Is the Departmant of Agrarian Reform into Six Sigma?

While researching about Six Sigma practices in the Philippines, I stumbled upon the site of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

I was surprised because on their site is information and description of Six Sigma and Six Sigma trainings. When I clicked on their Six Sigma training Wave 2 outline, it looked like a good Six Sigma program is really going on in the department.

DAR has a very crucial role in government. Some of its basic functions are:

• lead implementing agency of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
• undertakes land tenure improvement and development of program beneficiaries
• conducts land survey in resettlement areas
• undertakes land acquisition and distribution and land management studies
• orchestrates the delivery of support services to farmer-beneficiaries and promotes the development of viable agrarian reform communities

With the intricacy of these services, the department really needs a good system in place. I hope Six Sigma is helping them make their processes efficient.

I also hope I can ask them about their programs and projects in detail. We’ll see.

Filed under: Public Sector, Six Sigma

No Comments » |

IBM Consulting Helps Government Go Green Through Lean Six Sigma

Through IBM Consulting’s program, government organizations will learn to analyze energy and water use, assess waste management, evaluate overall environmental impact and develop improvement strategies. Called IBM Public Sector Energy and Environment Diagnostic, the program uses a proprietary Heat Map tool to provide an initial analysis.

Where does Lean Six Sigma come in?

The public sector diagnostic is designed to be used together with many of these other offerings. For example, after completing an analysis and identifying areas for improvement with the public sector diagnostic, clients can use Green Sigma^(TM), which applies Lean Six Sigma principles to measuring and monitoring energy and water usage throughout a organization’s operations, and the Carbon Trade-off Modeler, which helps evaluate and balance carbon dioxide emissions and energy usage with other key factors throughout a supply chain — cost, service and quality.

Read more…

*Photo from Stock.Xchng

Filed under: Green Sigma, IBM, Lean Six Sigma, Public Sector, Sustainable Business

1 Comment |

Fort Dodge, Iowa Aims to be a Lean Government

The Messenger reports that the City of Fort Dodge, Iowa will be adapting Toyota’s Lean Manufacturing principles. The city will aim to be a lean government in the coming months or so.

City Manager David Fierke described lean government as the ”logical next step of what we’ve been doing all along.” He added that adopting lean government is necessary as well as logical. ”If we stay with the status quo, we’re going to get to the point where we’re in a financial crisis,” he said.

He is likewise recommending that the council hire PDG of Story City to help implement lean government practices. The company would be paid $5,400 a month for the first year of its services, $3,750 a month for the second year and $2,500 a month for the third year.

Read more…

I like the way Mayor Fierke views lean, that it is something that will make his government improve and become better. Fort Dodge joins the many other cities such as  whose government are realizing the benefit of going into Lean and Six Sigma.

Related posts:
Clarence, NY Tries out Lean Six Sigma
Tyler City, Texas to Look at Lean Six Sigma Principles
Vernon County Tries Out Six Sigma
Rhode Island Government Goes Into Six Sigma
Putting Lean Six Sigma in the Bureaucracy
Six Sigma To Save Taxpayers’ Money in Erie County
Hattiesburg, Missouri Adopts Lean Six Sigma
Lean Government Day in Iowa

Filed under: Lean, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, Public Sector, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations

No Comments » |

Public Healthcare Meets Community Needs Through Six Sigma

When you talk about public healthcare, you can imagine all sorts of problems and issues that need to be addressed.

Here in the country, for example, those involved in public health have to address the issue on good project management and budget to carry out the programs.

With the complexity of issues, it’s good to know that you can actually apply Six Sigma to public healthcare, and help meet community needs.

Read the article over at iSixSigma Healthcare: Six Sigma Helps Public Healthcare Meet Community Needs

Filed under: Healthcare, Public Sector, Six Sigma

No Comments » |

UK Companies Go Into Six Sigma

The UK government wants Britain to be a globally competitive manufacturing force, and with the economic crisis it’s not going to be easy. However, they saw an ally with Six Sigma.

An article on Business Cornwall says that last year:

MAS helped ten Companies and 15 associated business projects unlock over £1.5 million through two Six Sigma ‘Greenbelt’ training programmes, encouraging manufacturers to adopt proven techniques to cut down waste, remove process variation, reduce scrap and production lead times as well as improve stock levels.

Read more…

I commend them for doing this. By going Six Sigma, they may have a bigger chance of staying afloat in this economic downturn.

Filed under: Public Sector, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations

1 Comment |

U.S. President Obama Creates a Quality Position in his Administration

President Barack Obama has created a new position in his administration, which is that of a Chief Performance Officer. The task would be:

to improve the efficiency of government programs and reform spending malpractices and identify areas that the US government can make big change that lasts beyond the economic recovery plan and save taxpayer money over the long term

Nancy Killefer is chosen for the post.

This is like having a quality officer in the organization, especially that Killefer has a management consultant background. I like it when governments are run like private corporations.

Related story:
Obama’s Budget Watchdog: Nancy Killefer 

Filed under: Public Sector, Quality

No Comments » |

Clarence, NY Tries out Lean Six Sigma

When Chris Collins assumed the County Executive post in Erie County, initially, he had a hard time selling his Lean Six Sigma idea.

This did not happen in his hometown of Clarence, though. In fact, Collins got a lot of supporters. The Buffalo News City & Region section reports:

Clarence appears to be the first municipality to dive into his much-championed Lean Six Sigma training program, officials said Wednesday.

Starting today, 20 town employees, or almost all department heads, embark on Six Sigma training, which officials are hoping will help the town save money and operate more efficiently.

Continue reading…

Related posts:
Putting Lean Six Sigma in the Bureaucracy
Six Sigma To Save Taxpayers’ Money in Erie County

Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Public Sector, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations

1 Comment |

SixSig Reference Feature: Improving Service Delivery in Government with Lean Six Sigma

Inspired by the renewed optimism of Americans with their new leadership, I searched for a connection of Six Sigma and governance. Then I stumbled upon a report that discusses how Lean Six Sigma improves service delivery in government.

Lean Six Sigma has been proven to work in manufacturing, but service companies have also seen the merit of the methodology. Thus, we have been hearing service companies go into Lean Six Sigma.

One good thing about the report is that it starts with a discussion of Lean Six Sigma and the possible barriers of some service processes to go into Lean. Like for instance in government, the challenge of implementing Lean Six Sigma lies on the nature of a government structure itself. These include:

inconsistent leadership motivation, union rules and regulations, job security concerns, and a prevalence of undocumented processes. Other characteristics unique to the public sector pose an additional challenge, including skepticism about government, legislative controls, competing special interests, the election cycle, and term limits.

Click here to read the report.

Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Public Sector, Six Sigma

No Comments » |

Tyler City, Texas to Look at Lean Six Sigma Principles

Does your city have a city manager? If yes, then you’re among the lucky constituents.

Locally, I’m not really sure if we have a city manager. I guess the closest post would be the city administrator.  I just don’t know if they perform similarly.

Well, Tyler City of Texas joins the other cities into adopting Lean Six Sigma principles to give better service to its constituents. Tyler Paper Online reports that Mark McDaniel is the new Tyler city manager. And as the city manager, McDaniel says he will do the following:

• develop plans and annual budgets for city services as well as manage the city’s 25 departments
• continue placing the highest priority on responsiveness to the citizens of Tyler
• do a lot of self evaluation
• maintain the city’s culture of continuous improvement
• work on the five organizational goals that include: streamline, empower, respond, venture and evaluate
• look to Lean Six Sigma techniques and strategies
• have the Lean practices focus on process speed and the Six Sigma practices on process quality

Read more…

Way to go, Tyler City!

Related posts:
Hattiesburg, Missouri Adopts Lean Six Sigma
Six Sigma To Save Taxpayers’ Money in Erie County
Lean Government Day in Iowa
Erie County Government Gears Up for a Six Sigma Training

Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Public Sector, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations

1 Comment |

New Six Sigma Director for Erie County

P. William Carey is now heading Erie County‘s signature reform and efficiency program. He will work hand in hand with Al Hammonds, the former director and now the Deputy County Executive, to train more employees and identify new cost saving projects for 2009.

Carey’s credentials:

A Six Sigma Black Belt, Carey has a long and distinguished career in banking and finance. Carey came to Erie County from M&T Bank of Buffalo where he was the Senior Vice President of Lending Process & System Optimization.  Prior to joining M&T in 2001, Carey worked for HSBC Bank.  Carey earned an MBA in Finance/Management from Canisius College in Buffalo and has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB).  A Certified Public Accountant, Carey received his Six Sigma Black Belt training from the Center for Industrial Effectiveness at UB.

His thoughts on his new post:

“This opportunity allows me to use my 30 years in the private sector to help County Executive Collins bring business principles to county government,” said Carey.  “The impact Six Sigma has already had in the Rath Building is clear and I know the potential moving forward is tremendous.  The Collins’ Administration is committed to making county government more efficient and improving the services we provide to county residents. Lean Six Sigma is helping us accomplish that.”

Read more…

Related posts:
Putting Lean Six Sigma in the Bureaucracy
“Slow down Six Sigma…”
Erie County Government Gears Up for a Six Sigma Training
Six Sigma To Save Taxpayers’ Money in Erie County

Filed under: Public Sector, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Jobs

No Comments » |