six sigma case study
Malansari23
lecture2020720-20deployment20for20six20sigma.pptLecture 7
Deployment
for
Six Sigma
Why is effective deployment critical to the success of Six Sigma?
- To prevent constant firefighting mode and merely “fixing” the problem of the day.
- To prevent multiple “process improvement” projects working simultaneously, without realizing that the effect of each project can influence the final result.
- To prevent the organization from making frequent, arbitrary, hit-and-trial methods to control process variables.
- To prevent waste of time of resources without making true process improvement.
Process improvement with poor deployment
Process improvement with good deployment
Two approaches to implement Six Sigma
1) Traditional general training approach:
This approach teaches Statistical tools to the many employees and let them use the tools where they feel appropriate.
2) Deployment through project approach
This approach requires trainees to use specific statistical tool to specific project. The project results are monitored more closely.
Benefits of deployment through project approach
- Tied with bottom-line results
- Utilizes tools in a more productive way
- Provides a strategy for project management which can be constantly improved
- Increases communication between the management and the project team
- Provides detailed understanding of critical business processes
- Give a better understanding to employees and management of how statistical tools can be of significant value to the organization
Which approach is more commonly used in the industry?
Deployment through projects is the most effective way for an organization to benefit from its investment in Six Sigma
Deployment through projects is most commonly used in the industry to implement Six Sigma
Deployment strategy at GE
- Master black belts were aligned with strategic business units.
- Number of Black Belts and Green Belts were significantly increased with mentoring relationship established between them.
- Project reports were more structured and less frequent.
- Projects focused on key areas and aligned with goals.
- Training was made mandatory for promotion.
- An annual Six Sigma week was held to share successes and communicate lessons learned.
Key elements of successful deployment
1) Keep the focus on results: Have a clear vision of where you are and where you want to be in terms of goals.
2) Remember customers: Remember critical quality expectations of your customers.
3) Communicate the commitment companywide: Tell everyone what you are doing and what you plan to accomplish.
4) Empower your key human resources: Select and empower the right people to lead your Six Sigma teams.
5) Claim and advertise early “wins”
6) Establish project baseline and goals: Identify current defect levels, defect-reduction target and potential savings.
Key items to avoid for successful deployment
1) Don’t make Six Sigma a massive “training” exercise.
2) Don’t train all employees at once to be Six Sigma practitioners. Train selected people to get project started.
3) Don’t focus resources on excessive reworking of training material. Get busy applying it.
4) Don’t let controller waffle your savings calculations. Include them in your Six Sigma initiative at the outset.
5) Don’t skip steps to speed up the project. Let the data and analysis do its job. Deal with facts and not assumptions.
6) Don’t be afraid to learn and use statistical tools.
Deployment team roadmap
Supporting actions for the success of deployment for Six Sigma
1) Training
2) Rewards and recognition
3) Measurement
4) Communication
Training should be both skill based and behavior based
Skill based training
- Six Sigma tools
- Process improvement tools
- Basic statistics
Behavior based training
- Teamwork
- Attention to others (listening skill)
- consensus building
Rewards and recognition
- Reward behavior that supports strategic goals.
- Rewards must be consistent with goals and employee compensation may need to be reevaluated.
- Rewards influence behavior, and if organizations do not explicitly reward the behavior critical to their success, they should not be surprised if that behavior fails to occur.
- Team-based reward system must become the norm to encourage teamwork.
Measurement
- If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
- Measurement is the connective tissue that binds all process improvement.
- Process measurements are indicators of process capability. They include measurement of process variables such as:
- Cycle time
- quality error rate
- labor or process efficiency
- Delay or wait time
- Inventory turns
Communication strategies
- Newsletters
- Videotapes
- Town hall employee meetings
- Informal gathering
- Quality circles
- Department meeting
- Simply talking with employee informally
Deployment plan during the launch phase
The following must be in place before starting the major effort on Six Sigma effort.
- Executive and business leadership workshop
- Six Sigma champion workshop
- Selection of initial projects
- Selection of initial Black Belts and their roles
- Finance personnel training
- Black Belt and green Belt training
Example of criteria for project selection
1) Areas to improve
- Waste reduction
- Capacity improvement
- Downtime reduction
- Resource consumption (labor and raw material)
2) Effect on Customer Satisfaction
- On-time delivery in full
- Defect levels
3) Effect on the bottom line
- >$250K savings per project
- Doable in 4-6 months
- Benefit realized in < 1 year
Characteristics of a good Six Sigma project
- Clearly connected to business priorities
- Problem is of major importance to the organization
- Can provide process improvement >50%
- Doable in 4-6 months requiring little support after 6 months
- Baseline, goals, and expected savings are well defined
- Importance is clear to the organization
- People will support a project that they understand and see as important
- Project has support and approval of management
- Project scope is manageable and not too large
Examples of high-impact projects
- Rework and scrap activities
- Overtime, warranty, and other obvious sources of waste
- Product with major backlog or need for more capacity
- High volume products (small improvements can have huge impact)
- Problems which need solutions to meet company objectives
- Major problems with financial impact (customer or environmental crises)
- Large budget items such as receivables, payables, treasury, taxes in other words, “follow the money”
Avoid projects which fall into following classifications
- Fuzzy objectives
- Poor metrics
- No ties to financials
- Too broad a scope
- No connection to strategic or annual plans
- Solutions already identified
- Too many objectives
What questions to ask before starting a Six Sigma project?
- Who are the customers?
- What are the expectations of the customers?
- What is a valid measure of how well the process works?
- How does the process work currently?
- What items in the current process causing problems?
- What changes are needed in the process to satisfy the customer?
- What Six Sigma tools should be used?
- What kind of process improvement is necessary?
Before deciding what Six Sigma tools should be used, ask the following questions
- Are there any predictable or demonstrable patterns or trends?
- How stable is the process?
- How often does it vary and why?
- How much variance is acceptable?
- At what level of variance should I become concerned?
- Is there any correlation between events in the process?
- Is there a correlation between the time of day & error rate?
- How long does the process take to complete (cycle time)?
- What is the average time and variation?
- Which problems are causing the most complaints from the customer?
Decision about process improvement
A) The current process is basically working well and simply requires monitoring or fine tuning
B) The current process has some good qualities which should be retained, but still require major redesign.
C) The current process is in such poor condition that it needs to be completely reengineered.
Key points to remember
- As you get started, keep your objective clear, stay on track, and focus on results.
- Make sure that you and your manager regularly communicate why, when, and how you are progressing on the Six Sigma projects.
- Evaluate sincerely how much you know about basic Six Sigma tools and what depth of training you will need to get started.
- Take time to plan your Six Sigma initiative by taking proper steps to organize and coordinate with key people.
- If you have to choose outside consultant for help, make sure that he has proper qualifications.
Checklist to see how ready you are for Six Sigma project
Checklist to see how ready you are for Six Sigma project
Checklist to see how ready you are for Six Sigma project
Organization of multiple project champions and Black Belts
What are the characteristics of good Black Belt
- Respected by the organization
- Computer literate
- An analytical thinker, not afraid of numbers
- Skilled in basic statistics
- A team leader with soft skills
- Skilled in project management
- A positive thinker with can do attitude
What is a Dashboard?
- It is a visual depiction of timely and relevant information about the metrics.
- It provides a visual observation about performance, history, and trends.
- It shows the progress of action plans and process improvement projects.
- Overall it is a very useful tool for the leadership team to make better and timely decisions.
Effectiveness of Dashboard
By using trend and control charts on the dashboard, the manager can determine the following:
- How well the process is performing against the goal.
- Whether the project is progressing successfully and in timely manner.
- Whether anything unusual occurred that signals special-cause variation.
Example of Dashboards
Example of Dashboards
Number of FTEs
