Keith Fletcher

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Six Sigma

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a rigorous and a systematic methodology that utilizes information (management by facts) and statistical analysis to measure and improve a company's operational performance, practices and systems by identifying and preventing 'defects' in manufacturing and service-related processes in order to anticipate and exceed expectations of all stakeholders to accomplish effectiveness

 
Why Six Sigma

Reduced Defects and Costs. By using fine-tuned methods* and tools** companies are capable of identifying the sources of defects and dramatically reducing them. By reducing the cost of poor quality (scrap, rework, etc) companies improve quality and reduce costs

Improved Customer Satisfaction. Companies can create very satisfied customers by listening systematically to customers (Voice of the customer), translating their requirements into measurable data (Critical to Quality) and then using this data to improving products, services and processes

Higher Employee Satisfaction. By gathering improvement ideas of employees and empowering them to change processes in order to perform better, employee satisfaction rate increases dramatically. Employees move from “victims of a system” to “creators of value”.

Competitive Advantage. Due to better quality (defined by the customer), increased satisfaction (perceived by the customer) and new products and services, companies are creating a major competitive advantage.

Higher Growth. By investing increased profits (from decreased costs and additional sales ) on new products, services and processes using methods like Design for Six Sigma, the probability of growing  faster increases exponentially.

Real Working and Flexible System. By systematically combining the understanding of customer needs with statistical analysis, revitalized human resources and data based management, leaders manage the transformation of their organization’s culture and create best-in-class companies.

 
Roles

Champion - Champions are senior management responsible for supporting the Six Sigma program while ensuring it is aligned with the overall business strategy. They serve as advocates of the Six Sigma deployment program. Because of their standing in the organization at managerial levels, they provide critical exposure of the program to their functional reports and endorsement of the program as a management initiative. The primary role of a Champion is to ensure the organizational systems are in place to support the Six Sigma deployment.

Master Black Belt - Master Black Belts are typically assigned to a specific area or function of a business or organization. It may be a functional area such as human resources or legal, or process specific area such as billing or tube rolling. MBBs work with the owners of the process to ensure that quality objectives and targets are set, plans are determined, progress is tracked, and education is provided. In the best Six Sigma organizations, process owners and MBBs work very closely and share information daily.

Process Owner - Process owners are exactly as the name sounds – they are the responsible individuals for a specific process. For instance, in the legal department there is usually one person in charge -- maybe the VP of Legal -- that's the process owner. There may be a chief marketing officer for your business -- that's the process owner for marketing. Depending on the size of your business and core activities, you may have process owners at lower levels of your organizational structure. If you are a credit card company with processes around billing, accounts receivable, audit, billing fraud, etc., you wouldn't just have the process owner be the chief financial officer, you would want to go much deeper into the organization where the work is being accomplished and you can make a big difference.

Black Belt - Black Belts are the heart and soul of the Six Sigma quality initiative. Their main purpose is to lead quality projects and work full time until they are complete. Black Belts can typically complete four to six projects per year with savings of approximately $230,000 per project. Black Belts also coach Green Belts on their projects, and while coaching may seem innocuous, it can require a significant amount of time and energy.

Green Belt - Green Belts are employees trained in Six Sigma who spend a portion of their time completing projects, but maintain their regular work role and responsibilities. Depending on their workload, they can spend anywhere from 10% to 50% of their time on their project(s). As your Six Sigma quality program evolves, employees will begin to include the Six Sigma methodology in their daily activities and it will no longer become a percentage of their time -- it will be the way their work is accomplished 100% of the time.