Six Sigma For The Non-Manufacturing Sector

The Six Sigma revolution has systematically taken over various sectors of the industry owing to its methodological process variations of working towards achieving targets and eliminating any defects occurring in them throughout the procedure. Since it aims at providing top class service and works towards being a reliable and valuable enterprise for its customers, it has made an entry into areas such as banking, telecommunications, marketing, insurance, healthcare, software and construction.

Range Of 6 Sigma

Earlier the scope of Six Sigma was limited to manufacturing processes, which accounted for only two percent of the United States industry. Nowadays, the non-manufacturing corporations such as IT management, Finance, Human Resource, Sales and services have also realized the need for top quality and are implementing Six Sigma to improve their service value. In most non-manufacturing organizations, quality of the soft processes is banked on heavily for the company's success.

The non-manufacturing course follows the 5S code under 6 Sigma system, which is Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. The company requires classifying various items and then eliminates the ones, which are not related to the process and red tags them. This clears space for a much-required process that needs to be implemented on a daily basis. Secondly, it defines a work path for all individuals, decreasing the wastage of labor and focusing on specified details of the job. Polishing the work skills and worker's knowledge is also focused on to keep the work force updated with the latest developments of the world in fields of science, technology, economics, finance and others.

Need For 6 Sigma In Non-Manufacturing Ground

The non-manufacturing corporations mainly deal with customers, suppliers and clients on a routine basis. It encompasses those soft processes that are the driving force behind the production and distribution of every product and service. The soft processes are human centric and each situation is a unique case hence, it requires scientific application to reduce and manage the variances. This necessitates standardization, as the quantity of automated equipment is less and human resource is greater.

Performance And Efficiency

Efficiency is another factor which demands Six Sigma application. The managers are required to think and formulate utility processes to enhance the working conditions for subordinates thereby extracting optimum work out of them. There would be no point in extracting work from employees unless and until it is efficient to further the productivity, quality and quantity. Six Sigma provides tools that can be implemented to boost labor confidence and motivate them to better performance levels thus increasing not only their advancement but also elevates the company standards in the market.

Practical Aspects Of Implementation

Managing finances is the basic aim of all non-manufacturing concerns. To maintain an organization's status is a difficult job and furthering its stand is a Herculean task. Without adequate finances the company cannot sustain itself and implementing Six Sigma would help in sorting out the accounting needs.

Six Sigma has chances of working wonders for the non-manufacturing sector if the managers and policy makers are more receptive towards changes and new conceptual ideas.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Lean Six Sigma Implementation Basics

Lean Six Sigma methodologies are a combination of standard 6-Sigma quality improvement techniques and lean manufacturing principles that are used for speeding up business processes. 6-Sigma methodologies focus on reducing defects in business processes, whereas Lean 6 Sigma does not only eliminate defects but also improves the speed of a process and reduces waste by eliminating non-value added steps in a business process. Combining 6-Sigma and lean manufacturing principles is like combining the contents of two different toolboxes that help companies to improve quality and efficiency.

Compatibility

Depending on the type of methodologies used by an organization, Lean Six Sigma is often referred to as Lean Service, Lean Manufacturing, and Lean Enterprise. These concepts are compatible with standard Six Sigma methodologies and can be applied to every type of business processes. Both the concepts use similar strategies and methods and focus on improving business processes that serve customer needs. Both focus on identifying and eliminating sources of waste and processes that do not add value for maximizing output, efficiency, and throughput. They emphasize providing requisite training for enabling employees of an organization to understand the tools and processes of the methodology. Both concepts encourage the involvement of senior managers and key mentors within an organization for ensuring that quality improvement projects are executed without affecting the day-to-day operations.

Lean 6 Sigma uses different techniques for reducing costs, reducing production cycle times, expanding capacity, and improving productivity. It uses "value stream mapping" for identifying improvement opportunities. However, Lean Six Sigma concepts may sometimes prove inadequate in solving some of the more complex problems that call for advanced analysis.

Benefits

Standard 6-Sigma methodologies follow a disciplined, data driven approach and use statistical tools for analyzing quality at every stage of the production process. When combined with Lean manufacturing principles, it helps in identifying and resolving quality issues. Its successful implementation is important in reaping quick results and enabling employees and plant managers to harness better work patterns on plant floors. Lean Six Sigma programs are executed under the guidance of 6-Sigma Champions and Black Belts for enhancing the efficacy of quality improvement initiatives. It is necessary to deploy lean manufacturing techniques during the Six Sigma implementation process for ensuring that the improvement process includes a standard problem-solving approach.

Lean Six Sigma focuses on adding value to manufactured goods or services rendered by eliminating defects in every business process. This helps in building customer loyalty, as customers often prefer products and services that offer consistent quality. The matrices used in Six Sigma help in identifying customer needs, manufacturing quality products and rendering quality services.

Lean Six Sigma concepts and methodologies are based on a highly sustainable approach that gets easily integrated with the existing work processes within an organization. It requires the involvement of employees at all levels within an organization. The deployment of 6-Sigma programs can initiate a culture shift within an organization that helps in eliminating waste within the production process.

Lean Six Sigma helps in ensuring future success of an organization by radically improving quality and reducing waste. It also allows employees within an organization to design and develop new business processes that will help in making drastic improvements to the organization's performance.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.