It has been a while, I know. Well, here are good insights from my fellow Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and quality bloggers.
Last week, Mike of Got Boondoggle? shared his experience during the APICS Chicago Chapter Monthly Professional Development Meeting. Praveen Gupta was the speaker and Mike learned that to sustain profitable growth we need three things: (1) any process improvement approach like Lean, six sigma, Lean/Sigma, etc.; (2) a business scorecard to measure what we value; (3) growth not dependant on Mergers and Acquisitions, but driven on innovation.
Ron of Lean Six Sigma Academy posed a question: Do companies in Japan use Six Sigma? I know the Japanese have developed their own quality improvements, most of which are practical concepts and doable, but I also know that there are Japanese companies who is using Six Sigma and enjoyung the benefits. Join the conversation!
Over at LearnSigma, Rob challenges you to take a quiz and find out how much you know about the Toyota Production System. I got 6 out of 10! Whoa… Not bad, I guess, for someone who only has the book The Toyota Way and has read it halfway. Take the quiz now!
An interesting concept is put out by Sue Kozlowski on iSixSigma Blogosphere. It’s the concept of Hands of the Customer. Sue is right that we often hear Voice of the Customer, but with Hands of the Customer, you consider your processes and decide which part or how much of it can you pass on to your customers to do. It has been tried in restaurants where customers are asked to mix their own drinks or mix and match their food. Yeah, we should try out this hands-of-the-customer concept.
Over at Curious Cat Management, John Hunter quoted a passage from Deming’s book, Out of Crisis. Let me share it with you, too.
Best efforts are essential. Unfortunately, best efforts, people charging this way and that way without guidance of principles, can do a lot of damage. Think of the chaos that would come if everyone did his best, not knowing what to do.
Well, Mr. Deming, I’m guilty as charged! (._.)
