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Running head: RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Research Final - Six Sigma Success: Service versus Manufacturing Pearl Barger-Perchinske Bryant & Stratton College ENGL305: Research and Writing III Prof. Pase April 12, 2012

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..3 Six Sixma Background..3 Research Problem Statement....6 Research Question and Objective ....................................................................................... 6 Literature Review................................................................................................................ 6 Research Design.................................................................................................................. 6 Data Collection. .................................................................................................................. 7 Expected Results ................................................................................................................. 8 Significance/Implications ................................................................................................... 9 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 9 Addendums10

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Introduction The following research proposal is a study presented to review the impacts of Six Sigma on service industries versus manufacturing industries. Six Sigma was originally intended for manufacturing industries alone. The research question will review the Six Sigma background and history, studies conducted that show improvements in service industries and manufacturing industries and implementation processes in both industries. Along with review, studies associated with the different industries, data analysis and outcomes of previous studies will be presented. While many of these studies use variables such as size of the organization, there are not any significant research studies on one industry versus another industry. The research proposal is suggested to prove or disprove that Six Sigma has recently provided the same impacts of process improvement significance for a service oriented organization as it does in the manufacturing environment. Through the research proposal, the outcome is to research the benefits associated with utilizing Six Sigma and in turn??? Six Sigma Background What is Six Sigma? Six Sigma is a tool utilized in process improvement for TQM (total quality management). While there are other forms of process improvement, Six Sigmas approach requires the entirety of all employees to be involved. It varies from other processes such as PDCA (plan, do, check, act). Where The Six Sigma process starts with identifying the problem, PDCA starts with the actual plan process (ASQ, n.d., para. 10). If the organization has to research what their potential areas of error are, then this process would be considered Six Sigma using the DMAIC approach of define, measure, analyze, improve and control (ASQ, n.d., para. 6).

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

History Kaizen was a first process of a type of Six Sigma that provided continuous process improvement but did not solve complex issues for organizations. Only short-term continuous improvement projects are successful with Kaizen. In addition to the short-term effects of Kaizen, it was found that Kaizen was a form of culture changes and could not be properly measured mathematically. Thus the form of Six Sigma is introduced as a tool of measurement (Neese, 2007). The Aveta Business Institute of Six Sigma Online, presents the Six Sigma history as dating back to the early industrial era (Aveta Business Institute, 2012). The process of Six Sigma was copyrighted by Motorola. Six Sigmas original concept was that if a manufacturing process was three sigma deviations from the mean the manufacturing process then required a process correction (Aveta Business Institute, 2012, para. 3). Research Problem Statement Can Six-Sigma make the same improvement impacts in service oriented businesses as in manufacturing environments? Research Question and Objective Can Six Sigma produce the same process improvement results in service industries as in its originally intended manufacturing environment? Its implementation has not changed from the deviation measurements, therefore, how are the measurements the same in finding final outcomes of process improvement? Implications Businesses, have for many years, realized that customer satisfaction from zero-defect goods and services holds the key to economic success, however the measurement process of Six

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Sigma improvements seems to be the research difficulty in presenting defined success for companies (Tennant, 2001, p.1). Where this process is intended for use in service and manufacturing industries to improve on customer satisfaction through zero-defects, how is this measured? It is with this concept that critics challenge both the value and substance of this fresh approach (p. 1). Solution to Implications of Measurement Measuring success of Six Sigma improvement process in service and manufacturing environments a measurement of statistical sampling must be completed. First, the measuring of the original process that is aimed for improvement is measured through a statistical method that involves drawing up an optimum specification for each of the processes within the organization, then using statistical analysis to reduce deficiencies in the processes, defects in products and non-compliance in services to almost zero ( Sumer, 2011, para. 1). Literature Review There are various opinions of the success of implementing the Six Sigma process in certain industries. Some reviews poised that Six Sigma is not as profitable in smaller industries due to the costs and time needed to implemented the process in full. A specific article, reviewed for this case and point, explains the measurement of service industries and manufacturing industries based on the theory of Six Sigma. Where the value of 3.4 defects per millions is the measurement of Six Sigma, this article explains further on measuring defects in any industry with multiple part production or service sectors (Moosa, 2010). The two measuring capacities in this article explain the difference in DPU (defects per unit), DPO (defects per opportunity) and DPMO (defects per million opportunity) (p. 8). The author explains that measuring defects depends on how many processes or parts are involved in the total output of the product or

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

service. So it is apparent that the sense of DPU is different from the sense of DPMO (p. 8). For a manufactured product, the opportunities are the number of parts (p. 8). Similarly, the opportunities in a service environment may be the number of questions in a customer feedback form. A defect may be any rating of 1 or 2 (on a scale of 5) (p. 8). These measurements will taken into consideration and applied to the survey included in this proposal. http://www.shmula.com/inventory-management-service-manufacturing/8172/ Research Design Secondary data will be the only form of statistical research available for the research question. Two types of statistical measurements are normally used in measuring Six Sigma processes, where the applied statistics is data-driven. Two types of statistics are addressed in problem solving: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Moosa, 2010, p.6). As studies of Six Sigma combine findings from previous studies of data collection with the solution to implications of measurement.
Descriptive statistics is used for summarising and characterising data. It provides quantitative measure of the characteristics (such as the average and standard deviation) of sample data. It has useful application in almost all areas where quantitative data are collected. It can provide information about the product, process or some other aspect of the QMS, and may be used in management reviews, for example summarising key measures of product specs, describing process performance, characterising delivery time or response rate, and displaying distribution. It usually includes the use of mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation, process capability index, different types of distributions and control charts. On the other hand, inferential statistics is about studying the sample (customer feedback, employees feedback, process data, experimental data) and then interpreting results about the whole phenomenon or data (long-term process). It also aims to explore the relationships (associations), especially causal relations followed by their validation. Six Sigma extensively utilises these techniques, such as sampling techniques, probabilities, test of hypothesis, analysis of variance, correlation, regression analysis, and design of experiments. These techniques, if taught to managers, raise the level of their analytical capabilities tremendously. Six Sigma includes the investigation of causal relations in complex systems through the use of these statistical techniques.

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Moosa, K. (2010). Critical analysis of Six Sigma implementation. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence,

21(7), 745-759.

Data Collection
o o o o o o

Sample selection and size Data collection method Instrumentation Procedures Data Analysis - Emphasis on qualitative and quantitative. What was this in comparison to? Ethical requirements

Six Sigma Impact Survey (Addendum A).


Nonthaleerak, P., & Hendry, L. (2008). Exploring the six sigma phenomenon using multiple case study evidence.

International Journal Of Operations & Production Management, 28(3), 279-303.

Great question when considering Six Sigma can be utilized in companies that arent registered as certified. However, the only way to gain access to Six Sigma users would be through certification programs. One form of communicating with companies that utilize Six Sigma would be through ASG (American Quality Society). ASQ partners with ANSI-ASG national Accreditation Board (ANAB and ACLASS brands), RABQSA International, U.S. Standards Group on QEDS, and World Partners (ASQ, 2012). Having a wide partnership of this type would the starting point to find companies to survey. Results will be given to the partners to sell Six Sigma certification. Six Sigma is becoming a proven approach for businesses and organizations to improve their performance. The spectrum of companies actively engaging in Six Sigma today is wide from industrials like Celanese, Caterpillar, GE, Honeywell, and 3M to service/retail organizations like Starwood Hotels, Sears, and Home Depot. Six Sigma has even started in the financial industry with Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase initiating major deployments in the past two years. Probably the most exciting area is in the public and healthcare sectors with success stories emerging from city government and John Hopkins Medical. http://www.statease.com/pubs/sixsigma&DOE.pdf

The Six Sigma Method and Design of Experiments

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

By Peter Peterka (www.6sigma.us) Manufacturing: small versus large manufacturing environments http://www.shmula.com/inventory-management-service-manufacturing/8172/ Lean Six Sigma for service. How to http://www.fcrm.ir/mads/ebk1040.pdf Sample Populations that were used for the research. Why were they used? Various service and manufacturing organization that utilize Six Sigma. Expected Results The hypothesis is that the results of the proposed study will show that benefits are the same in both industries. The results are significantly the same in regards to costs and time savings. Where Six Sigmas entire outcome is to decrease defects of products and/or services by 3.4 DPMO. Pilot Study Comparison This pilot study example shows that while there are not many of the surveyed companies that formally utilize Six Sigma, the ones that did reported success. Of the 48 respondents who answered the question, 38 reported process improvements and savings; the other 10 either hadn't completed projects, had programs that were floundering because they lacked management support, or didn't have figures yet (Dusharme, 2001, para. 12). The findings also suggested that smaller companies may not have the resources to conduct process improvement in Six Sigma form. This is due to its requirement of having an entire team dedicated to the process. In applying this pilot study to the research question, additional surveys would need to be received and separated by service versus manufacturing, rather than comparing the size of the companies.

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Significance/Implications More utilization of six sigma. Differentiating between Six Sigma and other process improvement options for organizations. Increased use of Six Sigma in service industry. Measured by level of significance testing hypothesis. Conclusion All prove results of customer satisfaction which result in a bottom line impact. Customer satisfaction = customer retention = profitability growth. It is not the type of company, service versus manufacturing that differentiates the impacts of process improvement. It is the type of improvement and form of measurement that the company is focused on that decides whether or not Six Sigma is the appropriate form of process improvement to be utilized. Through the survey and obtained results, the overall impact of those companies that utilize Six Sigma may increase the training of belts in their organization.

RESEARCH FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

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References ASQ. (n.d.). Six Sigma. Retrieved from http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/sixsigma/overview/overview.html Aveta Business Institute. (2012). The history and development of Six Sigma. Retrieved from http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/articles/thehistory-and-development-of-six-sigma.html Dusharme, D. (2001). Six Sigma survey: Breaking through the Six Sigma hype. Quality Digest. Retrieved from http://www.qualitydigest.com/nov01/html/sixsigmaarticle.html Moosa, K. (2010). Critical analysis of Six Sigma implementation. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 21(7), 745-759. Neese, M. (2007). Establishing a Kaizen Culture. Circuits Assembly, 18(11), 57-58. Sumer, S. (2011). Implementing Six Sigma Techniques in Management Institutes. Advances In Management, 4(2), 25-27. Tennant, G. (2001). Six Sigma: Spc and tqm in manufacturing and services. Gower Publishing Limited: Burlington, VT.

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