Six Sigma Blog

Deploying Six Sigma –The Right Way

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

How do you deploy Six Sigma in your enterprise? If you are like these companies, you start a few teams, give them their choice of problems to solve, and then sit back and wait for the process to kick off. When, after a few months, you don’t sight the money or the changes, you cry foul.

This is the best way to get things horribly wrong. One of the first things you need to remember is that the leadership in the teams you create, should work with an improvement expert. Next, ensure that these two elements are in place: a line graph showing defects over a period, and Pareto charts showing the probable reasons for the problem areas identified in the line graph. Don’t bother trying to collect new data – you must work with the data that is already available or you will delay the deployment of the Six Sigma process.

Next most important thing that must fall in place before you begin is the team. Always ensure that the team you choose stands a good chance of succeeding. Or, you’ll just end up wasting time and losing focus on the result. Now you are ready to begin the root cause analysis and the implementation process.

Creating A Connect Between Sales And Marketing

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

Even a rookie in the sales and marketing industry understands the co-relation between sales and marketing and how the quality of collaboration between sales and marketing directly impacts a company’s return on investment. And yet, there is a lot of hush-hush work that goes on in the sales process. In most organizations, only the sales team is privy to the actual creaking of the wheels that occur before a proposal or a sale happens.

And what’s worse? Most of these meetings are so private; very few people ever get to know what happens during the process. This means the marketing team has it doubly difficult. They are forced gauge the market and measure their revenue contribution, and lead generation ROI without any idea of why the sales team has decided to opt a certain method of operation. This leads to quite a bit of lost revenue for the firm.

The easiest way to rectify this problem is through process mapping. This technique helps create a common vision and shared language for improving business results. Next time, we’ll see how we can use the six sigma way to improve the communication flow between the two departments.

Six Sigma To Gain Strength in '07: Study

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

A recent survey published in the November/December issue of iSixSigma Magazine shows that most companies using Six Sigma think they are on the right track. Around 50% of the respondents using Six Sigma said they would maintain their current level of training and staffing for 2007, according to Michael Marx, research manager for iSixSigma Magazine.

Nearly 1,500 professionals from a broad range of companies took part in this survey. More than one third of the respondents expected to increase the training investment. Nearly 50 percent of those surveyed said they intend to increase the staffing level. Now contrast this with firms that are already involved in Six Sigma. Only 17 percent of the respondents whose companies are already involved in Six Sigma expected to spend less on training, and just 8 percent expected staffing levels to decrease.

What’s odd is that despite the obvious benefits of using Six Sigma, those who haven’t made the commitment, are still pretty reluctant to do so. Probably, this idea needs some more time to catch on.

Failure and Six Sigma

-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer   

Does the deployment of Six Sigma techniques mean that the organization is bound to achieve its objectives? Do Six Sigma initiatives ever result in a failure? If so, what are the reasons for the same? Mike Carnell provides answers to these questions on the ISix Sigma site.

First of all, he explains that no company will be willing to broadcast the fact that their Six Sigma implementation was a total failure, not after spending so much time and effort on it. Secondly, the word “failure” can be redefined according to the company’s terms. Carnell defines it as:

Anything that does not deliver the Return On Investment (ROI) required by the company for any other investment.

He also states that Six Sigma decisions are just like all others – if things do not go according to plan, tweak the plan a little according to the metrics that show up.
To see how Six Sigma deployments fail to meet expectations, follow this link.

Six Sigma and Organizational Size

-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

Though the implementation of Six Sigma principles is fundamentally the same in all organizations, there are a few subtle differences during deployment.

Smaller companies with employees who are not very experienced face added expenses if they cannot afford to spare a full-time change agent. The lack of experience of employees also necessitates more training and coaching. The absence of a Master Black Belt on site may result in the project reaching a stand-still. At times, daily operations may have to be put on hold so that the larger good, i.e., the improvement through Six Sigma, can be realized.

Not all the differences between Six Sigma deployments in small and large organizations are negative though. Smaller companies adapt to cultural and organizational changes more easily. Introduction, and then implementation, of the new methods are therefore more successful. Employees at smaller concerns are usually jacks of all trades, which helps them understand the workings of most parts of their organizations rather than focusing on just their area of specialization.

Positive change is what Six Sigma is all about, and any organization that adapts to change quickly, is bound to be breeze through the deployment stage.

Six Sigma Tips for Financial Service Providers

-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

Organizations that offer financial services are set to benefit from the book, “Six Sigma for Financial Services: How Leading Companies are Driving Results Using Lean, Six Sigma, and Process Management”, authored by Rowland Hayler, Vice President of International Operations at Pivotal Resources and Michael Nichols of Nichols Quality Associates and formerly Director of Six Sigma Design at American Express. The book details how the principles of lean and six sigma can be leveraged by financial service providers to improve their business results. Besides providing examples and illustrations, the book includes practical applications at various high-profile organizations such as American Express, Bank of America, Barclays Stockbrokers, Development Bank of Singapore, Fidelity, First Data Resources, ICICI Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds TSB, and Wachovia. ISix Sigma reports:

“The book gives a thorough explanation of the rationale for business process excellence within the financial services industry,” says Hayler. Nichols continues, “The methods described provide a clear and simple structure to enable readers to build their knowledge on how to become a world-class financial services organization within today's complex global business environment.”

It's a 1000 for Mercury Marine

For nearly three years, Lean Six Sigma has been a way of doing business for Mercury Marine. In end-August this year, Mercury completed 1000 projects using the Six Sigma improvement process.

These projects have been marked by an elimination of waste and a speeding up of almost all business process at Mercury Marine, including product design, manufacturing, planning, sales, distribution, and service. Reliable Plant reports:

Since [Mercury President] Mackey launched the cultural transformation of Mercury three years ago, nearly 700 management and production employees have been formally trained in Lean Six Sigma methods, with dozens more attending training every quarter.

Asian automotive industry gets Lean/Six Sigma training

There is good news for the automotive sector in Asia. The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) and Omnex Inc. have come together to offer training in Lean/Six Sigma to companies in China, India, Thailand, and other Asian countries.

AIAG, which was launched in 1982 by representatives from auto leaders Ford, GM, and Chrysler, has now become a globally recognized body. Its partnership with leading automotive consulting firm Omnex is expected to usher in an era of top-rung training facilities in Lean/Six Sigma. PowerHomeBiz quotes Dr. Yilong Chen, General Director of Asia Pacific Affairs and Chief Representative in China:

AIAG looks forward to the opportunity to partner with OMNEX in both North America and Asia. We share a common vision to provide consistent state-of-the-art quality education and training that supports the emerging needs of our growing membership worldwide.

Lean Six Sigma Summit 2006

The Lean Six Sigma Summit 2006 will be held in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Singapore on 29 and 30 August 2006. This leading industry event will bring together senior-level executives and directors from a variety of targeted industries. They will come from manufacturing, financial services & insurance, government ministries and other sectors. The event promises to be the leading forum for an in-depth analysis of issues pertinent to the field.

The summit will include Lean Leadership Panel Discussion and highly interactive workshops. In this event, you will get a chance to get practical examples from companies that have integrated Lean and Six Sigma for their organizations. In an older post titled "The Robust Nature of Six Sigma", I had provided useful information on Six Sigma.

Six Sigma Goes Corporate

Six Sigma evolved as an important tool in manufacturing process over the past few years. Now it has become a key player in the corporate world. The dream of perfection and flawless business is no longer a dream for the corporate world. For all good reasons, they have found, implemented and acknowledged the potential of Six Sigma in their organizations. It is true that Six Sigma minimizes the errors and defects in business processes. However, there are still some questions that remain unanswered. How can you really measure success with Six Sigma. Can it play an important role in improving the performance of your organizations? It is up to the companies to find those answers themselves because we can only speculate about the outcome.

High Demand of Six Sigma Professionals in India

The Indian Industry has realized the potential of Six Sigma in improving the quality and productivity of their organizations. Quality and delivery have become crucial for the Indian IT industry to sustain its current position and expand further in the international market. Six Sigma holds significance on this regard. Six Sigma professionals including Black Belts and Green Belts are now high in demand in India.

Black Belts have proved themselves to be effective trouble-shooters in the organizations. They ensure the success of the project with their expertise and efficiency. Black Belts have Six Sigma technical proficiency, consulting skills and the ability to apply the Six Sigma methodology to a business process. Black Belts are usually the senior and middle level managers who guide the teams to successful project completion. Green Belts are middle-level managers who work as support staff to the Black Belts. They are the project team members or employees who execute Six Sigma as part of their jobs. Demand of Black Belts and Green Belts has increased manifold in the current industry scenario.

MagnaChip Launches Six Sigma Improvement Program

South Korea's MagnaChip Semiconductor has launched a Six Sigma quality improvement program to streamline its processes. The Six Sigma program is aimed at strengthening its production, development, sales and marketing operations. MagnaChip had been considering a US IPO for a long time. Now it is planning to delay the stock offering until 2007. The company is expected to raise as much as $700 million for expansion and debt reduction by listing the company on the Nasdaq exchange during 2006.

The company has raised more than $1 billion in private debt during the past two years. MagnaChip had broken away from South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor in 2005 in an $828 million buyout financed by Citigroup and Francisco Partners. It has moved its focus on its application processor business after quitting the DRAM founder business. It realized the need for an effective program to improve its quality and productivity. Hence, it has selected the Six Sigma program.

Six Sigma helps the banking sector

HSBC Bank Malaysia was recently voted the number one bank in the country because of its custody and clearing business, which has scaled a 20 percent annual growth rate. The bank has promptly assigned part of this success to its Six Sigma methodology, and has announced that it will further intensify its Six Sigma approach in the current year, expanding Six Sigma principles to the corporate action area. Six Sigma has helped the bank identify loopholes and provide solutions to better meet the customer's expectations.

The Star has more from Kuala Lumpur

Six Sigma Design for HSBC

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd is aiming to expand its custodian and clearing services, using Six Sigma methodology. HSBC has been registering a steady annual growth in custody and clearing business for the past few years. It was recently voted the number one bank for this sector in 2005. According to company sources, it would be adopting the six sigma methodology more specifically for all its custody and clearing operations.

HSBC has already completed the adoption of the Six Sigma methodology in the settlement side. It is now looking to employ it in the corporate action area to boost its efficiency. The focus is on four areas: settlement, administration, corporate accounts and reporting. Six Sigma design will help the company to come up with solutions required for improving business processes and meeting customers' requirements.

More Information: Read Here

Apart from the above, HSBC had been providing such services for over 30 years, relatively longer than any other banks in the country, she said. This has given HSBC the added advantage and significant expertise in handling the local market.

Company politics and Six Sigma goals

When a company takes the initiative to implement Six Sigma practices, it is likely that there will be resistance. Resistance to change is a well-accepted phenomenon in almost every sector. The resistance to Six Sigma can come in the form of personal resistance to change, and through inflexible company policies and incompatibility with existing organizational methods and goals.

One way of getting around such resistance is to engage in open communication with all stakeholders, so that the positive impact of system changes, such as Sigma, is percolated to everyone. Another key to the success of Six Sigma is the quality of leadership and its commitment to Six Sigma goals. Daily India reports:

Six Sigma is about getting everyone involved. A Six Sigma project forms a team of people who work together to identify problems and develop solutions. Such teams are not isolated teams rearranging the world for everyone else to live in. These teams are serving the organization by employing the skills and tools they have learned to increase quality and reduce defects.

Six Sigma salaries flat over the period 2005-2006, but still lucrative

In its most recent issue, iSixSigma Magazine has published the third annual iSixSigma Global Six Sigma Salary Survey. According to the findings of this survey, which took into consideration the feedback from more than 2400 Six Sigma professionals, the salaries of Six Sigma professional has remained static over the last year.

As Market Wire reports, this trend is seen across certifications of Black Belts, Master Black Belts, and Deployment Leaders. The only segment that showed appreciable upward movement in the salary trend is Champions—the survey indicated that the salary for champions increased by approximately $25,000.

In spite of the more or less flat trend of Six Sigma salaries, the profession continues to be an attractive wage earner, with Black Belts earnings to the tune of $75,000, and other categories drawing figures close to $101,000–$106,000. Experience is an important criterion that employers are looking for; more the experience, higher the salary offered.

Another deciding factor for the salary offered is the industry sector a Six Sigma professional is working in. The noticeable trend is that sectors such as IT, advertising/marketing, and pharmaceuticals have more to offer to Black Belts, while industries such as healthcare, financial services and aerospace/defense are more lucrative for Master Black Belts.

Regal-Beloit Corporation implements Lean and Six Sigma programs

With two major acquisitions—General Electric’s Commercial AC motor business in August 2004, followed by GE’s HVAC motors and capacitors division in December—Regal-Beloit Corporation not only enlarged its size, but also gained business processes from the erstwhile owners. This included GE's Six-Sigma expertise, particularly Bhargava, a 15-year GE exponent in Lean Six Sigma programs and projects. Beginning in January this year, Vivek put the system in place for implementation of Lean Six Sigma principles.

A few weeks after the formal announcement of the acquisition, a Lean Six Sigma program implementation was declared as one of the company's objectives. What followed was extensive training for the staff, both black belt and green belt. With the implementation of the program, the company is already seeing positive results, backed by a committed leadership. MROToday.com reports:

The momentum to charge ahead is strong: Regal-Beloit doubled its size with the GE acquisitions and business has never been better. Six Sigma will enable these entities to come together as one perfectly aligned machine.   

Northrop Grumman Corporation appoints new sector Vice President to implement Six Sigma principles

Kelley Zelickson is the new sector vice president of mission assurance and Six Sigma for the Mission Systems sector of Northrop Grumman Corporation. The major role of Zelickson is to implement mission-assurance and Six-Sigma principles, leading to enhanced quality, productivity, and performance.

Zelickson's expertise will ensure that Six Sigma process improvement theories are implemented in the company, including the supply chain. Customer satisfaction is going to be the measure of Zelickson's success. Spacewar.com reports:

Zelickson's mission-assurance responsibilities will include strategy, planning and execution for process-improvement initiatives such as Six Sigma and Lean; business processes to increase customer satisfaction through streamlined operations and improved quality through the use of metrics; and quality-management systems to include those of the entire supply chain.    

Six Sigma yields many positives at Tyco International

It is well known how Motorola brought in Six Sigma principles almost two decades earlier to improve its performance. It was from Motorola that Ed Breen brought in the Six Sigma practice when he joined Tyco International in 2002. While Six Sigma was initially used in the 1980s as a means to improve quality, today the principle is utilized to augment revenue flow and cut costs. Ed Breen has also implemented Six Sigma at Tyco to increase the company's revenue and cut costs. In the period leading up to 2005, Tyco has been able to reap the benefits of Six Sigma to the tune of $800 million.

Chmiel, vice president of operational excellence for the Boca Raton-based division, Tyco Fire & Security, views Six Sigma as a system that enables the management and streamlining of processes, leading to improved efficiency and reduced costs. The training in Six Sigma at Tyco has also improved the chances of employees to move ahead in their career path within the company. Sun-Sentinel reports:

At Tyco Fire & Security, Six Sigma has been applied to better measure its ADT Security Systems call centers' response to customers. In manufacturing, Tyco employed Six Sigma to reduce cycle time and increase the product output each day. Six Sigma also has been a career path for people who want to move up at Tyco, which now has 263 black belts, full-time project managers, and 870 green belts, who work part-time on projects, often within their departments.

Read More: Six Sigma propels workers in project-minded firms

Nigerian organizations need Six Sigma implementation, reiterates Ikeja Hotels PLC Chairman

The Six Sigma program, now a popular deployment tool in many organizations worldwide, was developed as a concept by Motorola in the 1980s. The Motorola success story has inspired several entrepreneurs through decades, including Goodie Minabo Ibru, chairman of Ikeja Hotels PLC, owners of Sheraton Lagos Hotel and Tower in Nigeria.

Ibru has called on the manufacturing and service industries to utilize the Six Sigma concept to maximize their savings. Quoting the successful deployment of Six Sigma by Sheraton Lagos Hotel & Towers over the last two years, Ibru said that the program has led to all-round improvement in product and service quality and customer satisfaction. Six Sigma also caters to two vital cogs in the modern-day competitive business world: better packages for the customers and higher returns for the shareholders. AllAfrica.com reports:

Many organisations in the Nigeria are operating below three-sigma quality levels. That means they could be losing up to 25-40 per cent of their total revenue due to processes that deliver too many defects—defects that take up time and effort to repair as well as creating unhappy customers.

Read More: Ibru Charges Manufacturing, Service Industries On Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma programs help NewRoads achieve record financial performance

Business Wire reports the announcement of NewRoads, a leading business process outsourcer based in Huntersville, NC, that the company has achieved significant milestones in its financial performance, clinching new deals and expanding existing agreements, and continuing its Lean Six Sigma program successfully. NewRoads is in the middle of a peak season, and the current quarter is the third successive quarter where the company has recorded path-breaking financial performance.

A measure of the success of the operational performance of the company is the cost productivity and improved service to the customers—both directly related to the successful deployment of the Lean Six Sigma programs. NewRoads has extracted multifarious gains from its Lean Six Sigma implementation. Business Wire elaborates on the process improvements achieved by NewRoads from the Lean Six Sigma deployment:

Lean Six Sigma is an established leadership methodology that utilizes a disciplined, data-driven approach: it is at the core of NewRoads' operations and is quickly becoming part of the fabric of the company. Utilizing Lean Six Sigma has allowed NewRoads to shave costs, both internally and for its customers, while further improving service quality across its operating centers. Lean Six Sigma has also provided a common language for the company to use in all of its process and quality improvement initiatives.

Read More: NewRoads reports record financial performance and customer growth

The Timken Company creates new position for Six Sigma

The Timken Company, a steel and bearing manufacturer having a presence across 27 countries, announced recently that the company has created a new position: senior vice president of quality and lean six sigma.  The first occupant of this position is Donna J. Demerling, who started her career with the company in 1972 and came to occupy the position of senior vice president of supply chain transformation in 2003.

The newly created position emphasizes the company's stress on quality management. In fact, as The Manufacturer.com reports:

In her new position, Demerling will be responsible for quality assurance throughout all of Timken's business processes, including product design, manufacturing, supply chain and administrative areas. She will continue to lead the lean six sigma function.

Read More: Timken creates six sigma post

Small Businesses Embrace Six Sigma Efficiency Philosophy

While Six Sigma has historically been the turf of only the largest companies, due to its high setup and initiation costs, a number of small companies are now beginning to implement the strategy.  Smaller firms are largely unable to make the financial investment to have employees recieve formal Six Sigma training.  As a consequence, such companies are turning to a number of resources available through books and blogs (such as this one) to learn about implementing Six Sigma.  This has allowed an increasing number of small businesses to achieve the baseline benefits of implementing Six Sigma which include a review and streamlining of the business model, a cutting of unneccessary overhead, and increases in efficiency by identifying weak points in production.  In fact, a number of software developers and online blogging companies are making the transition, achieving what appears to be rather significant gains. Jim Sherman reports:

Incorporating Six Sigma into the small business model in a limited fashion, is an important way to reevaluate a business model and retool the most inefficient aspects of a small business, without making the financial investment necessary to implement Six Sigma in a real formal way.

Read More: Blogging Company Incorporates Six Sigma

3M Listed as 'buy' After Six Sigma Initiative

After a bit of turmoil surrounding the exit of their CEO, analysts are holding strong on their 'buy' rating for 3M.  Analysts cite as one of the main reasons for this confidence in the company, its 2Q05 earnings which provide margins ahead of estimates.  Furthermore, the company has cut costs significantly due to its incorporation of Six Sigma initiatives, a process vowed to be continued under the company's new leadership.  As the company's sales continue to rebound, the cost savings the firm has achieved through tis remarkably profound incorporation of the Six Sigma and Lean efficiency programs has yielded increasingly vital cost savings.  newratings.com reports:

Analysts at UBS maintain their "buy" rating on 3M (MMM.NYS).  The target price is set to $96.

Read More: 3M "buy"

Bank of America Achieves High Six Sigma Cost Savings

Eighty Bank of America employees recently recieved very public commendations for their efforts in incorporating Six Sigma into the company's business model.  These individuals were divided amongst 15 teams of employees which were recognized for their success in driving down costs and increasing profits through Six Sigma.  The company has in the past three years utilized Six Sigma in increasing depth to drive the company to the number two ranking by assets of US banks.  The program has been credited with playing a major role in reaping $2 billion in revenue gains and cost savings, and future goals are to contribute an additional $1 billion annually in savings and growth through the program.  One such example is the fact of major cost savings was the fact that Bank of America was losing $24 million per year from claims of fraudulent transactions being made using PIN numbers.  With Six Sigma the company was able to identify fraudulent claims of theft by customers, ultimately saving the company $3.5 million per year. Charlotte Observer Reports:

As a spotlight flashed on 15 teams of employees, an announcer highlighted projects with catchy titles like "E-Invoice Reconciliation Process" and "Reduce Unassigned Balances in Central Region."

Read More: BofA praises workers for achievements

Lonmin (LMI.LN) upgraded to BUY on Six Sigma Announcement

Investment Advising firm Smith Barney has recently upgraded Lonmin (LMI.LN) from hold to a buy status.  The upgrade is due to analysts perception that the company has been and is further able to reduce costs as well as to a strong future of the platinum group metal.  While the market for Lonmin looks strong it has been criticized in the past as a company with too high operating costs and high inefficiencies.  It appears Smith Barney has become convinced that that will change.  That change in opinion is due to the fact that the company is beginning to incorporate the Six Sigma efficiency program.  This program has in the past played an integral role in driving profits for many companies, most notably GE.  Because of the relative assurance that companies will achieve a leaner business model through the program, an announcement that a company will utilize Six Sigma is almost always erflected positively in the price of a stock.  newratings.com reports:

"Lonmin's cost blow-out over the past three years provides substantial fat to cut," Smith Barney says. "We believe that Lonmin can reduce costs by around $105M over the next two years maintaining unit costs at cR2,400/PGM oz"

Read More: Smith Barney Upgrades Lonmin To Buy Vs Hold

Airbus Has Something Nice to Say About Boeing!?!

Airbus and Boeing have been in increasingly heated conversation in recent months, reviving the old debate about illegal subsidies which each accuses the other of recieving.  Airbus put such criticism aside for a moment, however, when Boeing Co. named James McNerney as the company's chief executive.  In fact, Airbus when so far as to commend the choice made by Boeing.  Airbus insiders have commented that the acquisition of McNerney likely means a future of very stiff competition from their American rivals.  McNerney is known for imposing strict discipline and achieving excellent performance from the organizations he has headed through Six Sigma.  Although his work at 3M was not directly related to the airline industry, McNerney has some experience in the field.  In the late 1990s he headed up GE's jet engine business, an area where he achieved so much success that he was ultimately snatched up at 3M.  Chicago Tribune Reports:

"He's an excellent choice for Boeing," said one top-ranking Airbus official after the announcement Thursday.  "But he's the worst possible choice for Airbus."

Read More: 'Lottery' pick onboard

Western Mining Uses Six Sigma to Reduce Downtime

As the holder and miner of Australia's largest underground mine, the Western Mining Company has a lot on its plate.  As far as world rankings go, it is the eigth largest copper deposit and the largest uranium deposit in the world.   Because of its size and importance, it is vital to the success of the company that it remain online year round.  This has not been the case, however, in years past.  The company has persistantly had problems in keeping the rail system running, as well as inefficiencies in its data analysis.  It is for this reason that the company decided to incorporate the Six Sigma efficiency program.  Incorporation of Six Sigma has had some very dramatic effects on downtime, such as vastly reducing the reaction time to downtime events as well as the ability to monitor and reduce the "idle time" of the trains by creating the confidence to run them around the clock.  Ferret Reports:

The success of this project has provided a sustained increase in capacity of 20 percent in the rail haulage system with minimal capital expenditure.

"The quality of data that was being captured provided a new level of detail that was not previously available with the original downtime recording system," he said. 

Read More: Healthy return on investment

3M's Stock Will Recover With Deeper Implementation of Six Sigma

After news that James McNerney, 3M's stalwart leader for the past 4 years, is moving on to Boeing the company's stock price fell by 4%.  The fall is due in part to the amazing influence McNerney's disciplined style leadership has brought to 3M.  Although criticized for his rigidity, McNerney put a tight regimen on the company through his incorporation of the Six Sigma efficiency program.  Surprised by the move, executives remaining with 3M argue that the company will continue with the plan initiated by McNerney to implement further the Six Sigma efficiency program.  This program is largely credited for the turnaround in the company, and as a consequence the company plans to integrate the program further, a process that will take a number of years.  Kiplinger's Reports:

CSFB analysts say that although the shares will probably be hurt in the near term, the stock should recover fine, as 3M's business should be able to stay on track, even without McNerney.

Read More: 3M: Losing Leadership

Ford India Integrates Six Sigma

After experiencing remarkable success in quality and efficiency in its many other branches, Ford has decided to expand its usage of the Six Sigma program at its India hub.  The company has begun working with the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India who began a Six Sigma black belt program in 2003 and has since issued 35 certificates in the region.  Vice President of India Ford Vinay K Piparsania has stated that his company has already experienced a "sea world" of difference in the decade since they originally began integrating the process.  This personal experience has contributed to the company's drive to integrate further.  Ford India argues that while a full integration of the system would take years if not decades, even minimal integrations have the power to yield quite considerable cost savings. Sify.com Reports:

Noting that the journey of Six Sigma had tremendously improved over a period of time, he said even one per cent customer loyalty would result in savings of more than a million dollars.

Read More: Ford India bets on Six Sigma

Tyco's Turnaround Due to Efficiency Achieved via Six Sigma

When Edward D. Breen took over Tyco three years ago he faced a seemingly insurmountable wall of destruction to overcome left by his predecessor.  Today the company has a market capitalization of $62 billion, over three times its lowest mark achieved shortly after the former head was convicted of securities fraud, conspiracy and larceny.  The company's growth has been driven in part to a major efficiency push, led of course by the implementation of Six Sigma.  The efficiency program has saved the company some $600 million and has helped triple the company's operating margins from 8.5% in 2003 to 13.2%.  BusinessWeek Reports:

As Breen continues to look for more efficiencies -- $600 million in cost cuts are targeted in fiscal 2006 -- he's also seeking to get rid of the worst-performing units.  "He wants to sell the leaky boats before they take on too much water," says Nicholas P. Heymann, an analyst at Prudential Equity Group.

Read More: Tyco's Tentative Turnaround

GECIS to Expand into Romania

In what is to become their second Business Services and Technology Solutions center in Europe, GE announced recently its plans to open a center in Bucharest, Romania. The center was saluted by the Prime Minister of Romania, an indication of its importance to the local economy. Motivation for the project was driven by the highly skilled labor force, the countries forthcoming EU membership, government support for big business, and the flat tax. GE credits much of its growth, both personally and its popularity abroad to its incorporation of the Six Sigma program. Not only will the company incorporate Six Sigma methodologies in their expansion to Romania, but the company will additionally provide such services to its customers under the company Gecis.

AIA Malaysia Grows Due to Six Sigma

American International Assurance Malaysia, also known as AIA Malaysia has increased its sales force by over 10% to almost 10,000 agents in just five months.  This type of growth has allowed the firm to provide better services to its quickly growing clientele.  This type of growth was due to the fact that company has recently undergone a major incorporation of Six Sigma into their business model, a process which helped the company shed much excess weight and to identify which particular areas required the most attention.  The process, however, is by no means complete as the company is continuing to delve further into Six Sigma and implement changes across the next two years.  thestar Online Reports:

AIA undertook a very aggressive recruitment campaign at the beginning of the year.

"To complement the enhancement of our agency network, the company has also put in place a series of training programmes to support and train these individuals into successful entrepreneurs," Benter said. 

Read More: AIA recruits 1,000 more agents

HSBC Expands Six Sigma Usage

HSBC Malaysia, one of the countries leading lenders, plans to incorporate the use of Six Sigma in an effort to propel its consumer banking business.  Unlike some companies, who have used the methodology as a public relations move to increase stock price based upon excitement about the incorporation of the process, HSBC Malaysia says that it plans a profound incorporation of the methodology into its business plan.  The company began testing the compatability of Six Sigma with their business by initially applying the methodology to the processing of applications for credit cards and mortgages as well as a few initial customer accounts.  They have been so pleased with the results that a larger incorporation is now on the agenda.  thestar Online Reports:

HSBC has made huge investments pertaining to the adoption of methodology and has incorporated the practice into some of tis core processes before extending it to other areas," he told StarBiz in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Read More: Six Sigma propelling HSBC

Survey Reveals Problems with Six Sigma Implementation

A recent survey by Optimize Research indicated that of the 156 business-technology executives recently surveyed fewer than 40% reported that their company employed any aspect of Six Sigma at all.  This may be because of the daunting effort that overhauling key portions of a company's business model requires.  To help alleviate some of the time and energy requirements, over half of companies surveyed who have implemented the program sought partnership with an outside firm to complete the task.  That same survey found that despite hiring outside service providers to implement the program, however, its intensity has required the vast majority to become intimately involved in the process themselves.  Even with such efforts, often the adoption process does not go as smoothly as would be desired. InformationWeek Reports:

When asked about the challenges they've encountered, respondents say the issues aren't related to money. Instead, resistance to change or lack of buy-in top the list of problems. Resistance was about the same at almost every level of the enterprise, including among employees, middle management, and senior executives.

Read More: Search For Improvement With Complex SiX Sigma

HSBC To Increase Six Sigma Usage

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, a leading lender for the country of Malaysia plans to intensify the usage of Six Sigma throughout its business model. The company initially adopted the methodology within its core processes and satisfied with its success is now incorporating the methodology into its peripheries.  Six Sigma incorporation is spearheading a larger effort on the part of the bank to increase its clientele base as well as the number and variety of value-added services it provides its customers.  TheStar Online Reports:

Under this methodology, every key party plays an active role in ensuring that customer demand and satisfaction are met and at the same time, the quality of products and services are enhanced.

On the credit card business, he said the bank was targeting to secure 850,000 cardholders by the end of the year from 700,000 currently. 

Read More: Six Sigma propelling HSBC

State-Owned Monopoly Makes Transition to Open Market with Six Sigma

State-owned monopolies which are then privatized typically have disasterous results when their often bloated payrolls and inefficient products hit the free market.  However, KT Corp., Koreas largest fixed-line telephone and broadband Internet operator is having great success through their incorporation of Six Sigma.  Over a year after the company launched its Six Sigma Initiative, the company is seeing the benefits of their efforts, as the company has cut over $183 million US in costs since the beginning of 2004.  The company began the process by first looking at customer relations and then reaching backward through its supply chain.  The company is so pleased with its initial results that it plans to announce the expansion of the program within the next month. The Korea Herald Reports:

It would be hard to say that KT has completed its transition from a state fixed-line monopoly to a well-functioning private company but we hope that the six sigma effort will bring us closer. The Six Sigma Initiative is at the center of our efforts to enhance competitiveness and reinvent ourselves as a world-class company, said Lee.

Read More: Feel like royalty at Imperial Palace

Telstra Touts Unit Specific and End-to-End Benefits of Six Sigma

Telstra is in the final stages of completing a three year program to implement Six Sigma which will ultimately yield $150m in cost savings.  The company was introduced to Six Sigma through consumer and marketing chief David Moffatt, formerly of GE.  The program has been implemented within specific units, however, because of the unique flexibility of the program it has also been incorporated in wider scoped end-to-end performance improvements.  The Australian Reports:

"Over the last three years Telstra has implemented significant improvements in our processes which have contributed to reduced cycle times, increased revenues and, importantly, improved the customer experience with Telstra," chief executive Ziggy Switkowski said in a note to senior management.

Read More: Telstra's Six Sigma to cut $150m costs

Six Sigma Not Yet Widely Adopted in Ireland

Paul O'Brien of PricewaterhouseCoopers, who recently held a seminar on Six Sigma in Dublin, has commented that despite Six Sigma's success in companies who have implemented it in the U.S. and Europe, the business strategy has not yet been widely accepted in Ireland.  The difficulty has been that many Irish executives have percieved the process as merely American jargon and thus have not investigated it or simply regarded it as useless.  The key to wider adoption, according to O'Brien, is the incorporation of a limited project which will allow a company to see the benefits of Six Sigma without exposing them to the heavy investment which full incorporation of the program requires. SiliconRepublic.com Reports:

“So far, it has mainly been American, British and some European banks that have implemented Six Sigma. For example in the UK, JP Morgan, one of the first banks to work with this, had a huge amount of success with the deployment. Irish banks are beginning to look at Six Sigma or at least at facets of it. I know of one bank that has deployed an element of it in branch banking.” He notes that other banks to deploy the technique include the Irish subsidiaries of US banks such as Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch that have "inherited" the Six Sigma projects from their parent firm.

Read More: Six of the best

Detroit Hospitals Embrace Six Sigma

Employees at St. John and Trinity Health Systems are implementing Six Sigma to cut cost and eliminate errors to improve their health care services.  Under the program, hospital workers make careful analysis of every aspect of care including patients experiences, length of stay, waiting times, and employee experiences.  The program blends a mix of green belts and black belts, having green belts maintain their current position, albeit with greater awareness and imput, while black belts work full time on effeciency and effectiveness.  The Detroit News Reports:

The Six Sigma crew at Trinity noticed lab technicians and doctors had no set way of communicating and were wasting time leaving paper and phone messages. The solution: have the doctors and the lab communicate by text message.

Across town, St. John Health has cut waiting times in the emergency room from 64 minutes to 42 minutes and has saved $5 million in less than two years. The number of patients who leave the emergency room without being seen has been halved.

Read More: Hospital workers take charge of cutting costs

GE Helps Airlines Stay Afloat With Six Sigma

General Electric Commercial Finance, a branch of GE, is implementing a program to help Airline companies cut costs and stay afloat.  With analysts predicting first quarter losses amongst air carriers to total $2 billion, the need for extreme cost cutting is clear.  GECF, which is already financing many of today's air carriers, has a vested interest in helping these companies achieve profitability.  This process has involved quite centrally, the adoption of Six Sigma strategies.  In Business Las Vegas Reports:

Newlands went to Cincinnati to learn Six Sigma -- a data-driven, fact-based approach that uses statistics and tools to analyze business processes.  GE's Six Sigma "black belts," as they call them, helped America West identify potential savings. 

"We used them quite a bit in the technical area," Newlands said.

Read More: GE program helps airlines identify inefficiencies

EIU Study Indicates Increased Implementation of Six Sigma for 2005

Despite almost universal recognition of the benefits of implementing Six Sigma programs, only 5 percent of all performance and quality initiatives undertaken in the past three years utilized the approach.  According to a recent study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), however, those numbers may be about to change.  For the largest companies, Six Sigma is surpassed only by corporate organization realignment on CEO's agenda for 2005. Consultant-News Reports:

"The increasing interest we are seeing in Six Sigma stems from two sources," said Dave Antis, Executive Vice President, Celerant Consulting.  "First, as Six Sigma and its track record become more widely understood, more companies are considering it.  Second, as the study shows, a high percentage of other types of initiative, although apparently successful, failed to fulfill their companies' strategic objectives."

Read More: All you need to know about consulting and consultants

Xerox CEO Credits Six Sigma With Company's Turnaround

Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy spoke this week at Harvard Business School, discussing her role in the companies 180 degree turnaround.  In  May of 2000 the company was $18 million dollars in debt and many executives were either being accused or convicted of fraud.  Despite criticism from nearly every corner, Mulcahy met with SEC regulators and initiated a redoubled effort to recoup market share by pushing R & D, productivity, and efficiency.  The HARBUS Online Reports:

Mulcahy increased spending on research and development, which she called "the keys to the kingdom" and began a "relentless focus on productivity" that would include deploying Lean Six Sigma throughout the company. 

Read More: Xerox CEO Speaks on Her Rise to the Top: Cites Work/Life Balance as Critical to Success

GE's Jack Welch Discusses Six Sigma Service Quality

As one of the most celebrated corporate leaders, Jack Welch's brain has been picked for businiess strategies and solutions for years.  So most expected the 2001 retiree from General Electric's newest autoiography to reveal nothing new.  Surprisingly, however, Welsh covers in depth the importance of pushing for Six Sigma quality, and creating a culture of change in the workplace.  Additionally the book offers a number of the leader's hard and fast fules.  BusinessWeek Reports:

Budgets, he argues, should be less about making your numbers and living within your means than beating last year's performance and besting competitors whom you truly understand. 

Flexibility on the job is something you earn bia superior performance.

Read More: Welch Has More to Say. Really

After Losing Ground Albertsons Will Implement Six Sigma

The nation's #2 grocer has had a disappointing year. After this week missing financial targets set only one month before, the company's stock has slipped 4.3%  to its lowest level since 2003.  In response, the company has vowed to cut $250 million in overhead for 2006, a cut driven in part by the expansion of its Six Sigma program which was originally brought to the company by CEO Larry Johnston, formerly of GE.  Newsday.com Reports:

"We plan to focus on our consumer demand chain initiatives, coupled with savings generated through our recently launched Six Sigma program," said Danielle Killpack, and Albertsons spokeswoman.

Read More: Albertsons profit tumbles after hurricanes, sluggish business

BusinessWeek Discusses Six Sigma Benefits and Limitations

Six Sigma can't preform miracles.  That's the lesson from BusinessWeek, who argues that while the business approach can help create a company that is conducive to generating excellent products, services, and customer experiences it cannot create the actual products.  While this news will certainly not come as a revalation to most American companies, it does mean that as Six Sigma and other cost and quality control programs are implemented internationally, domestic companies must utilize cultural connections to provide themselves with a competitive edge.  BusinessWeek Reports:

Indian and Chinese engineers and manufacturers are doing more and more of the old cost- and quality-control Six-Sigma stuff (you haven't seen anything yet in outsourcing), leaving U.S. corporations to build new business models around customer culture. America's customer culture is a divide that foreigners have a hard time penetrating -- which gives U.S. companies their best, and perhaps only, shot for growth.

Read More: The Empathy Economy

Godfrey Phillips Implements six Sigma to Counter Rising Costs

Cigarette maker, Godfrey Phillips has recently seen its costs increase because of a duty increase set forth in the newly unveiled budget.  The company counters, however, that these costs are being partially compensated for through the implementation of Six Sigma and other production efficiency systems.  Moneycontrol.com Reports:

The reason our profitability has been going up is because for the last two-three years, we have laid a lot of emphasis on our productivity, organising our plants, reducing our cost of production, putting into practice the principles of Kaizen and Six Sigma.

In the absence of major topline growth for the past few years, our emphasis has really been on increasing productivity and efficiency.

Read More: Godfrey Phillips sees a 5% cost push

10 Qualities to Look for in Six Sigma Black Belt Candidates

Selecting candidates for Six Sigma Black Belt Candidacy is a task vital to the prolonged health and growth of a company. Selecting the wrong candidate can not only mean that both time and money is wasted in the training, but that your company will not reap the benefits that such training can provide. Consequently, Charles Waxer of iSix Sigma has compiled a top ten list of the most important qualities to look for when selecting a candidate. iSix Sigma Reports:

Technical Aptitude. The Black Belt candidate need not be an engineering or statistical graduate, but in some cases this is beneficial -- provided the other top ten qualities listed are also present. In all cases, a Black Belt is required to collect and analyze data for determining an improvement strategy. Without some technical aptitude (computer/software literacy and analytical skills) the Black Belt will be frustrated in this role.

Business Acumen. Black Belts are business leaders, not the quality managers of the past. As such, they should have business knowledge and the ability to display the linkage between projects and desired business results. How is a project making the company stronger competitively and financially? You can ask questions during the interview to determine if the Black Belt candidates have made this connection in their prior roles.

Read More: Top Ten Six Sigma Black Belt Candidate Qualities

Tyco Re-establishes Credibility Through Six Sigma

It has been more than two years since the Tyco management scandal, but for CEO Ed Breen and the rest of Tyco's executive staff, the challange of re-establishing credibility is a long road.  After replacing the senior corporate management, Breen has been hard at work trimming and restructuring the ailing company.  While outsourcing some management work has certainly yielded benefits, Breen credits his existing managements increased operating excellence, achieved through Six Sigma, for much of the company's rebound.  IndustryWeek.com Reports:

The second area is what I would call the operating excellence or operating intensity area.  And under that falls Six Sigma, strategic sourcing, the rationalization of our real estate footprint and our focus on improving working capital.  [Operating excellence] is really a catalyst, and what I would say is a culture of how we want to run this company for continuous improvement.

Read More: Restoring Credibility

DSS Systems Ltd. Brings Six Sigma to Middle East

In what some analysts are calling a major step towards the globalization of Six Sigma, DSS Systems and Software Limited has attained exclusive rights for marketing the training, consulting, and implementation services of Six Sigma in the Middle East and Indian IT industry.  With a growing number of multinationals who have already implemented Six Sigma now requiring their foreign subsidiaries to follow suit, DSS Ltd. expects what is already significant demand for the process to precipitously increase over the next five years.  The Times of India Reports:

The company’s confidence stems from the fact that a number of multinational companies like GE and Motorola, which have embraced Six Sigma, are insisting that their suppliers, associates and subsidiaries do so too. This is in addition to the direct drivers of SS in the country like it resulting in cost-effectiveness and improvement in quality. Application of SS, which started in the manufacturing sector, followed by banking and insurance sectors, is now into the third wave, where SS is being embraced by technology and IT.

Read More: DSS Systems ties-up with Six Sigma Advantage Inc.

Wipro Advises on Six Sigma Implementation

Wipro Infotech announced last week the completion of its consulting seervices for Corporation Bank.  The consultancy was initiated to implement the highly touted 'Six Sigma' system and achieve the extreme efficiency the process is known for.  Business Standard Reports:

“The solution that Wipro Infotech is providing Corporation Bank will help bring in a culture of continuous improvement, develop a pool of resources that would be the think tank and enable change within the organisation to attain operational efficiency,” said Anurag Srivastava, Business Head, consulting, Wipro Infotech.

Read More: Wipro Six Sigma consultant to bank

CK Birla Group Credits Six Sigma for Success

The CK Birla Group Company, an Indian software exporter is quickly becoming a national leader amongst software exporting firms.  CEO Kamal Mansharamani credits the embracing of innovative management methodologies like Six Sigma for its success.  CIOL Reports:

Today, the CK Birla Group company that also has strategic equity participation by GE Capitals has been able to transform its offshore service delivery through its robust delivery model that embraces digitized project management methodologies embedded within its Six Sigma and SEI CMM Level 5 practice. While the company is already offering IT services worldwide from its development centers in US, India and Australia, it has recently entered Japan and acquired 29 new customers and hopes to be amongst the India Top 10 soon.

Read More: "We have full commitment from Birlas"

Motorola Credits Six Sigma for Past Successes and Bets on Future

Ed Zander, CEO of Motorola, reflected upon the Six Sigma management system, originally implemented at Motorola in 1988.  It was this system, he argues, that streamlined Motorola's processeses and made the company the global leader in mobile phone sales.  Zander now wants to reinvigorate the recently lackluster company by re-implementing that system.  Bloomberg.com Reports:

``In a world where simplicity and speed rule, the way they did things was just very complex,'' says Zander, who gave Frost responsibility for the overall marketing budget instead of requiring each division's marketing chief to come up with his or her own. He did the same with the human resources budget and put newcomer Ruth Fattori, 52, a former senior vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co., in charge of the department.

Read More: Motorola's Zander Bets New Razr Phone Will Boost Margins, Stock