Kenworth’s Chillicothe Plant Now a Certified Six Sigma Company
Posted by: meikah | 26 October 2008 | 7:39 pm
In the recently concluded Global Six Sigma & Business Improvement Awards, Kenworth Truck Company plant in Chillicothe, OH, received the Global Six Sigma Award.
According to the news:
Kenworth-Chillicothe was recognized for successfully reducing the paint department’s impact on the environment and significantly enhancing paint quality. A 10-person team used Six Sigma methodology and analysis to annually eliminate 21,000 gallons of paint waste from the landfill and reduce volatile organic compound emissions by more than 15 tons. The project helped to significantly enhance paint quality on the main production line, while increasing process efficiencies in hood paint preparation by nearly 85%.
At Kenworth, Six Sigma is not only improving process, but it is also helping the company be sustainable.
Congratulations Kenworth! 
Filed under: Awards, Benefits and Savings, Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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Auto Suppliers Benefit fron Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 16 October 2008 | 12:18 am
The Birmingham Post reports:
Eight automotive suppliers from the West Midlands have retained or won more than £37 million of business with the help of an industry supply chain network initiative.
… In addition to the contracts secured, the innovative project has also helped firms save nearly £800,000 and safeguarded close on 500 jobs, not to mention improving 43 processes, ranging from invoicing and stock control to quality and product design.
This is yet another proof that Six Sigma not only improve proceses beyond the shop floor, but also allow companies to enjoy a lot of savings.
Filed under: Automotive, Benefits and Savings, Six Sigma, Supply Chain
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“Six Sigma provides a sixth sense for company savings”
Posted by: meikah | 29 September 2008 | 9:23 pm
Syracuse.com carries an article titled as such. According to the article, the method of treating business problems as if they were statistical equations to be solved has saved companies billions of dollars. The Six Sigma course offering at Syracuse University-NY is focusing on this.
In the article, the following points are raised:
- Motorola saved $17 billion from 1986 to 2004
- the Six Sigma program, taught online and in classrooms at SU, has saved $4.8 million for local companies; the average return so far is $320,000 on 15 projects
- Adam Gadway, senior managing engineer at Anaren Inc.: the project he worked on cut lead times in a work cell from 13 days to five, saving the company $21,000; it also provided him with a valuable skill
- Crucible Specialty Metals is putting department heads through the program to complement its efforts to become more efficient, said President James Beckman; the company has the potential to save $370,000 on two projects it has done so far, and plans to make Six Sigma part of the Geddes steel maker’s culture
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Education, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, Training
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Australian Companies Looking to Go Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 21 September 2008 | 8:18 pm
At this time of global economic crisis, many business any where in the world have to find ways to stay afloat. Many have embarked on performance and quality improvement methodologies and principles.
Lately, there has been an increasing demand for senior level executives who have functional specialization and experiences in in Lean manufacturing principles including Six Sigma, TQM, 5S, Kaizen, Kanban, and Quality Circles. It is hoped however that implementing these Lean principles will pervade entire organizations and be their culture. Read more…
It’s good to know that companies are now acknowledging these improvement methodologies to protect and grow their business.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Deployment, Lean, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TQM
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St. John’s Mercy Medical Center Goes Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 16 September 2008 | 11:41 pm
When executives at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur noticed patients in wheelchairs lining the halls as they waited for physical and occupational therapy, they thought there must be a better way. Continue reading…
Indeed, there is. To improve the situation they used the principles of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.
The results:
- improved quality
- reduced waiting times
- shorter lengths of stay for patients
- improved outcomes
- a lot of other secondary effects
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Healthcare, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, St. John's Mercy Medical Center
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Using Six Sigma in Cardiac Cath Lab
Posted by: meikah | 16 September 2008 | 11:14 pm
Heartsite.com defines cardiac catheterization or Cath as “a specialized study of the heart during which a catheter, or thin hollow flexible tube, is inserted into the artery of the groin or arm.” Continue reading…
It is a highly specialized and very important procedure. And for a hospital to do something to improve processes in this kind of lab is big on my book.
New York Presbyterian Hospital recently embarked on a comprehensive initiative to improve throughput in the cardiac catherization labs at the Columbia University Medical Center, New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian sites.
At the New York-Presbyterian, the focus was on the various sub-cycle times impacting throughput – including case start time, room turnaround time and patient prep time. As a result of these multiple projects, the hospital gained 312 hours of procedure time without incurring any additional capital expense. An overview of one project conducted at Children’s Hospital of New York demonstrates how the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology provided the framework and tools to raise departmental productivity by improving first case start times.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Healthcare, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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Six Sigma Could be the Secret of Bank of America
Posted by: meikah | 16 September 2008 | 9:45 pm
The finance world trembled at the news of Lehman Brothers‘ announcement of bankruptcy. And we all know that when big financial insitutions like Lehman fails, the economy takes a deep lingering breath.
Merrill Lynch, nother financial institution would have gone the say way as Lehman, had it not gotten its much needed help.
Despite the economic crisis, Bank of America keeps afloat. In fact, it has just announced a $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Viewed diffrently by different sectors, the acquisition is deemed to make Bank of American sturdier, and into becoming a financial global empire.
To be able make that acquisition, Bank of America shows everyone that the bank is sound. And this could be attributed to its Six Sigma initiatives. It has been about seven years that Bank of America embarked on its Six Sigma journey.
The stories below will tell us the Bank of America Six Sigma journey. Check them out!
Banking on Six Sigma
BoA Turns to Six Sigma
Bank of America: Investing in Six Sigma
Filed under: Bank of America, Benefits and Savings, Finance, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations
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Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Embrace Lean Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 14 September 2008 | 9:49 pm
Pharma Focus Asia reports:
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are looking to Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles to help them boost operational efficiency and improve quality, while facilitating compliance.
The reasons:
- increasing cost of research and development
- growning inefficiency in the manufacturing environment
- rising product recalls
- increasing competition from generic drug manufacturers
- declining development pipeline
Are you undergoing the same problems?
Then, maybe it’s time for you to also look into Lean and Six Sigma.
Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Lean Six Sigma, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals
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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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When Six Sigma and other Improvements Come from the Leadership
Posted by: meikah | 25 August 2008 | 8:44 pm
Inspired by Six Sigma and Toyota model of management, Windber Medical Center President F. Nicholas Jacobs has mandated quality healthcare.
One good thing about this is that the Johnstown, PA government is also helping out the healthcare industry in the area by launching a three-pronged approach to improve quality in healthcare:
- Pushing quality through public reporting.
- Enforcing quality through the False Claims Act.
- Incentivizing quality through payment reform.
Supplementing this approach is the “pay for performance” for physicians and hospitals. In other word, the government will be rewarding people for good performance. Read more…
In a related story, because of what Mr. Jacobs did, he was credited for being innovative. Here are a list of improvements that he has done:
- Expanded emergency and obstetrics departments
- Construction of “the ultimate education centerâ€
- Transforming the small town hospital into a showcase of state-of-the-art medicine and holistic alternatives
- Extensive training for medical practitioners
- Focus on patient control and preventive medicine
When improvement comes from leadership, a lot can be achieved.
Source:
The Tribune-Democrat
