In a Six Sigma deployment, both the leaders and the employees learn from each other. By listening to the employees tell what they expected of Six Sigma, what actually occurred, and why things worked or did not work, project leaders learn valuable lessons that can be applied immediately or help in future deployments.
This is what happened in three companies. Each shows the advantage of getting the employees voice during a Six Sigma deployment.
Federated Department Stores, one of the leading department store retailers in the United States with annual sales of more than $15.6 billion, improved its cycle time. Under the names Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, the company operates more than 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Beth Fitzgerald is the manager in the logistics and operations group and therefore ensures that vendor merchandise is “there and paid for” in Federated’s various warehouses. The old system they used involved multiple vendors and multiple distribution centers. Looking at the process with the Six Sigma eye allowed the team to see what the root causes of certain delays, and then address them. It enables the organization to develop a systems team person. Fitzgerald’s advice to those about to embark on a Six Sigma initiative? “Stay open minded, as vulnerable as you feel. You won’t be sorry!”
Vanguard, the second-largest mutual fund firm and a leading provider of company-sponsored retirement plan services in the U.S. is able to better handle client account queries and questions over the phone. Vanguard manages more than $850 billion in U.S. mutual fund assets, including more than $245 billion in employer-sponsored retirement plans. You can just imagine the number of customer calls and queries are everybody. Obviously, handling them quickly, efficiently, and knowledgeably is very crucial to its operations. Its own Six Sigma program, Vanguard Unmatchable Excellence (VUE), allows the company to analyze calls, trace them, and find ways for problem resolution quickly.
GAI-Tronics, manufacturer of printed circuit boards for industrial communications, reduced inventory levels, cycle time and eliminated waste.The need to focus on quality improvement led the company to turn to Kaizen to introduce minor improvements. With the Kaizen events came the usual cycle of change: Kaizen plus Lean began to show decreases in defects, and noticeable increases in efficiency.
The Employee Perspective of the Six Sigma Methodology
