Posted by:
meikah | 31 January 2007 | 9:38 pm
I went to The Best of Six Sigma Practices in the Philippines Forum yesterday, Jan. 30. Organized by Kairos Management Technologies under the Deming Management Systems, the forum was attended by quality and HR persons from different industries: IT, BPOs, semiconductors, consumer, healthcare, and services.
The three speakers who shared real-life Six Sigma journeys were Marie France Padiz, Director for Quality, SPi Technologies Inc.; Jose Manuel Bonagua, Lean Six Sigma Manager, On Semiconductor Philippines; Thomas Morsheim, Director for Subcon Management, NXP Philippines, with the theoretical framework and integration provided by Mr. Benite Teehankee, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business, De La Salle University. This is what I learned from them:
- Before deployment: diagnose your organization first, look at the human development system, and build your culture.
- If going to deploy Six Sigma: you have to commit 100% to undergo the quality or Six Sigma journey.
- On introducing the Six Sigma methodology: better if you can incorporate Six Sigma into the existing quality initiatives. All of the three companies have undergone 5S, TQM, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing, ISO, before going into Six Sigma. Each even has developed its own quality programs, which is a combination of all quality strategies.
- When ready to deploy: Deploy properly, and do some drumbeating. Develop an eye for risk. Best when Management is on board. Start with training, better yet have a good consultant.
- During deployment: Drive continuous improvement by putting reminders and project updates where everyone can see or access it. Have training, incentives, recognition, and promotion built into the quality program.
- After all’s said and done, Six Sigma is not a silver bullet. It may or may not solve all your process problems. But an awareness of and commitment to quality are the key factors.
I will be featuring the three companies and the speakers in my succeeding posts here. So stay tuned! 
*Photo credit: MorgueFile.com
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