Innovation of the Week: Husky Fried Ride Bus Wins Innovation Award
Posted by: meikah | 18 June 2009 | 9:02 pm
Earth Day festivities Friday, April 18th, at St. Cloud State University.
SCSU competed with 64 other MnSCU schools who compete with academic, social and other innovative programs.
Even though it was SCSU’s first year in the program and they did not create this bus with the award in mind, they won “The Most Innovative Program.”
The bus was considered to be one of the most innovative programs that the competition has seen in years.
The Husky Fried Ride bus is easily distinguished with its colorful exterior which displays a picture of French fries rising from the gas tank.
An estimated 120,000 students, faculty and staff get a chance to ride the environmentally friendly bus on the Husky Shuttle park-and-ride routes and four different Campus Clipper routes that go through student housing areas in St. Cloud.
Filed under: Innovation, Innovation Update, Sustainable Business, Transportation
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Six Sigma Companies News: Johnson Controls Wins $12M Energy Efficiency State Contract
Posted by: meikah | 18 June 2009 | 8:14 pm
Here’s another edition of Six Sigma Companies News.
Johnson Controls Inc., a global leader in automotive experience, building efficiency and power solutions, launched Six Sigma in 2000 as a step to fulfill their mission, which is to exceed their customers’ increasing requirements.
Well, nine years later, Johnson Controls may have made good on that promise and took it to another level. This time they’re embarking on energy efficiency.
Washington Business Journal reports:
Maryland State Police hired Johnson Controls Inc. for electric upgrades that will cut energy consumption by 26 percent.
The state Board of Public Works approved the $12 million contract Wednesday.
Johnson will tackle lighting and water conservation retrofits, heating and cooling system upgrades, digital controls and renewable technologies for the police’s Reisterstown headquarters and barracks across the state.
About Six Sigma Companies News:
This is a new feature on SixSig that will highlight news about Six Sigma Companies. So always stay tuned!
Filed under: Johnson Controls, Six Sigma News, Six Sigma Organizations, Sustainable Business
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HP’s Christian Verstraete: Do Six Sigma Across the Supply Chain
Posted by: meikah | 18 June 2009 | 12:59 am
Industry Week features Christian Verstraete who started with HP as systems engineer.
The interview goes:
Verstraete is now pushing for lean to see “how it can be incorporated into the wider view of the complete ecosystem.” That view must extend beyond the boundaries of the enterprise and reach across the whole supply chain.
For example, he warns, “Today companies must have a handle on risk management and mitigation across the supply chain while simultaneously reducing the variants. Rather than do Six Sigma within the company, do Six Sigma across the supply chain.”
Filed under: HP, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, Supply Chain
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Wordless Wednesday: Poolside Cottage
Posted by: meikah | 17 June 2009 | 7:06 pm
Click on the photo to know more about Elena’s Inland Resort & Restaurant, where the poolside cottage can be found.
Filed under: General, Wordless Wednesday
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Greening Through Lean Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 15 June 2009 | 11:16 pm
Green initiatives are easier to achieve through Lean Six Sigma.
IT Web Reports:
As part of the Smarter Planet initiative spearheaded by IBM, the global IT giant spent two years developing a solution that helps companies monitor and reduce carbon emissions.
Niall Brady, Green Sigma worldwide technical development manager at IBM, said at the conference that the solution has modified LSS principles into a power management analysis solution.
…
“Things have changed, companies are trying to survive and energy saving and cost is key to that. In the context of energy usage, businesses need to identify opportunities through processes where they can make potential savings. The green Six Sigma management system allows a business to feel confident that its energy is under control and can see benefits through LSS principles.”
Filed under: Environment, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Organizations, Sustainable Business
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Six Sigma Companies News: GE and its Ecomagination Commitment
Posted by: meikah | 15 June 2009 | 10:29 pm
Here’s another edition of Six Sigma Companies News. Next to improving processes is the initiative of going green. Companies are more and more getting conscious of its carbon emission and the other effects they have on the environment.
GE, truly a pioneering and a Six Sigma advocate at that, is also succeeding in their green initiatives. Recently, the company announced that it has “surpassed its first ecomagination goal to reduce its own greenhouse gas intensity, and is making progress against its other goals for revenue growth, water and technology innovation.”
Reliable Plant reports:
In 2005, GE made a series of ecomagination commitments to be achieved sequentially in the years 2008, 2010 and 2012. The first commitment was to reduce its operational greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity 30 percent in 2008. The company surpassed this goal by reducing GHG intensity 41 percent. Greenhouse gas intensity is the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to Company revenue. GE also has reduced its absolute GHG emissions 13 percent and improved its energy efficiency 37 percent since 2005, keeping on track to meet its 2012 operational commitments in these areas.
With the release of the 2008 ecomagination annual report, GE also announced that it increased its portfolio of ecomagination products and services by one-third, to 80; grew revenues of ecomagination offerings 21 percent, to $17 billion; and increased its investment in the research and development of clean tech solutions 27 percent, to $1.4 billion.
Filed under: Environment, GE, Six Sigma Organizations
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Six Sigma and My Haircut
Posted by: meikah | 15 June 2009 | 9:19 pm
A week ago, I had a haircut. I didn’t like it that much because my hair cutter cut the front part too short for my comfort. Now I have a shorter and all-messed up do, and I already miss my long curly hair. I am even thinking of having those expensive salon services (that is, hair rebond) to get a straight and more manageable hair.
But I’m thinking of my healthy hair. I don’t want to ruin it. So now, I just apply lots of hair conditioner and then clip it here and there. 
This experience makes me think of Six Sigma. Here’s why.
I have been with the same hair cutter for 15 years or so, and if I were to count the number of times that I didn’t like his service, it would only total to two (2).
So if I were to assess my hair cutter’s service, assuming that I got a hair cut twice a year, I’d have a total of 30 hair cuts. And out of that 30 hair cuts, I only got 2 which I didn’t like.
So what is the sigma of my hair cutter? 
Filed under: General, Personal Thoughts, Six Sigma
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111th Philippine Independence Day
Posted by: meikah | 12 June 2009 | 9:18 pm
A depiction of the flag that was raised during the declaration. This was the basis for the flag as currently used by the Philippines today. [Source]
The Philippines was under colonial rule for 400 years under the Spaniards, 46 years under the Americans, and 4 years under the Japanese. Because of this, many cultural and social practices had influenced the Filipino people.It’s the first country in Asia to gain democracy, and 3rd largest English-speaking nation after the U.S. and U.K.
I remember Philippines used to be on top of the game among Asian nations, then we slowly dropped from the race. Too bad since we are supposed to have the best-educated leaders, finance people and economists. When we hear them talk, they seem to know what needs to be done and all. Perhaps we are all talk and no action.
Filed under: General, Philippines, SixSig
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Wordless Wednesday: The Santan Wonder
Posted by: meikah | 10 June 2009 | 7:40 pm
Filed under: General, Wordless Wednesday
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3 Ingredients to a Successful Lean Program
Posted by: meikah | 9 June 2009 | 11:38 pm
Over at Quality Mag, Joseph A. De Feo shares the three ingredients to a successful Lean Program.
- Define Lean. It is important that you have a broad definition of lean. Lean is defined not just as a means to improve a process but as a way to manage an organization with the most optimal use of resources to meet customer demand while maintaining the lowest possible internal waste and non-value added activity, thereby providing error-free, quality products or services to the customer.
- Create Value Streams to Meet Customer Demand. A value stream is a detailed visual representation of many processes and enables a project team to see the waste and opportunities for improvement within the stream more easily. It provides more insight into the cost of value as seen from the stakeholder’s point of view.
- Build on Six Sigma Programs. Use the Six Sigma DMAIC steps provides a common roadmap for lean.
