QFD and Innovation Incompatible?

Wisconsin Next-Gen Manufacturing Plan

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle will focus strategy on manufacturing industry with initiatives that promote lean manufacturing and innovation, continuing to position Wisconsin as a leader in manufacturing. Increased funding will enable small- and midsized manufacturers to use the lean manufacturing services of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. ...

... "Launch a Next Generation Manufacturing Plan to make manufacturers leaner and help them produce and export the highest-quality products made by the most skilled workers; " ...

Via Wisonsin Governor Jim Doyle: Strategy to Foster Innovation and Strengthen the Economy

Chief Innovation Officer Training

Upcoming event in February 2008 focuses on leading growth through innovation. ...

... "The course, entitled Chief Innovation Officer – Leading your Company's Growth and Performance Initiatives, is a two day Executive Education Program for business leaders who are leading the charge for growth and innovation inside their organizations or who are poised to take on that role. The event is being held in Denver February 25 – 26, 2008. " ...

Via Breakthrough Management Group: Chief Innovation Officer Executive Seminar

Kaizen Innovative Methods

Toyota uses innovative methods to empower its workforce and improve the performance of the enterprise. ...

... "Toyota, whose $1.3 billion plant near Blue Springs will be the company's eighth North American assembly plant, is often associated kaizen, or continuous improvement, which is associated with its Toyota Production System. " ...

Via Trading Markets: Methods of Innovation

3M Six Sigma Role in Innovation

3M's CEO emphasizes Six Sigma where it can have the greatest impact, in transactional business processes. He has also scaled back the methodology in research and development, using it appropriately. There is a role for Design for Six Sigma techniques in the innovation process. 3M is a powerhouse of research and is a source of good insights and best practices in the innovation space. ...

... "The key is to selectively use what makes sense in R&D, but not let Six Sigma become the end. For instance, we use (Six Sigma) design of experiments routinely in basic research ... " ...

Via Design News: 3M Innovation Engine

Six Sigma Innovation Stigma

Bob Nardelli's choice as leader at Chrysler is questioned, as his Six Sigma approach could stifle innovation needed to revive the ailing automaker. ...

... "But as a command-and-control executive, weaned on Six Sigma, Nardelli isn't the obvious leader for a company whose future depends on innovation. " ...

Via Business Week: Chrysler

Healthy Conflict of Six Sigma and Innovation

Six Sigma is a useful foundation and differentiator. However, it can negatively impact innovation if the proper balance is not achieved. ...

... "Innovation thrives on trying new approaches. So when Six Sigma starts to be used as a universal solution for every possible challenge, it stops being a useful tool and becomes a religion. " ...

Via CIO INsight: Six Sigma

SixSigma Innovation Conference

Conference will address the healthy tension between discipline of Six Sigma and the creativity of innovation. ...

... "Some have said Six Sigma impacts the bottom line while innovation grows the top line, but is this really the case? Process for Innovation reveals what process can be applied to the act of innovating. " ...

Via IQPC: Process for Innovation, Combining Creativity & Discipline

Process Depends on Culture

3M challenged by balancing disciplined process execution with flexibility needed to sustain creativity and innovation. It is difficult for an enterprise to sustain cultures necessary to be successful at both initiatives. ...

... "Buckley, a PhD chemical engineer by training, seems to recognize the cultural ramifications of a process-focused program on an organization whose fate and history is so bound up in inventing new stuff. " ...

Via Business Week: 3M Six Sigma

Innovation Transformation on Six Sigma Foundation

GE is seen as one of the world's most innovative enterprises according to recent poll. ...

... "Building on its traditional Six Sigma, efficiency culture, GE is striving to creative a new innovative culture under the banner of eco-imagination. " ...

Via Business Week: GE Innovation

Voice of Customer: Key to Continuous Improvement and Innovation

Do continuous improvement programs stifle innovation? Not if they embrace the voice of the customer and leverage customer input in the product development process. Marketplace competition increasingly involves new value chains that require collaboration across enterprises. ...

... "Whatever the process, be it Stage-Gate, Six Sigma, the Lean Methodology, or a combination thereof, the concept of continuous improvement is generally at its core. The best industrial innovators, irrespective of their size, constantly ask themselves questions such as: What do our customers want? " ...

Via E-Commerce News: Customer Feedback

Innovation Six-Sigma Collision Course

Are Six Sigma and innovation in competition with one another? At some companies, yes. However, Six Sigma brings some tools to the innovation table --- the Voice of the Customer, the House of Quality, DFSS, Design of Experiments (DOE), etc. Let's find an equilibrium to leverage the best of both. ...

... "By its very nature, Six Sigma fosters a very low tolerance for risk because risk increases variation. Innovation, on the other hand, seeks to brave undiscovered, uncertain territory. " ...

Via Business Week: Six Sigma at Odds with Innovation?

Toyota Quality: Kakushin Continuous Innovation Is Next Wave Per CEO

Toyota CEO, Katsuaki Watanabe, is not satisfied with the status quo and sets his sights on breakthrough performance in design using kakushin. Kakushin is the foundation for continuous innovation. ...

... "He frets that quality, the foundation of its U.S. success, is slipping. He grouses that Toyota's factories and engineering practices aren't efficient enough. " ...

Via Wall Street Journal: What Keeps Toyota CEO Awake at Night ...

For reference, Mitsubishi Chemicals has an active kakushin program (PDF) through the next few years.

Hirotaka Takeuchi Profile at Forbes: "Takeuchi's publications include Kigyo no Jiko Kakushin ( Self-innovation of Firms)"

Lilly Six Sigma: Biotechnology Research and Development Prodcutivity

Lilly invests in research and development productivity in biotechnology to replenish its product pipeline and position the company for accelerated growth and profitability. Six Sigma techniques such as QFD, Voice of the Customer support the front-end of pharmaceutical innovation. Design for Six Sigma, Design of Experiments, DOE, enables research and development. Biotech products already comprise a third of Lilly's product pipeline and target a number of diseases, such as Alzheimers, diabetes, inflammation, and kidney disease. Lilly is striving to commericalize one major biotechnology molecule per year. ...

... "Paul summarized Lilly's R&D productivity efforts by stating, We are pursuing three broad strategic approaches to improving R&D productivity, with the goals of increasing the number of compounds in our pipeline while driving down the costs per new molecular entity by about one-third, from $1.2 billion to $800 million. These productivity strategies include fully leveraging our biotech capabilities, accessing more flexible and cost effective R&D capacity globally and aggressively pursuing Six Sigma throughout Lilly Research Labs. " ...

Via Lilly: Lilly Delivers Promising Update to Wall Street on Strategic Priorities, Pipeline Progress and Earnings Guidance

Six Sigma Moto Legacy

Motorola has been able to integrate Six Sigma into its culture while accelerating its innovation engine. ...

... "the company's more lasting contribution to the world is something decidedly more wonkish: the quality-improvement process called Six Sigma. " ...

Via Business Week: Link

Microsoft CIO: GE SixSigma Disciple ...

CIO Stuart Scott, who has a background in Six Sigma from GE, speaks about the evolution of his role from an applications and business-process-focus to full CIO responsibility for driving IT innovation at Microsoft. ...

... "PressPass: It's said that you're a Six Sigma black belt. Could you explain what that means and why it's an asset, and tell us how you parlay that sort of expertise into success in your role as CIO? Scott: Six Sigma is a data-driven process for making business decisions and choosing investments that help ensure a return for your business. It's a discipline in which you use analytical tools to draw out statistically significant information. So if you're talking to customers, for example, you want to do that in such a way that you come away with a genuine understanding of what they want, and you grasp the difference between what you could do to make those customers feel better vs. what's critical to enabling those customers to be successful, and what's critical to Microsoft's growth. Using good data and analytical tools, you can invest in programs like improving the business or putting in a new information system with the confidence that you'll achieve the desired result in terms of incremental business value. For me, that's always measured in a ledger. Any benefit we talk about has to be quantified in a way that demonstrates increased shareholder value. " ...

Via Microsoft: Microsoft CIO Stuart Scott Outlines the Company's Commitment to People-Ready Business

Stuart Scott practices project portfolio management as CIO at GE. ...

Via CIO Magazine: Deciding Factors: "STUART SCOTT MAY BE the vice president and CIO of GE Industrial Systems, but he sees himself as a venture capitalist. "

Learning Networks: Lean Manufacturing Consortium

Oregon Governor Kulongoski invest in increasing the competitivenes of local manufacturers by creating the opportunity for high-performance learning networks, that innovate and share lean manufacturing skills. ...

... "Support for the development of high-performance learning networks - consortia of manufacturers with a desire to cooperate to compete by learning and sharing strategies of lean manufacturing and other innovation-rich management and production methods. " ...

Via Salem News: Governor Announces Manufacturing Productivity, Workforce Preparation Grant ...

Governor Ted Kulongoski: "Strengthening and diversifying Oregon's manufacturing base has been a priority for the Governor. The state's key manufacturing industries—including high tech manufacturing, transportation equipment, metals, food processing, wood and paper products-employ a workforce of more than 150,000 and a payroll of approximately $8 billion dollars. "

Facility Rationalization: Lean Manufacturing Transformation ...

Columbus McKinnon sells Arkansas facility as it adopts lean principles and optimizes its manufacturing footprint. ...

... "Timothy T. Tevens, President and CEO of Columbus McKinnon commented: The building was sold as a result of our facility rationalization and lean manufacturing efforts. The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down our debt to reduce interest expense and further enhance our strategic flexibility. Our strategy is to continue to grow our top line through geographic expansion, new product innovation and bolt-on acquisitions, while enhancing our profitability. " ...

Via Columbus McKinnon Corporation: Columbus McKinnon Completes Sale of Forrest City, Arkansas Property ...

Lean Six Sigma: Uniform Initiatives, Common Processes ...

Cardinal Health announces organizational changes to align its manufacturing businesses and focus on market expansion outside of the United States. ...

... "David L. Schlotterbeck, 59, has assumed additional responsibility for Cardinal Health's Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS) and Medical Products Manufacturing (MPM) segments, in addition to his current responsibility for the Clinical Technologies and Services (CTS) segment. As chief executive officer of Pharmaceutical and Medical Products, Schlotterbeck will lead an organization of approximately 23,000 employees and $6 billion in revenues. The company said PTS, MPM and CTS will remain separate financial reporting segments and separate internal organizations, however the new structure will foster a uniform approach to lean manufacturing and Six Sigma initiatives, and common processes for innovation, research and development, and sourcing. " ...

Lean Six Sigma: Uniform Initiatives, Common Processes: Via Cardinal Health: Cardinal Health Aligns Manufacturing Businesses, Names International President ...

SixSigma Recognition: FreudenburgNOK by Ford ...

Freudenburg NOK is recognized by Ford for its innovative use of DFSS Design for Six Sigma in the pre-production process of automotive component manufacturing. ...

... "In honor of the Technology Specialist's quality efforts, Freudenberg-NOK recently received a Recognition of Achievement Award from Ford Motor Co. for its consumer-driven Six Sigma accomplishments. The award is part of the automaker's World Excellence Awards program, which recognizes suppliers who not only achieve the highest levels of cost, quality and delivery, but who also embrace the vision to build Ford's legacy and drive innovation to new heights. The Recognition of Achievement Award, earned by only nine suppliers in 2005, honors suppliers who impact customer satisfaction by providing significant contributions in key designated areas including: environmental leadership, consumer-focused technology and consumer-driven Six Sigma.

Freudenberg-NOK's Advanced Vibration and Acoustics (AVA) group was charged with optimizing the sealing isolation system and the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) characteristics for a cam cover design. AVA has developed techniques to synergize sealing and NVH, which are typically opposing phenomena. Utilizing Design for Six Sigma techniques, the Freudenberg-NOK engineering team improved the product pre-production, also optimizing cost savings and increasing customer value. Six Sigma, which focuses on measuring quality and allowing for no more than 3.4 defects per million parts, is one of the pillars of Freudenberg-NOK's Growtth program focused on superior quality, service and productivity. Freudenberg-NOK has 61 Six Sigma black belts on staff and has completed 155 Six Sigma projects to drive superior quality, enhance reliability and help automakers and tier one customers to reduce costs. " ...

Six Sigma Recognition: FreudenburgNOK by Ford: Via Freudenberg-NOK: Freudenberg-NOK Recognized for Six Sigma Achievement by Ford Motor Co ...

Lean Principles: Innovative Collaboration with Suppliers ...

Jim McNerney, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing, shares his views on innovation and how lean principles have transformed Boeing. ...

... "The result is that we are able to help our customer spiral in new technology to the Super Hornet -- so it will continue to be relevant as its operators change their approaches to how they fight -- while at the same time it actually becomes less costly for them to buy. We are able to do that by applying Lean principles to the way we and our supplier-partners design the systems and operate our production facilities. " ...

Lean Principles: Innovative Collaboration with Suppliers: Via Boeing: McNerney: Innovation and the Global Economy ...

Lean Manufacturing: Packaging Industry Innovation ...

Lars Emilson, Rexam CEO, is still excited about the packaging industry, as his company accelerates innovation and increases operational efficiency through Six Sigma. ...

... "Rexam has been tackling these rising costs by focusing on efficiency and implementing lean manufacturing techniques, including Six Sigma. " ...

Lean Manufacturing: Packaging Industry Innovation: Where bottles and cans come in a package with creativity: Via Times Online ...

Six Sigma: Core Company Fabric ...

As 3M unfolds its growth strategy, Six Sigma remains a core faric of the company. ...

... "Buckley announced the formation of several Emerging Business Opportunities (EBOs) - growth-oriented units to address commercial opportunities presented by the mega trends of society. 3M has enormous opportunity to flourish in high-growth spaces like track and trace, filtration, energy and minerals extraction, and food safety, Buckley said. Buckley said international growth plans include doubling investments in the developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and Poland in the years ahead. International remains our single largest growth platform and we intend to invest to fully capitalize on opportunities around the world, he said. Buckley also recognized the gains 3M has made in recent years to improve its operating effectiveness, saying that Six Sigma and other performance initiatives are now part of the fabric of the company. " ...

Six Sigma: Core Company Fabric: Via 3M: 3M CEO Outlines Strategy for Growth; Company Will Focus on Innovation, International, Core Businesses and Complementary Acquisitions ...

MagnaChip Six Sigma Management System ...

Semicon manufacturer, MagnaChip, leverages Six Sigma management system to increase quality, lower costs, improve its reputation in the market. ...

... "Robert Krakauer, EVP of Strategic Operations and CFO of MagnaChip Semiconductor, said, During the quarter, we initiated a Six Sigma management system that is expected to result in improved product quality, substantial cost savings, and enhance our industry leading profile. This initiative specifically focuses on three areas within MagnaChip: Sales & marketing, Research & Development, and Production. Our Six Sigma initiatives will allow us to more effectively deliver industry-leading solutions to our consumer electronics and communications customers worldwide and place us on the same corporate development path as recognized global industry leaders. This program is not only limited to enhancing cost savings and quality but will be actively used to improve overall business management, innovation and execution. " ...

MagnaChip Six Sigma Management System: Via MagnaChip Semiconductor: MagnaChip Semiconductor Reports First Quarter Results ...



MagnaChip Semiconductor is a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of mixed-signal and digital multimedia semiconductors addressing the convergence of consumer electronics and communications devices. We focus on CMOS image sensors and flat panel display drivers, which are complex, high performance, mixed signal semiconductors that capture images and enable and enhance the features and capabilities of both small and large flat panel displays. MagnaChip also provides wafer foundry services utilizing CMOS high voltage, embedded memory, analog and power process technologies for the manufacture of IC's for customer-owned designs. MagnaChip has world-class manufacturing capabilities and an extensive portfolio of approximately 11,900 registered and pending patents. As a result, MagnaChip is a valued partner in providing leading technology solutions to its customers worldwide.

GE Six Sigma Pays Off ...

GE seeing pay-off from innovation and Six Sigma. ...

... "Under chief executive Jeff Immelt, GE's higher-margin service revenues are playing a larger role, carrying margins of 20% to 30% or more, while the introduction of a six sigma management system and a new simplification initiative to remove overhead costs should free up capital. " ...

GE Six Sigma Pays Off: History Repeats Itself As GE Rebounds: Via Forbes ...

Six Sigma: Innovation Methodology Needs Process ...

The process of innovation needs a methodology as disciplined as Six Sigma. ...

... "we point out that today the business world is standardizing on innovation methodologies that many people in an organization can learn and apply. Like Lean and Six Sigma, a set of reliable innovation tools is emerging, and eventually there will be one world-class way to consistently, reliably and perpetually innovate – just like today there are universally accepted ways to perpetually improve productivity (Lean) and quality (Six Sigma). " ...

Six Sigma: Innovation Methodology Needs Process: Via Breakthrough Management Group: Innovation Hoopla All Bark No Bite ...

Kaizen Way: Author Speaks on Innovation Process ...

Kaizen Way author speaks on innovation ...

... "Robert Maurer, author of One Small Step Can Change Your Life: the Kaizen Way, will speak on The Creative Organization: the Process of Discovery and Innovation at Cascadia Center for Leadership's first 2006 luncheon on Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m. at Avalon Restaurant at Third and G streets in Eureka. " ...

Kaizen Way: Author Speaks on Innovation Process: Via The Eureka Reporter: Robert Maurer to speak on Creative Organization ...

Six Sigma: Cessna Success ...

Cessna Aircraft Company leader, Jack Pelton, discusses the company's success and achievements in 2005, enabled by its Lean Six Sigma program. ...

... "He attributed the year's success to a world class Cessna team, award winning customer support, a broad product line that is responsive to the marketplace, emerging global markets, and implementation of lean manufacturing processes. During the year, Cessna delivered 249 Citation jets, 822 single engine pistons, and 86 Caravan single-engine turboprops; won FAA certification for two new jets -- the CJ1+ and CJ2+; and built its order book up to 788 jets and 1,198 single engine aircraft with a total value of $6.3 billion. The company also achieved significant refinement of its processes through implementation of the Textron Six Sigma Lean program, resulting in a more efficient, leaner company. " ...

Six Sigma: Cessna Success: Via Cessna: Remarkable Gains, Significant Achievements for Cessna in 2005 ...



Textron Six Sigma: "Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is one of the three major elements of Textron Six Sigma, and the one that's most directly tied to meeting customer requirements. Through DFSS, we identify what our customers need and deliver it better than anyone else. It's a proven way to develop top quality products, services and processes right the first time, faster, and at a much lower cost. At Textron, we are combining the key principles of DFSS with a common method for designing all new products and services across the enterprise. "

Textron Annual Report: "The next step is Textron Six Sigma, a company-wide approach to improving our processes and delighting our customers through improved enterprise excellence. Textron's unique Six Sigma model is a comprehensive, common set of tools and techniques rigorously applied to all operating and functional areas to eliminate waste, reduce variability, and accelerate growth and innovation. While the concept of Six Sigma is not new, our unique combination of best practices and powerful methodologies into a single, holistic approach makes Textron Six Sigma the most important improvement process at Textron. "

Peter N. Riley, Senior Vice President Textron Six Sigma, Integrated Supply Chain and Transformation: "Peter N. Riley is senior vice president, Textron Six Sigma, integrated supply chain and transformation. In this role, Riley works closely with all Textron business units to continue the rapid deployment of critical enterprise-wide processes and systems to improve business performance and ensure the achievement of Textron's vision. He is also responsible for driving Textron's efforts to leverage its purchasing power and improve manufacturing processes across and among its business units. "

Kaizen Continuous Progress: Sakichi Toyoda ...

Formula 1 racing rules constrain innovation on new models. Toyota announces its Formula 1 model and utilizes the continuous improvement process of kaizen to produce new Formula 1 cars. Lessons are learned and incorporated into the design of subsequent models. Article explores the challenges of Formula 1 car design and the convergence on the kaizen method of improvement to innovate. ...

... "The Japanese say that this is part of the Toyota philosophy of continuous progress - known as kaizen - which has been part of the company's traditions since Sakichi Toyoda watched his mother and grandmother weaving cloth by hand and invented a series of weaving machines which not only speeded up the process enormously but eventually stopped automatically if the threads broke. " ...

Kaizen Continuous Progress: Sakichi Toyoda: Via GrandPrix: The shape of things to come?

GE Six Sigma Innovation Evolution: Performance Evaluation ...

GE is evolving their performance evaluation methodology in order to shift their culture from Six Sigma rigidity to accelerated innovation. ...

... "The changes are key for a company trying to evolve its culture from a Six Sigma powerhouse to one that also values innovation. Tempering such rigid performance metrics, says Peters, enables individuals and organizations to be more comfortable with risk-taking and with failure. " ...

GE Six Sigma Innovation Evolution: Performance Evaluation: Via Business Week: The Struggle To Measure Performance

Execution Key to Innovation

Book review explores the importance of execution in converting ideas into reality. ...

... "Govindarajan and Trimble remind readers that strategic innovation isn't the same as continuous process improvement (such as that of GE through Six Sigma), process revolution (as in Wal-Mart with the help of RFID tags), and product/service innovation (like what consumer product manufacturers and toy companies often do). " ...

Via The Hindu Business Line : Capacity for innovation is the product of creativity and execution ...

Six Sigma Producitivty Increasing Value Proposition ...

Lilly drives productivity through Six Sigma, outsourcing, and hiring limits to increase its value proposition to shareholders and the Wall Street. ...

... "Lilly is utilizing several tools to increase productivity and lower its cost structure, including applying Six Sigma across its global operations, which is expected to free up resources, accelerate R&D output, enhance customer satisfaction, and improve earnings with a portion of the overall benefit; expanding the use of biomarkers to more than 90 percent of the company's clinical candidates to facilitate earlier development decisions; maintaining the July 2004 hiring limits that have already reduced headcount by 3,100 or nearly 7 percent, without using disruptive layoffs; and leveraging outsourcing when the work represents non-core business or can be done at a lower cost and similar quality. Lilly's initial efforts have resulted in productivity increasing about 15 percent in 2005 compared with 2004 as measured by adjusted operating income per Lilly employee. " ...

Six Sigma Producitivty Increasing Value Proposition: Via Eli Lilly: Lilly Tells Wall Street It's Uniquely Positioned To Deliver Sustained Growth ...

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs.

Annual Six Sigma Summit Upcoming ...

7th Annual Six Sigma Summit 2006

... "7th Annual Six Sigma Summit 2006: Inject new energy into your continuous improvement plans through the latest innovation and regeneration strategies, January 24 - 25, 2006, Wyndham Miami Beach Resort, Miami Beach, FL " ...

Lean Manufacturing Complements Acquisition Strategy ...

Lean Manufacturing Complements Acquisition Strategy: Via Reuters: Ideas & Screening: Trucks Drivin' Growth ...

... "Oshkosh's Web site lists three growth strategies: commercialize through acquisition, lead in product innovation, and embrace lean manufacturing. The company explains that it has completed no less than 11 acquisitions since 1996, and that it likes its purchases to be earnings accretive within a year. " ...

Via Oshkosh: Oshkosh Truck Corporation is a leading manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for the defense, fire and emergency, concrete placement and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is a Fortune 1000 company with products marketed under the Oshkosh(R), Pierce(R), McNeilus(R), Medtec(TM), Geesink(R), Norba(R), Jerr-Dan(R), CON-E-CO(R) and London(R) brand names. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., and had annual sales of $2.96 billion in fiscal 2005.

Operational Excellence Transformation ...

Operational Excellence Transformation: Via Pliant Corporation: PLIANT CORPORATION SLASHING DEBT BY 49% AND ANNUAL INTEREST EXPENSE BY 57%: Deal would reduce debt by $578 million and annual interest expense by $84 million ...

... "Harold Bevis, President and CEO, said, This financial restructuring is a key pillar in the transformation of Pliant. We have been very successful in transforming our innovation programs, transforming our operational excellence programs, partnering with winning customers and key vendors, and bringing in a world-class executive team to lead the company. We have been hampered by the tremendous debt load on the company, including our mandatorily redeemable preferred stock which is classified as a liability on the company's balance sheet. " ...