Six Sigma as Part of a Toolkit
Harry and Crawford point out that many organizations find it difficult to justify full blown Six Sigma rollouts based on the cost of training specialists. They also demonstrate how Six Sigma has morphed from its definition of conforming to one fault per multiple opportunities towards value enhancement. In our experience at GP Deltapoint, at the highest levels such as value enhancement, there are a number of important tools to deploy. Great benefit can be derived from the application of lean tools as well as strategic improvement of the maintenance function within manufacturing organizations. Within service (and indeed all) organizations, waste reduction focused on the value stream is an effective means of enhancing organizational performance. Tools such as value-stream mapping, reliability-centered maintenance, Employee engagement as outlined by Erickson, Raturi and Jack's flexibility, and staged product development are part of a full toolkit along with Six Sigma. In fact there is some danger of diluting the laudable Six Sigma focus on specific Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) steps, centered on appropriate deployment of designed experiments. To be sure, these efforts require a trained and knowledgeable cadre of implementers, but then so do other critical functions on the factory floor, in finance, and indeed in management itself.
We all know consultants who have a hammer, and so for whom every problem is a nail. But central to all of this month's article reviews is a theme of examining a situation carefully, selecting the appropriate analytical tools, checking the solution and then acting with conviction. These are indeed the Six Sigma steps, but often the appropriate tool is not a hammer.
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