Please Define Six Sigma!

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Is Six Sigma worth the investment for a small or medium sized business?

The list of big companies that are utilizing Six Sigma is huge. But is it right for the small and medium business? GE and Motorola will find it hard to gain any more market share thany they already have. The best way for them to increase profits is to decrease costs. But is that really true for a small or medium sized manufacturer? Anything that strives to reduce the number of defects and increase customer satisfaction is a positive for your business. That's a no brainer. The issue is more how deeply do you immerse your business, and your employees in to a process that can take the focus off of what they enjoy doing.

Let me state that in another way. Many of your employees are employees because that's what they want to do. They don't want the headache or the associated risk of running a business, or being a manager or director. Six Sigma is a very disciplined and detail oriented process. Because of this it can drastically alter the nature of an employees task. In some cases, this will be a positive. The employee may feel energized by the change and the challenge. Others will boost productivity simply due to the Hawthorne effect. A significant number will however see this as an unwelcome change to the job they want to do.THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS! We simply must accept the fact that not everyone is dedicated to advancing his or her career and embracing all challenges and changes. Most people work because they have to. They work so that they can support their families and enjoy time away from work with other pursuits. This is not a character flaw or a sign of laziness. It's just the decision they've made, nothing more and nothing less. When we try to impose radical change on the work portion of thier lives they have the freedom to move on to another company. And that's the best case scenario. Generally what happens is the employee becomes disenfranchised and productivity suffers.

Obviously our goal isn't to decrease productivity so what's a small business to do? Like everything else you need to take it slow at first. The best advice is to decide what you want out of it before you even begin. Then you can make a better decision about using a Six Sigma consultant, and whether or not you need one. You should also set a realistic goal for what an acceptable defect rate should be and what the cost is for a given range of defects. Six Sigma has this process as part of it but many of the Black belt consultants seem to get caught up in reaching that magic number of zero defects. That's a nice goal but if the cost of reaching it is ten times the cost of the defects, who cares? Go with the defect rate you have and keep cashing the checks. In short, don't fix what isn't broken. Fine tuning to keep or gain market share is one thing, reorganzing your entire business in a risky pursuit of a 1.5% profit increase is quite another.

Design for Six Sigma by Peter Peterka

DFSS can be compared to DMAIC (Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and often the acronym DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify) is used to describe the strategy of DFSS. The precise phases or steps of a DFSS methodology are not universally defined. Most organizations will implement DFSS to suit their business, industry, and culture. DFSS methodology, instead of the DMAIC methodology, should be used when: * A product or process is not in existence at your company and one needs to be developed * The existing product or process exists and has been optimized (using either DMAIC or not) and still doesn't meet the level of customer specification or six sigma level DFSS is a way to implement the Six Sigma methodology as early in the product or service life cycle as possible. It is a strategy toward extraordinary ROI by designing to meet customer needs and process capability. DFSS can produce the same order of magnitude in financial benefits as DMAIC. But it also greatly helps an organization innovate, exceed customer expectations, and become a market leader.

DFSS is the Six Sigma approach to product design—namely, designing products that are resistant to variation in the manufacturing process. Using DFSS means designing quality into the product from the start. You are preventing wasteful variation before it happens, thus being able to identify and correct problems early when the solution costs are less. A successful DFSS implementation requires the same ingredients as any other Six Sigma project: a significant commitment and leadership from the top, planning that identifies and establishes measurable program goals and timeline, and the training and involvement of everyone.

Planning for DFSS requires collecting the necessary information that will allow for error free production of defect-free products and processes that satisfy the customer profitably. DFSS attempts to predict how the designs under consideration will behave and to correct for variation prior to it occurring. That means understanding the real needs of your customers and translating those needs into vital technical characteristics of the product and ultimately into critical to quality (CTQ) characteristics of the product and process. You can then use design of experiments (DOE) to develop a robust design that optimizes efficiency and reduces defects.

Valid and reliable metrics to monitor the progress of the project are established early in the project, during the Measure phase if using DMADV. Key inputs are prioritized to establish a short list to study in more detail. With a prioritized list of inputs in hand, the DFSS team will determine the potential ways the process could go wrong and take preemptive action to mitigate or prevent those failures. Through analysis, the DFSS team can determine the causes of the problem that needs improvement and how to eliminate the gap between existing performance and the desired level of performance. This involves discovering why defects are generated by identifying the key variables that are most likely to create process variation. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Anticipatory Failure Determination (AFD) can be used for both the design of the product and the design of the process.

DFSS provides a structured way to constructively use the information learned from these analyses. Armed with real data produced by the DFSS process, you can develop competent manufacturing processes and choose processes that are capable of meeting the design requirements. Further analysis can verify and validate that the product design will meet the quality targets. This can be accomplished through peer reviews, design reviews, simulation and analysis, qualification testing, or production validation testing.

The benefits of DFSS are more difficult to quantify and are more long-term. It can take over six months after the launch of the new product before you will begin to see the true measure of the project improvements. However, the eventual return on investment can be profound. This is especially true when the organization can use the DFSS project as a template for fundamental changes in the way it develops new products and processes across the organization.

Peter Peterka is a Master Six Sigma Black Belt for Six Sigma us and has implemented Six Sigma in a variety of organizations. For additional information for Six Sigma Training and Design for Six SIgma please contact Peter Peterka at http://www.6sigma.us

Six Sigma Jobs by Peter Peterka

Types of Six Sigma Jobs There are many Six Sigma jobs in many industries at junior and senior levels. The positions have descriptions and requirements unique to that organization and its requirements. It is true that many Six Sigma positions are filled internally as organizations train their own people already familiar with the organization’s culture in Six Sigma skills. However, organizations frequently reach outside to add personnel with Six Sigma expertise to lead Six Sigma projects or even the full-scale implementation of Six Sigma throughout the organization. These positions are usually dedicated full-time to Six Sigma projects.

Six Sigma jobs are advertised under many titles, not always as obvious as “Six Sigma Black Belt,” “Six Sigma Consultant,” or “Six Sigma Analyst.” Other possible titles include things like “Functional Project Lead” “Six Sigma Program Manager,” “Lead Analyst/Project Manager,” “Director of Operational Excellence,” “Business Process Manager,” or “Senior Projects Manager.” Whatever the exact title, the organization is looking for someone with the skills of a Six Sigma Black Belt. A Black Belt is an individual trained in the Six Sigma methodology and experienced leading cross-functional process improvement teams. They will lead individual Six Sigma projects.

Very senior Six Sigma positions are sometimes advertised. These are Master Black Belts, individuals trained in the Six Sigma methodology who acts as the organization-wide Six Sigma program manager. They will lead Six Sigma implementation at the organization and will oversee Black Belts and process improvement projects and provides guidance to Black Belts as required. Master Black Belt positions understandably demand the highest level of Six Sigma experience and qualifications.

Qualifying for Six Sigma Jobs To be considered for a Six Sigma job, you need a combination of relevant academic and work experience. The first and foremost qualification is to be trained in Six Sigma, ideally as a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. This means formal training from qualified Six Sigma consultants who have extensive experience in training and implementation of Six Sigma. Specific training in Six Sigma DMAIC and/or DFSS methodology is often requested. The best teacher is, of course, experience and organizations will strongly prefer, if not insist, on people who have completed at least one Six Sigma project.

In addition to possessing Six Sigma training and project experience, organizations will ask that you have experience working in the industry of the organization’s business. So if the company is a manufacturer, they will usually want you to have direct experience in a manufacturing environment. Organizations will ask that you have a certain minimum period of experience (often five years) in that particular industry.

Management experience is a huge plus and will almost certainly be a requirement for a Six Sigma project team leader. Having on your resume proven project management success within a structured environment and being able to demonstrate good managerial skills will take you a long way. That’s because leading and facilitating Black Belts, Green Belts, and business teams through a Six Sigma project is often the role organizations are seeking to fill.

There are also essential personal skills. You need to be able to demonstrate a good understanding of processes and quality methodologies and a willingness to take an initiative and lead change. Another crucial skill is the ability to link strategy to execution. The aptitude to look beyond the surface and be creative to think conceptually about strategic business issues and develop creative but practical solutions is key.

Peter Peterka is a Master Six Sigma Black Belt for Six Sigma us and has implemented Six Sigma in a variety of organizations. For additional information for Six Sigma Training and Six SIgma Jobs please contact Peter Peterka at http://www.6sigma.us/

Six Sigma is about More Than Just Number Crunching

Certainly, Six Sigma is about number crunching. In Six Sigma, first you define your problem and your project, and then you measure your process from start to finish. Six Sigma produces a flood of data about your process. These measurements are critical to your success. If you don't measure it, you can't manage it. Through those measurements and all of that data, you begin to understand your process and develop methodologies to identify and implement the right solutions to improve your process. Six Sigma’s clear strength is a data-driven analysis and decision-making process—not someone's opinion or gut feeling.

However, those who know Six Sigma have learned enough to be wary of excessive “number crunching” that does not lead to performance improvement. It is not the measurements or the reports that create solutions; it is the Six Sigma team itself. Once a problem’s root causes are determined in the analysis phase of a Six Sigma project, the team works together to find creative new improvement solutions. The data is used and relied upon—it is the measurements of the realities you face! Yet it is smart measurement and smart analysis of the data—and above all the smart creation of new improvement solutions and their implementation—that create real change.

Six Sigma is more than a data-capturing, number-crunching process. It is a philosophy and a methodology; it is a way of looking at business and a way of doing business processes. Six Sigma provides a structured data-driven methodology with tools and techniques by application of which companies can measure the baseline performance of their processes and determine the root causes of variations, as well as improve their processes to meet and exceed the desired performance levels. Six Sigma is a technique to introduce controlled thinking into a continuous change management method. It is a desire to constantly improve a product or service offered.

The value of statistical analysis cannot be underestimated. How can an organization improve if it does not have an established baseline? How can an organization determine if it has made progress if there is no data to indicate improvement? Measurement of activity (lead times, cycle times, failure rates, downtimes, etc.) is very important. Using these measurements to understand the variability in your processes is substantially better than the ad hoc it-doesn't-feel-right approach. However, without thorough knowledge and skills of how to use statistics in a business environment, all of the number crunching in the world won’t create real change. Ultimately, business process improvement is achieved through the acquisition of knowledge. Since knowledge is a commodity that people acquire, organizations must recognize their people as their most valued assets. Well-trained people gather the knowledge that leads to quality improvement. Through the effective deployment of Six Sigma, the utilization of people can improve process performance, affect product and service quality, positively influence customer satisfaction, and ensure long-term business success.

Yes, you do have to know statistics well, but you also need to know the business needs of your organization to make Six Sigma a success. Six Sigma is a big job that encompasses the entire organization; it isn’t just a set of mathematical tools or a separate function done by bean counters. Properly envisioned as a philosophy of quality improvement, Six Sigma helps everyone in the organization become more efficient and productive.

Peter Peterka is President of Six Sigma us. For additional information on Six Sigma Green Belt or other Six Sigma Certification project programs contact Peter Peterka.

Managing Teams and Six Sigma

Success in managing Six Sigma teams begins with the top of the organization. Company leadership must give the teams the resources and the authority to apply Six Sigma concepts to their daily activities. They must also ensure that organizational goals are aligned with Six Sigma projects and that any roadblocks to Six Sigma deployment are removed.

The proper selection and training of Six Sigma team leaders is also critical as they have the most direct responsibility for managing the Six Sigma team. A Six Sigma Black Belt is the team leader and the key change agent for the Six Sigma process. The role of the Black Belt is to facilitate the Six Sigma adoption as part of the culture. They lead, and manage Six Sigma teams to sustain significant bottom-line results. Black Belts ideally are people previously experienced in leading cross-functional process improvement action teams who have been trained in the Six Sigma methodology. The Six Sigma Black Belt should demonstrate team leadership, understand team dynamics, and assign team member roles and responsibilities.

Managing a Six Sigma team comes down to two important aspects: leading and mentoring. As the team leader, a Black Belt needs to be directly involved with the project team. This is a crucial element as it enables the business to cut through and implement improvements quickly and efficiently. Six Sigma includes tools and practices that replace reactive habits with a dynamic, responsive, proactive method of management. As the team leader, the Black Belt must be being willing to adapt to circumstances including the need to accept - and manage - occasional setbacks. This includes handling group conflict and "problem people" and minimizing out-of-control meetings and personal interactions.

The Black Belt must also be a mentor to everyone on the team and develop a mentoring process. They must ensure that proper guidance is given for the new candidates immediately after their training. This will ensure that the course corrections are made regularly and the projects get completed on time. Six Sigma creates an environment that supports true teamwork and the Black Belt can go a long way toward enabling a positive and productive team environment. During the project, the Black Belt should continually Structure the team and its actions to best utilize the disparity in knowledge and techniques of the team members and increase project member morale. Always, the Black Belt should look at every circumstance as an opportunity to help instruct and improve the individual team members and the organization as a whole. This is what Six Sigma is all about.

Peter Peterka is President of http://www.6sigma.us/whyus.php ">Six Sigma .us and has over 15 years as http://www.6sigma.us/six-sigma-black-belt.php ">Six Sigma Black Belt with a variety of organizations. For additional information please contact Peter Peterka for ">http://www.6sigma.us/six-sigma-training.php"> Six Sigma Certification .

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