Six Sigma Deployment

We have written a great book about Implementation Planning, Management Involvement, Six Sigma tools, training, coaching, strategic planning for those of you who are interested in achievement of your desired business results and increasing your profitability.

Six Sigma Deployments, by Adams, Gupta, and Wilson
Learn How to Maximize your Profits with this Practical Guide to Six Sigma Implementation!

  ORDER your book TODAY to receive   20% OFF   the cover price and take advantage of FREE SHIPPING.

You simply use offer code: 72340 at http://www.bh.com/engineering/default.asp?isbn=0750675233 or 1-800-545-2522.

- Included are case studies from Motorola, General Electric, Allied Signal, and three small businesses

- Six Sigma Deployments demonstrates how six sigma complements the various quality management systems

Here is a Readers Review and Endorsement of Six Sigma Deployment

Six Sigma Deployment provides a clear visual of the entire six sigma process. This book is a "step by step" roadmap. It will teach you how to better meet, or exceed, your Customer's Critical Criteria. You will learn that anything that fails to meet your Customer's Critical Criteria is considered a defect.

Defects can occur in your products, services, in your human interactions, in your advertising, in your deliveries, in your accounts receivable, your sales, your marketing, your R&D; you get the point -- pretty much anywhere.

Everything in your organization has at least one opportunity for a defect and most have many opportunities. Six Sigma Deployment will teach you how you can effectively reduce or eliminate defects and sustain your gains.

The fundamental principles of Six Sigma Deployment are designed to assist the reader in solving problems -- efficiently and effectively. The book contains many graphs, charts, examples, and other valuable reference materials regarding the Six Sigma Deployment process and methodologies.

Six Sigma Deployment is designed to provide the new, and as well the seasoned, six sigma technologists with a "blue print of how" to better meet or exceed your Customer's Critical Criteria needs. Six Sigma Deployment steps the reader through the entire process, start to finish!

Six Sigma Deployment is an easy, fun, and valuable read. These fellows have provided a wealth of "how to" and "be able to do" type information on this most important breakthrough performance improvement topic for gaining your desired business results, improving your bottom line profits, and best of all -- delighting your customers!

I recommend you buy Six Sigma Deployment, give it a good read, and begin right away with applying these methodologies to your business needs. You'll find Six Sigma Deployment a valuable reference tool that gets the reader into "be able to do" performance management.

Don't wait for expensive seminars or training on this topic. Six Sigma Deployment, can provide the information needed to assist you in gaining world class performances, assisting in increasing your competitive business advantages, and increasing your profits.

The authors have a great web site on the topic, offer flexible training, newsletters, discussions, and other free information. Six Sigma Deployment is a hard back reference book, one you will use for many years to come.

Six Sigma Deployment is most likely the best [inexpensive] investment you can make today and one that can bring many "happy" returns long into your future.

Six Sigma Deployment, by Cary Adams, Praveen Gupta and Charles Wilson, 288 pp., December 2002, Cover Price: $39.99 (on sale at Amazon or Barnes & Noble book stores with perhaps a better price)

Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Who Needs It?
• Chapter 2 What is Six Sigma?
• Chapter 3 Six Sigma Deployment Overview
• Chapter 4 Opportunity
• Chapter 5 Management and Champions
• Chapter 6 Strategic Plan
• Chapter 7 Project Selection
• Chapter 8 Coaching
• Chapter 9 Black Belts
• Chapter 10 Green Belts
• Chapter 11 Awareness
• Chapter 12 Six Sigma Success Stories
• Chapter 13 Enhancing Six Sigma to Deliver Highest Performance at Lowest Cost
• Chapter 14 Six Sigma Methodology-The Benefits of a Strategic Approach
• Chapter 15 Six Sigma and Quality Systems
• Chapter 16 Final Thoughts
• Appendix A The History of Six Sigma
• Appendix B Tools Commonly Used in Six Sigma
• Appendix C Training Certifications
• Appendix D Brief Overview of Some Black Belt Projects
• Appendix E Glossary
• Index

Articles and comments located on the Worrld Wide Web

Six Sigma Deployment
Cary W. Adams, Praveen Gupta and Charles E. Wilson, Jr., Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, MA, 2003.
http://www.bh.com

Six Sigma Deployment is a hands-on comprehensive guide that provides a practical approach to implementing a Six Sigma program. The authors have attempted to differentiate this book from other books in describing key aspects of Six Sigma methodologies, such as strategic plan, project selection, Black Belt training, and project management. Using case studies and a simple and understandable manner, the book demonstrates how Six Sigma complements various quality management systems and describes approaches to maximize the benefits of the Six Sigma initiative.

5/3/2005

Six Sigma at the Library

Another of the books in your IndyASQ library donation describes Six Sigma in general terms; the intended audience appears to be a company’s leaders.  Here are the book details:

Cary W. Adams, Praveen Gupta and Charles E. Wilson, Jr. (2003).  Six sigma deployment.  Burlington, MA:  Elsevier Science.  Includes index. 

Dewey classification is 658.562 ADA.

If you were able to attend Joe Swartz’s presentation to IndyASQ last April 12, then you heard an entertaining version of what most of this book is about.  Otherwise, if you are unfamiliar with Six Sigma, this book is a useful introduction to the philosophy.  However, it has little to say about the tools of Six Sigma.

Where the book is especially strong is Chapter 6, Strategic Plan.  When IndyASQ did our strategic planning exercise last winter, I read several articles and books about the subject.  I wish that the library had owned this book at the time!  The coverage of strategic planning is clear, simple and logical.  One excerpt: 

“A strategic plan is (1) the organizational actions in (2) the marketplace that produce (3) a competitive advantage.  If all three elements are not present, then we contend that a working strategic plan is not in place.” 

Stay tuned to the website in the coming months for more discussion of our own section strategic plan!

Sincerely, Terry Osburn, Vice Chair

Resource Type: Book

Title: Six Sigma Deployment

Author(s): Cary Adams, Praveen Gupta, Charlie Wilson

Abstract: The authors provide a thorough understanding of the Six Sigma methodologies and implementation in various industries. They offer practical information for successful implementation as well as what is needed to plan, monitor and steer this business strategy toward success.

ISBN: 0750675233

Price: $40 – Non-member / $35– AFE Member

SIX SIGMA

The Structure of Management

A guide to the roles and responsibilities of Six Sigma. And guess what?
It all starts at the top.

BY CARY W. ADAMS, PRAVEEN GUPTA AND CHARLIE WILSON

AN ESSENTIAL early element of a successful Six Sigma deployment process is the requirement for the executive management team to address several structural and organizational issues. Speed is one of the true competitive advantages in today's business environment. Speed includes the pace at which management can compose and implement plans.

The organization's executive management team must construct the foundation required for successful deployment application, desired business results and world-class performance requirements based on the Customer's Critical Criteria (which can be defined as expectations important enough to a specific customer that the customer will be tempted to buy some place else if those expectations are not met). Profitability to the organization's bottom line is one of the better reasons for deploying Six Sigma. After all, most of us work for others not for the sake of fellowship, but rather for financial benefits. And so it goes with business organizations.


Getting Buy-In From The Top
Management gets what management wants. Some may disagree with this statement, but we contend that when management does not get what it wants, changes are implemented to produce actions toward progression in the direction it desired. However, if management is serious about ensuring the viability of the organization, Six Sigma deployment will provide data that specify the particulars of the required changes.

There is almost unanimous agreement that for any effort to succeed, the single most important ingredient is management leadership. Leadership is much more than just support, delegation, or the assigning of resources. Personal direct involvement and personal time are probably two of the more consequential measures of any leadership initiative.

Within the Six Sigma Management/Leadership area, a number of labels are assigned to the various roles and responsibilities. Although in current Six Sigma literature, there seems to be little consistency, we will share with you our definitions of some common titles, roles, responsibilities and duties for Six Sigma management and champion leadership. Not every organization may have all of these titles; smaller organizations often combine them into one job function. Please do not be too concerned about the titles. The roles, responsibilities and duties are of the most importance.

The Executive Quality Council: Leadership is accountable
The executive quality council includes the people who predetermine strategy for the organization. Typically, the council is made up of six to nine chief officers of the organization whose job functions including executive, operating, financial, research, and legal and so on. In short, these people run the organization.

Added to the quality council may be support executives holding responsibility for implementing the Six Sigma initiatives across an organization. Leadership is accountable for the success of Six Sigma implementation. It is the responsibility of senior management to make the changes, in the organizational behavior and culture, necessary in Six Sigma deployment.

Changing the way we think is a first step towards executing world-class performance. Most of us find producing change difficult and time-consuming. Additionally, as managers, we often fail to understand that these same changes must occur with every other individual within the organization, and that they too need time and effort to understand the changes. Management can foster this process by exhibiting their commitment and by using a common language.

We recommend that the executive quality council address the following questions before starting Six Sigma deployments:

• For what reason and on what level will we communicate with our organization about Six Sigma, its impact on our strategic objectives, progress, successes, and so on?
• What does process thinking mean to us as an organization and as individuals?
• How will we encourage innovation within the organization?
• When improvements are made, how will they be sustained? (Who is responsible for sustaining improvement? What are our checks? What is our metrics for improvement? What is our reward system?)

Process Owners: Process is no respecter of boundaries
Process owners are responsible for a specific process from the beginning to the end. Major processes will cross multiple functional and departmental boundaries. Some organizations have established process owners well before a Six Sigma deployment; others have not. Subsequently, Six Sigma projects focus on process improvement and sustaining gains, requiring this role to be filled.

One of the meaningful concepts for process owners and management to grasp is that the process is no respecter of boundaries. The process does not care if boundaries are internal to your company or if they are external and between companies. Some processes may enter and leave your organization or company several times.

Effective process owners will often become involved in the supply chain to their process. The voice of the customer must travel to all of the appropriate places in the process so that everyone involved will discern the Customer's Critical Criteria. In this manner, boundaries within the company will become more process-friendly and less inaccessible. Within each major process, there are likely to be any number of sub processes. It is conceivable that a specific level of management will own the high-level processes. Identifying and comprehending sub processes is likely to uncover owners who may not be members of management or supervision. Astonished? An empowered hourly employee can certainly be the owner of a sub process. Process owners are always accountable to the business.

Champions: Responsible for the overall success
The champions report directly to the business leadership team. Certain champions may serve on the executive quality council. Champions are responsible for the overall success of Six Sigma processes.

We suggest that Six Sigma champion duties include representing black belts (see below) directly to the organization's senior management team, and actively assisting black belts in the course of leading the organization's value-added projects. Champions also obtain the necessary resources for black belts, including technical resources.

Champions frequently confer with senior management as to career path and advancement opportunities for black belts, and assist in identifying potential black belts. They are also responsible for identifying the next two potential replacements for each black belt.

Champions are two or three projects ahead of each black belt, to ensure that these people enjoy value-added productive work. Champions substantiate that black belts have an opportunity to apply a diversity of skills by matching projects and tools with each in order to expand individual growth potentials. Most people use and reuse the approaches that have been successful for them in the past. There is nothing wrong with building on success, but very few projects will afford the convenient opportunity to use all of the Six Sigma tools and techniques available. If we do not use, or we ignore, techniques and skills, we will lose them.

Performing a perpetual project review exposes changing conditions. Reviews may provide discovery that a desirable project is not viable or that what was felt to be an unattractive project may in fact be a profitable one. One calamity, in our view, is to have consumed resources to instruct black belts but not have potential projects identified for assignment. Champions confirm by means of accounting, or other project evaluation methods, that the gains claimed by a completed project are real and have added profit to the bottom line.

Sponsors: Proposing projects
Sponsors are the persons who propose a project for selection and assignment. Sponsors generally have the budget authority to pay the expenses affiliated with the Six Sigma project team's efforts.

Sponsors frequently provide very large and subs coped projects. Black belts and champions spend appreciable time with prospective sponsors in defining a properly scoped project. It is not extraordinary for two or more projects to extend from a sponsor's original concept. Remember, a firmly defined project will have a much higher probability of succeeding than one that is subs coped.

Master Black Belts: Lead in strategic development
Customarily, master black belts have abundant experience as successful project managers. They possess a depth and breadth of Six Sigma philosophy, methodologies and skill sets greater than those of black belts. Master black belts tend to remain in their roles for longer periods than do black belts. Larger projects commonly require a master black belt for overall leadership, supported by a group of black belts who lead subprojects within the overall project scheme.

It is highly desirable for a master black belt to be one who can lead in strategic development, group facilitation, fundamental statistical tools, project management, behavior modification, SPC, design of experiments, data mining, management tools, presentation skills and procedure writing. The majority of master black belts concentrate on a specific area and possess strong competence in various others.

We recommend that organizations consider maintaining one master black belt to ten black belt project managers. We also recommend that organizations evolve, groom and promote master black belts from within. Black belts typically spend two or three years on assignment and then return to the line organization. The master black belt function creates a "technical ladder" career step for those who become black belts, and finds that this is their life calling. These valuable employees continue to enrich their personal knowledge, capabilities and advancement of Six Sigma deployments, as well as add value back to the organization.

Not every organization needs an in-house master black belt when it is first deploying Six Sigma. An outside consultant can perform many of these duties, or some of the expertise can be picked up from a supplier or customer who is more advanced with Six Sigma.

Black Belts: For those on the fast track
Ordinarily, black belts will possess a technical background, which helps them to understand and use the appropriate statistical techniques. The black belt function is a full-time job lasting about two or three years.

We recommend that all black belts complete an organizationally approved training program of Six Sigma process philosophies, methodologies and tools. Black belts need, as a minimum, an all-purpose PC-based statistical software package (which we recommend for the entire organization) capable of doing basic control charts.

Our personal preference is that those considered for future promotion to management-level positions serve first in the capacity of black belt project managers. Unexpected dividends often result, and it sends a clear message through the organization that Six Sigma is important. We recommend that management consider people for black belt duties who are comfortable dealing with advanced mathematics; statistical concepts will be difficult to understand and apply without such a foundation.

Black belt assignments are generally for two to three years. Project completion during this time will recover all training and support costs, and provide a commensurate return on the investment. Project work can be very demanding, and there is a potential for burnout. Consider a two-year minimum and five-year maximum as acceptable ranges for black belt service.

We feel that organizations must reward black belts quite well. Black belts' projects will return multiples of their compensation to the bottom line of the organization. We recommend that black belt career planning include considerable investment in continued training, personal career coaching and promotion back into the line organization. Suggested compensation plans for black belts include a fraction of the project savings, base pay plus a specific percentage increase for completing the training, pay increases when two projects are successfully completed, and executive stock plans with varying levels of stock options.

Green Belts: Acquiring tools through training
Green belt employees acquire, through training and experience, a level of competency using the Six Sigma philosophy, methodologies and tools. We recommend that organizations train and qualify both management and project team members. In our opinion, every manager needs to become green belt qualified.

We do strongly recommend that managers attend Six Sigma training that is exclusively for the organization, as opposed to training for the public at large, because there is no compromising of confidential or proprietary information among participants, and stakeholders are free to discuss specific organizational issues and concerns. This approach also allows for Six Sigma training customized to the specific organization and industry. It enables managers to work together on projects and to maintain vigilant focus on the organization's strategic plan and objectives.

Project Team Members
A fundamental rationale for team members to experience green belt training is to gain an understanding of "what is in it for me." It is human nature for each of us to ask why we are included in some activities. Leaders must recognize this, address it adequately, and then move on to effective team building.

Subject matter experts serve on the Six Sigma projects led by the black belts. Effective project team members must be able to understand and use Six Sigma tools, techniques and approaches. We recommend that leadership assign project team members to specific projects before providing green belt training. We also recommend that the black belt project manager attend all or most of the green belt training presented to the project team. This training experience allows the project manager to learn about the team members' behaviors, skill abilities and motivations. <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->Excerpted from Six Sigma Deployment by Cary W. Adams, Praveen Gupta and Charlie Wilson. Butterworth-Heinemann Publishers. December 2002. 368 pages, ISBN 0-7506-7523-3. Copyright 2002. Reprinted with permission.
Cary W. Adams, Praveen Gupta and Charlie Wilson make up Adams Associates, a management consulting practice based in Lake Jackson, Texas.


Have you brought Six Sigma into your company? Should you?
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SUCCESS OF U.S.MERCHANT SHIPPING

MANY MINDS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT OUR SUCCEFUL FUTURE IS DEPENDENT ON THE CAPACITY TO BUILD PROFITABLE AND COMPETITIVE MERCHANT SHIPS WITH MINIMUM OR NONE FINANCIAL SUBSIDY. THIS GOAL IN ITSELF, NO SUBSIDY,IS WORTHWHILE. AS IMPORTENT OR EVEN MORE, NATIONAL SAFETY WOULD BE IMPARED IF WE DO NOT HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTRE TO BUILD NAVAL VESSELS. THIS CAN HAPPEN.SIX SIGMA MAY BE THE ANSWER.

CHARLES A. NARWICZ
May 19, 2003

Six Sigma Deployment
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Key features:

• Practical information facilitates successful implementation of this methodology to help maximize return on investment;

• Includes case studies from Motorola, General Electric, Allied Signal, as well as a number of small businesses;

• Demonstrates how Six Sigma complements the various quality management systems.

Six Sigma has become a proven methodology and strategic initiative that corporations are deploying to realize dramatic benefits. Motorola, GE, Honeywell, Polaroid, ABB, and many more companies have reported economic gains by

implementing Six Sigma. Yet, many executives are still wondering about Six Sigma. To them it is like a myth -- some fancy program that is for large companies only. They think it is another "program of the year," and they are tired of such programs.

Many people have been misled into thinking of Six Sigma as just a statistical approach to problem analysis. It is much more than that; it is a culture -- a way of thinking, a set of new behaviors -- that is unique unto itself. It provides any organization with a means to significantly improve both the soft and hard measurements that are so critical to business success in today's multicultural, highly competitive environment.

The authors of this book have attempted to differentiate it from other books in the way that it describes key aspects of the current Six Sigma methodology, such as strategic plan, project selection, Black Belt training, and project management. This is a unique presentation of the Six Sigma methodology that will be very beneficial to readers.

Contents:

Who Needs It?; What Is Six Sigma?; Six Sigma Deployment Overview; Opportunity; Management and Champions; Strategic Plan; Project Selection; Coaching; Black Belts; Green Belt; Awareness; Six Sigma Success Stories; Enhancing Six Sigma To Deliver Highest Performance at Lowest Cost; Six Sigma Methodology - The Benefits of a Strategic Approach; Six Sigma and Quality Systems; Final Thoughts; History of Six Sigma; Tools Commonly Used in Six Sigma; Training Certifications; Brief Overview of Black Belt Projects

By Cary Adams, Praveen Gupta and Charlie Wilson; December 2002; 288 pages; Hardcover; ISBN 0-75067-523-3; $39.99.

Six Sigma Deployment
(Click on title to order)

by Cary W. Adams, Praveen Gupta and 
Charles E. Wilson Jr.

The authors begin with an introduction to the Six Sigma initiative by offering a chronology of events from the origin of Six Sigma to the present. This includes the changing view of quality and how companies have benefited. Readers are also introduced to the currently popular breakthrough strategy and learn how this compares to the original methodology. Along with this, the different belts are explained in detail as to what the variations are among various service providers.

Some of the unique aspects of this book include the use of Six Sigma with the various quality standards that are being implemented today, the implementation of Six Sigma in a supply chain management stream, and the analysis of different methods used by various companies, the strengths and weaknesses of each, results achieved and finally lessons learned. In addition, an appendix is provided that includes the various statistical or non-statistical tools employed during the implementation of Six Sigma.

KEY FEATURES:
• Practical information facilitates successful implementation of this methodology to help maximize return on investment
• Includes case studies from Motorola, General Electric, Allied Signal, and three small businesses
• Demonstrates how Six Sigma complements the various quality management system