Six Sigma Integrated with Creativity

Starwood integrates Six Sigma into a creative environment to achieve profitable growth. ...

... "Today, by harnessing Six Sigma processes to the creativity that bubbles up from its hotel units, Starwood is able to quickly turn concepts into reality. Hundreds of projects have been done this way, including a menu engineering program that rejiggers the contents of an in-room refrigerator based on their popularity to drive higher profits ... " ...

Via Business Week: Six Sigma at Starwood

Six Sigma COO Career Path

Profitline promotes Six Sigma expert to chief operating officer position. ...

... "Mr. Boyle has close to 30 years of progressive experience leading, establishing and managing operations, quality management and process improvement programs. Throughout his career, he has led over 400 lean and six sigma projects, trained numerous green and black belts, and worked as an operations consultant for clients such as Plantronics, LGE, QUALCOMM, BAE Systems, Illumina, and the US Department of the Navy. In a previous role with Solar Turbines Mr. Boyle managed several business operations, and was instrumental in helping the company win the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. " ...

Via ProfitLine: Keith Boyle Promoted to ProfitLine COO

Machine Monitoring Delivers Six Sigma Data

Machine monitoring enables Six Sigma data collection and analysis. ...

... "The basis for effective Continuous Improvement programs such as Lean or Six Sigma is the availability and the access to reliable machine data. There are typically two approaches to data collection employed by manufacturers today. The first approach involves manual data collection and analysis - a completely paper based system. The second approach also uses data that is collected manually, but requires machine operators to input data estimates into a PC before it can be analyzed in an external database or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

Manufacturers realize that both approaches produce inaccurate data and limit the potential for meaningful analysis and effective decisions. Shoplogix's patented Plantnode solution eliminates manual processes in production. By fully automating data collection and analysis at the machine level and then presenting data in real-time, Plantnode reports and analytics are based on fact rather than estimate. " ...

Via Shoplogix: Advanced Machine Monitoring System

Six Sigma Data Analysis Approach Improves Business Intelligence

For companies to reap the value of business intelligence, competence in data analysis is key to success. An enterprise with Six Sigma experience will have a head start due to the data analysis discipline instilled in the DMAIC process. ...

... "Most organizations don't do this, though through the Six Sigma programs that some companies, like GE run, many more people are now being trained in this way. Their use of information in decision making changes dramatically after this type of training. " ...

Via destinationCRM: Business Intelligence

Travel Management Efficiency Through Six Sigma

Travel manager uses Six Sigma to drive efficiencies in the travel management process and reduce overall travel costs. ...

... "Using the Six Sigma analytical process, Kelliher determined that these cancellations and exchanges were significantly bulking up Dominion's air costs. " ...

Via Business Travel News: 2007 Travel Manager Of The Year

Six Sigma Certification

Nexergy manufacturing and quality engineers have been certified as Six Sigma Black Belts. ...

... "Jon Krug, quality manager and senior manufacturing engineer for Nexergy, completed his Six Sigma Black Belt certification. Mitch Matheny, who was hired this summer by Nexergy as manufacturing engineer, earned his certification prior to joining the company. Both participated in the rigorous Six Sigma education process that includes many hours of classroom training as well as work on an applied project. " ...

Via Nexergy: Managers Earn Six Sigma Black Belt Certification

Incremental Profitability Through Six Sigma

Joe Herring, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Covance, offers his perspective on the company's strong performance. ...

... "Our relentless focus on operational and service excellence continues to deliver substantial benefits. Six Sigma, which is being utilized across more than two-thirds of the company, delivered approximately $5 million in incremental profitability in the first half of 2007. More importantly, Six Sigma reduces process variation, which improves project delivery, increases client satisfaction, and helps drive repeat business. By this time next year, we expect all of Covance's service offerings globally to have deployed Six Sigma. In addition, we continue to make strategic infrastructure investments in facilities, information technology, and talent to support our ability to capitalize on the extremely favorable, long-term outsourcing trend in drug development. " ...

Via Covance: Covance Reports 2Q07 Earnings of $0.64 Per Share

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

SixSigma CEO Recognition Goes To

Cummins CEO ...

... "The Global Six Sigma Awards, organized by WCBF, today announced that Tim Solso, Chairman and CEO, Cummins Inc. has been named the winner of its prestigious Six Sigma CEO of the Year Award. " ...

Tim Solso of Cummins Inc. Wins the 2007 Six Sigma CEO of the Year Award

PA Manufacturing Investments

State invests in manufacturing sector with training. ...

... "Penn State provided the company with leadership and Six Sigma training. This plant location is one of the top operations for Con Agra and is in a growing phase. " ...

Via Centre Daily: Manufacturing Investment in Pennsylvania

Six Sigma Benchmarking with Industry Leaders

Martin Guitar learns valuable improvement principles from benchmarking with Air Products. ...

... "Tools: Having techniques that are used to tackle waste and empower performance. Some examples include mapping, mistake-proofing, Six Sigma, kaizen and flow. " ...

Via IndustryWeek: Martin Guitar

Six Sigma Belt Training

Upcoming Six Sigma training events ...

... "Missouri Southern State University's division of Lifelong Learning will host Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt training on Southern's campus in Joplin starting August 2007. " ...

Via Joplin Independent: Six Sigma Green/Black Belt Training

Six Sigma Supplier Development

Xcitec uses Six Sigma methodology to create supplier optimization projects that translate into successful supplier relationships. ...

... "Xcitec supplier development based on Six Sigma is carried out in 5 process steps (DMAIC = define, measure, analyze, improve, control): development projects are defined, measures established, causes documented and corresponding solutions and goals are set. Process progress is routinely measured and monitored in order to secure supplier development and to sustainably optimize cooperation with suppliers. Supplier and purchasers receive regular updates regarding development progress and the degree of implementation for the optimization measures. " ...

Via Xcitec: Strategic Purchasing

Business Process Improvement

Lean and Six Sigma are great methods if applied properly. A good understanding of the underlying business and business processes is critical. ...

... "And yet, some laboratory managers take six sigma and lean tools and misuse them. Incorrectly used, these tools can endanger the viability of a pathology department and the quality of the service. " ...

Via Medical Laboratory World: Business Process Improvement

Business Process Improvement through Six Sigma

CEO charts strategy to improve profitability and drive growth, targeting the use of Six Sigma to create disciplined business processes. ...

... "Improve the logistics of the Company's tissue supply operations in Detroit, USA. Our US operation has seen significant revenue growth from 2005 to 2006. In order to position the Company for future growth, action will be taken to standardise and systemise our key processes and biobank operations, via a six sigma review. " ...

Via Asterand: Strategy Announcement

When Six Sigma Loses Customer Focus Nardelli-Style

Six Sigma as practiced at Home Depot, under the tenure of Bob Nardelli, lost its focus on the customer and became a number-crunching exercise. No methodology should make an enterprise lose sight of customer needs. ...

... "Six Sigma was used to streamline the check-out process and strategically place vacuum-cleaner displays, for example. ... The bottom line on Nardelli's tenure: Profitability soared, but worker morale drooped, and so did consumer sentiment. " ...

Six Sigma Gone-Bad

Motorola SixSigma Leader Speaks This Week

Motorola Six Sigma program manager to speak this week. ...

... "Burford will explain how the company improved the new product demand to order conversion with Six Sigma methods. " ...

Via Racine Journal Times: Six Sigma Meeting This Thursday

Performance Improvement Breakthrough Services By Milliken

Milliken & Company forms a dedicated business group to provide Performance Improvement Services to the manufacturing sector. The new group is called Milliken Performance Solutions and will serve customers from the company's Spartanburg, South Carolina headquarters. Milliken is one of the largest privately-held textile and chemical manufacturers in the world. ...

... "The formation of Milliken Performance Solutions will expand these services to support companies outside of Milliken's traditional base and will report to Craig Long, Vice President of Six Sigma and Quality. The Milliken Performance System is a daily management system that provides a systematic, step by step method of running any operation more effectively and efficiently. The system is in place at over 60 plants worldwide and can support both discrete and continuous process manufacturing plants. The system overcomes the limitations of conventional Lean Six Sigma programs by providing a more comprehensive approach that leads to dramatic breakthroughs in cost reduction, higher morale, increased customer satisfaction, and a cleaner safer environment. " ...

Via Milliken & Company: New Business Line Provides Performance Improvement Services

CIO Transformation Through Six Sigma

The pace of business is accelerating. Savvy CIO's use techniques, such as Six Sigma, to transform their enterprise. ...

... "Next, he tackled business processes by implementing Six Sigma, followed by the digitization revolution of the 1990s. " ...

Via CIO: CIO Business Transformation

Six Sigma OpenSource Training Materials

Six Sigma training set ...

... "OSSS DMAIC Version 8.0 consists of 1,235 slides, 37 data sets and 19 templates. " ...

Open Source Six Sigma

Five-9s Availability Achieved Through Six Sigma Discipline

EMC uses Six Sigma methodology to drive availability improvements in its products to five-9s performance levels. ...

... "Traditionally, only high-end storage systems designed for the most mission-critical applications have delivered Five 9s availability. EMC designed an entirely new midrange architecture - UltraScale - to deliver the highest levels of availability in affordable, scalable and easy-to-use systems that meet a wide range of storage needs. Over the past year, EMC utilized a comprehensive Six Sigma-based approach to track and calculate availability metrics of both the Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel/iSCSI versions of the EMC CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale systems, including a thorough analysis of the root cause of unplanned customer system downtime whether hardware, software or process-related. " ...

Via EMC: EMC Clariion CX3 Ultrascale Systems Achieve Highest Midrange Storage Availability and Quality Benchmark

Financial Services Business Process Improvement Use SixSigma

Information technology is not leading Six Sigma business process improvement in financial services. ...

... "majority of global financial services companies are using some form (or combination) of modern process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma or Process Management. " ...

Via Bank Systems and Technology: Bank Process Improvement

BobGalvin SixSigma Creator Keynotes

Insights on the convergence of IT and buildings. ...

... "Bob Galvin, the legendary former Chairman & CEO of Motorola, and creator of Six Sigma will Keynote at BuilConn. Bob joins Todd Hawthorne (Cisco), Peter Kelly-Detwiler (Constellation) and Anto Budiardjo (Clasma) to provide an inspiring view of the changes and possibilities at the intersection of buildings, IT & energy. " ...

Via Automated Buildings: Bob Galvin Keynotes BuilConn Chicago

ITIL SixSigma Converge For IT Services

It is expected that Six Sigma will integrate with ITIL in the continuous improvement of IT services. ...

... "Hydrasight foresees that the majority of enterprises will continue to mix aspects of ITIL with other process disciplines (e.g., COBIT, Six Sigma, SDLC, ASL, and internally-developed procedures). " ...

Via IT-Director: ITIL Six Sigma Convergence

Cummins Six Sigma Exemplary

Cummins is an exemplar in the application of Six Sigma to all business process and has integrated the methodology into its culture. ...

... "The diesel-engine maker estimates it has completed 2,500 Six Sigma projects since 2000, saving or avoiding more than $1.4 billion in costs. " ...

Via Indianapolis Star: Six Sigma Success Story

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

Textron Promotes SixSigma Leadership From Within

Textron promotes Six Sigma leader. ...

... "Kelley, 51, began her career at Textron with Textron Fastening Systems in 1999, where she held various positions, including vice president, Continuous Improvement and acting vice president of Strategic Planning. She also completed various international assignments, before entering the Textron Six Sigma Black Belt program, where she progressed to become Master Black Belt for Textron's Fastening Systems and Fluid and Power businesses. Most recently, Kelley held the position of Performance Solutions manager for Textron University, where she led the development and deployment of new courses for Textron Six Sigma, Lean and Integrated Supply Chain in support of Textron's heightened focus on talent development. " ...

Via Textron: Lynn Kelley Vice President of Textron Six Sigma

Goodyear SixSigma Cost Savings Ambitions

Goodyear increases cost-savings targets in an ambitious plan to transform the company's profitability, through Six Sigma and other creative methods. ...

... "Based on the significant progress we made in 2006 against our four-point cost-savings plan, I am confident we will exceed our 2008 target of more than $1 billion, Keegan said. We are aggressively targeting additional cost savings in 2009 and raising our gross cost savings goal over this four-year period to between $1.8 billion and $2 billion. " ...

Via Goodyear Tire: First Quarter Results Provide Platform for Growth, Cost Savings

SixSigma Political Platform For Government Efficiency

Prospective government leaders see sustaining Six Sigma as part of their platform. ...

... "He said he would continue business practices started by Richard, including Six Sigma, and will be able to help the many city departments run efficiently. " ...

Via Fort Wayne Indiana Journal Gazette: City Politics

Minitab Recognized For Six Sigma in Manufacturing

Minitab is recognized by Frost and Sullivan with its Award for Customer Value Leadership of the Year in the quality compliance, manufacturing productivity and statistical process control market. ...

... "Using the Minitab packages, customers have been able to achieve a greater degree of standardization in their quality improvement projects, which in turn has made these projects easy to supervise and manage. This has minimized the amount of resources required to complete individual projects and saved companies time and money at the overall project level. In addition to reducing costs, Minitab software has enabled project leaders to easily access more information at various crucial stages of a project, allowing them to make more informed decisions. Minitab's wide set of customer services and allied support activities are other competitive advantages that differentiate it from other participants. The company boasts of a strong technical support suite that provides free assistance to its users and helps identify customers' most recent requirements, thereby obtaining their confidence. Minitab's recently released Minitab(R) 15 Statistical Software includes very useful enhancements, such as probability distribution plots, broader Gage R&R capabilities, the ability to attach formulas to columns in the worksheet and the latest reliability methods for forecasting future warranty claims. " ...

Via Frost & Sullivan: Frost & Sullivan Extols Minitab Inc. for Its Ability in Assisting Customers to Make Optimum Utilization of their Resources

Six Sigma Financial Certification

Six Sigma is used in financial industry to manage defects to best-practice levels. ...

... "From what I have seen, there appear to be at least four different assessment procedures in use by a sizable segment of the financial services industry: ISO, SAS 70, Six Sigma and CEFEX. " ...

Via Investment News: Financial Certification

Six Sigma Forum NC

Upcoming forum ...

... "Six Sigma Forum, Thursday and Friday, N.C. State University, College of Textiles on Centennial Campus, Raleigh. Join other Six Sigma practitioners for a day and a half of learning, information sharing, and networking at the fifth-annual Six Sigma Forum. " ...

Via Greensboro News-Record: Upcoming Events

Six Sigma Read Rates HF Item-Level Tags For Pharma Tracking

Health Industry Insights shares survey findings that identify the top barriers to pharma industry's adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID). One of the barriers is tag read-rates. HF tags perform at Six Sigma level. ...

... "The report goes on to spotlight the slower-than-expected RFID adoption with additional survey findings. Results reveal less than one in five (16%) pharmaceutical companies are currently evaluating the benefits of RFID technology, and even fewer (15%) companies adopting RFID in some capacity. Overall, the report indicates average life science company spend on RFID technology is approximately $25,000, although this level is expected to triple to $75,000 over the next 12 months. Additionally, the report discusses read rate results from commercial RFID pilots in the pharmaceutical industry. The report reveals that initiatives utilizing high-frequency (HF) technology for item-level tagging are achieving better read rates than those using ultra-high frequency (UHF). Findings show initiatives using HF are experiencing read rates in the Four to Six Sigma (a well-know management practice used to help companies achieve exceptional performance levels) range, and exceeding Six Sigma in some cases, whereas those using UHF are typically between Three and Four Sigma. " ...

Via Health Industry Insights: Pharmaceutical Industry's Top Roadblocks to RFID Adoption ...

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

Six Sigma Thought Process Pervades Employee Culture

Small companies can have success with Six Sigma through using its DMAIC process to guide employee behaviors and thought process. ...

... "Your company may be math-challenged and the thought of doing anything with statistics may put you to sleep, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Through the Six Sigma DMAIC thought process, you can involve employees in reaching company goals. " ...

Via Inc: Six Sigma

SixSigma Enables Unified Communications Cost Efficient Service For Ford

Getronics receives contract with Ford to install, deploy, and manage a voicemail, audio conferencing, and web collaboration solution that is based on the Cisco Unified Communications solution. ...

... "Getronics' dedication to the Six Sigma methodology, a disciplined approach to quality that drives cost efficiency in service delivery, will play a key role in the implementation. The new unified communications solution delivered and managed by Getronics will enable a year over year savings, while consolidating Ford's technology infrastructure onto a single networking infrastructure. " ...

Via Getronics: Unified Communications For Ford Motor Company

Moto Malaysia Recognized Six Sigma Knowledge Work

Motorola Technology Sdn Bhd is awarded the Penang Chief Minister's K-ICT Award 2007 for best practices in developing knowledge workers at its manufacturing operations. The Malaysian site has built its workforce on a foundation of Six Sigma quality principles, enabling its employees to transform into knowledge work. ...

... "Through the Knowledge Worker Development Award, Motorola was recognized for its initiatives in promoting effective use of ICT as a tool for its communications and training programmes so as to accomplish key organizational action plans and needs, and develop its employees' potential to achieve the company's objectives. Motorola was able to clinch the prestigious award based on its successful implementation of the Motorola Digital Six Sigma / Quality IQ initiative from 2001 - 2006. Some of the significant results achieved by the implementation of the Motorola Digital Six Sigma/Quality program were the strengthening of its competitiveness, improvements to the overall quality of its business operations, and the transformation of manual labor to become a more knowledge based workforce. In addition, Motorola recorded savings of approximately USD30 million over 230 engineering based projects implemented since 2001. The implementation of Motorola Digital Six Sigma/Quality program has also progressively increased the number of its knowledge workers at various levels from 20% to 46% and generated over 2,300 internal engineering patent submissions that were solutions made in Malaysia.
" ...

Via Motorola Malaysia: Motorola Receives the Prestigious Penang Chief Minister K-ICT Award 2007

SixSigma Benefit Realization: Detail Tangible Benefits

Six Sigma discipline can be used to drive tangible benefits from IT investments. This can be enabled by a robust program for benefits realization that ensures that the benefits articulated in the business case are achieved. ...

... "The process is an amalgamation of this company's rich history in Six Sigma and their belief that technology can revolutionize their industries, core business processes, and internal functions. " ...

Via Optimize Magazine: Benefit Realization

SixSigma Supports Capacity Increase at Dow

Dow Chemical leverages Six Sigma to optimize its production operations through less capital-intensive solutions to capacity. ...

... "Mady Bricco, global product director, Propylene Oxide and Propylene Glycols: To meet rising demand, we will expand our PG production at Stade through two expansion projects and have optimized operations at our other facilities, through Six Sigma, technology enhancements, process automation and other improvements. We are pleased that we were able to identify these low-capital solutions to meet our customers' demands and support the growth of downstream businesses. " ...

Via Dow Chemical: Dow Announces Increased Global PO and PG Capacity

iGrafx Software For Six Sigma Business Process Improvement

iGrafx releases 2007 version of its solutions for process excellence, that enhances modeling, simulation, mapping, and Lean Six Sigma support. ...

... "Improved Lean and Six Sigma Support: iGrafx 2007 offers great new features for Lean users including the ability to create Extended Value Stream Maps to obtain a lean view that crosses plant, divisional, and company boundaries. Six Sigma enthusiasts, on the other hand, will use the new Prioritization and Failure Mode Spreadsheets to spotlight improvement opportunities and mitigate failure mode effects faster. Users will also be able to define and scope Six Sigma projects, and identify progress towards process goals with the use of iGrafx Process Central repository. " ...

Via iGrafx: iGrafx 2007 Product Suite Enables Enterprise Business Process Improvement

Six Sigma Maturity Model Results

Instantis makes the results of study on Six Sigma adoption patterns and maturity levels available. ...

... "A key goal of the Six Sigma maturity model study was to provide Six Sigma practitioners with real-world data from their peers regarding Six Sigma deployment critical success and failure factors across industries. A further goal was to validate and further refine the model in order to help guide organizations on their Six Sigma journey. The findings of the study will be incorporated into version 2.0 of the model. " ...

Instantis Publishes Results of Six Sigma Maturity Model Study

DataMining SixSigma DMAIC Methodology

Data mining vendor KXEN adopts Six Sigma DMAIC as its standard implementation methodology for inegrating analytics into corporate business processes. ...

... "The adoption of DMAIC - short for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control - brings for the first time rigidly defined business goals, milestones and measurements to data mining projects. Until now the absence of such discipline has put many businesses off data mining according to Bloor Research analyst David Norris, restricting its use to specialized, low volume projects.

DMAIC is one of two Six Sigma methodologies and is most commonly used to improve existing business processes. It was chosen as the KXEN standard implementation methodology for its completeness, its clear tasks/deliverables descriptions and its suitability for business users. Six Sigma was pioneered by Motorola in 1986 and is a service mark and trademark of that company. The move also highlights KXEN's use in broader Six Sigma projects for overall business performance improvement initiatives where data mining can help identify the true indicators of performance, spot trends and detect failures. " ...

Via KXEN: Six Sigma Methodology For Data Mining Projects

Project Portfolio Management: SixSigma Lean Initiatives

Brambles selects Instantis EnterpriseTrack software to manage its Six Sigma, Lean, and IT project portfolios. Per Julie Brignac, Brambles Vice President ...

... "EnterpriseTrack allows us to easily configure multiple strategic project portfolios, each tailored to meet our specific needs. EnterpriseTrack is being deployed globally within the company's Quality organizations initially. We were able to communicate our requirements to the Instantis services team, and they had us up and running relatively quickly, added Brignac. " ...

Via Instantis: Achieve Performance Excellence

Black-Belt SixSigma at Hospital

ASQ will discuss use of Six Sigma at local hospital. ...

... "The American Society for Quality, Section 1109 will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Comfort Suites, Airport, 7619 Thorndike Road, Greensboro. ER Ralston will discuss Six Sigma Master Black Belt for N.C. Baptist Hospital. " ...

Via Winston-Salem Journal: ASQ Six Sigma Discussion

Warranty Chain Management Enables SixSigma Defect Reduction

Trane uses HP and PolyVista warranty chain management solution to rapidly identify product quality and warranty-related issues through automated early detection and root cause analysis. ...

... "The solution, which was up and running in eight weeks, helps Trane quickly identify product quality and warranty-related issues through automated early detection and root cause analysis. After correcting any current issue detected by the solution, manufacturing teams at Trane can pass the information on to the design or engineering teams to help avoid problems in future products, as well as to vendors and suppliers to help improve long-term product reliability. Through this process, the solution offers reduced warranty costs, improved product development, sourcing and manufacturing processes, and better customer satisfaction. " ...

Via HP: Warranty Chain Management Early Warning System For Defects

Select Continuous Improvement Program to Compete Globally

Embrace continuous improvement to compete effectively in your industry and marketplace. Be prepared to staff a program management office and support the culture change necessary for a lean manufacturing or Six Sigma journey. Business process focus comes first. But, software systems can support change, automation, reduction of manual efforts. ...

... "Six Sigma uses statistical analysis to reduce variation. By reducing variation, the probability of producing a defect is less. " ...

Via IndustryWeek: Which Continuous Improvement Program Is Appropriate For Your Enterprise?

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?

Six Sigma Financial Services Case Study

Six Sigma in financial services is discussed ...

... "The case study, Building a Six Sigma Measurement System in Financial Services, explores how one company deployed and implemented Six Sigma projects within the context of a robust data systems infrastructure. According to the case study, this infrastructure was a fundamental first step in developing an effective transactional Six Sigma initiative. " ...

Hertzler Systems Releases Case Study of Six Sigma in Financial Services ...

IMMI Lean Six Sigma Transformation

At recent ARC conference, the Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma transformation at IMMI was discussed. ...

... "Lean process improvement and Six Sigma are supported with their IT systems (Oracle EBS). Now, Lean extends to all the production lines, material handling, shipping, warehouse, receiving, and inspection. Lean created new business opportunities for IMMI. " ...

Via ARC Advisory Group: IMMI Lean Six Sigma

Six Sigma Customer Interactions

Covad differentiates in the hosting space through Six Sigma in the customer-facing business processes. ...

... "Covad partners with Source 1 HTMT on a six sigma process to continuously improve customer interactions. This is supplemented by other key vendor relationships, including third party quality monitoring and consulting. Continuous auditing, clarification and refinement of existing processes are also provided, for quality assurance and specialized, targeted customer solutions. " ...

Via Covad: Covad to Present at 2007 Outsourcing World Summit

Solectron Lean Manufacturing Success at Guadalajara

Solectron Corporation's Guadalajara, Mexico facility wins the 2007 Shingo Business Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. Solectron Guadalajara is recognized for demonstrating Lean Six Sigma leadership through operational and process improvements in quality, productivity and efficiency. ...

... "Underscoring the customer value of the Solectron Production System(TM), Solectron's Lean Six Sigma manufacturing methodology, Solectron Guadalajara demonstrated manufacturing excellence, including a significant focus on continuous improvement processes. The entire facility and its employees operate within the company-wide Kaizen culture of continuous improvement, which is at the heart of the Solectron Production System, or SPS. SPS helps OEMs improve quality and efficiency, reduce waste, lower cost and improve flexibility. " ...

Via Solectron: Solectron Receives Prestigious Shingo Award for Lean Manufacturing Excellence ...

Six Sigma Career Path at Eli Lilly

Six Sigma professional discusses career path at Eli Lilly. ...

... "Something I find very attractive about Lilly is the opportunity to own your career. I have worked in business development, marketing, sales and now Six Sigma since joining Lilly. There is no one set career path for MBA hires at Lilly. " ...

Via The Monroe Street Journal: Eli Lilly

Six Sigma Event: Use

Upcoming event ...

... "The Piedmont Triad chapter of APICS, The Association for Operations Management, will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Airport Marriott hotel in Greensboro. Timothy G. Clapp will present Six Sigma for Your Use. " ...

Via Winston-Salem Journal: Events

SixSigma Process Projects

Firm hires talent to manage client Six Sigma projects. ...

... "Praxilient Inc. has hired Ted Storin, Mike Streno and Bruce Brooks. They will manage Six Sigma Process projects, enterprise project management projects and technology projects for Praxilient's clients. " ...

Via Appleton Post-Crescent: Read

VP SixSigma Quality Process

Metaldyne makes leadership appointment. Metaldyne is a leading global designer and supplier of metal-based components, assemblies and modules for transportation related powertrain and chassis applications. ...

... "Dickerson will lead Metaldyne's quality initiatives and the company's focus on Six Sigma, including implementing process improvements in key operational areas. In this role he will also work closely with his counterparts at Metaldyne's parent company, Asahi Tec Co., Ltd., to support synergies in the areas of safety, MOS, quality, launch, product lifecycle management, material procurement and logistics. Metaldyne recently was acquired by the Shizuoka, Japan-based chassis and powertrain component supplier, which does business in the passenger car/light truck and medium/heavy truck segments." ...

Via Metaldyne: Metaldyne Appoints Steve Dickerson Vice President, Quality, Six Sigma and Process ...

3M Six Sigma Culture: Risk Averse ?

3M adds manufacturing capacity to drive growth. Six Sigma focus may have clouded its judgement with regards to investing for growth. ...

... "In the past, a 3M culture that viewed new investment with circumspection and an over-reliance on the Six Sigma management technique made it shy of building some needed capacity, Buckley said. " ....

Via MarketWatch: 3M

LeanSixSigma ProfitMargin Improves: Regal-Beloit

Regal-Beloit sees bottom-line impact from Lean Six Sigma initiatives. Its profit margin is increasing from the operating efficiencies created by Six Sigma projects. The CEO reports that the earnings improvement is largely driven by contributions from corporate wide initiatives. REGAL-BELOIT CORPORATION is a leading manufacturer of mechanical and electrical motion control and power generation products. The company is headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin. ...

... "The gross profit margin for the fourth quarter of 2006 was 24.3%, which was 150 basis points above the gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of 2005 as a result of contributions from our Lean Six Sigma and productivity initiatives. Income from operations was $39.5 million or 10.8% of sales, a 3.1% increase over the $38.3 million or 10.2% of sales reported for the fourth quarter of 2005." ...

Via Regal-Beloit: REGAL-BELOIT Fourth Quarter Earnings Per Share Increase 8%

Leadership: Six Sigma Roadmap

National Home Furnishings Association plans leadership symposium that will include excellence in Six Sigma. ...

... "Joseph Wexler, who helped create a Six Sigma Total Quality Management System involving more than 5,000 participants in three years at Dell, on Six Sigma Methodology: The Roadmap and Tools. " ...

Via Furniture Today: Leadership Symposium

Six Sigma Statistics Software: Minitab New Release

Minitab releases version 15 of its flagship statistical software. This release contains a number of enhancements, such as expanded Gage R&R capabilities, power curves for power and sample size, and probability distribution plots. ...

... "Although Minitab is widely known for being easy to use, it contains the advanced tools needed for even the most rigorous quality improvement projects. That combination has fueled the software’s success, and Minitab has been used to implement virtually every major Six Sigma initiative around the world. " ...

Via Minitab: MINITAB LAUNCHES RELEASE 15 OF MINITAB STATISTICAL SOFTWARE

Six Sigma Expertise Improves Acquisition Synergy

Chemtura completes acquisition of Kaufman Holdings Corporation. CEO expects synergies from products, processes, and systems. Chemtura uses Six Sigma to improve manufacturing processes and also to improve finance, accounting, marketing, procurement and other business processes. More than 1000 Chemtura employees are trained in Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing techniques. ...

... "Chemtura Chairman and CEO Robert L. Wood: Our existing Petroleum Additives / Lubricants business is core to our growth, and Hatco and Anderol fit in well with this business. There are related product offerings in key customer areas, as well as the opportunity to strengthen alliances with major suppliers. There may be distribution synergies as well, benefiting our global customers, he said. Chemtura will add industry expertise, Six Sigma-based products and processes, and new information technology systems that will benefit Kaufman customers. " ...

Via Chemtura: Chemtura Completes Acquisition of Kaufman Holdings Corporation

SixSigma Manufacturing Supports Company Growth Plan

Boston-Power completes funding to fuel its growth through next-generation, lithium-ion notebook computer batteries. The company has demonstrated Six Sigma performance at its China manufacturing site. ...

... "Boston-Power is led by Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud, a recognized strategist, technology advisor and authority in the global battery industry. Lampe-Onnerud has assembled a world-class team with more than 100 years of combined experience in lithium-ion technology and manufacturing, consumer electronics sales and intellectual property patent law. Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., the company has Six Sigma-level manufacturing operations in Shenzhen, China. " ...

Via Boston-Power: Boston-Power fuels expansion with $15.6 million in series B financing

Lean Accounting Seminar

Timken leader will present lean accounting techniques at local seminar. ...

... "Tuesday, Feb 20: Michael Discenza, the operations controller for the Timken Co., will hold a Lean Accounting seminar at 5 p.m., at the New Hampshire Technical Institute at 320 Corporate Drive, Pease International Tradeport. As management accountants strive to evolve into full business partners, understanding how Lean and Six Sigma tools can improve your company's performance is critical to success. " ...

Via Portsmouth Herald: Link

Healthcare Six Sigma Scorecard

Firms partner to control escalating health care costs through a Six Sigma program that streamlines administrative processes to lower health care costs for patients. ...

... "Drawing on a methodology called Six Sigma, used by manufacturing and other industries for eliminating procedural deficiencies, BJC HealthCare and UnitedHealthcare established a project team to identify areas for billing and payment process enhancements. The team is using Barnes-Jewish Hospital as the pilot site, examining every step of the health care process - from physician services to claims processing - to remove inefficiencies and associated costs. Using Six Sigma practices as a model, the project team has developed a scorecard to monitor progress and ensure proper implementation of the team's recommended solutions. After nine months of work, the project team's first phase was completed in the fall of 2006. BJC plans to implement the team's recommendations at all 13 of its hospitals. " ...

Via UnitedHealthcare: BJC HealthCare and UnitedHealthcare Partner to Streamline Administrative Processes and Lower Health Costs

Plant Reliability: Six Sigma FMEA

Reliability excellence builds on simple foundation of Six Sigma concepts, such as failure mode and effects analysis ...

... "Patterned after Six Sigma, the concept of reliability excellence includes tools specifically designed to identify and manage risks, including environmental, health and safety. The process begins with a thorough simplified failure modes and effects analysis (SFMEA). " ...

Via Plant Services: Reliability

SixSigma: Incremental Business Process Improvement Best

Hackett Group research sees Six Sigma as best utilized to support continuous improvement in shared service / back-office processes. Hackett finds that Six Sigma may be inappropriately applied to enterprise transformations, where it is weak. ...

... "Many Hackett clients find Six Sigma to be a powerful tool for incremental improvement. Using a combination of Six Sigma and LEAN, one U.S. client was able to achieve major progress in accounts payable, including a 50% reduction in payment processing time, largely by identifying errors and eliminating non-value-added activities. At another Hackett client, Six Sigma played a key role in their ability to decrease cycle times and reduce costs as they built a global shared services organization. Overall, Hackett's research shows that 86% of all finance shared services organizations have a strong commitment to continuous improvement programs such as Six Sigma. " ...

Via The Hackett Group: Six Sigma Not a Silver Bullet for Back-Office Improvements

GE Six Sigma Creates Auto Industry Leaders

XPEL Technologies appoints Steven J. McAuley, GE Six Sigma business leader, as its new Chief Executive Officer. This GE veteran can leverage XPEL's product strengths and information technologies as a competitive advantage. ...

... "Prior to joining UAG, Mr. McAuley served as Managing Director and Corporate Officer for G.E. Fleet Services within the United Kingdom. During his tenure with G.E., he was responsible for assets of $900 million, annual revenues of $225 million, and a workforce of 350. Mr. McAuley has been six-sigma certified through the G.E. Corporation. " ...

Via XPEL: AUTO INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE JOINS XPEL AS CEO

SixSigma CEO: New Business Pedigree

Larry Ryan, PhD and Six Sigma-certified business leader, is named the new Chief Executive Officer of SulphCo. ...

... "Dr. Ryan comes to SulphCo from the General Electric Advanced Materials Division, where he led the Elastomers and RTV business. Dr. Ryan has a PhD from the University of Delaware, a Six-Sigma Blackbelt certification, and a long history of working with chemical process-dependent technologies. " ...

Via Yahoo! Finance: SulphCo Appoints New CEO and Chairman ...