Definitions and general questions:
What is a black belt / coach /
six sigma expert?
A black belt (depending on companies and providers also known as a coach,
expert, catalyst etc.) is a practitioner of six sigma tools. These individuals
drive business results through the application of tools on projects. Typically
they will work projects full time for the first 4-6 months of participating in
the program. After the initial project work they may remain in the organization
as full time process improvement experts or utilize the tools in other
functions.
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What is a six sigma greenbelt?
A six sigma greenbelt is typically trained less intensively than a black belt.
In many organizations greenbelts work projects on a part time basis and are
supported by black belts. While greenbelts may contribute to the pervasiveness
of six sigma in the organization, required support, project selection and
adequate training should be carefully considered to ensure adequate return on
investment.
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What is a six sigma champion?
Six sigma champions are used in many organizations to provide ‘program
management’. Champions support project and candidate selection and handle any
administrative, reporting related activity. They act as an interface to
operational leadership.
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How do lean manufacturing and
six sigma relate?
Both tools kits support the reduction of waste in businesses. Lean
manufacturing focuses on ‘making value flow’, i.e. providing an easy to follow,
uninterrupted product flow with minimal waste. Six sigma focuses on variation
related or lack of process knowledge related waste such as quality issues,
tampering leading to amplified variation in the product delivery process etc.
If applied in an integrated fashion the tools are complementary and should be
used in a ‘hand and glove’ approach.
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Program & implementation questions:
What implementation options are
there for six sigma and lean manufacturing?
There are multiple implementation methods for six sigma and lean manufacturing.
The appropriate method that drives the highest ROI for a client organization
depends largely on the business and the business environment that is being
operated in. The following questions are often worth considering prior to
deciding on the appropriate implementation model:
- What performance level is the organization
currently achieving?
- What is the goal for performance?
- What is the required time frame?
- Which level of the organization is supporting
the initiative?
- What kinds of results are targeted?
- What kind of talent is available in the
organization?
- How concentrated will the effort be?
- What are the key leverage points in the
organization?
- What are the key business metrics for the
organization?
- Which implementation method best supports
breakthrough improvements for those metrics?
- What is the budget (monetary as well as resource
related)?
Based on the answers, one of the following implementation methods will prove to
be the most effective:
- Organization wide training and project work
- Target area (like engineering, manufacturing,
billing etc.) training and project work
- Target candidate training and project work
- SigmaNow
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How quickly can the investment
be recovered?
Our implementations are cash flow positive within 2-3 months from program start.
This measure of cash flow timing includes employee salaries, travel, training
facilities etc in the cost structure. The training itself represents the
smallest portion of the associated cost. Given the ROI of the program and
almost immediate positive cash flow, a positive impact on financial performance
should be expected within one quarter.
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Does this program build
analytical skills?
The program builds analytical and logic skills simultaneously. It is used by
many organizations as the platform to generate analysts that generate business
results of multiples of their salaries consistently.
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Does this approach build future
leaders?
Our clients utilize particularly the Masters Program to groom future
organizational leaders. The Masters program gives individuals the opportunity to
improve large-scale cross-functional processes with an integrated tool kit at
exceptional speed. It therefore provides future leaders with:
- A clear understanding of the business across
functional areas
- A framework and tools to deliver breakthrough
performance
- Exposure to current leadership in the
organization
- Change Management experience through leading
organizations through rapid change
- Confidence through driving business results
- Mentoring and coaching network
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What differentiates this program
from other programs?
This program is focused on driving business results. In comparison to many other
initiatives it is not a training program with the hope for increased
productivity in the future, but rather it focuses on driving business results
directly. Projects and candidates are specifically selected to accelerate
business performance. Training is provided as a means to drive business results
versus being a means of it’s own. These programs have been implemented without
negative cash flow or negative profitability implications for the implementing
organizations.
In addition, this program provides leadership a platform for goal
accomplishment. Providing tools to employees enables stretch goals to be
accomplished with the current pool of employees. An integrate six sigma
and lean manufacturing program, if properly implemented, will drive not only
tools, but motivation and immediate success into the organization.
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What kinds of issues should be
considered prior to launching a program?
Instructor qualifications should be carefully analyzed when considering
suppliers. While many providers may present an ‘A-Team’ during the sales
cycle the actual training and project mentoring may be conduced by far less
qualified individuals and in some cases sub-contractors. While some degree
of training can be standardized, specific project and business related issues
may not. In that case lack of instructor qualifications may jeopardize the
project outcome and in some cases even lead to cynicism in the organization
towards the program. Availability of the provider team to aid in project
work may also be a worthwhile consideration prior to selecting providers.
For consistency purpose it may be of value to ensure a high degree of
consistency in the instructors pool.
While some training elements are also ‘standard’
in any six sigma program, the specific tool application may differ widely.
Some providers will custom develop supplemental topics specific to the clients
business while others may opt not to provide this service.
Leadership commitment is of utmost importance in
ensuring high returns of a six sigma and/or lean manufacturing program.
These programs may be successfully implemented in organizational pockets,
however, if cross-organizational project are to be other functions need to be
involved in the implementation of the program.
One key characteristic of successful candidates
is a significant time commitment towards the project work. Without time to
actually drive process improvements, results will be meager. A program
initiative of this magnitude should not be taken lightly and treated as "just
another additional initiative". It is a platform for business
transformation that will yield breakthrough business performance if treated as
such by leadership.
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How do you integrate six sigma
into other initiatives?
Many initiatives that have historically been implemented have some value to the
organization. Unfortunately many initiates receive a bad reputation as a result
of improper implementation and the ‘silver bullet’ fallacy – the attempt to make
any initiative the silver bullet to all business opportunities. No one
initiative however will be able to achieve such a requirement. For more
information on this topic, please refer to our white paper section of this web
page. It contains one of our recent articles specifically on this topic.
(The Foundation for
Successful Process Improvement Programs)
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Is this applicable to mid sized
and small companies?
Yes, six sigma and lean manufacturing is applicable to smaller organizations.
Although popularized through the implementation at GE, AlliedSignal, Motorola
and Xerox, Six Sigma Systems brings tremendous value to smaller organizations.
As additional larger companies, such as Ford, move towards six sigma as a key
platform for process improvement, we have also observed an increased requirement
put on to suppliers to "participate". A key difference in the application
of Six Sigma in small businesses is the type of implementation model that is
most appropriate. While many large organizations favor a company wide
initiative, this approach may be sub-optimal for smaller organizations.
(Also see our section on Implementation Methods).
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Does six sigma apply to
administrative operations?
Six sigma is applicable to administrative applications. One key issue associated
with administrative processes is that a key source of variation in system
performance is the human factor. While most employees desire to deliver
high performance, leadership needs to provide a process that fundamentally
enables high performance. Furthermore, many processes with humans as
primary processors and measurement tools require a robust process specifically
addressing ‘human’ noise since the presence and impact of noise in such a system
is significantly amplified. Lean manufacturing and six sigma provide the
tools to improve existing administrative operations and supply a robust process.
It is also complementary to High Performance Work Team environments providing
the tools to address more complex issues.
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Are these the newest and
hottest tools?
An interesting fact about most six sigma tools is that they are not new. The
application of the tools and their practical, integrated and results oriented
application is "what’s new". Some of the tools date back as far as the
1920s and 1930s (SPC, DOE for example). In fact tools like DOE are one of the
drivers for the increase in agricultural output over the last 80 years.
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Results questions:
What kinds of business results
will six sigma and lean manufacturing yield?
Not using ‘creative accounting methods’ an integrated six sigma and lean
manufacturing implementation should be expected to deliver returns above 500%.
A difficulty in comparing programs and providers is the ‘creative accounting’
used in some instances. None-the-less, applying sensible accounting
methods a good implementation is guaranteed to deliver an ROI superior to other
available process improvement activities that we are aware of.
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What drives the magnitude of the
business results?
The actual business results achieved are largely dependent on the following
factors:
- Involvement, participation and ownership of
leadership.
- Project selection.
- Candidate and Team selection.
- Program Provider.
- Comprehensiveness of the program.
- Instructor qualifications.
- Delivery method.
- Implementation model.
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Will Six Sigma Systems, Inc.
guarantee results?
We will guarantee the results of our program. We are happy to accept
payment terms that will ensure our clients receives breakthrough business
results when implementing a six sigma & lean manufacturing program through our
organization.
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How quickly can the investment
be recovered?
Our programs turn profitable and cash flow positive within 2 - 3 months of
program start. Our program is therefore truly ‘self-funding’.
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