Six Sigma and American Football

I wrote a series* about Six Sigma teams before and how teamwork can make your organization stay on top.

When you think of teams, often what comes to mind is play or sports. With the FIFA World Cup fever still on, I can’t help thinking if Six Sigma and team dynamics can come into play with sports.

My research brought me to an analogy of Six Sigma team to American football team. In the article published by Frontiers of Quality of ASQ, Ronald D. Snee said that you can make Six Sigma your signature play to pull ahead of the competition.

This statement was brought about by an observation that Six Sigma leaders do not work as a team. It really is important to have them work as a team and know each of their functions very well. Snee then went on to share an analogy:

When we think of excellence and success in the sports world, Vince Lombardi, coach of the Green Bay Packer football team that won five National Football League titles and the first two Super Bowls, quickly comes to mind. His success came from careful thought, detailed planning, lots of practice and hard work, and a clear focus on the goal.

The Packer Sweet was Lombardi’s signature play. He practiced this play more than any other, refining it until his players knew they could run it anytime against any opponent.

Anyone who saw Green Bay football during the Lombardi years will recall the sweep in which the guards, Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston, pulled out of the line and led the running back, Jim Taylor, around the end while each of the other players completed his assignment.

The Packer Sweep had many variations. On every play, each player knew what his job was. He also understood that if he did his assignment well, the play would be successful, and it could be run at any time, against any opponent. Continue reading…

The Packer Sweep was not original. Lombardi borrowed it from Los Angeles Rams, but he perfected it. Six Sigma was not totally original too. It was developed from the work of others, and now continues to be enhanced. Just as Lombardi perfected the Packer Sweet, so do you need to perfect the use of Six Sigma and make it your signature play. After all, “Practice makes perfect.”

I am just bothered by the idea that if I had seen the team during Vince Lombardi’s time, I’d have witnessed how the team successfully made a clean sweep against their opponents. I am not sure if Green Bay Packers still execute this Packer Sweep. I sure hope they still do.

Here’s more about the Green Sweep.

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*Teamwork: The Key to Successful Six Sigma Projects
Making Your Six Sigma Team Work to the Fullest
Making Six Sigma Teams Effective
Creating Effective Six Sigma Teams
Managing Six Sigma Teams
Project Team: One of the Keys to Six Sigma Success
The Power of (Six Sigma) Teams
Six Sigma Strategy: Build Project Teams
Getting the Belts to Run the Six Sigma Project Teams
Taking Six Sigma Project Teams Higher
Ample Training is the Key to Project Teams’ Success

Filed under: Team Dynamics, Deployment

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Does Data Mining in Six Sigma Have Privacy Issues?

There could be. After all, these data include that of their customers, suppliers, and their own. I believe this information is important and private. Read about privacy of data on Global Business Watch today.

Filed under: Data

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Six Sigma Issue: Standardize Certification or Not

Yesterday, I did my usual once-a-week visits to other Six Sigma blogs and websites. I found one interesting entry by Andrew Downard, titled “Whither Certification.”

I recall that I’ve written about certification and standardizing Six Sigma certification before. It was brought about by one comment of a fellow blogger.

Right now, there’s no standard certification system or an authorized body to certify that you are a Six Sigma organization. As I’ve said, this is unlike ISO certification which companies regularly renew, and even hire an auditing body to check on noncomformants. This is because in a way an ISO certification legitimizes a company’s business. In fact, a company considers it as one of their strenghs to be ISO certified.

Downard wrote a good entry as he cited the many issues surrounding a standardized certification. He says:

There is no automatic value to a business in having either “tough” or “easy” certification criteria, or even criteria which are consistent in their application. Indeed, the only thing that should matter in setting up a certification program is what behavior the business wants to recognize and reward. Want to drive the efficient acquisition of knowledge? Design metrics and base certification around those. Want to complete a lot of projects quickly? Design your certification around that. Want to use Six Sigma certification to drive employee morale and buy in? Then certify everyone as they walk out the door of the training course. I could go on, but you get the idea. None of these methods of evaluation are good or bad ideas except in the context of what the organization wants to do. Continue reading…

To which Sue Kozlowski reacted:

…Company certification may not “travel,” even between organizations with similar products or services, so Gen X’ers looking to move up and out may not get credit for past training or experience. Also, lack of a national standard (by “national certification” I don’t mean to imply that only one company could offer it - only that the requirements would have to be equivalent among those companies) means that the Six Sigma philosophy may get watered down so that the terms GB, BB, and MBB become meaningless. (Grandmaster Black Belt? Gold Belt?)

Maybe we need to differentiate “certification,” with its implication of stringent training, experience, and professional-body approval; and “credentialing,” with its implication (at least in healthcare) of meeting organization-specific requirements.

Filed under: Six Sigma Organizations, Certification

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Six Sigma for Financial Professionals

Six Sigma for Financial Professionals. This book sounds really interesting!

It discusses the following issues:

• Customer Service and Satisfaction.
• Overview of Six Sigma
• DMAIC Model
• Design for Six Sigma
• Project Management
• Six Sigma and Statistics
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Six Sigma and Transactional Business: Service Industries
• Implementation Strategy, Training, and Certification

What people are saying about the book:

“Dr. Stamatis has tackled an area that is just learning the tremendous value of the Six Sigma methodology and how to use it. The financial community is proving that Six Sigma can and will reduce errors and prevent mistakes from occurring. Dr. Stamatis lays out the formula for success by starting with the foundations of Six Sigma and then moving into its application in financial arenas. He has given numerous examples and references that will assist in developing this methodology into a reality for your organization.”
-Roderick A. Munro, PhD, Business Improvement Coach

“As a rule, financial executives focus on the bottom line for directions and ultimate decision-making. Dr. Stamatis’s manuscript is clearly written, easily followed, and absolutely describes the potential benefits of Six Sigma and the need to incorporate it for long-term survival in any industry.”
-William P. Lianos, President and Treasurer-Michigan Rivet Corporation

Check the book out on Wiley Publishers website.

Filed under: Finance, Six Sigma References

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Six Sigma: Reducing Waste Fluid Disposal at Perkins Engines

It’s good that manufacturing companies these days are also concerned about their own waste disposal. I see two reasons for this move. First, they are constantly reminded by the environmental agency, and second, it’s a lot wasteful to pay a fine for every environmental violation.

One company that has been benefitted by reducing waste fluid disposal is Perkins Engines. The company has cut waste fluid disposal at an internal combustion engine plant’s two-transfer-cylinder head and block-line systems by more than 80%. It is able to do this by deploying Six Sigma methodology.

Manufacturing Talk reports:

Perkins Engines, part of the engines division of Caterpillar, USA, is a major supplier of diesel engines for the industrial, agricultural and power generation markets, with UK manufacturing plants in Peterborough and Stafford and a manufacturing location in Curitiba, Brazil. The two transfer systems at the Peterborough plant have an annual output of 20,000 cylinder heads and cylinder blocks.

A cylinder head machining line supplied by Renault produces 80,000 units.

And a bearing cap machining facility produces 150,000 sets for a variety of different engines.

Perkins has been a Castrol customer for more than ten years and currently uses Alusol XTH soluble cutting fluid to machine cylinder heads and cylinder blocks at the Peterborough site; and Castrol supplies metalworking fluids and services to other Caterpillar sites in the UK.

Four years ago the company adopted Six Sigma methodology and applied the system to evaluate the potential for outsourcing fluid management. Continue reading…

Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Manufacturing, Sustainable Business

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A Bigger and Stronger Six Sigma Partner Program

Last year, I wrote about foreseeing Six Sigma success through the Crystal Ball software.

In that entry, Jonathon Andell, President of Andell Associates, an independent consulting firm specializing in the technical, organizational, and interpersonal aspects of modern Quality Management, claimed to have been benefitted by Crystal Ball. He had been a CB user since 1993, and could attest that as a significant software weapon against process and product variation, it can be aligned with Six Sigma initiaves.

Well, a couple of days ago, Decisioneering®, Inc., an innovator of software and services for risk analysis and optimization, announced that Rath & Strong, a leading global provider of Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma solutions, has joined Decisioneering’s Crystal Ball Six Sigma Partner Program.

Rath & Strong has agreed to work with Decisioneering to promote the use of Crystal Ball simulation and optimization tools throughout its Six Sigma initiatives.

Decisioneering’s Crystal Ball line of Microsoft Excel-based analytical software is used by thousands of businesses in industries ranging from Six Sigma, oil and gas, financial services and pharmaceuticals to assist individuals and organizations in making more informed business decisions. In 2002, Decisioneering launched its Six Sigma Partner Program, a co-marketing effort that provides consultants who practice Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and DFSS with materials and assistance for their Crystal Ball training and implementation.

“Rath & Strong will help bring the power of simulation and optimization to Global 1,000 clients across the globe,” said Lawrence Goldman, director of the Crystal Ball Six Sigma Partner Program. “With over 60 consulting firms enrolled in the Crystal Ball Six Sigma Partner Program, we’re not only assisting partners learn these innovative technologies, but were helping them bring the benefits of simulation and optimization to their customers.”

Link: Decisioneering Welcomes Aon/Rath & Strong to its Six Sigma Partner Program

Filed under: Tools/Toolkits, Lean Six Sigma, Software/Technology

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Are Six Sigma CEOs Charming?

Are you a CEO? If yes, are you working on your Six Sigma? Is it taking too much of your time that you can’t afford to smile, to be likable?

Well, be a charming Six Sigma CEO who considers himself a servant leader and a team player. Read more about charming CEOs on Global Business Watch.

Filed under: Team Dynamics

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A Six Sigma Achievement for Freudenberg-NOK

No wonder Ford Motor Co. is still successful after all these years. It has Freudenberg-NOK, Inc. tucked under one of its wheels so to speak.

Freudenberg-NOK, manufacturer with a background in chemicals, polymers, and rubber products specializing in automotive, recently awarded a Recognition of Achievement from Ford for its consumer-driven Six Sigma accomplishments.

Six Sigma, which focuses on measuring quality and allowing for no more than 3.4 defects per million parts, is one of the pillars of Freudenberg-NOK’s Growtth program focused on superior quality, service and productivity.

Freudenberg-NOK has 61 Six Sigma black belts on staff and has completed 155 Six Sigma projects to drive superior quality, enhance reliability and help automakers and tier one customers to reduce costs.

Growtth(R) — Get Rid of Waste Through Team Harmony — is Freudenberg- NOK’s company-wide continuous improvement program and the cornerstone of the supplier’s corporate culture.

Launched in 1992, the program emphasizes teamwork and communications and combines lean practices, Six Sigma and other techniques to increase efficiencies in the use of time, labor, materials and space. It has helped Freudenberg-NOK become the benchmark company for lean systems in the North American automotive industry.

Freudenberg-NOK’s Advanced Vibration and Acoustics (AVA) group was charged with optimizing the sealing isolation system and the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) characteristics for a cam cover design. AVA has developed techniques to synergize sealing and NVH, which are typically opposing phenomena. Utilizing Design for Six Sigma techniques, the Freudenberg-NOK engineering team improved the product pre-production, also optimizing cost savings and increasing customer value.

Continue reading…

You have another case of the deadly combination of Lean and Six Sigma here. Many successful companies combine lean and Six Sigma to power their process improvement efforts to answer customer requirements.

Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Six Sigma Organizations, Awards, Team Dynamics

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Six Sigma for Dummies

The “for Dummies” book series, and even audio CDs are interesting! They are simple and very informative. That’s why I’m happy to see that there’s a Six Sigma for Dummies book.

Synopsis

Tailored to the needs of small businesses, this guide explains the principles underlying the science of Six Sigma, and describes the tools and methods for implementing Six Sigma in an organization. Adopting the define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) strategy, the authors walk through each phase of a Six Sigma project and overview the different types of statistical analysis and management tools available.

Review:

Rolf Dobelli, Founder of getAbstract, May 5, 2006

A Dummies guide, but not dumbed down
Authors Craig Gygi, Neil DeCarlo and Bruce Williams will attract both plaudits and brickbats for this book (no wonder they needed a foreword from Stephen Covey). Six Sigma, originally devised as a method for reducing production defects, has been elevated to a business cult whose jargon and methods are zealously guarded by a priesthood of consultants. This cadre is bound to regard skeptically any step toward making Six Sigma plain to the general business public. We recommends this manual because it successfully walks the tightrope between detailed technical analysis of Six Sigma methods and common sense terminology that is comprehensible to ordinary oxygen-breathers in the business world. Though it gets too heavy on statistics, it also avoids short cuts and fluffy Six Sigma-lite. The book does not delve into the recent trend toward using Six Sigma for carrying out change initiatives. However, given that its objective is to make professionals Six Sigma literate, this oversight is well within the acceptable range of variation.

Filed under: Six Sigma References

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Six Sigma: Eliminating Defects in Pathology Labs

How often do we hear about medical malpractices, or horror stories about after-surgery illnesses? These incidents are too many to even treat them as isolated.

Good thing, Andrew Hillig, a blogger at isixsigma blogosphere, is running a good blog on the benefits of applying Six Sigma and Lean to healthcare. He’s been pretty passionate about going Lean (Six Sigma) to provide people with excellent healthcare.

I agree with him when he says that caring for people is not only a strategy but should be a way of life for people, especially those in the healthcare industry.

Picking from this, I got recent news that hospitals and health-care-quality groups in the U.S. are now working on initiatives to bring more rigorous standards to pathology labs.

The kind of work these labs do every day is very crucial to people’s health or well being. This is usually where cancer cells are detected early or tumors and cysts declared benign. In other words, the rigor involved in pathology work is no joke.

According to the news, Ms. Kim Tutt was diagnosed with a deadly neuroendocrine cancer at age 34, and had only a few years to live. What’s sadder about this news was that she got the illness through her contaminated biopsy slides by cells from another patient, and Tutt had never had cancer in the first place.

Post-gazette.com reports:

In the largest effort, a group of nine major academic medical centers is participating in a lab-safety collaborative to redesign the archaic and error-prone systems for collecting, labeling, handling and interpreting blood and tissue samples. The collective is finding success with quality-control methods — such as checklists and automated specimen processing — that were adapted from Toyota’s production system and General Electric’s Six Sigma principles for reducing manufacturing defects.

Continue reading…

If you click the link, you will also find out how to make sure that your lab reports are accurate and really yours. As Ms. Tutt said, “Someone just carelessly made a diagnosis, and no one took the time to check it. Ten minutes might have made a very big difference in my life.”

Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Six Sigma Organizations

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