Lean Six Sigma Archives - 6sigma https://6sigma.com/category/lean-six-sigma-articles/ Six Sigma Certification and Training Thu, 14 Dec 2023 10:37:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://6sigma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-favicon-blue-68x68.png Lean Six Sigma Archives - 6sigma https://6sigma.com/category/lean-six-sigma-articles/ 32 32 Reasons Why Gemba Walk Is Getting More Popular https://6sigma.com/reasons-why-gemba-walk-is-getting-more-popular/ Wed, 22 Dec 2021 14:03:08 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=98977 Part 1 – Understanding Gemba Walking

Gemba (現場) — is a Japanese term that refers to a value creation space. For example, (i) in manufacturing, the factory space is Gemba. (ii) in construction, the site is Gemba. (iii) in tech, the office space is Gemba. Gemba is anything where service providers interact directly with […]

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Part 1 – Understanding Gemba Walking

Gemba (現場) — is a Japanese term that refers to a value creation space. For example, (i) in manufacturing, the factory space is Gemba. (ii) in construction, the site is Gemba. (iii) in tech, the office space is Gemba. Gemba is anything where service providers interact directly with the customers or service.

Glenn Mazur introduced Gemba into Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to create a means of business lifestyle. The idea was — in order to become more customer-oriented, one must be in the shoes of the customer, understand their problems and opportunities, and create viable processing solutions.

Much similar to Management By Walking Around (MBWA), gemba’s sub-role — Gemba Walk is an activity that takes management to the front lines of the development process and teams to understand wastes and opportunities and perform kaizen-based analyzes for business improvements.

Most focus groups and surveys are planned. On the other hand, a Gemba Walk is not scripted or bound by what one wants to ask.

Benefits of Gemba Walks

  • Gemba Walks ensure managers monitor their floor’s (team’s) operational reality. The walk highlights how processes run from floor to floor. When a problem is identified and understood, it results in a beneficial thinking process with solid and innovative outcomes.
  • A Gemba Walk is not necessarily a corrective exercise. It is (and should be!) treated as an encouragement for teams to observe and seek positive outcomes. By doing such, managers are able to focus on how actual the process is being delivered.
  • Gemba Walk participants gain additional backdrop into the SOPs. The leaders can then apply the insights towards improving conditions, tools, and procedures as necessary.

Part 2 – How do Gemba works?

As per Toyota’s Chairman — Fujio Cho, Gemba Walk should consist of three elements:

“Go Seek. Ask Why. Show Respect.”

Let’s understand these three elements.

  • Go Seek: This CTA encourages business leaders to come down once in a while to their business workshops. The idea is to divulge leaders, managers and teams into conversations, small talks, or share ideas and look for things that can be improved.
  • Ask Why: This action identifies and eliminates wastes. All you do is listen to your team and use problem-solving techniques, like Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), to identify root causes.
  • Show Respect: This is a no-joke measure. Encouraging someone can boost their confidence and morale. Not only that, the encouragement is contagious. When you praise one person, the one next to them gets even more motivated.

Another great technique to get Gemba working is “Observation”.

Observation is a great tool. Better Observations Mean Better Decisions.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that observation includes both, noticing and taking action on what you see.

To put it simply,

Understanding = Seeing + Processing

Part 3 – How does Gemba help leaders and organizations as a whole?

Gemba is all about identifying, collaborating and defining goals. It is an efficiency-focused initiative that ensures leaders are able to define business goals in clarity.

By giving structure and goals to a Gemba Walk, you avoid excess subjectivity. Leaders who have integrated Gemba in their activities need to know a process’s target result and official procedure. Thus, allowing distraction-free observation.

Till now, Gemba sounds so good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, what if we tell you that you can actually watch Gemba Walk live, in your space and in your free time! Watch an episode of B/A Television Show’s Undercover Boss. The show revolves around how a CEO join the forces in the front line (SPOILER: Anonymously!) to understand details of how the work is done. Time for some crunchies and munchies!

Part 4 – Tools & Techniques for Gemba Walk

Tool 1 – The Ms

a) The 4Ms

4 sub-pillars of Ms

A 4M is a problem-solving method that follows a typical structure silo. It points at potential causes of production issues. A number of organizations are familiar with and use this concept actively in their production processes. This process allows every associate a confident problem-solver.

As shown in the illustration above, the 4M stands for:

  • Man (Manpower)
  • Machine
  • Method
  • Material

b) The 5Ms

Similar to the 4M, the 5M method is known for its versatility. The process can identify causes, risks, inefficiencies, low quality, and other business process issues.

The 5M method stands for:

  • Man (Manpower)
  • Machine
  • Measurement
  • Method
  • Material

c) The 8Ms

The 8M method is an in-depth analysis procedure to learn the root cause. The process examines a broad set of possibilities that could have caused the problem for the issue to be analyzed.

The 8M method stands for:

  • Man (Manpower)
  • Machine
  • Material
  • Method
  • Management
  • Mother Nature (Environment)
  • Measurement
  • Maintenance

Tool 2 – 8 Wastes

In lean manufacturing, “WASTE” means anything that doesn’t add value to a product. Any cost incurred in a process that doesn’t add benefit to the customer is considered a waste. To learn more about the 8 Wastes, visit our detailed article.

The 8 Wastes of Lean are:

  • Transportation
  • Inventory
  • Motion
  • Waiting
  • Overproduction
  • Over-Processing
  • Defects
  • Skills

Tool 3 – Design Thinking

Organizations are integrating Six Sigma into their business processes. One such technique of Six Sigma is Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). The technique focuses on product and process designs. It emphasizes customers’ needs and how it influence design decisions.

Tool 4 – The 5 Whys

The 5 Whys are part of Root Cause Analysis. They are essential questions that are asked after every answer to a question. Unlike other techniques, this method doesn’t require testing, hypothesis, data, regression or other complex statistical approaches. You just go to someone and ask them — Why?

Part 5 – Effective steps for Gemba Walk

Step 1 – Prepare your team

Let team members know what a Gemba Walk is and why they will be observed during the process

Step 2 – Have a plan

Prepare questions to ask and have a structured plan laid out

Step 3 – Follow the value stream

Follow the flow of value and observe areas with high waste potential that can be optimized

Step 4 – Focus on the process, not people

Gemba Walks are not employee performance evaluations. They are meant for observing, understanding, and improving processes.

Step 5 – Document your observations

Always log your observations and record your findings

Step 6 – Ask questions

Ask who, what, why, where, when and how questions to uncover why operations are performed in a particular manner.

Step 7 – Don’t suggest changes during the walk

Gemba Walks are meant for observations. The action comes after.

Step 8 – Walk in teams

Gemba Walks can be effective in teams, especially if the walk involves people from another department.

Step 9 – Mix up the schedule

Gemba Walks should not be scheduled at the same time. Mix it up to see how processes may change throughout the day or week.

Step 10 – Follow up with employees

Connect with employees to share what you have learned and plan ahead for your next steps.

Step 11 – Return to Gemba

Perform future Gemba Walks to observe the changes you’ve implemented and if they achieved the desired results.

Part 6 – Conclusion

As a sub-concept of Lean Methodology, an effective Gemba Walk can bring in fruitful leadership teams. It enables process improvements, facilitates problem solving and identification, and reduces wasteful activities to align with continuous improvement.

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Benefits of Six Sigma in Finance https://6sigma.com/benefits-of-six-sigma-in-finance/ https://6sigma.com/benefits-of-six-sigma-in-finance/#respond Mon, 24 May 2021 13:24:01 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=27802 Defects occur in every industry, including the finance industry. And Six Sigma is about reducing defects to 3.4 for every million opportunities. That may seem ambitious, but Six Sigma makes it possible. And for an organization’s finance department, where the margin for error needs to be small, it is a highly desirable outcome.

When it […]

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six sigma in finance

Defects occur in every industry, including the finance industry. And Six Sigma is about reducing defects to 3.4 for every million opportunities. That may seem ambitious, but Six Sigma makes it possible. And for an organization’s finance department, where the margin for error needs to be small, it is a highly desirable outcome.

When it comes to handling matters involving money, there’s a need for a high degree of accuracy and precision. Organizations have been thrown into disarray over a single rounding error. Because of this, people have lost their jobs and stakeholders have been penalized and/or taken to court, among other undesirable outcomes.

With such grave consequences tied to financial errors, it is not hard to see why Six Sigma is perfect for an organization’s finance department. Here are the biggest benefits that Six Sigma brings to finance.

Learn More About our Lean Six Sigma Training

Keeps the Organization Financially Healthy

The financial health of the organization is what determines if it will survive in the long term. But how does the finance department determine it?

They can look at the cash the organization has or brings in, but that wouldn’t be enough to give them an accurate picture. This is because cash alone does not say anything about the financial processes of the organizations that actually keep it financially healthy.

Six Sigma emphasizes that organizations must measure performance at all levels. The financial department can use Six Sigma tools to identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measure the organization’s financial performance. And by monitoring the KPIs, they can identify patterns that signal the occurrence of a financial problem and help the organization prepare for it.

Doing this ensures that the organization remains financially healthy into the foreseeable future.

Saves Time and Effort

A major part of doing Six Sigma is the streamlining of processes. That means a process should be carried out with the least amount of steps and resources (e.g money, people, and information).

The problem with many financial departments is that they collect more data than they need. This needlessly conflates the amount of time it takes to complete a single financial process. By streamlining the data collection process, the financial department can focus only on collecting what they need.

This means they don’t have to process a lot of useless information, which saves them a great deal of time and effort. Furthermore, it means that they don’t end up tracking things that don’t matter and focus solely on the KPIs.

And since being highly organized is a part of Six Sigma, they can keep the data somewhere easy to find. This is important because the finance department usually handles more data than any other department. And it can slow things down to a crawl if a lot of time is spent looking for the data in dispersed computers, cabinets, flash drives, and cloud drives.

Helps to Proactively Handle Problems

When problems happen, Six Sigma not only helps you handle them, but it also helps you prevent them from ever reoccurring. It allows you to define and analyze the problem, figure out the root cause, come up with a solution and commit to continuous improvement.

Conclusion

It is a good thing that Six Sigma is industry agnostic. With its ability to significantly reduce defects or errors, finance departments can use it to their advantage. And when an organization’s finances are rock solid, the organization is ensured of long-term success.

 

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What Does Poka-Yoke Mean? https://6sigma.com/what-does-poka-yoke-mean/ https://6sigma.com/what-does-poka-yoke-mean/#respond Thu, 22 Apr 2021 14:02:06 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=27710 Have you heard the term Poka-Yoke and are wondering what it means? It’s quite simple. Poka-Yoke refers to ‘mistake proofing’ or “inadvertent error prevention”. 

It’s a Lean manufacturing mechanism designed to prevent mistakes from causing defects to products, services or processes. It’s a work standardization technique that can be applied to […]

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poka-yoke

Have you heard the term Poka-Yoke and are wondering what it means? It’s quite simple. Poka-Yoke refers to ‘mistake proofing’ or “inadvertent error prevention”. 

It’s a Lean manufacturing mechanism designed to prevent mistakes from causing defects to products, services or processes. It’s a work standardization technique that can be applied to any manufacturing or service.

How does poka-yoke prevent mistakes from happening? By tackling human error. 

Origins of the term Poka-Yoke

Poka-Yoke originated in Japan in the 1960s when it was developed by Shigeo Shingo, an engineer working for Toyota. It was first called Baka Yoke but that meant ‘fool proofing’ or ‘idiot proofing’, which meant the term had to change to Poka (mistakes) Yoke (avoid).

How does Poka-Yoke work?

Poka-Yoke makes sure that all the best conditions are present before a process step is made and doing so prevents mistakes from ever taking place. Where the best conditions cannot be ensured altogether, Poka-Yoke detects defects and tries to remove them as early in the process as possible. 

Examples of Poka-Yoke being applied

One of the most easy-to-understand examples – especially for drivers – is when the driver of a car that has a manual gearbox has to press the clutch pedal before starting the car. This has to happen to stop any unintended movements of the car. 

Another easy-to-understand example is when a car with an automatic transmission has a switch that forces the car to be in ‘Park’ or ‘Neutral” before it starts. 

Another very basic example is when the washing machine doesn’t start without the door properly closed to prevent water from leaking out. These types of automation don’t allow mistakes or incorrect operations from the start. 

Why does Poka-Yoke matter?

Simple – because it helps people and processes function properly from the get-go, which in turn prevents mistakes from happening. 

Poka-Yoke and techniques similar to this one improve the quality and reliability of products, services and processes by removing defects altogether. 

The technique can also help with process designs such as those from Six Sigma – the DMAIC (Define – Measure – Analyze – Improve – Control) projects. Using Poka-Yoke in process design helps remove human and mechanical errors. 

When should Poka-Yoke be used?

  • When a process step has been spotted where human error can lead to mistakes and defects, specifically in processes that depend on the worker’s attention, expertise or experience
  • When dealing with service processes, especially where customers can make a mistake that affects the output
  • At a step in a process called the hand-off, where the output or the customer is transferred to a second worker
  • Where a small mistake at the beginning of a process can cause big projects further down in the process
  • When dangerous or expensive errors can happen

The Poka-Yoke mechanism is highly important and valuable in Lean Management. It’s a way to guarantee quality. It can be implemented in any type of industry with many benefits – the main one being products, services and processes without defects. 

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How Six Sigma Can Improve Your Customer Service https://6sigma.com/how-six-sigma-can-improve-your-customer-service/ https://6sigma.com/how-six-sigma-can-improve-your-customer-service/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2021 18:19:49 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=27665 Six Sigma is a methodology that has brought significant improvements to many companies in a variety of sectors. And it looks like we’re barely scratching the surface of what’s possible when Six Sigma is applied correctly. Customer service is an area that’s notoriously difficult for companies to get right.

Even […]

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six sigma

Six Sigma is a methodology that has brought significant improvements to many companies in a variety of sectors. And it looks like we’re barely scratching the surface of what’s possible when Six Sigma is applied correctly. Customer service is an area that’s notoriously difficult for companies to get right.

Even when you’re prepared to invest a lot of resources into your customer service, that’s still not a guarantee that you’re going to see good results. You also have to apply a controlled approach to optimizing your performance and service quality. That’s where Six Sigma comes in – let’s have a look at what it can do for you in this regard, and how to put it to proper use.

Assessing Your Current Situation and Goals

In order to utilize Six Sigma in your customer service setup, you must start by analyzing your current situation. Six Sigma works with measurable metrics, and the more of those you can gather, the better results you can expect. Try to gather as much information as you can about your operations.

How many customers you’re servicing in a given period, hours with heavy load, satisfaction rates, call duration, and anything else that might be relevant. All of those details will help you build a picture with which you can objectively measure the current performance of your customer service. This will help you figure out which areas need to be addressed with a higher priority.

Implementing Improvements

With the help of Six Sigma, you can then start addressing issues that require urgent attention. Customer service problems tend to be concentrated in a few specific areas – like response time and service quality – and you will probably want to start with those. Any improvements you make should be quantifiable. That is, you should be able to measure their impact in an objective manner. This will help you ensure that you’re moving in the right direction. It will be a particularly important point when it comes to addressing waste. Six Sigma puts a strong emphasis on that, and it’s something that requires a lot of concrete data in order to work.

Measuring Results and Iterating

After you’re done implementing your changes, you should measure how they impact your operations. Some of the modifications you’ve made may not play out exactly as you intended, and they might actually reduce your productivity in some cases. This makes it important to pay attention to metrics, and make adjustments as needed. Don’t expect everything to be perfect from the first iteration. You’ll likely need to revise your implementation a few times before it works correctly.

If you play your cards right, Six Sigma can result in noticeable improvements to your customer service. It will take some time for the changes to start registering, especially if you’re dealing with a larger operation that generates more data. But once those improvements have materialized, their impact will be permanent. And you’ll have a lot of valuable data to work with that can help you improve things even further by iterating on your current situation.

 

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The Best Six Sigma Advice Is in Our 2020 Labor Day Roundup https://6sigma.com/the-best-six-sigma-advice-is-in-our-2020-labor-day-roundup/ https://6sigma.com/the-best-six-sigma-advice-is-in-our-2020-labor-day-roundup/#respond Mon, 07 Sep 2020 13:40:14 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=26658 The year of 2020 will go down in history as the year that the pandemic changed how business operated. Our economy as well as many small, medium, and large businesses were impacted. Knowing where there is a will there’s a way, so we prevailed and offered strong suggestions since we were given this […]

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The year of 2020 will go down in history as the year that the pandemic changed how business operated. Our economy as well as many small, medium, and large businesses were impacted. Knowing where there is a will there’s a way, so we prevailed and offered strong suggestions since we were given this extra time to reflect. 

6sigma.com labor day

In March we wrote about the power of knowledge and the steps you could take to come back stronger than before and better prepared. We discussed knowing what parts of your business to strengthen and making it a priority to do so. We also talked about apps that help keep the company communicating even though you’re not at the same location: Come Back Stronger With Six Sigma Knowledge

In April, we offered proven scientific information that challenging ourselves actually keeps us fine-tuned and learning new things is actually the way to exercise the parts of the brain that keeps producing new brain cells throughout our lifetime: Brain Cells, Hippocampus and…Six Sigma?

Then in July, we took a look at a lesser-known team member known as the Champions and why they are so important in a project. We even brought up our virtual classroom which is such a priceless resource where we offer community as well as information: Why Are Six Sigma Champions Important?

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services please check out our course schedule

Learn more about our training and courses

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Six Sigma and Pranayam https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-and-pranayam/ https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-and-pranayam/#respond Wed, 17 Jun 2020 15:34:17 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=25819 If we think of human beings as a system and our internal organs as the processes that must take place every day for us to be our best selves, then using the Six Sigma DMAIC template as part of your daily life is easy to implement.

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If we think of human beings as a system and our internal organs as the processes that must take place every day for us to be our best selves, then using the Six Sigma DMAIC template as part of your daily life is easy to implement.

six sigma health

As people get older, it is fair to say that they are going to have medical problems, and it will be with their internal organs such as their heart, kidneys, brain, or lungs. They will spend upteen amounts of money in medical costs, but in America Medicare will take care of a bulk of it. But they will experience discomfort and still spend some of their money and possibly have a family member help to take care of them or hire a nurse. The bottom line is that this is not “living” your best life.

Why don’t Americans exercise their internal organs? There are breathing exercises called pranayam, and it has been around for 2,500+ years. They truly work; in fact, there have been studies on the practice. Mind you, these studies were on chronically ill patients who were suffering from kidney disease, and after six months on this pranayam program, improvements were made.

Now, if we included these exercises as part of our daily processes that could make our system glide and make things easier to do, (i.e. cut down on our production time, save money by not having to go to the doctor and instead spend money on enjoying life) wouldn’t that be a great plan? Mental health would improve by being happy, because you feel better than ever!

This could save the United States billions of dollars per year. If improvements were made on chronically ill patients, imagine how effective it would be as a preventive measure.

Use pranayam as part of the DMAIC template in your daily life and watch what happens.

D-Define

M-Measure

A-Analyze

I-Improve

C-Control  

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma virtual classes and services, please visit 6sigma.com. 

 

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Six Sigma Is Kryptonite to Waste https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-is-kryptonite-to-waste/ https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-is-kryptonite-to-waste/#respond Tue, 02 Jun 2020 01:30:40 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=25805 If we are in a Six Sigma state of mind, the word waste needs to be off-limits. It is the kryptonite to us all — we avoid it like the plague! So here are the types of waste we must be on the lookout for under all circumstances.

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If we are in a Six Sigma state of mind, the word waste needs to be off-limits. It is the kryptonite to us all — we avoid it like the plague! So here are the types of waste we must be on the lookout for under all circumstances.

Defects: When products don’t meet specifications or standards and you must get rid of them. In addition to wasting materials, you’re also wasting your money in production costs as well as time. This doesn’t include the fact that if the product got to the customer, and your customer has to return the item, this would create an unhappy customer. All of the preceding adds up to lost revenue.

Overproduction: Producing in big huge batches isn’t a good idea unless those items have already been sold. Since today’s economy changes so quickly (and so do trends), the products you produced might sit on the shelf for ages. This will take up space, materials you might need for something else, and money spent on products you haven’t sold yet. Excess inventory is always a big waste.

Waiting: Any time there is waiting involved between ending one process and the beginning of  another, that is a waste of time. Readjust how the process is conducted so everything runs with a nice flow and without wasting time.

Non-Utilized Talent: The frontline workers are the true heroes, because they recognize process waste since they see it on a daily basis. So instead of the supervisors or leads who don’t do the work making adjustments to the processes, ask those who do. The frontline workers actually know more than most people at the top and are underutilized, and that is a huge waste of money and talent.

Transportation: To eliminate this unnecessary movement of a product or service from one department to another, combine tasks or roles.

Motion: This happens when there is a poorly-designed process, poorly-designed workspace or station, or a situation where tools and equipment must be shared.

Extra Processing: This happens when there are redundancies throughout the production process, procedures, or protocols. 

For more information on workplace waste as well as our virtual training courses, please visit 6sigma.com

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Six Sigma: The Year For Learning Is 2020 https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-the-year-for-learning-is-2020/ https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-the-year-for-learning-is-2020/#respond Mon, 25 May 2020 22:07:53 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=25797 six sigma virtual classroom learning

The Six Sigma fascination is a very real thing — you can apply Six […]

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six sigma virtual classroom learning

The Six Sigma fascination is a very real thing — you can apply Six Sigma to just about anything. Apply the appropriate information, and you are on your way to excellence! This year has been interesting to say the least — we have gone through some sobering experiences in many facets of daily living. With the stay at home orders in place, many chose to keep learning so when they got back to work, they would come back new and improved, filled with determination. To understand how things really work is a key principle of Six Sigma, and is what knowledge gives you. We picked five blog posts that best illustrate the need to keep learning and constant improvement of thyself, which we know as Kaizen. Take a moment and meditate on the themes of these posts. We feel the few minutes it takes is time well worth taking.

 

Brain Cells Hippocampus and Six Sigma

Brain Cells, Hippocampus and…Six Sigma?

 

Kaizen Is A Win-Win

Kaizen is a Win-Win – 6Sigma.com

 

The Story of Six Sigma: A Timeline

The Story of Six Sigma: A Timeline – 6Sigma.com

 

COVID-19 Update and Virtual Classroom Training

COVID-19 Update and Virtual Classroom Training – 6Sigma.com

 

The Secret Ingredient for Six Sigma Success

The Secret Ingredient for Six Sigma Success – 6Sigma.com

 

For more information on our virtual classroom training or our on-demand online training, please visit 6sigma.com. 

 

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Your Customers Are Number One https://6sigma.com/your-customers-are-number-one/ https://6sigma.com/your-customers-are-number-one/#respond Tue, 05 May 2020 00:05:11 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=25740 That’s what Six Sigma has been saying all along! Your business has meaning because of your customers. If you look at this infographic, the first point is to “Specify value as perceived by the customer.”  It is your customer that dictates what value is in regards to your product or service. This is […]

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That’s what Six Sigma has been saying all along! Your business has meaning because of your customers. If you look at this infographic, the first point is to “Specify value as perceived by the customer.”  It is your customer that dictates what value is in regards to your product or service. This is such a simple concept that many business owners don’t get. As this COVID-19 stay-at-home order has shown us, the customer is gold and giving them what they deem as value is imperative. 

5 principles of lean manufacturing

Now, we recommend looking through the rest of this infographic and then sign up for one of our virtual classrooms or self-paced on-demand classes. When all of our businesses open up, you will be able to handle the overload!  

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services, please visit our website and don’t delay in signing up!

 

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The Passing of Six Sigma Legend Jack Welch https://6sigma.com/the-passing-of-six-sigma-legend-jack-welch/ https://6sigma.com/the-passing-of-six-sigma-legend-jack-welch/#respond Mon, 09 Mar 2020 13:28:12 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=24963 Six Sigma advocate and pioneer Jack Welch died earlier this month on March 1st in New York, surrounded by his wife, family, and dogs, which he loved. He passed away from renal failure and was 84 years old. Let’s look at a much younger, healthy Jack Welch, who took the world by storm […]

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Six Sigma advocate and pioneer Jack Welch died earlier this month on March 1st in New York, surrounded by his wife, family, and dogs, which he loved. He passed away from renal failure and was 84 years old. Let’s look at a much younger, healthy Jack Welch, who took the world by storm by being Six Sigma’s biggest champion. 

jack welch

While Welch was at General Electric, he grew its value to $410 billion with the implementation of Six Sigma. It’s not a secret that more than half of all Fortune 500 companies use Six Sigma methodologies at their company to streamline their processes.

Welch has gone on to write many books and have other successes, but the acclaim he had with Six Sigma is one for all time. Welch was instrumental in getting Six Sigma noticed; he showed the world by example just how Six Sigma worked. He practiced what he preached, and he turned out to be right.

Six Sigma isn’t fancy — it is good old-fashioned common sense. The tools are easy to use and it just requires commitment. 

Welch had a reputation as a complicated man with many genius tendencies, but perhaps he was a lot like Six Sigma; old-fashioned, not fancy, and required commitment.

He leaves behind the success of Six Sigma; now Six Sigma stands alone and strong because of you. Rest in peace, Jack.

 

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Lean Six Sigma: Waste Not Want Not https://6sigma.com/lean-six-sigma-waste-not-want-not/ https://6sigma.com/lean-six-sigma-waste-not-want-not/#respond Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:13:36 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=24586 Spending money needlessly is waste, and if you waste enough money that will bring on a need for money. Lean Six Sigma tackles waste in any industry. Waste wears many masks — Let’s take a look at the different types. Remember, waste in business is like throwing money away, and that cuts […]

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Spending money needlessly is waste, and if you waste enough money that will bring on a need for money. Lean Six Sigma tackles waste in any industry. Waste wears many masks — Let’s take a look at the different types. Remember, waste in business is like throwing money away, and that cuts into your profits.

7 wastes lean six sigma

Types of Waste

Defects: When products have defects, that means they are not up to standard or they don’t meet certain specifications and must be thrown out. Anytime a product isn’t sold and must be discarded, that is waste.

Overproduction: In an effort to have products ready for their customers, many companies will produce more than they need. This just creates excess inventory that takes up space and could be a potential danger if someone trips over it. This also doesn’t add value to your inventory; it just adds clutter.

Waiting: Waiting time in between day-to-day processes. This is useless and a definite waste of time. Either use DMAIC to improve processes or figure out why that time is idle.

Transportation: This has to do with moving either product or information about the product from one place to another. If your factory where you produce your product is in a different location than where you store your product, this is a waste. If the second location is far away, see if you can incorporate them in the same building or a closer location if not in the same building.

Inventory: This is what happens when a product is waiting to be sold. This can be caused by over-ordering or producing more products than the customer needs. 

Motion: This happens if a team member has to move unnecessarily from one place to another during the process time. This could be a poorly designed workstation or poor processing patterns.

Extra Processing: This is anything extra that is not required by the customer, whether it is extra wrapping or containers, anything that is not necessary or required by the customer.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses or services, please visit 6sigma.com.

 

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In Other Words, It’s the Language of Six Sigma https://6sigma.com/in-other-words-its-the-language-of-six-sigma/ https://6sigma.com/in-other-words-its-the-language-of-six-sigma/#respond Mon, 14 Oct 2019 20:25:14 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=23639 Every industry has their special words or expressions that are exclusive to them. Mere mortals usually don’t understand what the industry specific jargon means. Well, Six Sigma wants all industries to be part of the Six Sigma family, so we are reviewing some of the special words, expressions and acronyms to make sure […]

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Every industry has their special words or expressions that are exclusive to them. Mere mortals usually don’t understand what the industry specific jargon means. Well, Six Sigma wants all industries to be part of the Six Sigma family, so we are reviewing some of the special words, expressions and acronyms to make sure everyone is included.

Process: This is the day-to-day activity that must occur to produce a product or service.

Process Map/Flow Chart: This a chart that visually shows the series of steps, describes the steps and who does them to produce a product or service. This will show the flow of the process(s) or events that has to happen to produce a product or service.  

SIPOC: Stands for Suppliers-Inputs-Process-Outputs-Customers. This is used to define a process from beginning to end.

PDCA: Plan-Do-Check-Act. This is an improvement methodology that is quite easy to use and very effective.

Output: This is what is produced by a process step, the result.

Affinity Diagram: This is a tool to organize ideas and data into priorities and categories.

Benchmarking: This is used to set a standard by comparing a set of business processes and performances to the industry’s best practices and seeing if there is a gap that can be fixed.

Defect: Anything that isn’t done right the first time.

Defect Opportunity: Any task or activity that can be measured that does not fulfill the requirement for value.

Poka-yoke: Mistake proofing. This is an action you take in Six Sigma to significantly lower the opportunity for error so much so that the customer never experiences the error.

Input: This is a resource added by a supplier to the process; this can be a product, service, data, even labor.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services please visit 6sigma.com

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Six Sigma Practices Could Help the Mental Health of Employees https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-practices-could-help-the-mental-health-of-employees/ https://6sigma.com/six-sigma-practices-could-help-the-mental-health-of-employees/#respond Mon, 30 Sep 2019 13:52:38 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=23597 According to the World Health Organization (WHO) study on mental health, an estimated 264 million people suffer from depression globally, which is one of the leading causes of disability. When you add the fact that many of these people also have symptoms of anxiety, this is costing the global economy $1 trillion dollars […]

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO) study on mental health, an estimated 264 million people suffer from depression globally, which is one of the leading causes of disability. When you add the fact that many of these people also have symptoms of anxiety, this is costing the global economy $1 trillion dollars a year in lost productivity.

A negative work environment can lead to physical and mental health issues, which have been highlighted in the media. 

What are some of the work-related risks to mental health?

  • Poor communication and management practices
  • Limited involvement in decision making or control over one’s area of work
  • Low levels of support for employees
  • Inflexible working hours
  • Unclear tasks or work objectives 

Let’s connect the principles of Lean Six Sigma:

  • Focus on the customer (or employee)
  • Understand how work gets done (the process or value stream)
  • Manage and improve process flow
  • Eliminate waste and non-value steps
  • Encourage collaboration and equip people in the process
  • Manage improvement activity in a congenial, systematic way

How can these principles help? A support system at work is like a strong family, and a strong family feels safe and happier in the situation. Mental health is a complicated topic, and scientists are still figuring out all its complexities. One thing is for sure: having a strong, patient support system can move mountains until more scientific information comes in regarding mental health. 

There are great organizations out there that are working diligently as a support system as well as a great resource for information. One such organization is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI.org

As our global economy gets busier and foreign cultures start teaming up, understanding how the brain works with regards to mental health might be the one factor that unites us all. Until then, maybe we can rely on Six Sigma methodologies in the workplace and organizations such as NAMI to help work out the kinks.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services, please visit 6sigma.com

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Bringing Six Sigma Methodologies into Dog Training https://6sigma.com/bringing-six-sigma-methodologies-into-dog-training/ https://6sigma.com/bringing-six-sigma-methodologies-into-dog-training/#respond Mon, 19 Aug 2019 20:45:39 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=23451 Six Sigma methodologies can apply in so many different industries. Believe it or not, its philosophies fit very well into the world of pets. How, you ask? Before we dive into specifics, let’s take a look at the big business of pets.

six sigma methodologies

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Six Sigma methodologies can apply in so many different industries. Believe it or not, its philosophies fit very well into the world of pets. How, you ask? Before we dive into specifics, let’s take a look at the big business of pets.

six sigma methodologies

It’s not a big secret that just about everyone has a dog, cat or multiples of both. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) gives the statistics of their latest market research for 2018/2019 as to what percentage of the U.S. population has pets:

  • 68% of U.S. households have at least one pet
  • U.S. pets include 90 million dogs and 94 million cats
  • 81 to 85 percent of pet owners regard their pets as a reliable source for unconditional love, stress relief, and overall zen for their health.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has statistics of their own:

  • 6.5 million unwanted pets are surrendered to rescues annually
  • Of these, 3.3 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats
  • 1.5 million pets are euthanized annually

 

The main reason people surrender their pets are behavior issues. Yes, there are other issues, but behavior is usually number one. Let’s talk dogs: they need consistency in their training, there’s no room for variation. Variation creates errors, mishaps, and confusion and in the case of dogs being euthanized it creates waste of a perfectly wonderful life of a once happy pet.

The Six Sigma tool that dog trainers would benefit from would be PDCA, or Plan-Do-Check-Act. If the dog trainer is consistent, clear and knowledgeable in the process used to train the canine, perhaps euthanizing an animal for behavioral reasons would be eliminated completely. 

If a dog isn’t trained properly, it has to do with the trainer, not the dog. If both dog trainers and owners used the DMAIC template to improve their current dog training process (or DMADV to create one), once again Six Sigma would have come to the rescue…literally.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services, please visit 6sigma.com

 

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Lean Six Sigma Up For Review https://6sigma.com/lean-six-sigma-up-for-review/ https://6sigma.com/lean-six-sigma-up-for-review/#respond Mon, 10 Jun 2019 17:11:28 +0000 https://6sigma.com/?p=23283 Just as a dancer reviews and practices the basic steps, a review of the fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma is an important step (no pun intended) for your business. Let’s just say that Lean Six Sigma keeps you real and your business dealings accurate.

lean six […]
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Just as a dancer reviews and practices the basic steps, a review of the fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma is an important step (no pun intended) for your business. Let’s just say that Lean Six Sigma keeps you real and your business dealings accurate.

lean six sigma

So let us start and review the fundamentals of Lean Six Sigma:

  • Lean Six Sigma is data-driven, and all decisions are based on the data that has been collected and analyzed for accuracy.  Everything is based on data, and not opinions, gut feelings, or experiences.
  • Cross-Functional Teams: Getting the knowledge of people involved in different parts of the process will garner the best solutions, so cross-functional teams are important for Lean Six Sigma.
  • Lean Six Sigma Toolbox: There are many great analytical tools, tools for quality, and efficiency tools that make the improvement process very easy as well as the elimination of variation and waste.
  • The DMAIC Methodology: Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. This template makes it easy to organize and facilitate process improvements. This is a system that is neutral, objective and easy to use for problem-solving. Best of all, it is fact-based.
  • Complete Culture Change: It must be one for all and all for one. In other words, for lean to be successful, the entire company must have the Six Sigma mindset. There must be team involvement of all parties. The role of the Champion is a strong mainstay because there can’t be obstacles among team members and the company whose processes they are improving. Everyone in the company is part of the whole and is equally important. The playing field is fair and just and based on facts and data.

For more information on our Lean Six Sigma courses and services, please visit 6sigma.com.

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