The SixSig Roundup
Posted by: meikah | 17 May 2010 | 7:58 pm
It’s time again for some link-loving and see what other blogs are saying about Six Sigma, Lean, Lean Six Sigma and other quality improvement processes.
Maris Fadness talks about the technological aids for Lean Six Sigma Process Improvements. An example given is the company, Safeco, which now has an online, service-and-sales portal to improve processes because of Six Sigma.
Kevin Clay of Blog | Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. writes about Lean Six Sigma Story at Subway, a personal story that shows how Lean Thinking and Six Sigma Thinking play an important role in everyday life.
Six Sigma Training features a post on understanding Six Sigma Employment Assessment. Most Six Sigma evaluation plans for employees are essentially two parts, the first of the investigation as “preliminary†and the second is the “Comprehensive Survey.
Business Management Principles blog talks about the importance of understanding the role of communication in the process of Six Sigma certification. Communication is the key when it comes to successful Six Sigma projects going. to make the level of success and the ability of Six Sigma, what needs depend largely on the commitment and support of all concerned.
Shannon Berber shares a good book, titled Six Sigma Financial Tracking and Reporting. If you need to see that P&L dollar savings impact on your bottomline, then the book will be big help for you.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Certification, Communication, Finance, Human Resource, Six Sigma, Six Sigma News
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The SixSig Roundup
Posted by: meikah | 8 February 2010 | 7:54 pm
It’s time again for some link-loving and see what other blogs are saying about Six Sigma, Lean, Lean Six Sigma and other quality improvement processes.
The Business Organizational blog says that Six Sigma is important in business because it takes values much higher than other techniques to improve quality, such as TQM. Read on…
Over at Sigma blog, there is a good discussion about Six Sigma assessment. The assessment of Six Sigma is necessary, especially if new attempts by companies to improve the plans show that the trip will belong and difficult. Read on…
Recruitment blog discusses Six Sigma projects in the Human Resources department. The article says that the HR department is suited for Six Sigma projects: on implementation of a project in the HR activities and the involvement of the HR department in carrying out some of the activities in the execution of Six Sigma project at the organizational level. Read on…
Pharma Business Intelligence blog asks this question about what is happening at Toyota these days: did Six Sigma fail or did people fail? The article is saying that processes don’t produce results, people do. It takes people to engage in a process – for better or for worse – to produce something. Read on…
The Scratching Post blog features a Lean Six Sigma movie. It is about convincing management to go into Lean Six Sigma. It’s an interesting one, actually. View the movie here.
Filed under: Business Improvement, Human Resource, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma
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Six Sigma and Corporate Staffing
Posted by: meikah | 21 December 2009 | 8:19 pm
I am not into recruitment, although I had interviewed people for possible employment in the companies that I’d worked with including the one I’m in now.
It’s interesting to be interviewing people actually. They put their foot forward, and somehow you will know that some are faking it. Others get away with it, and so you end up hiring people that do not meet your expectations in the long term. And since they hold permanent status in your organization, it’s no longer easy to let go of them.
Now, you can actually use Six Sigma for your corporate staffing. Over at Nick’s blog, he shares some information about applying Six Sigma principles to corporate staffing departments.
Filed under: Human Resource, Six Sigma
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The SixSig Roundup
Posted by: meikah | 18 October 2009 | 7:53 pm
It’s time again for some link-loving and see what other blogs are saying about Six Sigma, Lean, Lean Six Sigma and other quality improvement processes.
Power-Transmission Shop blog reminds us what a Green Belt Six Sigma practitioner should do. Green Belts are those employees who are trained to implement Six Sigma projects under the guidance of the Black Belts to achieve the desired goals. Read on…
A Human Resources blog shares a primer on human resource and Six Sigma. HR professionals, who can be involved from the start of the project, play a crucial role in the Six Sigma initiatives at the organizational level will be made. Read on…
The new blog, Lean Mean Process Improvement, talks about the two applications of statistics: descriptive and inferential statistics, and how each can be applied to Lean Six Sigma process improvement. Read on…
Lean Six Sigma Moneybelt blog shares his observation about the differences between project management and Lean Six Sigma. The only important thing to do is ensure that once a project is implemented, that process management and measurement (i.e., control charts and control plans) are implemented to make sure the project continues to function as planned. Read on…
On the Buffalo News, the City and Region section reports that Chris Collins, the county executive of Erie, was not able to deliver his promise of putting order in the bureaucracy. Erie County’s state-appointed control board Friday called Chris Collins’ four-year financial plan unrealistic and gave him until Dec. 31 to better detail how he intends to close a cumulative deficit of some $170 million. Read on…
Filed under: Green Belts, Human Resource, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Processes, Six Sigma
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Lean Six Sigma Improves Productivity
Posted by: meikah | 12 August 2009 | 8:02 pm
An article on Democrat and Chronicle says that employee productivity in the U.S. increased in the second quarter of 2009. And according to the U.S. Labor Department, the increase has never been this high since Autumn of 2003.
A lot of reasons are viewed as contributing to this increased productivity. One of them is that many workers had been laid off, so those who were left behind had to work doubly hard. Another reason is that it can be a sign that the economy is improving and recession is drawing to a close.
In any case, employee productivity during good or bad economic days should be consistently high. There’s a way to do it. Some companies use Lean Six Sigma.
Xerox Corp. for example attests to the value of Lean Six Sigma for their employee productivity.
At Xerox Corp., the company employs a productivity technique called Lean Six Sigma, which removes waste and variations from its projects.
In the first quarter of 2009, Xerox expanded the process to a particular supply chain supporting its business in the Western Hemisphere, and the company expects to save $2.5 million on an annualized basis.
Douglas E. Burgess, senior vice president of Lean Six Sigma, cited the supply-chain efficiency as just one example of how Xerox has raised productivity.
Filed under: Human Resource, Lean Six Sigma, Productivity
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The Lean of Six Sigma Helps HR Streamline its Tasks
Posted by: meikah | 11 September 2008 | 9:01 pm
An article on BLR.com says that many companies want their HR department to become more of a strategic partner than do succession planning and organizational support.
The argument is that HR already has a lot in their hands, and so an additional task may be counterproductive for the department. However, there is a way to free up HR for them to take part in strategic planning for the company, too.
In the article, it says that HR can use the Lean concepts of Six Sigma to streamline their tasks. The three useful concepts are:
- Using Process Value And Mapping – determine whether the HR function is procedure and process heavy
- Improving ‘Throughput’ – review the systems and staffing for your processes since both affect the end result.
- Introduce ‘Pull’ Systems – link process and demand cuts out waste that could cause overproduction. “For service [providers] like HR, the objective is to reduce the overall lead time of providing services by reducing things in progress.”
Related story:
Six Sigma in HR
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Human Resource, Lean, Processes, Six Sigma, Tips
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Six Sigma Improving Human Performance and Workplace Safety
Posted by: meikah | 6 August 2008 | 10:06 pm
According to the Practicing Perfection Institute (PPI) survey, Six Sigma can improve human performance and workplace safety, slash errors and eliminate accidents, while showing efficiency improvements of more than 70%.
The results from three clients of PPI are:
- An electrical transmission organization in central Texas reports a 55.2% reduction in the average number of minutes per month of equipment outage caused by human error through integrating PPI’s methods.
- A major electrical transmission/distribution company in the northeastern U.S. reports that PPI’s own techniques for workplace safety resulted in an almost 75% reduction in human error rate — even in the midst of massive capital expansion employing multiple contractors!
- A commercial nuclear power plant was just awarded a Strength award by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) for its incorporation of Six Sigma methods.
Source:
Six Sigma Zone News
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Deployment, Human Resource, Six Sigma, Team Dynamics
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Truemen Management Consultancy is now Six Sigma Compliant for Recruitment
Posted by: meikah | 7 July 2008 | 10:15 pm
The EconomicTimes-IndiaTimes reports:
Bangalore based HR company Truemen Management Consultancy has become the first ever firm in the world to achieve Six Sigma Compliance for recruitment, a top company official said.
The company serves 250 of the best clients in industry which included Mindtree, Wipro, Symphony and others.
Truemen’s Six Sigma complaince was carried out and certified by Nathan and Nathan Consultants, one of India’s top quality consulting companies.
I’m a bit surprised by the use of the term “compliance.” As far as I know, if you go into Six Sigma, you don’t work for compliance. Rather, you work for being a Six Sigma company, which is able to achieve a 3.4 DPMOs, and is able to sustain your process improvement efforts.
Perhaps this is what they mean by being compliant or has achieved a Six Sigma compliance. Sometimes, we have to be careful with our semantics if we don’t want our info getting messed up.
Filed under: Human Resource, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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Can Six Sigma Protect Companies from Crisis?
Posted by: meikah | 7 July 2008 | 9:32 pm
The fuel crisis is global. And because most, if not all, of our activities depend on fuel, we are now feeling the crunch.
The hottest issue of the day in the country is the impending increase of fuel. Different sectors have different views on how to peg the increase: in one go or in small amounts. So far, I have not heard of any company closures, or companies retrenching their workforce to cope with the crisis. What we’re experiencing though are increases of basic commodities.
Already two locally based airlines, PAL and SEAIR, are seeking regulatory nod for fuel surcharge increase.
The fuel crisis however has a different effect on other companies outside of the Philippines. In the airlines industry for example, many American airlines have regrouped, increased charges, put charges where there weren’t before, and cut down on flights and employees. AirTran is to cut 180 pilot jobs, 300 flight attendant jobs.
A Six Sigma company is actually doing those cuts. Jazz Air LP has implemented several cost-saving measures to cope with the rising fuel cost. Although Jazz is already a lean company, yet they have to let some of their people go.
According to Joseph Randell, President and CEO of Jazz:
While Jazz is already a lean organization and is in a reasonable position to manage its current challenges, every effort is being made to reduce our costs and to prepare for what may lie ahead.
Jazz has already established a number of fuel-saving initiatives, recently froze all hiring and non-critical staff overtime, and instituted a number of other cost-saving programs. Being a Six Sigma organization has made Jazz a more efficient airline and the focus to ensure we remain competitive is constant.
This incident made me ask, can Six Sigma protect companies from crisis?
Source:
iSixSigma News
Filed under: Airlines, Customer Service, Human Resource, Lean, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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Do Six Sigma and HR Work Well Together?
Posted by: meikah | 23 June 2008 | 8:20 pm
Yes, they do, and I also believe so.
I found this article on Articles Bridge via Six Sigma Zone, and it discusses how HR and Six Sigma can work together and achieve the desired results.
This is how:
- HR can help in forming the Six Sigma team.
- HR can assist in creating job descriptions for candidates of each team member.
- HR can ensure that Black Belts and the team get training in teamwork, conflict management and personal communication skills.
- HR professionals, with their project management education and analytical skills, can help play a major role in strategic, operational and administrative activities of Six Sigma projects.
- HR professionals can use the Six Sigma methodology in risk areas, where safety and health issues are a priority.
In other words, both Six Sigma and HR involve people, teams, and team work. While HR specializes in making people or human resource function well, Six Sigma can provide the tool to enhance it. Thus, I see no reason for the two to not being able to work successfully together.
Related story:
Why HR Should Be Involved in Six Sigma
*Photo from Stock.Xchng
