Textron, 194th of the Fortune 500 companies, is one of the world’s largest and most successful multi-industry companies. One of its famous brands is the Bell Helicopter and Cessna Aircraft. For 82 years, customer is always first at Textron. And to serve their customers better, they launched the Textron Six Sigma, “a disciplined, data-driven process designed to eliminate waste, reduce variation and drive growth throughout our company.”
The company began its Six Sigma journey in 2002.
The result: the company has trained 600 Black Belts and more than 2,000 Green Belts to lead Six Sigma projects throughout its businesses. It also implemented rigorous Design for Six Sigma and New Product and Service Introduction standards under which new products and services are being brought to market.
Using DFSS, the company identifies what its customers need and is able to deliver it a lot better. Furthermore, through Six Sigma, Textron is able to do the following successfully:
1. Grow and Innovate. At a Textron Fastening Systems (TFS) distribution center, a Textron Six Sigma team identified an innovative solution to solve shipment issues to one of its largest automotive customers.
2. Reduce Variability. For example, if it takes 50 minutes on average to manufacture a particular product component, it could take as little as 30 minutes or as long as 70 minutes.
3. Eliminate Waste. The Textron Six Sigma focus on waste elimination, also called Textron Six Sigma Lean, is through an important mapping tool called Value Stream mapping. By using Value Stream mapping Textron Six Sigma teams identify multiple opportunities (Textron Six Sigma Lean Kaizen events or projects) to reduce waste.
