The first step in a quality improvement programme is planning which in itself also consists of five major steps which are discussed below.
1) Product or service selection. The first step in planning for quality is to identify and select the product or service that needs improvement. This topic has been exhaustively discussed in an earlier article.
2) Output definition. Output is a product or service that you produce regularly and pass on to another person or department that uses it. Activities we do which are not passed on are results not output. It must be something you do yourself not what you supervise or delegate to others to do. It is essential not only to know our output but more importantly to know our customers and their requirements.
3) Identify the customer-supplier chain. In quality management, a customer can be both internal and external. the user of you output is your customer who may modify your output before passing it on to another person or department for further modification on and on like that until the final product or service ends up in the hand of the end user.
4) Negotiate the customer requirements. In order for a product to be usable and beneficial to your customer, there may be specific requirements which make the output useful to them. Some of these requirements may be obvious or stated, some may be unstated while others may be unrealistic. Knowledge of these requirements is essential and clearly important before you can negotiate them. Except a product satisfies their requirements the product will not provide customer satisfaction.
Apart from this, knowledge of customer objective is also crucial so that the product or service can be made to fit that objective (custom made). Developing a quality product requires understanding the overall purpose of our customer's need for the product by answering questions such as (a) how will it be used? (b) who will be using it? (c) what will be the ultimate use and who will be the end user?
Next all the requirements should be discussed in a specific and measurable way. Areas of discussion will include quantity (how many), time (date, time, frequency), costs (budget, allowed expenses), size (dimensions), efficiency (to what degree). It is important to be objective in negotiation, ensure you separate the person from the product or service, focus on interests not positions, establish precise goals not generalities and work together to create options that satisfy all.
5) Translate customer requirements into supplier specifications. Supplier specifications describe the precise technical directions for production. This is stated in terms meaningful to the output producer. The fact that it is based on customer requirements will reduce errors and ensure a higher chance of doing it right the first time. T Bar is a useful method for displaying customer requirements and supplier specifications. The translation of customer requirements into supplier specifications is the job of the supplier. Unreasonable customer requirements must be negotiated with the customer and supplier to ensure quality output.
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Jun 29, 2011
Jun 25, 2011
Integrate Six sigma in Marketing and Sales
Many marketing and sales managers may be unfamiliar with Six Sigma and why it is important in marketing and sales.
Since most sales and marketing work processes also follow some very basic rules, it would not be difficult to implement Six Sigma and derive the associated benefits.
However, before we discuss these, let us first list some of the main challenges associated with sales and marketing.
Sales and Marketing Problems
The basic concept underlining sales and marketing stresses influencing customers in such a way that it would motivate them to opt for the offered products or services. Doing things that might force customers to reject the offer is fairly easy, but when it comes to getting the desired response from customers, it becomes difficult to define what exactly needs to be done.
This is obviously because customer buying behavior is quite complex and more importantly what works for a customer does not necessary work the same for others.
Given below are some of the most common sales and marketing issues that need to be resolved in order to get the right response from customers.
•How to predict customer buying tendencies
•How to attract new customers
•How to retain existing customers
•How to create more value than that offered by the nearest competitor
•How to augment the brand image and corporate identity
•How to set the most appropriate price for goods and services
•How to increase the perceived value offered by an existing product or service
•How to create the desired market for a new product or service offering
•How much to invest in sales and marketing so as to make it cost-effective
How Does Six Sigma Help?
All the above stated problems do seem quite complex, but even then Six Sigma easily overcomes most of them. It manages to do so because it concentrates on eliminating the root cause rather than just suggest alternatives, something that often creates more problems.
In the first phase of Six Sigma implementations, input, feedback and suggestions are sourced from both existing and potential customers, creating a valuable database of customer tastes and preferences.
After this, the available information is sorted out, analyzed and categorized in order to make some definitive conclusions and to identify some new possibilities, if present. The former is then used for making the necessary changes in existing products or services whereas the latter is used for designing and developing completely new products and services from scratch.
Results derived therein are quite satisfactory most of the time, because in each case, customer tastes and preferences are properly accounted for.
When this is done, it makes it much easier for the sales and marketing department to motivate customers in the desired manner. Products and services that are designed according to customer tastes and preferences prove to be a success a majority of the time, and this is why Six Sigma focuses on this vital aspect.
It is no wonder, then, that Six Sigma has proved so very successful for most businesses that have implemented it to get the desired results from their sales and marketing initiatives.
read more »
Since most sales and marketing work processes also follow some very basic rules, it would not be difficult to implement Six Sigma and derive the associated benefits.
However, before we discuss these, let us first list some of the main challenges associated with sales and marketing.
Sales and Marketing Problems
The basic concept underlining sales and marketing stresses influencing customers in such a way that it would motivate them to opt for the offered products or services. Doing things that might force customers to reject the offer is fairly easy, but when it comes to getting the desired response from customers, it becomes difficult to define what exactly needs to be done.
This is obviously because customer buying behavior is quite complex and more importantly what works for a customer does not necessary work the same for others.
Given below are some of the most common sales and marketing issues that need to be resolved in order to get the right response from customers.
•How to predict customer buying tendencies
•How to attract new customers
•How to retain existing customers
•How to create more value than that offered by the nearest competitor
•How to augment the brand image and corporate identity
•How to set the most appropriate price for goods and services
•How to increase the perceived value offered by an existing product or service
•How to create the desired market for a new product or service offering
•How much to invest in sales and marketing so as to make it cost-effective
How Does Six Sigma Help?
All the above stated problems do seem quite complex, but even then Six Sigma easily overcomes most of them. It manages to do so because it concentrates on eliminating the root cause rather than just suggest alternatives, something that often creates more problems.
In the first phase of Six Sigma implementations, input, feedback and suggestions are sourced from both existing and potential customers, creating a valuable database of customer tastes and preferences.
After this, the available information is sorted out, analyzed and categorized in order to make some definitive conclusions and to identify some new possibilities, if present. The former is then used for making the necessary changes in existing products or services whereas the latter is used for designing and developing completely new products and services from scratch.
Results derived therein are quite satisfactory most of the time, because in each case, customer tastes and preferences are properly accounted for.
When this is done, it makes it much easier for the sales and marketing department to motivate customers in the desired manner. Products and services that are designed according to customer tastes and preferences prove to be a success a majority of the time, and this is why Six Sigma focuses on this vital aspect.
It is no wonder, then, that Six Sigma has proved so very successful for most businesses that have implemented it to get the desired results from their sales and marketing initiatives.
read more »
Jun 6, 2011
Risk management
While kaizen projects are typically short duration rapid improvement activities more and more businesses are embarking on significant process improvement projects where traditional project management methodologies can be a key contributor towards success.
Typical Kaizen projects usually rely on hands-on employee support and involvement with the teams developing and implementing their own solutions often over a short time scale. These environments, targeted at small scale, rapid improvements are not always overly concerned with traditional project management methodologies rather more with the results (through utilizing techniques such as DMAIC, Poke Yoke or other).
However for larger scale business improvement projects more traditional project practices including risk management have greater relevance.
Why risk management
Risk management is the task of identifying threats that could impact the outcome of your project and developing mitigation tasks that reduce the like hood or lessen the impact.
Typical risks can affect
• Project deliverable (the improvement)
• Project quality
• Project schedule
• Project cost
Does risk really apply to improvement projects?
Yes! Risk really does apply to most projects for example if you look at some common risks you can apply these to many projects.
■Insufficient resources
■Budget fails to be enough to deliver project
■Unable to deliver to the project timescales
While these example risks may seem a tad generic they do illustrate the prevalence of risk.
The nuts and bolts of managing risk
So risks everywhere but how should you manage the issue? For improvement specialists the risk management process can be a bit alien. A lot depends on the likely impact. For example through implementing a Poke Yoke on an assembly line that may take a day or two to implement you may consider the risk of failure as minimal (and would lead to minimal impact) would you carry out a full risk management process, creating a risk log and consulting stakeholders – probably unlikely. However should you as the improvement lead consider risk as part of your activity – absolutely.
In larger scale business change projects risk management should absolutely not be taken for granted and the usual tools, risk management plan, risk log and stakeholder consultation can be used to varying degree.
I guess the key consideration is the extent of what could go wrong. In many businesses the lines of business improvement and project management often become blurred and with those running improvement activities often being seen more as project managers than mere lean practitioners. Without a doubt project management methodologies can sometimes become over bureaucratic however they can also undoubtedly be effective and have their place in the business improvement toolkit.
read more »
Typical Kaizen projects usually rely on hands-on employee support and involvement with the teams developing and implementing their own solutions often over a short time scale. These environments, targeted at small scale, rapid improvements are not always overly concerned with traditional project management methodologies rather more with the results (through utilizing techniques such as DMAIC, Poke Yoke or other).
However for larger scale business improvement projects more traditional project practices including risk management have greater relevance.
Why risk management
Risk management is the task of identifying threats that could impact the outcome of your project and developing mitigation tasks that reduce the like hood or lessen the impact.
Typical risks can affect
• Project deliverable (the improvement)
• Project quality
• Project schedule
• Project cost
Does risk really apply to improvement projects?
Yes! Risk really does apply to most projects for example if you look at some common risks you can apply these to many projects.
■Insufficient resources
■Budget fails to be enough to deliver project
■Unable to deliver to the project timescales
While these example risks may seem a tad generic they do illustrate the prevalence of risk.
The nuts and bolts of managing risk
So risks everywhere but how should you manage the issue? For improvement specialists the risk management process can be a bit alien. A lot depends on the likely impact. For example through implementing a Poke Yoke on an assembly line that may take a day or two to implement you may consider the risk of failure as minimal (and would lead to minimal impact) would you carry out a full risk management process, creating a risk log and consulting stakeholders – probably unlikely. However should you as the improvement lead consider risk as part of your activity – absolutely.
In larger scale business change projects risk management should absolutely not be taken for granted and the usual tools, risk management plan, risk log and stakeholder consultation can be used to varying degree.
I guess the key consideration is the extent of what could go wrong. In many businesses the lines of business improvement and project management often become blurred and with those running improvement activities often being seen more as project managers than mere lean practitioners. Without a doubt project management methodologies can sometimes become over bureaucratic however they can also undoubtedly be effective and have their place in the business improvement toolkit.
read more »
Jun 4, 2011
What is Six Sigma Deployment ?
In the implementation of Six Sigma, an effective infrastructure lays the foundation for success. An effective infrastructure for your Six Sigma or Lean Flow change initiative in an organization requires a clear strategy and comprehensive planning.
Strategizing and Planning
The planning stage of a Six Sigma deployment is where you can gain valuable traction. A critical factor in a successful deployment is the selection and chartering of the project that link to the strategy of their organization. Project should be selected with an understanding of what areas within the business are struggling to meet performance goals in the standard areas of cost, capacity and customer service. A deployment meeting can be called to create a prioritized project list. Once the projects are selected, project leaders are identified and readied for training. The leadership team identifies process characteristics that have the most impact on quality–separating the “vital few” from the “trivial many.” With these characteristics identified the team can create a map of the process to be improved with defined and measurable, deliverables, and goals that will guide the project deployment.
Initialization
Once an organization initiates a Six Sigma program, it is very important for the organization to effectively deploy information about its target goals to employees. Involvement of top management and alignment of company leadership are critical. With the chief executive’s decision to proceed, a corporate-level deployment champion that reports directly to the chief executive should be identified. A set of policies, guidelines and rules must be developed with involvement of the deployment champion, one or more steering committees, and selected corporate departments such as finance, human resources, quality, communications and others.
Determining the current performance levels and setting goals for improvement are accomplished through an On-Site Assessment coupled with a Value Stream Assessment. The On-Site Assessment provides insight to the current directions of the business and the business metrics employed. The Value Stream Assessment provides detailed metric data for the processes within the business for use in aligning resources with projects.
Training
Establishing and executing Six Sigma training plans are also critical. Some organizations try to cut costs by training only some members of the project team. This may seem penny-wise but ends up being pound-foolish. Implementation of significant return on investment can be realized from an orchestrated deployment over a grass-roots effort. If your organization is considering sending more than ten people through Green or Black Belt training, it is recommended that you consider a customized On-Site Deployment to maximize your return on training investment.
Project Mentoring
Organizations might insist on saving money by using Black Belts who are part-time.
However, successful completion of projects is increased when the Black Belt project leader can focus full-time on the project. It is important to get the right people involved doing the right things and the Black Belt should be available to assist everyone involved in the project. An organization will realize a much larger return on investment with dedicated resources. The Black Belt must also be a mentor to everyone on the team and develop a mentoring process. 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. Chances of success is also improved when the Black Belt has a technical resource to review the project for use of the methods and for progress towards the desired goal. Mentoring can be accomplished through various means but should be conducted for no less than 2 hours per project per month.
An Ongoing Process
The implementation of Six Sigma must impact how people think and perform their day-to-day work. Continuous improvement processes, such as Six Sigma, means including people, gaining their involvement, and then supporting what they are trying to accomplish. Six Sigma asks for input on improvement solutions from all employees because it recognizes the value of creative solutions to problems from any and all sources. For real and lasting process improvement, that is how it should be. Thus, Six Sigma deployment is not a on-time thing; it is an ongoing activity.
read more »
Strategizing and Planning
The planning stage of a Six Sigma deployment is where you can gain valuable traction. A critical factor in a successful deployment is the selection and chartering of the project that link to the strategy of their organization. Project should be selected with an understanding of what areas within the business are struggling to meet performance goals in the standard areas of cost, capacity and customer service. A deployment meeting can be called to create a prioritized project list. Once the projects are selected, project leaders are identified and readied for training. The leadership team identifies process characteristics that have the most impact on quality–separating the “vital few” from the “trivial many.” With these characteristics identified the team can create a map of the process to be improved with defined and measurable, deliverables, and goals that will guide the project deployment.
Initialization
Once an organization initiates a Six Sigma program, it is very important for the organization to effectively deploy information about its target goals to employees. Involvement of top management and alignment of company leadership are critical. With the chief executive’s decision to proceed, a corporate-level deployment champion that reports directly to the chief executive should be identified. A set of policies, guidelines and rules must be developed with involvement of the deployment champion, one or more steering committees, and selected corporate departments such as finance, human resources, quality, communications and others.
Determining the current performance levels and setting goals for improvement are accomplished through an On-Site Assessment coupled with a Value Stream Assessment. The On-Site Assessment provides insight to the current directions of the business and the business metrics employed. The Value Stream Assessment provides detailed metric data for the processes within the business for use in aligning resources with projects.
Training
Establishing and executing Six Sigma training plans are also critical. Some organizations try to cut costs by training only some members of the project team. This may seem penny-wise but ends up being pound-foolish. Implementation of significant return on investment can be realized from an orchestrated deployment over a grass-roots effort. If your organization is considering sending more than ten people through Green or Black Belt training, it is recommended that you consider a customized On-Site Deployment to maximize your return on training investment.
Project Mentoring
Organizations might insist on saving money by using Black Belts who are part-time.
However, successful completion of projects is increased when the Black Belt project leader can focus full-time on the project. It is important to get the right people involved doing the right things and the Black Belt should be available to assist everyone involved in the project. An organization will realize a much larger return on investment with dedicated resources. The Black Belt must also be a mentor to everyone on the team and develop a mentoring process. 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. Chances of success is also improved when the Black Belt has a technical resource to review the project for use of the methods and for progress towards the desired goal. Mentoring can be accomplished through various means but should be conducted for no less than 2 hours per project per month.
An Ongoing Process
The implementation of Six Sigma must impact how people think and perform their day-to-day work. Continuous improvement processes, such as Six Sigma, means including people, gaining their involvement, and then supporting what they are trying to accomplish. Six Sigma asks for input on improvement solutions from all employees because it recognizes the value of creative solutions to problems from any and all sources. For real and lasting process improvement, that is how it should be. Thus, Six Sigma deployment is not a on-time thing; it is an ongoing activity.
read more »
Jun 2, 2011
Working Through a Lean Transformation.
Although a lean transformation is good for business, employees, and the economy, going through the process can be an emotional roller coaster for any organization. Embarking on a lean transformation often means a lot of change taking place throughout a company and this may be a very difficult time for everybody during the initial implementation phase. However, over the long term, these changes will bring positive benefits to everyone in the organization. It can be a very tough time, especially for the business owner and/or management team who are involved in the day to day decisions as their organization is going through a transformation.
During a lean transformation, it's important for an improvement team to delve into and investigate the business systems and how they are performing. In doing this, they will determine how to improve the business processes, but it's important to realize that these activities will have a direct impact on employees and their work environment. In a business that has been under the same management team for many years, it's not unusual to find that their most valuable resource, which is their employees, are not being utilized in the most effective manner. During further investigations, the improvement team will find there are some employees that have only one job function or a job function that may be unnecessary as a consequence of the transformation. How does a management team deal with this situation?
The management team and their employees must collaborate and work together to deal with these issues during a lean transformation. It will all depend on whether the employees are capable of being cross-trained to do multiple job functions (providing that it is economically sound to do this), which is the best and the most effective practice. However, there may be some employees who cannot be integrated into the improved processes, and it may get to the point where a decision has to be taken to let some employee(s) go.
Although for most management teams this is always a difficult and deeply emotional decision which is often perceived to be an injustice by other employees, it's very important to get them to understand the broader impact of this strategy. It is always better for any business and its employees when a management team makes these types of difficult decisions early in the transformation. If employees see that people are receiving a pink slip during a lean transformation, this will give them a negative perception of lean, and it can be difficult to continue to get their buy-in. It is important to communicate to employees, so they understand that it was a business decision to reduce the workforce, not a lean decision.
For this very reason, a management team must step back and get a complete view the whole business and not just focus on the individual functions or employees. It's a good business decision to hire a lean consultant who can create and develop a lean transformation plan and then help to implement it. In doing this it reduces the stress and the learning curve for everyone as they work through the lean transformation, and it keeps emotions out of the equation. Lean business practices are still a good idea for everyone to consider in this day and age!
read more »
During a lean transformation, it's important for an improvement team to delve into and investigate the business systems and how they are performing. In doing this, they will determine how to improve the business processes, but it's important to realize that these activities will have a direct impact on employees and their work environment. In a business that has been under the same management team for many years, it's not unusual to find that their most valuable resource, which is their employees, are not being utilized in the most effective manner. During further investigations, the improvement team will find there are some employees that have only one job function or a job function that may be unnecessary as a consequence of the transformation. How does a management team deal with this situation?
The management team and their employees must collaborate and work together to deal with these issues during a lean transformation. It will all depend on whether the employees are capable of being cross-trained to do multiple job functions (providing that it is economically sound to do this), which is the best and the most effective practice. However, there may be some employees who cannot be integrated into the improved processes, and it may get to the point where a decision has to be taken to let some employee(s) go.
Although for most management teams this is always a difficult and deeply emotional decision which is often perceived to be an injustice by other employees, it's very important to get them to understand the broader impact of this strategy. It is always better for any business and its employees when a management team makes these types of difficult decisions early in the transformation. If employees see that people are receiving a pink slip during a lean transformation, this will give them a negative perception of lean, and it can be difficult to continue to get their buy-in. It is important to communicate to employees, so they understand that it was a business decision to reduce the workforce, not a lean decision.
For this very reason, a management team must step back and get a complete view the whole business and not just focus on the individual functions or employees. It's a good business decision to hire a lean consultant who can create and develop a lean transformation plan and then help to implement it. In doing this it reduces the stress and the learning curve for everyone as they work through the lean transformation, and it keeps emotions out of the equation. Lean business practices are still a good idea for everyone to consider in this day and age!
read more »
May 31, 2011
Six Sigma vs Total Quality Management
Six Sigma is not just a new term for Total Quality Management (TQM) . They have many similarities and are compatible in many business environments. TQM has brought great improvements and value to many companies. Six Sigma can do more.
TQM is the development, deployment, and maintenance of systems related to quality-producing business processes. TQM is a strategic approach that focuses on encouraging a continuous flow of incremental quality improvements. It encourages the establishing of a culture of collaboration among different departments within organization. TQM is mainly a cultural initiative and a style of management toward increased quality.
Six Sigma is not just another quality initiative or process improvement program. It is more than that because it is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process that includes cultural methodologies such as the various TQM approaches. Six Sigma is complementary to TQM initiatives such as ISO 9000 registration, which is mainly procedural; Total Quality Management (TQM), which is mainly cultural, and Statistical Process Control (SPC), which is primarily statistical process control monitoring. All of these initiatives attempt to improve quality levels but typically reach a plateau. The Six Sigma approach goes to the next level.
Six Sigma is not about quality in the strict traditional sense. Quality, defined traditionally as conformance to internal requirements, is not the focus of Six Sigma. True, Six Sigma focuses on improving quality by helping organizations produce products and services better, faster and cheaper. However, it accomplishes that by reducing waste. In traditional terms, Six Sigma focuses on defect prevention, cycle time reduction, and cost savings. Six Sigma is about helping the organization make more money. Unlike cost-cutting programs that reduce value and quality, Six Sigma identifies and eliminates costs that provide no value to customers: the costs incurred due to waste.
The focus of TQM initiatives differs from the focus of Six Sigma programs. One, TQM programs focus on improvement in individual operations with unrelated processes. Six Sigma focuses on making improvements in all operations within a process. Two, Six Sigma involves dedicated, full-time resources—the “black belts” —versus TQM, which is usually a part-time activity of non-dedicated managers.
The breadth and depth and the precision of Six Sigma and TQM also differ. Six Sigma has a well-defined project charter that outlines the scope of a project, financial targets, anticipated benefits, milestones, etc. It's based on hard financial data and savings. In TQM, organizations go into a project without fully knowing what the financial gains might be. Six Sigma has a solid control phase (DMAIC – Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) that makes specific measurements, identifies specific problems, and provides specific solutions that can be measured.
How else is Six Sigma different? Six Sigma is:
* Fact based and data driven
* Results-oriented, providing quantifiable and measurable bottom-line results
* A leader-sponsored top-down approach
* Linked to strategy
* Thinking about customer requirements
* Applicable to all business processes - administrative, sales, marketing, R&D, etc.
Six Sigma is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process that includes cultural methodologies such as Total Quality Management (TQM), process control strategies such as Statistical Process Control (SPC) and other important statistical tools. Six Sigma tools and techniques all are found in total quality management. Six Sigma is the application of the tools on selected important projects at the appropriate time. Six Sigma tools and techniques all are found in TQM. When done correctly, Six Sigma becomes a way toward organization and cultural development. Yet, it is more than a set of tools! Six Sigma is the strategic and systematic application of the tools on targeted important projects at the appropriate time. Because Six Sigma incorporates TQM but goes beyond it, it will outlast TQM.
read more »
TQM is the development, deployment, and maintenance of systems related to quality-producing business processes. TQM is a strategic approach that focuses on encouraging a continuous flow of incremental quality improvements. It encourages the establishing of a culture of collaboration among different departments within organization. TQM is mainly a cultural initiative and a style of management toward increased quality.
Six Sigma is not just another quality initiative or process improvement program. It is more than that because it is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process that includes cultural methodologies such as the various TQM approaches. Six Sigma is complementary to TQM initiatives such as ISO 9000 registration, which is mainly procedural; Total Quality Management (TQM), which is mainly cultural, and Statistical Process Control (SPC), which is primarily statistical process control monitoring. All of these initiatives attempt to improve quality levels but typically reach a plateau. The Six Sigma approach goes to the next level.
Six Sigma is not about quality in the strict traditional sense. Quality, defined traditionally as conformance to internal requirements, is not the focus of Six Sigma. True, Six Sigma focuses on improving quality by helping organizations produce products and services better, faster and cheaper. However, it accomplishes that by reducing waste. In traditional terms, Six Sigma focuses on defect prevention, cycle time reduction, and cost savings. Six Sigma is about helping the organization make more money. Unlike cost-cutting programs that reduce value and quality, Six Sigma identifies and eliminates costs that provide no value to customers: the costs incurred due to waste.
The focus of TQM initiatives differs from the focus of Six Sigma programs. One, TQM programs focus on improvement in individual operations with unrelated processes. Six Sigma focuses on making improvements in all operations within a process. Two, Six Sigma involves dedicated, full-time resources—the “black belts” —versus TQM, which is usually a part-time activity of non-dedicated managers.
The breadth and depth and the precision of Six Sigma and TQM also differ. Six Sigma has a well-defined project charter that outlines the scope of a project, financial targets, anticipated benefits, milestones, etc. It's based on hard financial data and savings. In TQM, organizations go into a project without fully knowing what the financial gains might be. Six Sigma has a solid control phase (DMAIC – Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) that makes specific measurements, identifies specific problems, and provides specific solutions that can be measured.
How else is Six Sigma different? Six Sigma is:
* Fact based and data driven
* Results-oriented, providing quantifiable and measurable bottom-line results
* A leader-sponsored top-down approach
* Linked to strategy
* Thinking about customer requirements
* Applicable to all business processes - administrative, sales, marketing, R&D, etc.
Six Sigma is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process that includes cultural methodologies such as Total Quality Management (TQM), process control strategies such as Statistical Process Control (SPC) and other important statistical tools. Six Sigma tools and techniques all are found in total quality management. Six Sigma is the application of the tools on selected important projects at the appropriate time. Six Sigma tools and techniques all are found in TQM. When done correctly, Six Sigma becomes a way toward organization and cultural development. Yet, it is more than a set of tools! Six Sigma is the strategic and systematic application of the tools on targeted important projects at the appropriate time. Because Six Sigma incorporates TQM but goes beyond it, it will outlast TQM.
read more »
May 30, 2011
Lean Logistics (Supply Chain Management)
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by the end customers. SCM was developed over time to help effectively coordinate the procurement of parts and materials between organizations that are connected through their supply processes.
Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption.
In today’s domestic and global economies, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, and everyone else concerned in the supply chain are under pressure to reduce and balance their costs, time and inventories in order to continue to be profitable while still meeting their customers’ demands. The best way for them to achieve this is to implement lean logistics. Lean logistics are focused on eliminating waste from the internal and external supply chains and this is achieved by reducing excessive inventories, replenishment times and unnecessary costs. Lean supply chains are designed to pull, not push, to replenish inventory levels.
Lean logistics presents a business with several challenges due to the many different hand-offs that are involved when moving items along the supply chain. Global lean logistics particularly has a huge challenge for businesses due to the additional time needed for their shipments to be transported over long distances. On top of that, there are often many different organizations that will be directly involved with each shipment. Some reports state that it requires the involvement of as many as 17 different organizations to deal with one single shipment. These organizations would be the suppliers, terminals, truckers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, railroads, air and ocean carriers, etc. So bringing lean logistics into such a large and extended multi transactional supply chain is not an easy task. It often means that some of those organizations involved are sometimes working together and at odds at the same time with each individual shipping transaction. This leads to additional non-value added activities being generated throughout the supply chain which creates waste (muda).
Today’s, global and domestic economies are forcing companies to change the way they do business. They are utilizing lean logistics in order to support initiatives for cost reductions and quality improvements. Although lean logistics are not easy to implement, they are extremely cost effective and a business that can successfully execute them will receive multiple benefits. When a business is focusing its sights on the global markets, it will need to put together a project team to work on creating a lean logistics system. Doing this upfront will be cost effective because it will help everyone involved to understand the needs of the organization to identify and reduce a number of potential failures occurring throughout the supply chain process.
With the many benefits that lean logistics can bring to a company it is hard to understand why it has not already been implemented by every business. The issue is that some view the work involved as being too big or too difficult to do. Although it isn’t easy, the benefits far out way the difficulties if they take the time to start by developing their own internal system. Later they can extend their process out to other organizations in their supply chain suppliers, customers and end users.
read more »
Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods from the point of origin to the point of consumption.
In today’s domestic and global economies, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, and everyone else concerned in the supply chain are under pressure to reduce and balance their costs, time and inventories in order to continue to be profitable while still meeting their customers’ demands. The best way for them to achieve this is to implement lean logistics. Lean logistics are focused on eliminating waste from the internal and external supply chains and this is achieved by reducing excessive inventories, replenishment times and unnecessary costs. Lean supply chains are designed to pull, not push, to replenish inventory levels.
Lean logistics presents a business with several challenges due to the many different hand-offs that are involved when moving items along the supply chain. Global lean logistics particularly has a huge challenge for businesses due to the additional time needed for their shipments to be transported over long distances. On top of that, there are often many different organizations that will be directly involved with each shipment. Some reports state that it requires the involvement of as many as 17 different organizations to deal with one single shipment. These organizations would be the suppliers, terminals, truckers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, railroads, air and ocean carriers, etc. So bringing lean logistics into such a large and extended multi transactional supply chain is not an easy task. It often means that some of those organizations involved are sometimes working together and at odds at the same time with each individual shipping transaction. This leads to additional non-value added activities being generated throughout the supply chain which creates waste (muda).
Today’s, global and domestic economies are forcing companies to change the way they do business. They are utilizing lean logistics in order to support initiatives for cost reductions and quality improvements. Although lean logistics are not easy to implement, they are extremely cost effective and a business that can successfully execute them will receive multiple benefits. When a business is focusing its sights on the global markets, it will need to put together a project team to work on creating a lean logistics system. Doing this upfront will be cost effective because it will help everyone involved to understand the needs of the organization to identify and reduce a number of potential failures occurring throughout the supply chain process.
With the many benefits that lean logistics can bring to a company it is hard to understand why it has not already been implemented by every business. The issue is that some view the work involved as being too big or too difficult to do. Although it isn’t easy, the benefits far out way the difficulties if they take the time to start by developing their own internal system. Later they can extend their process out to other organizations in their supply chain suppliers, customers and end users.
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