Innovation of the Week: Testing Testing, The New Innovation Game
Posted by: meikah | 19 March 2010 | 12:25 am
This week’s edition of innovation update features the new innovation game in business which is testing.
Business innovation, once the province of teams in white lab coats doing research and development, is moving into the front lines. Increasingly it derives from continual tiny experiments in such areas as business processes and customer relationships rather than a single, company-transforming idea.
Internet-based companies, which can alter their “storefront” at will — “What will happen if we put the shopping cart on the left side of the screen?” — are certainly the most adept at such granular testing. Big players like Google and Amazon.com can sometimes get a statistically significant amount of data to make a decision in a matter of hours.
Filed under: Innovation Update, Innovation, Six Sigma
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Is Lean Beating Out Six Sigma?
Posted by: meikah | 17 March 2010 | 7:05 pm
I have read quite a number of articles saying that Lean is making headway with Six Sigma. The latest is from ApplianceMagazine.com which even has figures to support the claim.
These numbers are based on the Avery survey:
- Lean talent demand exceeded Six Sigma by almost 35%, significantly widening its lead over last year’s lead of just 11% as compared to 2005’s results, which showed that Six Sigma talent demand exceeded Lean by more than 50%.
- For companies looking for Lean talent, only 41% require candidates to possess Six Sigma knowledge as well.
- Of companies seeking Six Sigma talent, almost 55% are now requiring candidates to possess Lean knowledge as well, a requirement that has shown steady growth.
Do you believe that Lean is beating out Six Sigma?
Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Lean, Six Sigma
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Webinar: Accelerating Lean Six Sigma Results in the New Economy
Posted by: meikah | 15 March 2010 | 10:10 pm
IndustryWeek announces:
Live Webinar
Sponsored by SAP
Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 2:00 p.m. EDT (GMT -04:00, New York)
Estimated Length: 1 hour
This webinar is designed to help organizations that are implementing Lean Six Sigma generate rapid, significant benefits and sustain them over the long term. The presenters will discuss:
- The key differentiators of a scalable Lean Six Sigma rapid deployment and rapid results model
- 10 accelerators of Lean Six Sigma results and how to put them to work
- New improvement opportunities in the current economy and how the fusion of leadership, technology, and innovation is changing the improvement focus of Lean Six Sigma
- How to execute concurrent deployment best practices and reach annualized benefits of 3 percent to 10 percent of revenues — plus true cultural transformation
Speakers
Adrienne Selko (Online Editor, IndustryWeek)
Terence T. Burton (President, The Center for Excellence in Operations, Inc. (CEO))
David Strothmann (Customer Value Network Director, Manufacturing & Lean Enterprise SAP)Complimentary Gift
As our way of saying thank you to our audience, 50 randomly-selected individuals will receive a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate. Click here for full rules.
Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, Webinar
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What A Six Sigma Green Belt Should Know
Posted by: meikah | 15 March 2010 | 9:27 pm
If you are working on your Six Sigma Green Belt certification, here is useful checklist from Tony Jacowski.
On project implementation
- well trained in DMAIC methodology
- able to explain the importance of the y=f(x) formula to the business and the processesOn monitoring project progress
- carry out the project for their own areas of operationsOn understanding benefits
- able to understand the benefits and gains out of the project success
- understand the relevance of the project
- plan properly and stay in control of the progress of the project, based on dataOn carrying out tests
- able to calculate the average and standard deviation from the set standards of the various metrics
- able to carry out statistical tests using software such as Minitab and JMP
Filed under: Six Sigma, Green Belts
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US Fuels Improving Processes Through Six Sigma and Work-Out
Posted by: meikah | 15 March 2010 | 8:16 pm
When US Fuels’ 96.9-percent invoice accuracy was not meeting customer expectations, and the accuracy problem in some strategic segments was impeding sales growth, it was time to act. BP’s US Fuels used Six Sigma and Work-Out to solve the problem.
Filed under: Six Sigma, Work-Out
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Innovation of the Week: Google’s Fluid, Iterative Innovation Process
Posted by: meikah | 12 March 2010 | 4:50 am
This week’s edition of innovation update features Google. Who isn’t amazed by what Google is doing every day? So, now it would be interesting to know the innovation process of Google.
Helen Walters, Next Innovation Tools and Trends, BusinessWeek writes:
Yesterday, Google announced a new “stable” release of its open source browser for Windows, adding some 1,500 “Extensions” (which add functions to the browser toolbar) and “Bookmark Sync”, which synchronizes bookmarks across multiple computers.
Filed under: Innovation Update, Six Sigma, Google
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Six Sigma and Eberl Iron Works, Inc.
Posted by: meikah | 10 March 2010 | 7:17 pm
Eberl Iron Works, Inc. attributes its growth and success to Six Sigma.
Nora Eberl, who serves as the companies’ Chief Financial Officer, says:
“It’s a combination of our core values, which include: Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, Respect, Communication, Quality Service and Innovation,” said Eberl. We have also used outside consultants, instituted Six Sigma principles, and worked in conjunction with UB’s Center for Industrial Effectiveness to better our business in its entirety.”
Filed under: Manufacturing, Inc., Six Sigma, Eberl Iron Works
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The Lean Six Sigma Guide to Doing More with Less
Posted by: meikah | 10 March 2010 | 6:48 pm
Mark O. George says about his book:
The Lean Six Sigma Guide to Doing More With Less - Cut Costs, Reduce Waste, and Lower Your Overhead addresses Lean Six Sigma and related approaches to help improve bottom-line performance and enable competitive advantage from process improvement, enterprise speed and agility. Through the discussion of critical tools, case studies and implementation tips, The Lean Six Sigma Guide to Doing More With Less provides a thorough and pragmatic understanding of how Lean Six Sigma can achieve rapid cost reduction that is sustained over time. The book provides instructions and insights for stand-alone cost-out projects, the launch and design of enterprise initiatives and how to extract greater performance from legacy Six Sigma programs.
Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma Books
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Quality Quiz from PQ Systems e-Line
Posted by: meikah | 10 March 2010 | 6:46 pm
PQ Systems through it’s Quality eline newsletter brings us another quality quiz by Professor Leary.
For this month’s quiz, and a chance to win a copy of the newly-released collection of Quality Quiz Classics, go to Quality Quiz. Submit your response by February 26 to be entered in the drawing.
Start reading the quiz.
Last month we met Quinn Quip, quality manager for Quince’s Quality Quiche in Quincy. In a market survey, Quinn wanted to determine the percent of outlets—restaurants, hotels, bakeries, and cafes, as well as private residents—in Quincy who sell or consume the quiche that his company makes. He took many samples of a (sample) size of 100. He found that on average 50 out of the 100 sampled use Quince’s Quality Quiche, and reported to his boss that half the town—give or take 2 percent—are customers.
Winners of last month’s quiz and a copy of the Quality Quiz Classics DVD are:
Dan Frederick (Andersen Corporation)
Nayna Modi (Sentara Health Systems)
Walter Prowse (BAE Systems)
Breeda M Worthington (NHS UK)
and Donna Yeakel (Greene Tweed Co. Inc.)
Congratulations!
Filed under: Data, PQ Systems eLine, Six Sigma, Data Quality, Quality Quiz
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How to Handle Statistical Variation in Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 8 March 2010 | 10:00 pm
From Your Articles
Six Sigma metrics are more than a collection of statistics. The intent is to make targeted measurements of performance in an existing process, compare it with statistically valid ideals, and learn how to eliminate any variation. Improving and maintaining product quality requires an understanding of the relationships between critical variables. Better understanding of the underlying relationships in a process often leads to improved performance.
To achieve a consistent understanding of the process, potential key characteristics are identified; the use of control charts may be incorporated to monitor these input variables. Statistical evaluation of the data identifies key areas to focus process improvement efforts on, which can have an adverse effect on product quality if not controlled. Advanced statistical software such as Minitab or Statgraphics, are very useful if not essential for gathering, categorizing, evaluating, and analyzing the data collected throughout a Six Sigma project. Special cause variation can also be documented and analyzed. When examining quality problems, it is useful to determine which of the many types of defects occur most frequently in order to concentrate one’s efforts where potential for improvement is the greatest. A classic method for determining the “vital few” is through a Pareto chart.
