Six Sigma Document Control Issues

When discussing Six Sigma document control issues it is essential to recognize the effect Six Sigma has on any firms QS/ISO 9000 initiatives. From its inception until today, Six Sigma has evolved and at present is much more than a defect control mechanism. It is referred to as a methodology that is used to control course deviations that have the capacity to cause defects. In any process where change is initiated, there is often an undesirable variation in end results. The 6-Sigma methodology is intended to manage variation and do away with such expected defects. Its use guarantees superior performance, consistency and value to the end user.

Major Techniques

The two Six Sigma methodologies to be understood are Six Sigma DMAIC methodology (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and Six Sigma DMADV methodology (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify). What is most important in Six Sigma document control is timely interception and communication. When using 6-Sigma to uphold ISO 9000 certification, document control is an important aspect of the entire process. The Document Control feature is helpful in regulating the known coordinates. Its need arises when changes are made in any regular practice. As and when there is change in a system, it may require a while to understand and adjust to these alterations. Since the authorization to amend standard procedures is often made by an individual or specific body within a company, it is very important that all staff members who will be affected with these changes are notified in time. An accurate control measure guarantees that all personnel who are going to be affected by this interference are made aware of the changes. The document control aspect helps them analyze these changes, as well as realize that the new directives are now part of standard procedures. Document control helps associated personnel adhere, acknowledge and understand revisions in standard practices.

Alternatives

The document control procedures and alternatives have been discussed long enough to rationalize Six Sigma implementation. In most cases, a lot of objective revisions and realization of the need for change is possible through ISO 9000 Corrective Action data evaluations. The alternative is to use a proactive approach when implementing 6-Sigma to help provide greater value to the end customer along with developing a particular company"s reputation and projecting a much needed competitive edge. In Six Sigma methodology implementation, a company"s management selects and sponsors the Six Sigma project that is intended to accomplish planned objectives. As such, a specific project is awarded to a team that has potential process personnel and is led by a certified 6-Sigma Black Belt. Aside from having access to adequate funds needed to work on a new project, the team is also permitted to make authorizations to bring about the required change and implementing the blueprint of the methodology that is chosen.

Advantages Of Document Control

The document control procedures and alternatives ensure that a thorough evaluation has been carried out prior to undertaking any new project. Six Sigma methodology, together with an ISO 9000-type Document Control system avoids negligence of vital factors, provides accurate logistic results, allows for insight into long term project results and prevents process personnel from resorting to any previously used plan of action.

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

The Six Sigma Tool and TQM are Not the Same

Many business people have yet to recognize the difference between the Six Sigma tool and total quality management, also referred to as TQM. Though, at a glance, they do look rather similar, and the Six Sigma tool does indeed employ some of the techniques and strategies that are the foundation for TQM, they remain two entirely separate methods of doing business.

While both the Six Sigma tool and TQM place emphasis on how critical it is to look at a business' entire support and leadership structure from top to bottom, the similarities don't go much further than that. It is the focus on quality that causes the confusion between total quality management and the Six Sigma tool. Both approaches to business believe that constantly improving the quality of a business is vital to its continuing success. Furthermore, the Six Sigma tool cycle of define-measure-analyze-improve-control is comparable to the TQM cycle plan-do-study-act.

However, the differences are vast and important between these two strategies. It is these differences that explains why the Six Sigma tool continues to grow in popularity, while the TQM is fading out over time.

Among these differences, management is primary. In contrast with TQM, the Six Sigma tool was not created by people who had very little experience in management, and were therefore only capable of developing a plan that had very broad management guidelines. Instead, the Six Sigma tool was formulated by a group of the most capable CEOs in the United States, who had only business success as their ultimate goal. They worked through all of the tools and techniques know about the business world and incorporated each of the most effective, tried-and-true methods for having businesses operate at their full potential, in a framework that makes it entirely possible.

Therefore, the Six Sigma tool can be seen as a much more holistic approach to doing business. Though loosely based on traditional concepts, it employs those that have been known to work consistently across multiple industries and business sizes. It also focuses not only on the end result, but on the entire business and its processes and policies.

Of course, there are many other differences as well; to be rapidly summed up, the main difference of the Six Sigma tool is its ability to give organization a much clearer path toward success by using its potential to its fullest.

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

Six Sigma And The Customer

The customer centric focus of Six Sigma methodologies cannot be sidelined for any reason whatsoever. Although the end results of Six Sigma implementation (such as improvement of bottom line profitability and lean management) are quite significant, the ultimate value addition comes in the form of the return of satisfied customers. In the business world, constant pressure for innovation stems from increasing changes in customer demands and global technological challenges. Companies that get to the top and stay there are there in the first place because of their commitment to change through Six Sigma initiatives.

Six Sigma And The Customer

Six Sigma, a quality management tool founded on statistical approaches and devised by Motorola, helps improve customer satisfaction through significant changes to cost and product utility. The entire approach is innovative; with the implementation of Six Sigma, instead of attempting to fight with mechanics, the focus shifts automatically to strategies and integration of efforts.

Some companies are taking initiatives to take the Six Sigma methodology to customers, outside company walls and actively involving them in an effort to integrate them into the process. This approach is proving to be a resounding success by placing these corporations ahead of competition.

Engaging The Customer

Today's customers are wary that they get nudged into buying products by customer savvy marketers in the clutter that we call "the market". Six Sigma works to make things clear to the customers by sharpening the cutting edge (value) that customers are looking for in a product.

The customer is engaged strategically at a stage when plans are being drawn up. By listening to customers and involving them in the process, the company can gain an in -depth understanding of why they are moving in the direction that they are moving, locally as well as globally. This approach also helps in building trust and loyalty.

Companies like Motorola, who implement Six Sigma, go beyond product development and profits in their commitment to customers. In addition to their regular help line, they have established another line dedicated to this purpose. Customers can use this line of communication for more detailed questions relating to either product or service, and track the status of their original question. This is a classic example of individual level quality demands being met through Six Sigma implementation.

Looking Ahead

Another strategic approach has been taken by GE Commercial Finance, and is a true revolutionary step in the commercial lending business. The ACFC initiative (At the Customer, For the Customer,) clearly showed what the customers needed and why, with over 30% of them answering, they needed Six Sigma. Effective communication with customers has made GE a favorite among consumers. GE has successfully implemented the initiative and in addition, is now sharing its Six Sigma experiences with smaller customers who can't afford to implement Six Sigma in their own companies.

With the "belts" working from the front, companies can get into a win-win situation with their customers because of the feedback they receive. If this approach directly benefits the customers, it benefits the companies too. However old or large the company is, it gets to interact with its customers one-on-one. The positive result of this is seen in further building of a company's customer base and increased profitability. The goal of matching people with projects, made possible with Six Sigma, brings about a win-win situation for all.

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

Communication In Six Sigma

Deploying Six Sigma means entering a period of significant change in your organization. Productivity and morale almost always suffers in times of great change. The requirements of change and adaptation and the very human fear of the unknown add to stresses of the work environment. In these times, communication becomes more important than ever.

Communication throughout a Six Sigma project is very important because the power and scope of Six Sigma demands a significant commitment from everyone in the organization. Six Sigma successes require clear and open communication at all levels to transcend departmental barriers that would otherwise cause confusion. In addition, any change in an organization will meet some resistance, either intentional or just because of inertia. When management can effectively communicate that it is behind that change and can communicate the positive aspects of the change, resistance can be countered and overcome.

Company leadership must be willing to give Six Sigma teams all of the tools and information necessary to apply Six Sigma concepts to their day-to-day activities. It is crucial in Six Sigma projects to clarify the rationale, expectations, goals, and sequence of steps in the process. Six Sigma teams with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than teams without them could ever imagine. This is true everywhere and under all circumstances. Documentation of the Six Sigma process is the opportunity to resolve any misunderstandings of the deployment. A schedule is developed that outlines the strategy to take the process from its current state to one that is within statistical control and in line with the company's Six Sigma goals. Roles need to be clearly defined in how individuals contribute to the schedule and strategy. Employees assess how they can contribute to the organization through the information they receive. A team's quality goals should be set to tie in with the overall company quality improvement goals. This happens only when the team has the knowledge they need.

Lack of clarity in communicating business information is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. It is unfortunately way too easy to not realize that communication is falling short of your organization's needs. Often senior managers sincerely believe they are adequately communicating with employees. However, managers can easily underestimate the number of issues on which employees need information and how much information they need.

How do you know what is important to employees and what to tell them? You need to put yourself in the position of the employees. If you were that person, what would be important for you to know to do your job? What would you be worried about in the current situation? What information would help you deal with change? How would you want to be told? You can't answer those questions yourself. You need input from the very people you are trying to understand. Communication is a two-way street?listening as well as talking. Asking a few individuals what is being said, what people are worrying and wondering about.

Also be aware that the way a person receives news can dramatically affect how he or she feels about it, so you need to choose the medium very carefully. E-mail can be perceived as cold and unfeeling, although it is useful for routine updates that don't have emotional overtones. Many messages are better delivered in person, either to individuals or to the team as a whole.

Communication skills take practice. Always be sure the message remains honest, clear and compassionate. Have integrity and build trust. Don't say what you don't mean. Don't promise anything that you cannot or will not fulfill. Above all, follow through on your commitments and promises. Nothing turns employees off more than feeling betrayed. Sincere, caring, and constant communication will form the basis for building employee engagement throughout Six Sigma deployment.http://www.6sigma.us Peter Peterka is the principal Six Sigma Consultant in practice areas of DMAIC and DFSS.Peter has over 15 years experience including implementation ofSix Sigma in Healthcare

Design for Six Sigma by Peter Peterka

Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is the application of Six Sigma principles to the design of products and their manufacturing and support processes. Whereas Six Sigma by definition focuses on the production phase of a product, DFSS focuses on research, design, and development phases. DFSS combines many of the tools that are used to improve existing products or services and integrates the voice of the customer and simulation methods to predict new process and product performance.

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

Peter Peterka is the principal Six Sigma Consultant in practice areas of DMAIC and DFSS. Peter has over 15 years experience including implementation of Six Sigma in Healthcare with a variety of organizations. For additional information please contact Peter Peterka at Six Sigma us.

Six Sigma Online Education

Six Sigma is a management methodology that makes use of data and statistical scrutiny, which provides companies with an ability to identify consumer needs and design a consistent and high-class method to meet those requirements. Simply put, it is a process devised to increase productivity and reduce costs. The statistical term 'Sigma' is a measure for determining how off beat a process is from its set standards. This method is known to have no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities and is a pioneer in data driven decision-making. Various companies all over the world have integrated their policies with Six Sigma's disciplined structure to attain optimum competence. The process not only scrutinizes a company's existing systems and performance but also suggests changes to make it perfect.

Advantages Of Online Learning

Business owners and executives look for training sessions on Six Sigma in order to understand the concept and implement it. However, it becomes difficult for many of them to spare time from their hectic schedule to attend the sessions and hence prefer online training. The benefits of online training are as given below:

• Online Six Sigma training provides flexibility to students to commence and end the course according to their individual schedules. They have an option of taking the entire course in small sections to acquire better absorption of the subject.

• Online training facilitates students to learn from the comfort of their home thereby eliminating traveling expenses and travel time.

• When the entire course is listed in front of the students, they can take their pick of topics. They can omit those topics that they find easy or already have knowledge about and continue with the others only. This helps leveraging time and aids students in investing more time on difficult subjects.

• Online lessons offer practical tips that are relevant to real work issues, which help learners in applying some of the strategies as they are learning them.

• Typically, online sessions offer an immediate evaluation and feedback on a student's performance during a lesson.

• When discussions take place online, learners from all over the world can participate at the same time and share their views. This allows each participant to gain a new perspective towards a particular problem.

• The course matter includes audio and multi-media slide shows, practice conferences, online simulations, quizzes and exams.

• All students registered for the online Six Sigma course have individual access to earlier student projects and informative templates.

Course Specifications

There are various levels of courses for each group of personnel such as courses for senior management, for functional / process managers, quality leaders and for associates. Each course has specific highlights pertaining to the particular needs of the learners. For instance, a senior manager Six Sigma schedule will involve program overview, real examples of triumphant business strategies, financial benefits of implementation, list of application areas and the Six Sigma tools required. On the other hand, a functional or process manager's course will include Six Sigma methodology, concept, tools and necessities to translate senior management's tactics into objectives and actions.

Six Sigma Levels

Six Sigma certification is divided into various levels such as Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Design for Six Sigma. To register, a learner has to fill up the Six Sigma application form, choose a payment method, select the course they want to opt for, and provide an E-mail address so that course timings can be coordinated with online instructors. As soon as students complete their registration procedure, they are supplied with a registration number. As and when the learners complete a chapter, they can mail the documents to their personal Six Sigma instructor for evaluation.

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