In an interview of Robin Davies, Managing Partner, Venturehaus Limited, with Paul Handly of Six Sigma Today, Davies mentioned the three distinct elements of Six Sigma.
The interview was about deploying Six Sigma in financial and other service sectors. Is Six Sigma relevant, and should all service companies deploy Six Sigma?
Handly: Traditionally Six Sigma has been used in manufacturing, so why is it relevant in service companies?
Davies: Before answering that question directly, it would be worth clarifying what we mean by Six Sigma. I always think of Six Sigma as 3 distinct elements – the statistical element, the management philosophy and the structured approach to project management. In my experience, there’s a limited need for advanced statistics in the typical service company scenario, but the other two elements are critical. After all, Six Sigma is a method for improving quality by removing defects and their causes in business process activities. The method concentrates on those outputs which are important to customers and translates these customer needs into measurable requirements, the so-called CTQs. Then you strive to ensure that process performance meets or exceeds these requirements. It’s hard to imagine why a company serious about service would not embrace this way of thinking.
Handly: Are you suggesting all service companies should implement Six Sigma?
Davies: Definitely not. One cap does not fit all, but I do suggest companies embrace this way route—of thinking about performance against customer expectations. If they do choose to implement Six Sigma, service companies should be very selective about any element included in their programmes and should not accept the conventional view that every aspect of Six Sigma is applicable or necessary in every circumstance. At Venturehaus, our background in Financial Services and our experience of Six Sigma programmes has led us to develop an approach that selects only those elements of Six Sigma which are appropriate for the industry. We combine this approach with equally suitable elements of Lean and other best management practices. I do not believe that if it worked for GE and Motorola, for example, it can simply be replicated en masse for a UK Financial Services company. Continure reading…
To me this is a very sound advice. It’s no use jumping on the bandwagon. You have to know your operations first and think of ways to improve them. As Davies said, better yet develop a quality initiative that is suited to your processes. Many companies that do this pick from other quality methodologies and work on the strength of each. What’s important is you know your organization well.
