How And When To Choose The Right Six Sigma Training

The term "Six Sigma" may seem difficult to comprehend at times, but is actually very easy to explain. The term is derived from a character in the Greek alphabet, which is used for representing a standard variation in statistical mathematics. Statistically, Six Sigma can be defined as a near perfect method of production that restricts the number of defects to less than 3.4 for every million opportunities that exist for a defect to occur. This makes Six Sigma one of the preferred quality management techniques for achieving near perfect business processes through process improvement.

Data Driven And Disciplined Approach

Six Sigma follows a disciplined and data driven approach for eliminating defects in any type of business process, whether it is the product manufacturing process or after sale customer service. The two most commonly used methodologies in quality improvement projects are the DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) and the DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify). The former is used for improving the quality of business processes that have not met customer specifications and require improvement. The latter is used for developing new products or business processes that conform to 6-Sigma quality levels. Both the processes are carried out under the guidance of Green Belts and Black Belts, who in turn are guided by Six Sigma Master Black Belts.

Companies often want to know exactly how many benefits can be derived from Six Sigma training. Just to get an idea, one can look at the financial data of General Electric, one of the companies that have successfully implemented Six Sigma training. It is estimated that the total value of benefits derived from the training was close to a staggering $ 10 billion in the five years after implementation. It is estimated that on an average, Six Sigma Black Belts help companies save $ 230,000 per project. Given that most companies can execute 4 to 6 such projects per year, the total savings can translate into $ 920,000 to $ 1,380,000 per year.

Selection Process

After selecting the most appropriate type of training, a company needs to find the right consultant who has the necessary skills and experience in implementing Six Sigma programs. The selection of the training consultant will depend on the type of Six Sigma program that the company is planning to implement. Some programs are implemented all throughout an organization whereas others are implemented in a specific area only such as individual functional departments. The decision regarding the selection of the consultant needs to be made only after consulting other employees, as they are the ones who will eventually interact with the consultant during the implementation process.

After getting approval from the employees, it is advisable to seek references from business associates in other companies that have implemented such projects and can provide the necessary insights. Companies need to interview potential trainers and ask questions regarding their previous work relationships, referrals, total number of candidates trained by them till date, training materials used, earlier projects they have worked on, and their qualifications. This is essential since companies need trainers with a great deal of real-world experience. Companies need to inquire in depth about the type of training that the trainer is willing to provide. Usually, companies prefer training firms that operate online help desks for helping clients in dealing with problems that might arise after the training has been completed.

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 & Strategic Planning

Strategic planning, as applied to Six Sigma, implies that the drawing down of elaborate and systematic planning of areas of concerns that have far-reaching and tactical implications at the project selection stage. The purpose of strategic planning is to have produced fundamental decisions and actions that guide successful Six Sigma implementation.

An Overview Of Strategic Six Sigma

Many CEOs are skeptical about the outcome of Six Sigma, despite huge annual spending. A critical component which helps integrate the visions of the leader with the functioning of the organization is strategic programming derived from "strategy deployment mapping". This is said to produce an entirely new direction for the organization. The skepticism about the vision of building a future begins to gain momentum with the linking of visions to action plans and when it delivers tangible results. Six Sigma takes strategic planning to a different plane of thinking by delivering on this promise.

Success Begins With Planning

It should not be forgotten that the foundation for success is proper and adequate planning. Planning is the elaborate statement of vision by the leader of the company. This is true for both large corporations and smaller start-ups. The core of transforming organizational vision into tangible gains by employees has many steps to overcome obstacles on the path to achievement. Achievements will have to be translated to customer satisfaction for Six Sigma to be successful.

Sharing Of Vision

The vision which begins its journey with upper management needs to be shared by all the stakeholders. It may be difficult to demonstrate to employees that their actions relate to customer reactions directly. Another missing link that needs to be connected is the customer himself. The emphasis of Six Sigma is on factoring in customers & engaging them in defining needs. Deploying employees actively connects these disjointed needs. The powerful tools of Six Sigma highlight and simplifies the linkage between key elements, activities, strategies and finally the vision, paving way for smooth sharing of ideas. The methodology of Six Sigma communicates company vision effectively to all concerned in a language understandable by each of them.

Critical Mass

There is also a danger of leaders getting bogged down by trivial matters of day-to-day operations and numerous details. Two of the tools of Six Sigma (metrics), key requirements and differentiators, come to the rescue. These two metrics highlight the importance or irrelevance of some data and push for excellence on those that matter. The end result is helping leaders to envision the strategic importance of activities and steering clear of trivial, mundane things.

Deployment of Six Sigma can't be disconnected from strategic planning and financial activities, either. If the decision to implement Six Sigma is a result of strategic planning, it means the leadership has recognized the need for complete retooling of the organization, no matter what phase it is in.

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 Champions & Master Black Belts

The responsibility of developing a Six Sigma company successfully rests as much on Champions & Master Black Belts as it does on Black Belts and Green Belts. But the importance of their roles in the implementation can't be understated, as the necessary contribution from them is substantial. A Champion is a leader bestowed with authority and the huge responsibility of overseeing the smooth and complete implementation of Six Sigma.

If someone were to explain the role of champions in one breath, it would be that of removing roadblocks. Roadblocks can be sticky issues that Black Belts alone can't handle. Champions are looked up to for diffusing cross-territorial issues between black belts and upper management in the company through pacifying and mediation. They relieve black belts to focus on the problems on hand.

A Champion's Role Can Be Summarized Into Four Areas:

These four points underline the position and character of champions in a Six Sigma organization.

1. Their familiarity with the entire business and operational areas but without the interfering in the day-to-day operations with the black belts. This provides them with an opportunity to focus on potential improvements.

2. Project selection, which usually comes under a microscope following reports to top management - this sometimes causes career-limiting fears in champions. Driving out this fear takes effort at both the ends with top managers being 'educated' by Six Sigma providers/consultants. The project selection element is crucial and alignment of interests with the needs of management has to be explained in the proper perspective beforehand.

3. Deployment of the program. The importance of this point arises because of the need for financial decision making. The Six Sigma provider, whether he is interested in the success of implementation or primarily concerned in improving financials, is pivotal to the success of the program. Even before the results begin to align with expectations of upper management, it can come under fire.

4. The accountability question; failures are most often attributed to champions. It is often said that "there are no such things as unsuccessful Black Belts, just unsuccessful champions". This should highlight the importance of their unenviable position.

Master Black Belts

There are no universal definitions or training manual for Master Black Belts until they differentiate themselves from Black Belts by exhibiting extraordinary abilities and a high degree of propensity for problem solving. They are often devoted to working hard and are self-starters & self-reliant. They could, with some additional Six Sigma training intended to broaden the Black Belts' skills, be prepared for assuming a position where they are able to achieve higher goals and face bigger challenges. The strategy of the mass Six Sigma training of Black Belts will not succeed even if a small percentage of them were to pass Six Sigma training unless they demonstrate that they are able to solve complex problems well. The ease with which they handle crises must indicate their affinity to take on more responsibilities as a fundamental qualification.

Implementation of Six Sigma is more than just having the skills and knowledge of implementation tools. It is the exuberance and the fire to excel that counts in addition to the all-important drive for quality.

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

Optimizing BPM And Six Sigma or BPI

Business Process Management argues that management by common sense cannot be exemplified as management at all!! Analysis and objective study tends to bring balance to this equation, as well as our business practice and endeavor.

Both BPM and Six Sigma deals with the dynamics of systematic, data-based experience and information, assisting us in our execution and operations, cutting costs and waste, growing our shareholder value and profits, methodically, strategically, coordinated, focused, with dedicated resources and combined effort. Experimentation and scientific study drives these philosophies into the core of our business world, practice and industries, to assist us in our local and global enterprise and pursuits.

Six Sigma is one such business management philosophy, methodology and hands-on practical approach for effecting change, delivering substantial and lasting results over time, leading to more efficiencies, reduced waste and cost. It draws on a proven set of tools and methods, problem-solving principles and tools, combining experience with fact-based analysis, leading to breakthrough performance.

On a macro and micro process-level, in a simultaneous, coordinated effort, we strive and work actively, in a planned and systematical, scientific way in an on-going pursuit to get better, increase and guarantee customer satisfaction, innovate and consistently deliver quality through lean and effective process - this is the noble pursuit of Six Sigma and BPM. It looks to change the status quo, with an eye on enterprise optimization, resource and business process management.

With Six Sigma business management strategy, principles and practice, even business process management, morphs into becoming about more than the mere processes themselves. It takes on a life of its own and in essence, represents business performance excellence management, that is on-going and never ends, it does not settle for less, compromise on quality, and does not merely want to get by and leave success/failure up to random chance per se, but takes an active role in effecting and executing it - and by doing so, excel (and continue to do so and even grow/expand), in the process!

Disciplined, analytical and focused on process and outcome customer voice, input, specifications, critical-to-quality factors and more are impetus, directives, guidelines, checkpoints, end-goals and the ultimate in pursuit is what is stands for and is all about!

Six Sigma as a philosophy purports a simple premise: DOING THE RIGHT, THING(S), RIGHT, THE FIRST TIME and consistently so, reducing uncertainties and variability, minimizing risk , while being focused on being a low-cost operator, reducing waste through prevention, not merely inspecting the way to quality - in essence 'fixing' the process(s), not just focusing on the outcome.

In that sense it does suggest a bit of the paradigm shift and counterintuitive requirements of these business management approaches, strategies and methodologies, that will take modern business into the next century, where it is all about not merely surviving, BUT thriving, building collaborative, mutually beneficial value-propositions, that represent a win-win for all parties and stakeholders.

Six Sigma then becomes the measurement and active management channel and utility of business and process risk. Setting stretch goals and benchmarks for excellence through a rigorous, disciplined hypothesis-driven problem solving that reminds somewhat of the scientific method, f act-based and data driven solutions to business and process issues, rather than relying, voting and operate based on guesstimates and opinions! As one Six Sigma guru put it: it is about measuring what we really do, not what we think we do, or think we should be doing. Six Sigma proposes diagnostics for design and improvement of new and existing processes, through the use of basic and advanced tools

Measurement is a fundamental value and belief of Six Sigma. This scientific pursuit and approach to business, is built on defining problems to solve and then solving them, teaching others and reaping the benefits, revisiting and keeping at it, for life! Some experts believe that it is the hardest step in any process and endeavor, to define something or what the problem seems to be, or process issues, in such as way that it can constructively be scientifically scrutinized and studied, (as expressed in metrics, data and statistics).

Bringing clarity and reference, evidence and reliability, facts and data, Six Sigma is both an overall approach to business process management as well as the tool and utility to execute it well. The relationship goes hand-in-glove!

A final word in closing: BPM and Six Sigma help us rise above mediocrity, as we are so often used to the way things are that, it rarely OR never even occurs to us, to think about them or to look for ways to change or improve them! Making the question 'how we get better' a new one entirely! This will require bold leadership and commitment from one and all.

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

The 6 Steps to Six Sigma

Step 1

Get the proper level of Six Sigma expertise at the executive level of the company. If the top leaders don’t understand the advanced six sigma principles, the company has no shot to attain total quality. This will probably require a hefty budget, entailing the hiring of several high-priced consultants for long periods of time. The consultants need to observe and gather data about the companies operations, and show the executives how to interpret the data.

Step 2

Get the staff involved. The ones in the trenches are the most knowledgeable about the day-to-day operations, and the day to day’s are where most costs are spent. This means getting people like the shop foreman, the line supervisor, and the office manager involved in the training. Not only do they need to understand the thinking behind six sigma, but they also need to buy into the benefits. Since they’re the ones carrying out the orders and directing the vast majority of employees, if the trench-level staff isn’t aligned with management, the company is sunk.

Step 3

Measure the data - quantify the number of defects per unit. This applies not only to manufacturing, but to services as well. It’s easier to measure defects on an assembly line. You just divide the number of defective units by total output (that’s really simplified, but you get the point). Services are more vague.

This is why it is vital to get input from your customers. Ask them how things are going from their perspective. Is there anything they would like to see you improve on that would make their experience more favorable? You’re looking to increase overall quality. Nobody knows your faults better than your customers.

Everything must be measured and quantified into actual numerical data. How long does it take the average customer order to ship? What percentage of customers is satisfied with your performance? What is the average employee break time? How long does it take the customer service department to answer the phone? Once enough data is gathered to answer questions like these, the six sigma process and the path to quality improvement can begin.

Step 4

Now you must analyze all of the data that has been collected so far and identify the difference between perfection and your current operating efficiency level. The goal is to constantly close the gap between the two. Again, as stated in Step 2, staff buy-in is extremely important. If management does not show a link between "total quality improvement" and "workplace improvement," then all the data collection will go to waste. The staff will not willingly take the extra steps (which often require harder, more detailed work) if they are not being rewarded. Some companies use bonuses to provide incentive, other companies offer prizes for attaining goals or add employee perks based on improvement levels.

Step 5

Now is the time for improvement. Changes in procedure and operations should have been in place, and more data should be collected to gauge the level of overall quality improvement. Either the hired consultants or an internal team of Six Sigma Black Belts should supervise the data collection. Again, this step will be expensive. Gathering the vast amount of data needed to accurately assess performance takes a great deal of time, resources, and capital. But without proper data and measurement, you will never know if the changes are working or not.

Step 6

After improvement begins, the constant chore of ongoing control must be monitored. Unforeseen variables will arise. Employees may turn over, competitors might introduce new products, your facility may undergo changes, and many other things could happen which will impact the overall quality of your business. Top level Black Belts need to be constantly analyzing data to gauge the impact of any future changes, spot possible trends, and formulate actions to keep on the path of consistent and eternal improvement.

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