned with the reasoning of a “skeptic.”  Referencing the standard dictionary (Excel version), we define a skeptic as “somebody who questions the validity or truth of things that most people accept.”  Of little surprise, it would be generally accepted that […]

Simply stated, an opportunity is merely a set of conditions favorable to some end. In view of the two possible fates of a (critical to quality) CTQ – success or failure – we have the idea of a yield opportunity and that of a defect opportunity. Since one is merely the flip side of the other […]

The simpliest form of an answer to each of your questions is “yes.”  There does exist an ever-present danger that Six Sigma will become diluted.  In fact, there are many signs that it has already happened.  For example, many business executives now see Six Sigma as a commodity.  So what is driving a lot of […]