Six Sigma Improves Alarm Management at Monsanto’s Soda Springs, Id., Phosphorus Plant
Posted by: meikah | 19 February 2008 | 11:47 pm
Monsanto Soda Springs’s plant in Soda Springs, Idaho, produces elemental phosphorus, or P4, most of which is sent to other Monsanto facilities to make PCL3, the primary ingredient for Roundup herbicide.
The process of manufacturing elemental phosphorus begins with mining the phosphate ore. Mining involves working with a furnace, the right temperature, thus it requires sophisticated controls. Monsanto was using Fishers’ PRoVOX distributed control system (DCS) in the early 1980s, and then DeltaV control system by 1996.
The control system was kept to a minimum because it was costly then. When digital control systems alarms became easy and cheap, Monsanto found itself overusing the system. It caused as many problems as it solved.
That was when Monsanto began turning to Six Sigma, with emphasis on alarm management. The alarm problems came down to too many alarms and alarming practices can cause incidents.
The company’s Six Sigma team used cause-and-effect fishbone diagram to investigate the possible causes of alarm problems. They applied the Six Sigma DMAIC system to the problem:
- Developed an alarm management philosophy and selected alarm metrics (the Define phase).
- Assessed the present alarm system (Measure/Analyze phases).
- Reduced the number of nuisance alarms (Analyze /Improve phases).
- Rationalized alarms by need and priority (Improve phase).
- Developed an alarm configuration database (Improve – Control phases).
Source:
ControlGlobal.com
Filed under: Manufacturing, Six Sigma Organizations, DFSS, Mining, Six Sigma, Monsanto Soda Springs, Alarm Management
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2 Companies Enjoy Robust 3rd Quarter Results and Attribute it to Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 5 November 2007 | 12:54 am
This first week of November saw two companies reporting robust 3rd quarter results because of the continuing deployment of Lean Six Sigma. The two companies experienced both gains and losses, increases and decreases due to several factors, still they continue their Lean and Six Sigma efforts. Persistence and continuous are the keywords here.
First to report was Regal Beloit Corporation, a leading manufacturer of mechanical and electrical motion control and power generation products:
Income from operations was $53.4 million or 11.9% of sales, an increase over the $53.0 million or 12.7% of sales reported for the third quarter of 2006. Operating expenses included a pre-tax charge of $1.8 million resulting from settlement of the Enron legal matter. The acquired businesses contributed $0.9 million to income from operations.
Net income in the third quarter of 2007 was $31.2 million, a 5.0% increase from $29.7 million reported in the third quarter of 2006. Diluted earnings per share increased 3.4% to $0.92 as compared to $0.89 for the third quarter of 2006.
“We continue to believe that our Lean Six Sigma, Digitization, Globalization, Innovation and Customer Centricity initiatives will provide the foundation for continued profitable growth and our ability to continue to provide high levels of returns to shareholders,” said Henry W. Knueppel, Chairman and CEO.Read more…
Source: EarthTimes, an iSixSigma featured link
Next to report was Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a world leader in iron ore and metallurgical coal mining company:
- Consolidated Revenues Rise 7% to $620 Million, with Net Income of $57 Million, or $1.08 Per Diluted Share
- Company Reaffirms 2007 Iron Ore Sales Outlook at 22 Million Tons in North America and Eight Million Tonnes in Asia-Pacific
- PinnOak Resources Acquisition Provides Cliffs 4.5 Million Ton Metallurgical Coal Position in 2008
Joseph A. Carrabba, Cliffs’ chairman, president and chief executive officer said, “During the third quarter, we continued to control costs in North American Iron Ore extremely well. We are benefiting from our six sigma efforts as well as proactive maintenance programs performed at many of our mines during downtime in the first half of the year.”
Source: BusinessWire, an iSixSigma featured link
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, Deployment, iSixSigma, Mining
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Lean and Six Sigma Conferences @ GoingToMeet.com
Posted by: meikah | 17 June 2007 | 6:07 pm
GoingToMeet.com has featured relevant Six Sigma conferences for you. Below are the ongoing and upcoming events on Lean and Six Sigma. Hope you can join in one of them.
Event Title |
Event Date |
Location |
| 3rd Annual Design for Six Sigma Conference | Jun 20, 2007 - Jun 21, 2007 |
The Congress Plaza, Chicago, Illinois United States |
| Lean and Six Sigma for Defense | Jun 25, 2007 - Jun 28, 2007 |
Hilton San Diego/Del Mar, San Diego, California United States |
| 2nd Annual Middle East Six Sigma | Jul 09, 2007 - Jul 10, 2007 |
The Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 4th Lean Six Sigma For Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Medical Device Excellence | Jul 23, 2007 - Jul 25, 2007 |
Los Angeles Marriott Downtown, Los Angeles, California United States |
| Lean Six Sigma Improvement Week US 2007 | Sep 18, 2007 - Sep 21, 2007 |
The Venetian 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, Nebraska United States NV 89109 |
| Six Sigma in Mining | Oct 16, 2007 - Oct 17, 2007 |
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| 2nd Annual Global Six Sigma Summit | Oct 23, 2007 - Oct 26, 2007 |
Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada United States |
| The World Congress Leadership Summit on Driving Process Excellence Beyond Six Sigma in Healthcare | Oct 25, 2007 - Oct 26, 2007 |
Chicago United States |
| European Lean Six SIgma Summit | Oct 31, 2007 - Nov 01, 2007 |
Amsterdam Netherlands |
| 8th Annual Lean Six Sigma for Healthcare | Nov 07, 2007 - Nov 08, 2007 |
Orlando, Florida United States |
| 9th Annual Six Sigma Summit | Jan 28, 2008 - Jan 30, 2008 |
Disney’s Contemporary Resort, 4600 North World Drive Orlando, Florida United States 32830-1000 |
These conferences have lined up excellent programs for Six Sigma practitioners. Check them out!
