Six Sigma By Any Other Name
Mike Bresko, Managing Director; and John McNeil, Principal Consultant
Most organizations today are interested or even invested in continuous improvement programs; generally aimed at improving quality as defined by end users. Six Sigma programs are probably the most widely touted; their part in the successes of GE, Motorola, Alstom and others is well documented.
So should everyone be jumped on board by now? Should we be conducting designed experiments this very week? Should all our employees become green belts at minimum or face being replaced? Well the answer is a qualified yes. Most every organization can benefit from reduction in waste and improvement in quality beyond gains already made. And the degree to which this can be formalized and become part of the everyday fabric of business will determine the degree to which these efforts are likely to be successful, sustained and repeatable. But sometimes programs that are not labeled Six Sigma per se will fit the bill and their training and implementation may be less costly in some situations and for some organizations.
The automotive industry promotes a program called Global 8D. Six Sigma programs often have five steps: Design, Measure, Analyze, Implement and Control. 8D has eight steps (Prepare, Establish team, Describe Problem, Find and Verify Root Cause, Determine Corrective Actions, Implement and Validate, Prevent Recurrence, Recognize Team), but they accomplish similar ends: structured work aimed at measurable improvements. GP Deltapoint trains and implements a program called Quality Improvement Story. It has 9 steps which the program encourages teams to lay out on a large 3x3 grid. Step one is to State the Problem, followed by Current Situation data and information and a Root Cause Analysis. Step 4 is to select a solution that prevents and remedies the problem, then follows developing an Action Plan and Recording Actions. Step 7 is to check results. Step 8 is to put measures and reliable methods in place and step 9 is to complete the story by noting left over problems, future plans and findings. There is not a specific requirement to carry out rigorous statistical analysis in QIS, although it certainly is not discouraged. Rather the emphasis is on thinking, analyzing and communicating in a structured way. We have enjoyed success in world class and unsophisticated organizations alike with QIS, but wholly endorse any method that makes continuous improvement a way of life.
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