Dow Chemical Innovates with Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 14 January 2008 | 8:54 pm
I had written about Dow Chemical here a number of times already: when they started going Six Sigma, how they use Six Sigma to save on energy, and improve processes in their human resource.
The latest I’m sharing with you is how Dow Chemical Co. pursues innovation by not soley relying on inspiration, but on Six Sigma.
Dow Chemical is one of those companies that regard innovation as the lifeblood of their business. Surely, they cannot wait for for inspiration to strike to come up with high-quality products and exceptional services.
Over at RealInnovation.com, Sue Reynand shares how Dow pairs innovation with Six Sigma to keep their business ahead. As a matter of fact, Dow combines different methodologies to be constantly on the go.
They have a systematic blend of Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), which supplants inspiration with investigation. According to Tom Kling, a longtime Dow employee who served as Master Black Belt:
“it has proven to be a powerful combination. Six Sigma and DFSS bring the kind of up-front decision making that makes sure the problems you’re working on are important to the business. On the other hand, it helps you arrive at new solutions by importing technical solutions or scientific principles from other disciplines. So you solve design problems much more quickly.”
*Photo from Stock.Xchng
Filed under: DFSS, Deployment, Dow Chemical Co., Innovation, Six Sigma
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Congratulations ATMI, Inc., the Best Achievement Award of Design for Six Sigma and Innovation
Posted by: meikah | 27 November 2007 | 9:17 pm
ATMI, Inc. manufactures point-of-use environmental equipment, thin film materials and delivery systems, and thin film deposition services to the semiconductor industry.
In the recently concluded The Global Six Sigma Summit and Industry Awards in Las Vegas, ATMI bagged the Best Achievement Award of Design for Six Sigma and Innovation.
This is their story:
“ATMI began Six Sigma knowledge-based management work in 2000, applying the techniques broadly in our operations, as well as in our new product development initiatives. While the ultimate validation is through success with customers and the growth of our business, we are very happy to have our innovative approach to Six Sigma deployment independently validated, as it is a key contributor to continued growth,” said Doug Neugold, Chief Executive Officer.
“This award is based upon our documenting how the tools and methodologies were used to design, develop, and commercialize our RegenSi(tm), AutoClean(tm), and Newmix(r) process efficiency solutions, each of which has the potential to save our customers many millions of dollars by bringing yield, cost, and throughput improvements to their processes,” said Tim Carlson, Chief Financial Officer. “Since inception, we’ve completed over 80 internal projects generating more than $20 million of savings for ATMI.” Continue reading…
Congratulations, ATMI!
Click here for the other winners.
For Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma upcoming events, check out GoingToMeet!
Filed under: Awards, DFSS, Events/Announcements, Manufacturing, Six Sigma
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DFSS and Brand Strategy
Posted by: meikah | 13 November 2007 | 3:33 am
Over at CustServ, I wrote about striking a balance between brand experience and customer experience. Today, I found another interesting article on iSixSigma. It talks about incorporating Design for Six Sigma to building brand strategy.
The premise is that while companies work hard to make brand strategies more than just empty promises, they often find themselves stuck in the execution phase.
This is where Six Sigma comes in. The methodology is often viewed, and rightly so, as a versatile, effective framework for connecting executive goals (business strategy), marketing communication (brand promise) and management (operational activities). Here’s an example of a bank working on its brand using Six Sigma.
Consider the case of the business bank that wanted to increase its share in a regional market. The bank used the DMADV roadmap of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and adapted it for brand strategy (Table 1). By applying DMADV, the organization realized that to advance from the business strategy to marketplace results, it was necessary to first understand the brand, define the brand promise and identify specific actions required to deliver on it (Define, Measure, Analyze). Finally, the organization needed to make sure that the defined brand promise actually was fulfilled (Design, Verify).
Source:
iSixSigma, Promises of Brand Strategy and Design for Six Sigma
*Photo from Stock.Xchng
Filed under: Brand Strategy, DFSS, Finance, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, Tools/Toolkits, iSixSigma
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DFSS Improves Processes at Masco BCG
Posted by: meikah | 25 September 2007 | 8:26 pm
An article on Hartford dBusinessNews talks about how Design for Six Sigma is improving processes at Masco BCG, leading designer and manufacturer of kitchen cabinets.
More importantly, DFSS opened the eyes and widened the understanding of executives at Masco on how to report, review, and manage financial, business, and operational metrics.
Different executives and managers are now able to drill down performance data from the company, plant, department, and product line levels. They can access relevant and accurate information very quickly and with fewer key strokes. More importantly, these different views come from the same “one set of numbers” – there are no discrepancies in how numbers are reported, recorded, and viewed across the entire company.
That’s what Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma does to an organization—revolutionizes it and brings its mission to fruition.
Source:
Hartford dBusinessNews, a Six Sigma Zone featured link
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, DFSS, Deployment, Masco
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Six Sigma and Software Development
Posted by: meikah | 22 August 2007 | 8:26 pm
Like any other processes, software development cannot be without defects. In fact, since I’m exposed to it, I think finding and avoiding software defects are far more difficult to do. That is because with software development, the output is always vulnerable to bugs, and you won’t know it until the software is run. One more thing, even if the software is running well already, it is still prone to bugs.
So, it’s good to hear that Six Sigma can actually help reduce software defects and improve quality. According to an article on SearchCIO.com, Six Sigma when employed to software development can do the following:
- Six Sigma can be used as an analytical engine for process improvement.
- For software issues such as availability and quality of data, and the frequency in which projects go through the lifecycle, Six Sigma’s analysis methods can help uncover the root cause of different issues and procvide solutions.
- Six Sigma can be used strategically to enable the implementation of what I call domain-specific improvement techniques.
- Implement Motorola’s SDFSS or Software Design for Six Sigma.
Source:
SearchCIO.com, iSixSigma featured link
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, DFSS, DMAIC, Deployment, Processes, Software/Technology, iSixSigma
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Design for Six Sigma at Daimler-Chrysler
Posted by: meikah | 20 August 2007 | 9:14 pm
During a DaimlerChrysler Black Belt symposium, Harry Flotemersch, a certified DaimlerChrysler Master Black Belt and structured innovation leader, says that the company’s long-term project is to lead the integration of structured innovation methodologies into their DFSS, problem solving and transactional (business processes) programs.
To accomplish this, Flotemersch is doing the following:
- overseeing dual-level mapping innovation
- employs the following DFSS tools: quality function deployment, taguchi robust optimization, finite element analysis, FMEA, computer-aided engineering, axiomatic design, multigenerational product planning, and design verification and report
He further says, “As we all get better at making subsystems and components that are created with strong connection to the needs and wants of the customer, our focus will shift to the vehicle system as a whole. This “vehicle-centric” perspective is already emerging in our industry. New tools/methods that help us consider millions of aspects of the vehicle as a system, and still offer it in a timely fashion for our customers will be in demand.”
Source: 6 Sigma Quality in Manufacturing
Filed under: Chrysler, DFSS, Daimler-Chrysler, Deployment, Innovation, Manufacturing, Six Sigma Organizations
1 Comment |
Enabling SOA through DFSS
Posted by: meikah | 27 June 2007 | 8:23 pm
In any organization, it always is a conglomerate of people and technology. For an organization to be successful, its processes must be a well systematic marriage of human skills and technology.
SOA or service-oreinted architecture promises a transformation of the information technology assets of a business by making it possible to do more with less.
According to an article by Robert Cardone and Russell Danziger for iSixSigma:
By incorporating the Design for Six Sigma methodology with SOA initiatives, the promise of SOA can be achieved by assuring services are optimally designed from the start. This approach also will result in improved success rates, shorter delivery times and significant savings relative to traditional development approaches.
Filed under: DFSS, Data Analysis, Deployment, Processes, Technology, iSixSigma
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DFSS for Recruiting Process Design
Posted by: meikah | 27 June 2007 | 7:49 pm
Let me share with you today case study that illustrates how a pharmaceutical company applied selected DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) tools to develop a new recruiting process for sales representatives.
Tools and activities are described along the IDOV (Identify, Design, Optimize, Verify) phases, which served as a guiding roadmap through this process design project.
Read the case study here.
More: DFSS – IDOV Methodology
Source: iSixSigma Europe Channel
Filed under: DFSS, Deployment, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Processes, Six Sigma References, Tools/Toolkits, iSixSigma
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Chrysler Adopts Design for Six Sigma (DFSS)
Posted by: meikah | 11 June 2007 | 8:02 pm
Since Asian automakers, with Toyota leading the pack, has been slowly eating up the American market, many American automakers have begun rethinking their design and management strategies.
Chrysler is one of those American automakers that needs to do some rethinking, especially after its Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Nitro last year failed to get the consumers’ attention. But these duds won’t be for long as the company goes Six Sigma.
Chrysler began working with ASI Consulting Group in Livonia about 18 months ago. The firm, which previously worked closely with Hyundai Motor Co. to improve its vehicles, has helped Chrysler use a system called “Design for Six Sigma” to help engineers better determine upfront what features and qualities customers want in new vehicles.
The firm was hired to help “make a cultural change to move that needle to be proactive,” Klegon said. “We’re taking this on as an extreme change in the way we do predictive quality from the standpoint of customers. It’s embedded in our vehicle teams and it’s embedded in our components team.”
Rethinking strategies should be the order of the day for all businesses. Six Sigma or DFSS may or may not do the trick. But it’s a good start. I took a peek at Chrysler cars and they are all beautiful. Why they didn’t hit the mark is a mystery to me.
Source:
Autos Insider, Chrysler rethinks design after duds, a featured link from iSixSigma.
