Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Six Sigma advocates a 5 stage process for new product development. The complete NPD process
1. Concept Study. This is done to uncover unknowns about the market and technology.
2. Feasibility investigations are done to determine the limitations of the concept.
3. Development of new product includes specifications, needs of customer, study of target
markets etc.
4. Maintenance activities following delivery.
5. Continous learning through status reports and evaluation.
According to a old (1993) study, new products account for 40% of sales and 46% of profits. For every 7
Benchmarking and analysis of KPI’s against best practices is critical to the success of any internal
service delivery organization. Almost every other organization has some sort of KPI’s of some sort in
place to measure and monitor performance. Metrics management is also key skills to successful
Six Sigma advocates three levels of metrics: business level metrics, operations level metrics and
process metrics. Some of the metrics Six Sigma suggests are here.
These metrics are typically financial and operational summaries for shareholders and management.
Balanced scorecards is widely used for business level metrics. IT can be viewed either as a cost center
or a profit center in companies. Based on this financial management for solution delivery is responsible
for:
These relate to cost, time and resource to produce products and maintain services. Examples specific
to IT include:
Process Metrics
I will attempt to introduce Six Sigma and various training programs available to get trained on Six
Sigma with a series of simple Q&A’s. Refer to my post for additional information on Six Sigma
certification
Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that focusses on producing and delivering near perfect
products and services. Its a business improvement approach that seeks to find and eliminate causes of
Six Sigma measures defects in million ‘opportunities’ and assigns ‘levels’. There are six such levels. An
organizations is said to be at 6 sigma level if it has 3.4 defects per million opportunities. This is the
highest level an organization can attain. Average American company is at 4 sigma level. That is
The six sigma steps for many organizations are described as DMAIC:
Motorola developed Six Sigma in 1987. Dr Mikel Harry is credited with the development of Six Sigma in
Motorola.
Short answer is; yes it does !!. Here are some reported facts on how Six Sigma made a difference in
big corporations:
• Six Sigma is believed to have saved Morotola $940 million over 3 years.
• HoneyWell reported a estimated saving of $1.75 billion in year 1997
• GE reported a saving of $1.75 billion in 1998 and a accumulated savings of $2.5 billion in
1998.
Why does Six Sigma work ?
An average black/green belt will save a company about $175k, if there are around 5 to 6 projects per
year. In big corp’s there is about one black belt per 100 employees. So plenty of opportunities there..
Supervisors – Overview
When times are good and when times are bad. When times are bad, focus is on survival. At the same
time its important to realize that a company cannot loose money because of poor quality, especially at
bad times. When times are good, resources are typically dedicated to take advantage of the
opportunity.Improvement projects are typically last on list.However customers are not likely to to
techniques and engage with customer. When the performance is OK, set goals and monitor them.
Simplify processes. When performance is high, benchmark with other firms, develop and communicate
Six Sigma advocates a holistic view on metrics. After the metrics are established, project teams must
I recently successfully completed my Six Sigma green belt certification (CSSGB) administered by ASQ.
While I did blog about some of the tools and techniques of Six Sigma in the past, I decided to do more
to help out any one aspiring to be a Six Sigma green belt. This and a next few posts are my attempts
to provide a comprehensive overview to anyone attempting the Six Sigma Green belt exam or to
anyone just simply trying to learn more about basics of Six Sigma.
The test is divided into 10 modules. Following are the topics in the exam with the % weight for the
topic in exam.
(As I blog about these topics, I will edit this post to add the links)
CSSGB Primer is a must have reference to attempt this exam. This is the only book/material I reviewed
to prepare for the exam in addition attending a course at my local community college.
I swear by mindmapping technique. I used mind maps successfully to prepare for my PRINCE2
certifications.
I repeated the technique for this certification too and here is the mindmap I created.
Here is a good mindmap I created while preparing for my Six Sigma Green belt certification. This map
Types are
• Central tendency
• Dispersion
• Probability Density
• Frequency Distribution
• Cumulative Distribution
Central Tendency:
Measures of dispersion
Probabilty Density
Types of data:
1. Attribute data : Integers, discrete, less complex skill levels, less storage, less desirable
o E.g:Defects, scratches etc
2. Variable data: Real numbers, continuous, more complex skill levels, more storage, more
desirable
o E.g: Inches, PSI, Total scratch length etc
3. Locational data
• Automatic
• Manual
Data coding:
• Add, Subtract, Multiply coding
• Coding by substitution
• Coding by truncation
This tool can aid with the prioritisation of key process input variables.
This shows which of the input variables have greatest effect on output variables.
It enables all team members to view the process in the same light.
Advantages are:
FMEA’s are used for new designs and technologies and modification for existing process or design. It
can be used in conjunction with Pareto Analysis, which is used to prioritize potential failure modes.
• Decide on process
• Study process
• Identify potential failure modes
• Rate severity, occurance and detection levels
• Compute risk priority number and prioritize (RPN)
• Implement corrective actions and re-evaluate RPN”s
• Update the table
Benefits:
Types of FMEA:
QFD transforms customer needs (the voice of the customer) into engineering characteristics (and
appropriate test methods) of a product or service, prioritizing each product/service characteristic while
Its a five step process for Six Sigma design for new products. Its useful when product or process is not
With DMAIC the six sigma analyst takes an existing process and follows a series of steps to improve its
current state.
IDOV (Identify, Design, Optimize and Validate) quantifies the steps necessary to achieve six sigma
In the area of new product development, here are some commonly accepted new product terms
1. New-to-world products : These are inventions and discoveries such as laser printers etc.
2. New category products : These are products that are not new to the world, but to the
company.
3. Additions to product lines : These are extensions to the company’s existing product line like
diet coke.
4. Product improvements : Improvements to existing products.
5. Repositioning’ s : Products that are re targeted for new use. Baking soda as a deodorant
6. Cost Reductions: New products replacing exisitng one’s, with lower cost.
TOC Concepts
Steps of TOC
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) promotes group actives for greater euipment effectiveness with
operators sharing responsibility for routine machine inspection, cleaning and maintenenace.
1. Equipment Failure
2. Setup and adjustments
3. Idling and minor stoppages
4. Reduced speed
5. Process defects
6. Reduced yields
Kanban is “Sign” in Japaneese. It originates from Toyota. It provides for material control for the factory
floor.
Kanban is intended to provide a product to customer with shortest possible lead time. Inventory and
lead times are reduced thru leveling of production. Kanban’s are generally cards to provide some
indication of parts, time of delivery etc. Cards control flow of production and inventory.
October 1, 2007
Posted by Coolguy in Six Sigma.
add a comment
measures. Balanced scorecard focuses company’s attention on four perspectives of vision and
strategy:
1. Financial : How will we appear to shareholders ? ~ ROI, Cash Flow, Sales backlog
2. Internal Business Process: What business process should we excel at ? ~ Reduce Rework,
Cycle time, Setup times
3. Learning and growth: How will we sustain our ability to change and improve ? ~Employee
surveys, Employee suggestions, training budgets.
4. Customers: How should we appear to our customers ? ~ Customer surveys, complaints logged,
Market Share.
Profit
• Stockholder value
• Capital investments
• ROI
• Personnel costs
• Sales
• Profit Margins
Cycle Times:
Marketplace Response:
• Market Survey
• Analysis of returns
• New product development
• Customer retention
• Customer Losses
• Facilities Rating
Resources
Ernst & Young measured 500 companies in 1992, on three categories: Profitability, Productivity &
Quality. They concluded that Six Sigma approach achieves best results if implemented by high-
performance organizations. Medium and Low performance companies should consider some building
• Low Performance: Concentrate on basics, Problem Solving, Cost Mgmt, Customer innovation
• Medium Performance : Set goals & monitor, Process simplification, Department improvement
teams, involve middle management.
• High Performance: Benchmark against other firms, empower employees, Communicate
strategic plans, continuously improve.
Average American company is at level four of six sigma. This is equivalent to 0.6% defective or 6.210
Six sigma can be defined as “Business improvement approach that seeks to find and eliminate causes
of mistakes or defects in business processes by focusing on outputs that are of critical importance to
customers”
In Six Sigma, failure rate is defined as defects per opportunity (DPO) or Defects per million
opportunities (DPM).
Defect Levels:
1. Cost reductions
2. Market-share growth
3. Defect reductions
4. Culture changes
5. Productivity improvements
6. Customer relations imporvements
7. Product & service improvements
8. Cycle-time reductions
Motorola credits Six-Sigma to savings of $940 M over 3 years. It discovered a 10 to 1 payback for Six
5 Why Technique
Simplest technique to indentify the root cause of a problem. You ask “Why ?” for 5 times (can vary) to
get to the bottom of a problem. When you have answer to a question, you can frame the answer into
another “Why” Question. Its one of the most simplest techniques to identify a root for a problem. For
this technique to work, questions should be concise and focussed. Its effective for solving problems
Can be used when you have a complex problem having multiple causes and when you need to
brainstorm to identify possible causes. First step is to frame a Why question stating the problem and
place it at the head. Draw a horizontal line leading to the head and vertical lines leading to the main
line. Label vertical lines with categories or departments where the problem may have originated.
Some standard categories for service industries are : Policies, procedures, people and strategies.
1. Brainstorming
2. Prioritizing
3. Action plans
4M version of the plan has Manpower, Material, Method, Machine. 5M and E has measurement and
Environment exra.
CTQ focuses on key metrics of customer satisfaction. Success or failure of a product depends on the
ability of a company to identify CTQ’s and translate them into product specifications. Typically used to
CTQ
• CTQ (Critical to Quality) characteristics of a product are the key quantifiable characteristics
that should be met to meet customer satisfaction.
• CTQ’s ideally have upper and lower limits and come from qualitative feedback that come from
customers
• Value-added features of a product are add-ons that may not be perceived as critical to quality.
• Performance : Tyically measures in speed, accessibility, savings in cost & labor etc.
• Features
• Reliability : Perform at an expected level without breakdown
• Conformance : Conform to pre-established quality standards.
• Durability: Lenght in time a product should perfor, before it deteriorates in quality
• Servicability: Ease, Speed and convenience of service and courtesy of service personnel
• Aesthetics : Look & feel. Smell, sound and taste where applicable
• Perceived value: Created in customers mind based on product desciption and advertised
features.
Includes
1. Statement of work
2. Statement of resources
3. Statement of expected benefits
Statement of work
Statement of resources
and helps set a comparable limit of a projects outcome. It defines sucess level.
• Incerased sales
• Higher quality
• Quicker turn-around of product
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Higher employee productivity and morale
1. Champion
2. Quality Leader
3. Black Belt
4. Process Owner
5. Green belts
All functions of role should be present and defined if all the members of team are not present.
Selection of champion:
4. Department heads are not good candidates as they may not be familiar with cross-functional
issues.
5. Important attributes:
6. Responsibilities:
Black belts/ Greenbelts : Technical owners for Six Sigma. Black Belts work full time on six sigma.
Stands for:
• Define: State the goals. Can include customer requirements, available resources, benefits,
process maps etc.
• Measure : Measure the impact t of the problem in terms of defects, missed opportunities and
affected areas.
• Analyze: Analyze the data using data analysis tools like Histograms, Pareto charts etc
• Improve: Test various solutions to improve the root cause of the problem. Plan for full scale
implementation if pilots show positive effect on the root cause.
• Control: Create detailed control plans to maintain the levels of quality achieved in impr0ve
phase. Communicate the results.
DMAIC is used when a problem can be resolved by improving and existing process or when you need a
new process.
• Clearly defined
• Impact measured in terms of time to fix and delay it causes to product delivery
• Can be resolved by applying common quality mgmt techniques
• Resolving the problem should have visible impact on customer satisfaction
Kano analysis is a tool which can be used to classify and prioritize customer needs. Its named after its
determine which requirements are important. All identified requirements may not be of equal
importance to all customers. Kano analysis can help you rank requirements for different customers to
This is useful because customer needs are not all of the same kind, not all have the same importance,
and are different for different populations. The results can be used to prioritize your effort in satisfying
different customers.
Note that the Kano model can be used to help identify customer segments, based on the relative
priority of each segment’s requirements. Once segments have been defined, using both needs analysis
and more tradition criteria such as gender, company size, etc., the Kano model can be re-applied to
Kano Analysis Model groups customer requirements into three basic categories:
• All dissatisfiers
• Maximum Satisfiers
• As many delighters as possible within marketable cost of product
Dissatisfiers: Attributes of a product that customers take for granted. Customer will not buy a product
Satisfiers: Customers uses these to rate a product against its competition. E.g: Price of a TV
Delighters: Going beyond customer expectations. Delighters are typically provided free or with limited
cost. Delighters introduce novelty to the product. E.g: A TV with games etc.
Six Sigma:
Six Sigma methodology provides the techniques and tools to improve the capability and reduce the
defects in any process. It was started in Motorola, in its manufacturing division, where millions of parts
Six Sigma methodology improves any existing business process by constantly reviewing and re-tuning
the process. To achieve this, Six Sigma uses a methodology known as DMAIC (Define opportunities,
Six Sigma Strives for perfection.It allows for only 3.4 defects per million opportunities for each product
or service transaction.
Six Sigma experts (Green Belts and Black Belts) evaluate a business process and determine ways to
improve upon the existing process. Six Sigma experts can also design a brand new business process
(http://www.isixsigma.com/ca/mbb_bb/)
Six Sigma improves the process performance, decreases variation and maintains consistent quality of
the process output. This leads to defect reduction and improvement in profits, product quality and
customer satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction
Source: http://sixsigmatutorial.com/Six-Sigma/Six-Sigma-Tutorial.aspx