Innovation of the Week: Nokia’s Design Research
Posted by: meikah | 16 March 2007 | 2:41 am
Keying in Nokia at Google tells me this about the company: the world’s leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services. I know Nokia is way ahead of its competitors. But do we know why?
An interview with Jan Chipchase of Nokia’s Research Center on BusinessWeek Online will tell us why. The company invests in R&D by engaging highly qualified people in behavioral research, and its design research involves everyone.
At Nokia, we have an internal market for ideas. There could be someone in Nokia who wants research, and they will come to us. You might have people in the company who want questions answered. A simple example would be: How are early adopters of mobile TV using mobile TV? That’s about current behaviors. We would go to the place where the technology is being rolled out, South Korea, and we would look at that. We would take the core lessons of that and think about the further, future place.
Then there are areas where growth is likely in five years because of demographics or price points but we don’t fundamentally know too much about this area beyond analyst reports and the research.
Source:
BusinessWeek Online, “Nokia’s Design Research for Everyone”
Filed under: Innovation Update, Interview, Manufacturing, Nokia, Processes, R&D, Software/Technology, Team Dynamics
No Comments » |
Six Sigma and Other Quality Issues
Posted by: meikah | 12 February 2007 | 12:06 am
Time and again, we are told, and even those in the know, agree that Six Sigma is not a silver bullet, which can solve all process improvement problems.
At one time, it has been observed that many organizations do not achieve the savings they hope to achieve with Six Sigma. Well, as quality people would often say, efforts toward improvement is a journey that needs a long-term commitment. And you have to commmit to quality again and again.
I believe that Six Sigma or any other quality strategies is better than nothing at all. What organizations need to do is to evaluate their processes well, and choose which quality methodology is best for them.
Let me share with you today an amusing commentary on the human side of business. It is Dale Dauten’s (The Corporate Curmudgeon) interview with his fellow executive at Mundane Industries ( 
), the head of Quality Management, Donald “Zero” Difetto. Published on BostonWorks, the interview touches on Six Sigma, zero-defect initiatives, and other quality issues. The issues are tinged with humor but if you read through it, it makes sense. 
DALE: I invited you to join me because I wanted your opinion on a new study. The folks at QualPro, a research company I wrote about recently, searched for corporations announcing new Six Sigma programs, then looked at what happened to each company’s stock price. Of the 58 companies they reviewed, only six had stocks that outperformed the S&P 500, while 52 underperformed. That’s 10 percent up and 90 percent down. Could it be possible that quality is to the manufacturing business what health food is to the restaurant business — everybody says they want it, but nobody actually buys it?
ZERO: So are you anti-quality? Pro-defect? We’re building the best Mundane Industries products ever, and yes, our stock price is falling, but I don’t see how more defects are going to boost the stock price. Take our least-profitable division, our toy business. Not our fault. Our product returns are approaching zero. We are, in effect, making perfect toys.
DALE: Good example. Our lead product this last Christmas season was our “Me too” competitor to “Tickle Me Elmo,” our “Wedgie Me Wayne.” Nobody returned it because nobody bought it. So it’s flawless production of a product nobody wants.
ZERO: That’s marketing, not production. The Wall Street Journal had an article on the stock-price research that quoted Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford professor and Six Sigma advocate, as saying: “You can’t do just one little thing. Low cholesterol is just one measure of health. In the same way, quality management is just one piece of the puzzle, but not the answer to the whole puzzle.”
Source:
BostonWorks, “Creating flawless products no one wants” with link provided by Six Sigma Zone.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Interview, Retail, Sales
No Comments » |
Six Sigma Round-up
Posted by: meikah | 30 January 2007 | 11:45 pm
Here’s another edition of the Six Sigma Round-up. Let’s see some updates from the other Six Sigma or Quality blogs.
Six Sigma Blog gives the assurance that even a small company can go Six Sigma and will be benefitted by it just as much as a big company. Priya Jestin presented the issues that small companies will be facing and how to overcome them. This is a good encouragement, and with the right attitude and commitment, I believe, too, that a small company can be a Six Sigma organization.
Over at iSixSigma Blogoshpere, Michael Marx shares Colin Powell’s thoughts on leadership. Powell was the keynote speaker at the 8th Annual Six Sigma Summit in Miami, Florida. In his speech, Powell emphasizes that a leader is someone who is receptive of new ideas no matter where those ideas come from in the organization. By listening to everyone, each is encouraged to bring his ideas to management knowing that he will be attended to. I totally agree with this. Being in management does not give you the monopoly of ideas; neither are you the spring of all ideas. As a leader, you motivate and work with everyone to achieve higher goals.
Sanjaya Kumar Saxena of Discover6Sigma discusses the real-life applications of distribution, that is how data elements of a given data set are distributed within its range. Distribution is a very important concept in Six Sigma. It determines the behavior of your normal curve. If your data stays within the standard deviation of 1.5 range/shift, then the deviation is still acceptable. That is why, you need to be able to determine the distribution of your data. Distribution can explain data compression, data reliability, project planning, and quality management. Although the post is old, it’s still an interesting read. You should write more often Sanjaya.
Filed under: Events/Announcements, Interview, Six Sigma References
3 Comments |
Six Sigma in the Asia Pacific
Posted by: meikah | 10 January 2007 | 11:03 pm
From May 22 to 23 this year, the 8th Annual Asian Six Sigma Summit 2007 will be held at Raffles The Plaza, Singapore. The Summit focuses on innovation, challenging all organizations to leave the old and embrace the new way of doing things.
The Summit will also highlight Six Sigma in the Asia Pacific. The last time we checked there are about 14 Six Sigma organizations in the Asia Pacific. I’m sure this number has increased.
Over at IQPC, Robert Dawson, Principal Director, Office of Information Systems and Technology of ADB, and the Summit’s speaker, shared his thoughts on the current state of Six Sigma in the Asia Pacific, how Six Sigma evolved in the region, and its future.
What is the current state of Six Sigma in Asia Pacific?
Six Sigma – based on my contacts – is growing very fast in the Philippines – which is the only place I can talk about at this time. The growth in call centers has raised the need for substantial process reviews and therefore Six Sigma is being used. Six Sigma however is being introduced to specific service areas, not highly technical areas such as software development and the like in the Philippines.
Six Sigma has a good “name value” at present and there is a need to get a lot more people involved in the consulting and training area. Having a university run courses – or incorporate units into their ongoing courses – would seem to be a good way of building up the people who can participate in the region.
Further, in the region, what’s new for 2007 will be the Asia Pacific Six Sigma Excellence Awards! Submit your nominations now!
Filed under: Awards, Events/Announcements, Interview, Six Sigma Organizations
No Comments » |
Podcast on Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way
Posted by: meikah | 18 December 2006 | 11:31 pm
Over at B2B Lead Generation Blog, Brian Carroll interviews Michael Webb, founder of Sales Performance Consultants and an expert on sales process improvement on his excellent book, Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way.
The interview is on podcast, so you get to listen to a very interesting, useful exchange of ideas. Check out the podcast here.
Filed under: Interview, Six Sigma References
No Comments » |
Six Sigma Interview: Mike Wroblewski of Got Boondoggle
Posted by: meikah | 2 November 2006 | 10:16 pm
Mike Wroblewski of Got Boondoggle is the former Continuous Improvement Manager and Quality Manager with Matthews International, and has some previous experiences with lean manufacturing and other quality strategies. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. In 2006, he left the manufacturing corporate world and became a consultant helping others on their lean journey and with Six Sigma.
Below is a preview of the interview where he shared his Six Sigma experience when he was still with Matthews International.
SixSig: What benefits so far are derived from Six Sigma? Could you quantify them, even in terms of percentage?
MW: The first 5 six sigma projects completed in 2003 – 2005 helped us completely eliminate one quality defect present for over 10 years, and dramatically reduce occurances of several other nonconformances. In another case, we experienced a defect in 50% of our units caught in house and improved our first pass yield to 99.9% after improvement using the Six Sigma methodology. The best benefit was getting a better understanding and use of quality improvement tools by both the shop floor employees and management.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Interview, Manufacturing
No Comments » |
Six Sigma Interview: Robert Thompson of Qualitas
Posted by: meikah | 2 November 2006 | 12:02 am
Finally, my Six Sigma Interviews project will launch! This is actually the second phase of the project, where I will be interviewing Six Sigma practitioners. In the first phase, I interviewed Six Sigma companies, with Samsung being the first company to grant me the interview.
Last week, I e-mailed my questions (a total of 10 questions) to the first batch of interviewees, and the first one to respond is Robert Thompson of Qualitas: all about the ASQ six sigma black belt body of knowledge.
Robert used to work for a high-volume manufacturing company specialising in the manufacture and supply of filters for the clarification, stabilisation and sterilisation of liquids and gases principally in the pharmaceutical, beverage, food and electronics industries, and also in laboratories. He is now into consultancy, an EFQM Business Excellence Assessor, Six Sigma Black Belt, Member of the Institute of Quality Assurance, Institute of Occupational Safety & Health, American Society for Quality, & also the Chartered Institute of Management.
As a preview:
SixSig: What is the most difficult part in the deployment/implementation?
RT: Firstly, convincing senior management that this would work and it was not just a fad. I think that programmes such as TQM did not have a quantifiable $ link into the business and as a result tended to have an unknown benefit. Once senior management understood that financial metrics were a critical part of each project then they began to become interested.SixSig: How did you overcome them?
RT: Tenacity, commitment and senior management education and backing.
I will be uploading the interview soon, so please check the site from time to time.
