Human Sigma

So far we’ve talked about processes in manufacturing and in services going Six Sigma, but never about processes involving people in the organization.

Over at Six Sigma Blog, I found an old post about human sigma. The post linked to the original article on Express Pharma Pulse: “The human sigma of performance.”

Both sites report that the metrics used in Six Sigma are now applied to human side of the business. This move was inspired by a survey conducted on over 80,000 managers in more than 400 companies by Gallup. The research gives emphasis on the often overlooked importance of the engagement levels of employees and customers to achieve a better bottom line. The Human Sigma approach takes on the behavior of individuals in the workplace, measures it, applies the results to establish a more productive and consistent workforce.

Human Sigma is a measure that focuses on reducing variance in key employee and customer outcomes by improving an organisation’s human performance and moving it towards excellence. Simply put, the human sigma approach shows how to manage – and maximise – the human difference.

To work on your Human Sigma, you must take into consideration the four human needs of employees which matter in the workplace:

Life (survival), Learning (personal development), Love (relationships), and Leaving a legacy (meaningful contribution). These employee engagements were identified by Jacques Creeten, MD of Federal Express.

These employee engagements make workplace fun environments to work in, therefore you get happy, productive employees. Now, are you also working on your Human Sigma?

Filed under: Human Resource, Team Dynamics

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Six Sigma at CIGNA HealthCare

I’ve written about Six Sigma improving pathology labs by eliminating defects in collecting, labeling, handling and interpreting blood and tissue samples. I’d say, this is such an excellent development in the healtcare industry considering that it involves human beings.

Well, here’s another good news for you. CIGNA Healthcare, perhaps one of the world’s leading healthcare providers, is continually improving its processes to better serve its customers. For one, the company is set to offer easy-to-use and affordable health plans for the working uninsured through acquisition of Star HRG. Another, its call centers have been certified by J.D. Power and Associates for providing “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience.”

You’re probably wondering how CIGNA is able to come up with a lot of good programs. That is because the company is into Six Sigma. In fact, just last month, H. Edward Hanway, CIGNA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Leslie Behnke, CIGNA Vice President of Business Excellence, presented at the WCBF Global Six Sigma Summit. Hanway presented “Leveraging Six Sigma to Drive the Acceleration of Business Results” and Behnke her Continuous Improvement Tool Kit case study titled “Integrating the Full Range of Six Sigma Methods to Achieve Maximum Business Results.”

As if those were not enough, this month, CIGNA will launch an innovation lab designed to develop integrated, top Six-Sigma level end-to-end service for medical, dental, pharmacy and behavioral health plan participants.

iSixSigma reports:

The formation of the Lab will be led by a Six Sigma Master Black Belt who will guide the Lab’s design, set-up and establishment of performance and results measurement criteria. Lab staff has been drawn from CIGNA HealthCare’s Bristol service operations teams and provided with four weeks of specialized training. Staff will also be responsible for testing new consumer-facing technologies and health support services.

The Innovation Lab consumer service capabilities will feature a single contact to respond to inquiries regarding any of the participating members’ CIGNA plans, including:

• providing health care cost estimates and treatment quality information;
• offering guidance during pre-plan enrollment to help consumers in choosing a plan configuration for their circumstance;
• connecting consumers with available health advocacy programs, such as wellness or disease management programs, as appropriate.

Continue reading…

Filed under: Six Sigma Organizations, Deployment, Healthcare

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Omnex and AIAG : Global Lean/Six Sigma Training Partnership

Omnex, Inc. and AIAG joined forces to offer Lean/Six Sigma training to AIAG members. As part of the agreement, Omnex will represent AIAG in India. With offices in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, and Delhi, Omnex has earned a solid reputation throughout India as a provider of Lean/Six Sigma and automotive consulting solutions.

Scot Sharland, AIAG’s executive director, said about the agreement, “We are very pleased that Omnex can offer these Lean/Six Sigma courses for AIAG, and we feel that Omnex’s involvement will benefit our members tremendously.” Continue reading…

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

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Blogosphere: Challenging Processes

Two incidents this month prove that the blogosphere has grown and established the reputation of empowering consumers, challenging operations, and influencing businesses. Read all about it on Global Business Watch.

Filed under: Events/Announcements

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If Your (Six Sigma) Black Belt Had Celestial Powers…

Sue Kozlowski over at iSixSigma Blogosphere had a very interesting post. She developed Ten Commandments for Six Sigma Black Belts in Healthcare. She titled it, “Charlton Heston was a Black Belt.” I commented that shouldn’t it be Moses? She indulged me and wrote back the possibility of Moses being a Black Belt. It was very amusing but very valid as well.

The Ten Commandments of Six Sigma Black Belts in Healthcare

I. Thou Shalt Have No other Goal than to Serve the Welfare of the Patient, by Process Improvement using Data Analysis or Lean Tools as Thou Needest.

II. Thou Shalt Not Worship any Particular Form of Statistical Analysis Above All Others, nor Bow Down to any individual Quality Expert’s Trademarked Methodology.

III. Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of Thy Computer in Vain, for Thy Computer is a Jealous Computer, Visiting the Iniquity of the Users upon the Third and Fourth Generation of Them that Hate it; but Showing Mercy unto Them that Love it, and Follow its User Manuals, and Call IT Support when Needed. Continue reading…

If it were Moses, the DMAIC would go like this:

His project was DEFINED “from above” so he didn’t do any VOC surveys. As a matter of fact, his focus group told him that they needed to keep that Golden Calf.

He didn’t have to MEASURE anything - there were 10 commandments that were infinitely repeatable and reproducible, so no Gage R&R was needed.

He didn’t have to ANALYZE the data - it was more of a lean project, to provide a checklist to do the right things in the right way.

He did have quite a challenge in the IMPROVE phase, but was helped along by his Project Sponsor.

He didn’t get to oversee the CONTROL phase, and I think everyone would agree that there have been a lot of challenges along the way for the team to “sustain the gains.”

Sue then poses this question: So was Moses a Black Belt? Interesting thought to ponder!!!

Given these data, I don’t think Moses can be a Black Belt, if at all!

Filed under: Tools/Toolkits

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Six Sigma’s Three Distinct Elements

In an interview of Robin Davies, Managing Partner, Venturehaus Limited, with Paul Handly of Six Sigma Today, Davies mentioned the three distinct elements of Six Sigma.

The interview was about deploying Six Sigma in financial and other service sectors. Is Six Sigma relevant, and should all service companies deploy Six Sigma?

Handly: Traditionally Six Sigma has been used in manufacturing, so why is it relevant in service companies?

Davies: Before answering that question directly, it would be worth clarifying what we mean by Six Sigma. I always think of Six Sigma as 3 distinct elements – the statistical element, the management philosophy and the structured approach to project management. In my experience, there’s a limited need for advanced statistics in the typical service company scenario, but the other two elements are critical. After all, Six Sigma is a method for improving quality by removing defects and their causes in business process activities. The method concentrates on those outputs which are important to customers and translates these customer needs into measurable requirements, the so-called CTQs. Then you strive to ensure that process performance meets or exceeds these requirements. It’s hard to imagine why a company serious about service would not embrace this way of thinking.

Handly: Are you suggesting all service companies should implement Six Sigma?

Davies: Definitely not. One cap does not fit all, but I do suggest companies embrace this way route—of thinking about performance against customer expectations. If they do choose to implement Six Sigma, service companies should be very selective about any element included in their programmes and should not accept the conventional view that every aspect of Six Sigma is applicable or necessary in every circumstance. At Venturehaus, our background in Financial Services and our experience of Six Sigma programmes has led us to develop an approach that selects only those elements of Six Sigma which are appropriate for the industry. We combine this approach with equally suitable elements of Lean and other best management practices. I do not believe that if it worked for GE and Motorola, for example, it can simply be replicated en masse for a UK Financial Services company. Continure reading…

To me this is a very sound advice. It’s no use jumping on the bandwagon. You have to know your operations first and think of ways to improve them. As Davies said, better yet develop a quality initiative that is suited to your processes. Many companies that do this pick from other quality methodologies and work on the strength of each. What’s important is you know your organization well.

Filed under: Services, Six Sigma Organizations, Deployment

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Six Sigma: Driving Quality

I found this article on Society of Manufacturing Engineers. It was published in February 2003, but it’s still relevant today.

According to the article, GM used Design for Six Sigma to discover and solve a problem with its 4T80E transmission. The problem was called the fourth clutch-band distress. In a transmission, there are bands and clutches that allow shifting from one gear to another. Distress means band wear or overheating.

To GM management, this problem was a warranty issue and Shawn Burns, Executive Director Powertrain/Vehicle Integration, said they are constantly attacking their top warranty problems using DFSS and Statistical Engineering.

Here’s how GM solved it using Design for Six Sigma.

Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) are two terms that GM uses in its product engineering programs. Statistical Engineering is GM’s method to analyze an existing problem and bring a solution to it, using data and a standard process that is similar to Six Sigma.

GM calls this type of work remediation–fixing problems that already exist. Design for Six Sigma is a problem-prevention tool used by product engineering to avoid the need for remediation efforts. In effect, they are eliminating problems before they occur, during the design phase. DFSS allows them to create products that will meet customer expectations under all operating conditions through robust designs that can be manufactured to the highest quality levels and are extremely reliable and durable in the customer’s hands. GM used DFSS to solve the transmission problem that other QC methods couldn’t. Continue reading…

It’s not only GM that has discovered Six Sigma and DFSS to drive their quality efforts. Many other companies are doing the same. The Financial Express’s headline recently says that Six Sigma is the most powerful methodology. This is because the basic premise of Six Sigma methodology lies in the truism that:

• All processes have variability and that uncontrolled variability is the enemy that needs to be fought hard;
• All variability has causes;
• Typically only a few causes are significant;
• To the degree that those causes can be understood - they can be controlled;
• Designs must be robust to the effects of the remaining process variation; and,
• This is true for products, processes, services, information transfer, and everything that matters.

Read more…

Filed under: Tools/Toolkits, Benefits and Savings

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Six Sigma in the Shoe Industry

By now we know the wide application of Six Sigma. Six Sigma expertise seems to be needed in almost any industry. Today, I found out that knowldege of Six Sigma is also needed in making good quality shoes.

Ecco Indonesia in East Java, for example, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of high-quality footwear. The company has gained this reputation through constant innovation and sound business principles. I’m guessing, they achieve continuous improvement through Six Sigma.

Just this month, Ecco is looking for someone to join their team and the person must be someone knowledgeable in quality strategies, particularly Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.

The Campus News of Brawijaya University announces:

SHOE INJECTION PRODUCTION HEAD (IPH)
The successful candidate will be responsible to assist the shoe injection production manager with the activity to supervise and manage all of production activity in order to meet the target of quality, cost and delivery. He/she will continuously monitor the shift performance as his/her key performance indicator.

Qualification of successful candidate:

• Graduate from Production Management, Industrial Engineering, or any other engineering degree.
• Having experience in production field on managerial position for minimum 2 years. Experience on shoe industry would be an advantage.
• Knowledge and experience on latest manufacturing management system such as Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM, GMP, etc. would be an advantage.
• Fluency in speaking and writing English.
• Good teamwork with strong leadership skill.

Filed under: Manufacturing

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Avoiding Investment “Defects” in Emerging Markets

There are both risks and opportunities of investing in emerging markets, but what’s important is not to jeopardize your operations and lose focus on your customers. Read about investing in emerging markets on Global Business Watch today.

Filed under: Events/Announcements

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Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma

There has been a lot of talk about going lean and combining it with Six Sigma. Some even doubt that these two can actually work together, and is there proof that they really do?

Personally, I see no reason why the two can’t work together. Both are about streamlining, thereby reducing waste/defect to improve processes for the ultimate customer satisfaction. This scenario is most visible in manufacturing companies. One industry that is working toward lean manufacturing and going Six Sigma is the pharmaceutical indusrty.

Just recently, Pharmaceutical Processing’s Editor-In-Chief Mike Auerbach moderated a live webcast titled Lean Manufacturing, Gaining Efficiencies and Maintaining Compliance on the Plant Floor. The panel included Bill Fitch, VP of Life Sciences, Business & Decision, who discussed how pharmaceutical manufacturers can implement lean and maintain regulatory compliance; Dr. Pankaj Mohan, Manager of Global Process Engineering at Eli Lily & Company, who talked about his firsthand experience in implementing Lean Six Sigma in a pharmaceutical production environment; and Dennis Constantinou, Senior Director of Life Science Industry Strategy at Oracle Corporation, who discussed how information technology can help in a lean enterprise transformation.

I picked up pieces of information from the excerpt that link lean manufacturing with Six Sigma.

Mike Auerbach: Bill, can you give us an example of where process improvement potentially conflicts with compliance?

Bill Fitch: That’s a good question. When we look at the value of making a change to a manufacturing process, we need to evaluate if it is a minor change or major change. If it is a minor change, simply identifying how that change impacts the quality aspects and safety aspects of the medicine, and then providing a report to FDA at the end of the year will be satisfactory. However, if it is a moderate or major change, that would require a supplement to be submitted to FDA. So at the end of the day, you need to evaluate the change that you’re making and the potential challenge that it causes from a commercialization standpoint, especially if it is a product that is already currently on the market.

Mike Auerbach: Dr. Mohan, do you think that value stream mapping is the foundation in all lean environments, and how does value stream mapping link with the DMAIC process?

Dr. Pankaj Mohan: Well, the value stream really sets or fills the hopper that feeds the DMAIC process. So instead of just doing this in a non-structured way, a value stream map can thus provide a very structured and a critical way of thinking through the whole process before you actually begin the process.

Dennis Constantinou: I’d like to comment on that. Before anyone begins any lean initiative, we really need to have an understanding of our business processes. And those business processes need to be highly defined, and not only take it from a business process, but expand that to an entire value plan. We need to be able to do that and have that highly documented and be aware of those processes to the nth degree in order for us to go in and implement any type of solution. Thereby, we can go in and even perform that cost benefit analysis that you were talking about, and being able to do that. Without that, I find it will be very difficult to approach a lean initiative in any kind of structured manner.

Mike Auerbach: Is software validation at the enterprise level and manufacturing data gathering level a stumbling block to implementing IT solutions with lean and six sigma?

Bill Fitch: I would say absolutely not. Does it add additional complexity? Well, sure. Whenever you make a change, you have to deal with evaluating, taking your worst approach and looking at what the current system is, how the system supports the business to make a determination if revalidation is necessary or not. But I think that is something that is inherent in the business and those changes are something that have to be dealt with. Simply being pragmatic about it is the way that you need to approach it.

Dr. Pankaj Mohan: I personally feel that there is no lack of data collection. We can collect collectively in this industry a lot of data. The challenge is to convert this data into knowledge. That is where the various levels of data technology interaction happens. I think that the key challenge is basically taking the data forward and converting it back into useful knowledge that can help lean and can help the process.

Mike Auerbach: How do you reconcile the massive amounts of paperwork generated during validation with the concepts of lean manufacturing?

Bill Fitch: That is a difficult one to reconcile because obviously the very exercise of validation is rigorous development of documentation. So I don’t really know if you can apply the principles of lean to validation. Again, it is a set of discreet activities and different types of documents that have to be put together to show evidence/proof that a system has been developed, tested and functioning and operates for its intended purpose. Unfortunately, you can’t do that with less documents. However, you can take a risk-based approach and be pragmatic about it. In the old days, people would validate all of the functionality of a system. Now the approach is slightly different in that we identify where the regulations impact the functionality or how the system is used. And we’re able to scale validation accordingly, so we don’t do necessarily testing of everything. We don’t conduct the same types of tests on all of the different functionality aspects of the system. So, I guess in a way, I don’t know if I would call that lean, but it is pragmatic.

Dr. Pankaj Mohan: I mean, I personally feel that the validation is crying to be leaned. Many companies have taken a lot of initiatives. I think the key here is to kind of set up the framework with risk-based approach, and then have an efficient documentation trail and execution protocol.

Here’s the entire log of the webcast.

Filed under: Tools/Toolkits, Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, Data

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