Has Six-Sigma Analyzed Your Company?

Okay, I am a Six Sigma Black Belt. How do you substantiate the claim that the process improves quality levels by 50%? Show me the data!

We have the Six Sigma process here to the point of running amok. While the heart of the process is a gold mine, it has, of late, been applied in overdose levels. The theory is, if a little antibiotic is good, then a lot more is better. Unfortunately, this can easily lead to a sick company. Like any medication, Six Sigma needs to be applied in the correct proportions.

While I am a champion of the cause, any engineer worth their salt will quickly recognize Six Sigma from their days at college. Many of these principles are simply renamed to freshen up the lessons, but the toolset should be the staple of all engineers regardless of what you call it.

There are many great books on the subject. Demming wrote the bible and is a recommended read to understand the core philosophy. Many people have created careers morphing this fundamental thinking to sound engineering principles in an effort to drive the process to the design stage. Again, that toolset is little different than what we learned at school (or should have), but it is a good reminder of best practices in our profession.

The core elements of Six Sigma are:

Defining the problem space and the processes that drive it

Measurement and experimentation techniques

Analyzing your data

Control and continuous improvement of the process

Hear, hear! I concur.

TQM and CQI were enough for me. CQI is nothing more than TQM renamed with another bell or whistle. IE's have beat new management philosophies into the ground.

I agree that anyone working as a manager or engineer should read Deming. Then put the book down and do what works for your company.

Giving "ownership" of processes to employees who don't have authority to give themselvs raises tells them that they're going to be responsible for screw-ups after the changes made by managers don't work. Ask 'em -- they'll tell you.

Too much time is spent trying to change culture and redo processes, either or both of which have worked pretty well, and the next thing you know, you've got disgruntled employees murmuring among themselves, because even though employees are asked for input (what changes can be made to make things better) many are never implemented (because of one thing or another) and management looks like fools for asking.

This is a reasonable position. One of the KEY criteria of any effective solution that is based on Six Sigma, or other "improvement" methodologies is a thourough understanding of the PROCESS, not just the contributing elements. If you "define" the process in a macro-sense, like producing widgets, and then start to break up the process into the various sub systems that support it, then break up subsystems into their supporting components, you will begin to understand the SYSTEM that is the PROCESS. Then, you can begin to find ways to integrate the subsystems and find ways to improve the process. Regarding evaluation of the "improvements", our firm specializes in finding ways for companies to cut their operating expenses- energy and maintenance- primarily with 6-Sigma methodologies. We typically identify opportunities ranging from 40% to 60% cost reduction for spaces ranging from meat processing to paper mfg. to labs and admin offices to high-tech mfg. The results usually involve cascading energy from one user to another- this leads to CO2 savings of 30-50%. We have also found mfg. process upgrades that offer 30% or higher productivity gains while lowering utility costs. Due to the high economic gains, the solutions usually have paybacks of 2 years or less. Because we use a defined process for identifying savings opportunities, it is relatively easy to validate savings. We also provide software and training to allow clients to continue validating savings and identify disruptions fast to maintain economic value because "everything breaks".