Proven Results ...

Page 1

Northrop Grumman
A Black Belt candidate was able to:

Goal: Decrease delivery cycle time of sub-assembled kits from storage to

new product manufacturing line

Identified improvement capabilities and increased manufacturing capacity

from 60% to over 90%-- in 4 months.

Direct
Directproject
projectsavings
savingsat
at$1.4
$1.4million
millionfirst
firstyear.
year.

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 2

Northrop Grumman
A different Northrop Grumman Black Belt candidate was able to:
Goal: Seek radical improvements in soldering processes of power
supply component to alleviate scrap and rework
Applied analytical tools uncovered significant process improvement
opportunities during solder/attach process that allowed continued
design to meet all customer specifications.

Robust
Robustattach
attachprocesses
processessaved
saved$1.3
$1.3million
million

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 3

Caterpillar
Corporation
At Caterpillar, a Black Belt applied the tools of Six Sigma to:
Goal: Reduce the total scrap and rework costs due to improper welds of its
hoist cylinder assemblies used in its off-highway trucks by 80%.
Applied analytical tools uncovered significant issues pertaining to low heat
being applied during the welding process. Designed experiments were used to
validate the identified issues and implemented to optimize the welding process.

Improved
Improvedprocess
processsaved
saved$384,000
$384,000annually
annually

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 4

United States Mint

In March, 2000, a Black Belt focused on inadequate inspection processes:
Goal: High visual defects of blanks in the manufacturing of half-dollar coins led to
poor manufacturing yields. Inadequate quality systems also contributed to high
inspection costs. The goal was to increase manufacturing yields and reduce the
inspection costs by $230,000 used in this process
Data gathered in analyzing critical inspection processes uncovered three specific
areas of variation for defects to pass through the system. Main effects and correlation
and regression analysis conducted validated dataexperiments were conducted to
validate findings.

Improved
Improvedinspection
inspectionprocesses
processessaved
saved$511,000
$511,000
Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 5

EG & G
Four Black Belt candidates initiated a project to quickly
destruct stored nerve and blister agents.
Applied tools of Six Sigma to reduce number of furnace
hours by 235.

Project
Projectsavings
savingsestimated
estimatedat
at$1.2
$1.2million
millionfirst
firstyear.
year.
(235
(235hours
hoursxx$5,200/hr.)
$5,200/hr.)

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 6

Timken
Company
Goal: Reduce significant cycle and processing times between different
manufacturing phases of bearings
Critical measurement system implemented; key analysis identified tooling
and gage manufacturing as best choice for improvement opportunities

Combined
Combinedelimination
eliminationand
andredesign
redesignof
oftooling
toolingitems
itemsat
at
critical
criticaloperations
operationsreduced
reducedprocessing
processingby
by35%
35%--$681,000
$681,000
annual
annualcost
costsavings.
savings.

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 7

Buckhorn Rubber
Goal: Inadequate on-time delivery performance fallen to levels where
customers have indicated dissatisfaction. The goal was to reduce the
number of days from order entry of injection molded products to shipment,
by 50% and NOT affect delivery performance
Full scope of Six Sigma methodologies and techniques utilized to attack
and eliminate inefficiencies in order scheduling and packing.

Result
Resultof
ofSix
SixSigma
Sigmaactivities
activitiesrealized
realizedannualized
annualizedcost
cost
savings
savingsof
ofnearly
nearly$1.225
$1.225million
millionin
inshipment
shipmentgains
gainsand
and
increased
increasedcustomer
customerbusiness.
business.
Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

APICS Customer Service

Center

Page 8

Goal: Reduce cycle time of all periodic invoicing and billing

processes by 60%.

Process capability studies indicated clear technology problems

between billing systems
Hypotheses testing revealed that the billing cycle was critical to
the processing interval, affecting reconciliation, the account
manager, and total days to process.

Annualized
Annualizedsavings
savingsof
ofcycle
cycletime
timereduction
reductionestimated
estimatedat
at$1.6
$1.6
million
millionat
at60%
60%reduction
reduction

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Results of 600 Project/Processes

Page 9

500,000

50%

Average +68%
Improvement
75%

200,000

150,000

Auto - Avg. 168,000 ppm

Aero - Avg. 200,000 ppm

Defect-Free Yield (%)

Defects PPM

300,000

EMS - Avg. 78% Yield

98%

75,000

January

February

March

April

The entire organization succeeds!

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.

Proven Results ...

Page 10

Allied
Signal
Implemented in 1994 for operations excellence
Initial 4-month implementation; 600 projects reduced defects 68%!
Saves $175 million on bottom line in 1995--$1.2 billion in 1996
Savings noted did not include overhead, inventory, indirect charges--total impact is even larger

Expects
Expectsto
tosave
save$1.8
$1.8billion
billionannually
annually(6%
(6%of
ofsales
salesrevenue)
revenue)
linking
linkingto
toproduct
productdesign
designand
andcustomer
customerservice.
service.

Measure

Analyze

Improve

Control

2001 American Society for Quality.

All Rights Reserved.