A Modern Parable

I got this from the email, and I thought of sharing it here. The story has a ring of truth. What do you think?

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American  company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River . Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering  manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to ‘equal the competition’ and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale-boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles), so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.

Here’s something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US , claiming they can’t make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US . The last quarter’s results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses…

IF THIS WEREN’T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

Filed under: Ford Motor Co., Manufacturing, Processes, Quality, Toyota

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Lean Six Sigma Benefits Saint Vincent Health Center and Accuride

Saint Vincent Health Center and Accuride were recently recognized as Employers of the Year by the the Economic Development Corp. of Erie County.

Read the full story here.

Related posts:
Lean Six Sigma Cutting Cost at Saint Vincent Health Center
Relying on Black Belts to Deliver the Goods

Filed under: Healthcare, Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations

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POSCO Weathers Crisis With Quick Six Sigma Program

Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO), the world’s fourth largest steel producer, is not spared from the economic crisis. Like all the other manufacturing companies that import raw materials, POSCO has its share of business challenges, too.

However, POSCO has a weapon that helps the company weather the crisis. It’s Six Sigma.

The Korea Times Biz/Finance Section reports:

The steel giant says it is going forth with increased flexibility this year.

Further, it said that the company is aiming to cut costs by 958.4 billion won this year, up from 738.2 billion won last year. In-house programs, such as Quick Six Sigma (QSS), Six-Sigma and work diet, have increased productivity and eliminate waste factors.

Read more about POSCO’s strategy.

Related post:
POSCO and SAIL Join and Continue Six Sigma

Related story:
Lee the ‘Steel Man’ Falls From Grace

*Photo credit

Filed under: Manufacturing, POSCO, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations

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Bell Helicopter Applies Textron Six Sigma Processes and Tools

Bell Helicopter, a division of Textron, is an American helicopter and tiltrotor manufacturer. It applies Textron Six Sigma processes and tools to ensure prompt, if not ahead-of-schedule deliveries. The company business is something that delays in delivery cannot be tolerated.

This is not to say that on-time delivery is the only measurement, their products must also be of high quality. I’m sure you know why.

Last year, for example, the company delivered the ninth OH-58D aircraft to be modified under the current Kiowa Warrior Safety Enhancement Program contract ahead of schedule. The aircraft was needed for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

How does Bell Helicopter cope with the demands of its business?

As workers prepared to restart the line for Lot 11 in May 2008, they applied Textron Six Sigma processes and tools to accomplish a lean restart of the SEP line.

Read more…

Filed under: Airforce, Aviation, Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Textron

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Can’t Lean Six Sigma Save Nortel Now?

Toward midyear last year, Nortel announced that it would continue with its Lean Six Sigma initiatives for better operations. Its President and CEO Mike Zafirovski then shared Nortel’s growing momentum with customers.

But in last week’s news, Nortel perhaps shocked the world when it filed for bankruptcy. The global crisis along with the decrease in demand for phone gear hit Nortel and drove the company to file for bankruptcy protection and prepare for Chapter 11.

My question now is: can’t Lean Six Sigma save Nortel now?

Filed under: Communication, Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Six Sigma

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Six Sigma at Baldor Electric Company

Baldor Electric Company, a leading manufacturer of energy efficient electric motors, recently got the IWs Best Plants Award 2008 for its plant in Ashville.

The recognized achievements include predictive maintenance programme that increased machine uptime to 97.8% while reducing maintenance repair cost by 35% over six years; recipient of the Baldor President’s Award for outstanding safety achievement in 2007 and 2008; fifth consecutive annual award in 2007 for Outstanding Work In Accident Prevention from the North Carolina Department of Labour. Continue reading…

The company is able to achieve these because of its Lean and Six Sigma programs. Lean systems within its factory and Six Sigma methodology to its suppliers. As such, Baldor is able to:

• sustain a culture of ongoing improvement through employee involvement
• maintain improvements in the production processes by gleaning employee-generated ideas
• incorporate loading and unloading automation in the manufacturing cells to prevent operator fatigue and excessive worker travel.
• target its key suppliers to help them implement Six Sigma leaning strategies

Read more…

Filed under: Lean, Lean Manufacturing, Manufacturing, Six Sigma

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Implementing Lean Six Sigma in Manufacturing

This year and for the succeeding ones, I seem to see a lot of companies that will combine both Lean and Six Sigma. Perhaps, the manufacturing industry will be at the forefront of this.

If you are a manufacturing company thinking of going into Lean Six Sigma, here are some of the ways by which Lean Six Sigma can improve your processes.

• Put much emphasis on gathering genuine data that are relevant to the needs and requirements of your particular Lean Six Sigma improvement initiative.
• Encourage team effort by motivating Lean Six Sigma team members and guide them toward achieving common Lean Six Sigma goals and objectives.
• Adopt the new sequential production techniques instead of the obsolete shop-scheduling-production technique.
• Improve supply chain management and efficiency by building a simple yet effective logistical platform that helps in reducing inventory-carrying costs. This kind of system allows a continuous flow of raw materials and finished goods from point A to point B.
• Lean Six Sigma eliminates the root cause of extended cycle times.
• Design a production model that can be configured as and when needed, depending on the existing demand.
• Lean Six Sigma helps you make timely business decisions such as when to expand or when downsize.

Source: How Lean Six Sigma Can Bring Quality And Efficiency To Firms

Filed under: Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Tips

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Lean Concepts from Don Tapping

Don Tapping, author of several books on Lean including best seller, Backstreet Lean-Solutions for the Job Shop and Value Stream Management for the Lean Office talked with Paula Wallace of Manufacturers’ Monthly.

From the transcript, here are some of the Lean concepts:

• communicate the need with, involve, and engage your people in any Lean or process improvement initiatives
• arm your people with tools before embarking on any Lean or process improvement
• Lean and Green concepts can work together well, just like Lean and Six Sigma
• invest in Lean trainings, consultancy, or gather government support
• choose the best Lean initiative that will work on your situation or processes

Read the whole transcript.

In other words, Lean or any other process improvement is not a stand-alone initiative. You will need all the help and resources that you can get.

Filed under: Don Tapping, Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Six Sigma

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Ames Corporations Uses Six Sigma to Do Business

ThomasNet reports:

Ames Corporation, a leading manufacturer of high-quality elastomeric molded components, dispensed gaskets and protective coatings, develops prototype products to satisfy the most demanding customer applications.

To meet customer requirements, Ames applies the company’s considerable engineering and elastomer processing expertise (including Six Sigma techniques) to identify performance improvement and cost reduction opportunities.

A recent example of this is the company’s development of Dent Resistant Coating (DRC) Technology for fuser rollers for the printer and copier market. Ames’ ability to take materials and process developments from one product development effort to another is a key ingredient in Ames becoming a provider of elastomeric design solutions to an ever-growing list of markets and customers.

Read more…

Filed under: Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Tools/Toolkits

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Staying Afloat The Toyota Way

I just have to share this with you today. It’s all over the news that companies have been experiencing really some bad business these days.

Toyota, however, is weathering the storm, The Toyota Way. Toyota has maintained its solid balance, ample cash, and continued profitability, despite experiencing earnings slump. The company is also projected to still make over $10 billion, which will enable the company to fund measures that will help it emerge stronger.

In the short term that means steps such as offering 0% financing on certain vehicles in the U.S. That should help boost showroom traffic and tell customers Toyota has cash to finance vehicle purchases. Longer term, Toyota plans to introduce more hybrids and more attractive smaller cars.

Here’s a look at some of the measure’s Toyota is taking during the current downturn.

Perhaps, we can all operate our busines the Toyota Way.

Filed under: Manufacturing, Six Sigma Organizations, Sustainable Business, Toyota

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