Lean Six Sigma Solutions
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Studium przypadków Lean Six Sigma
Case study #9 Warning signals of trouble
The CEO of a midsized consumer products retail chain was excited. He'd just been to an Executive Roundtable on Six Sigma and thought it sounded like the answer to his prayers. His company was suffering from a steady drop in sales due to product defects and an accompanying increase in costs due to warranty servicing. He'd already had three bad quarters in a row and couldn't afford many more. He was a little skeptical of claims that other companies were seeing net benefits of five hundred thousand dollars or more per Black Belt, but even half that would be significant to a company like his.
After a little more research, the CEO called together the senior management team and spoke enthusiastically of Six Sigma and what it could help them do. He appointed the VP of operations to be in charge of getting it up and running. He was most emphatic about the need to see results within the fiscal year and sooner if possible, telling the VP, "Be sure to give me monthly updates."
Morale among the Black Belts at a financial services company could best be described as mixed. Most of them loved the work: being able to work with different teams, applying their analytical skills to problem solving, seeing quality improve. But the stress was starting to get to them. They were having a harder time getting managers to pay attention to them or to assign people to projects. The team training program seemed to have fallen apart, so the Black Belts had to spend more time dealing with conflict and confusion and less time helping them improve processes. The Black Belts were also increasingly the butt of inhouse jokes and resentment, and as a result had become a tight knit group that didn't welcome "outsiders."
What odds would you give to Six Sigma in either of these companies one without CEO involvement, and the other where Six Sigma was becoming its own silo? As with these companies, increasing numbers of Six Sigma initiatives are being put to the test by the hard reality of implementation.
Its supporters emphasize how much better Six Sigma is than predecessors like continuous improvement and TQM: much more tied to customer priorities, much easier to track throughout the company, much more structured in its implementation. But for all those advantages, it seems that in many companies Six Sigma is in danger of ending up just like these predecessors: a program-du-jour, completely forgotten or ignored at executive levels, living on only in the work of a few passionate zealots.
The companies who have gotten it right for the most part like GE, Starwood, or ITT have proven that Six Sigma can be an effective engine for driving customer satisfaction, improving quality, and generating enormous financial payback. The question is, which way is your company headed? Towards spectacular results with Six Sigma or down the road to another management fad?
Signs of Troubled Times
Long before a Six Sigma effort collapses, there are warning signals. Sometimes, those signals are gut feelings or an uneasiness that employees are just paying lip service to Six Sigma. But in many cases, there are more concrete signals that Six Sigma has become disconnected from the core business:
1) Downward trends in deployment and results indicators
Projects take longer and longer to complete;
Financial returns drop steadily (Black Belts begin working on smaller projects that would be better suited to Green Belt leadership);
The time for completing Black Belt certification creeps upward;
2) Flagging support for Six Sigma projects
Black Belts and Champions have a difficult time recruiting people to staff projects
Attendance at team meetings drops off
More and more people question their involvement in Six Sigma ("it's taking time away from my regular job"; "this isn't helping me get more efficient, it's just adding to my workload")
Participation, commitment, and philosophy varies widely between locations and/or divisions
Instead of devoting high-caliber employees to Six Sigma deployment, "problem" individuals that others don't want are assigned to the Six Sigma team
3) Evidence of Six Sigma isolation
The Six Sigma staff show signs of becoming a clique
Project selection becomes a local activity leading to suboptimization of Six Sigma resources: some areas are overstaffed, good projects in other areas languish because of a lack of available Black Belts
Cynicism mounts toward the Six Sigma initiative and cross-team collaboration problems start to develop
4) A failure to apply basic improvement principles to Six Sigma deployment
The initial focus on customer needs dissipates; internally oriented metrics slowly creep in as the main measures used to select and monitor project success:
Projects are selected based on imposed CEO mandates and/or managers' hot buttons, not on objective criteria
Projects are chosen based on cost cutting criteria only (customer priorities are lost in the shuffle). Projects aren't checked against corporate priorities
Best Practices sharing is inconsistent or non-existent
Black Belts are diverted to "quick hits" that do not require Six Sigma skills; newly learned Six Sigma skills atrophy from lack of use
Senior executives' behavior contradicts the basic tenants of Six Sigma (they don't base decisions on data, react inappropriately to special/common causes, use limited inquiry, etc.)
5) A gradual blurring of Six Sigma roles and responsibilities
Champions gravitate to being pulled into non-Six Sigma related work
Black Belts become more and more immersed in project selection and chartering, rather than driving results by leading projects
Master Black Belts are assigned to projects that really should be handled by Black Belts
Sponsors gravitate to running their organizations on a day-today basis, delegating Six Sigma to the zealots who increasingly become separated from the main culture of the organization.
You may already see some of these warning signals in your own company, and may have even instituted some countermeasures in hopes of restoring the original enthusiasm and commitment to Six Sigma. But often times, such efforts end up having either no effect or the wrong effect because they address the symptom not the cause:
Ironically, even as Black Belts struggle to get project teams properly staffed, they compensate by launching more projects. As knowledgeable Lean (and Lean Six Sigma) practitioners can tell you, raising the number of projects in process (just like raising Work in Process) increases cycle time on project completion, reduces learning, and increases the problems of coordinating resources. This ultimately leads to falling output, just as high WIP and long cycle times erode the efficiency of any process.
Concerned about long project completion time, some executives impose a time limit, such as three months. Unfortunately, usually they haven't checked why the projects are taking longer. The result? Projects get done within the time frame, but only because teams either rush to completion or choose unimportant projects that can be completed quickly.
Aware of a growing skepticism about Six Sigma, some CEOs send memos to every employee stating how important Six Sigma is to the company and expecting everyone to support the effort. If this memo isn't followed up by behavior that demonstrates their own support for the effort, and if these CEOs don't work with other executives to define concrete ways in which all employees can contribute to the effort, employees will just toss aside the memos and continue doing what they've always done.
In an attempt to build management commitment to Six Sigma, some companies have modified their performance evaluations to include Six Sigma related measures for all managers. Typically, however, few of the managers can actually affect the measures they are being evaluated against. The result? They are forced to make futile efforts to achieve Six Sigma goals to the detriment of their primary business responsibilities.
Recognizing that a lack of widespread understanding of Six Sigma within the company was hindering progress, deployment teams may design mandatory training events for all employees. Yet most people at the training will have little immediate need to know or apply the concepts and tools being discussed, and usually the training is not followed-up by actions to help people get involved in, or actively support, the Six Sigma efforts. The result? Though such training can help employees understand why their company is investing in Six Sigma, it doesn't really help them in their daily work and is therefore still viewed as non-essential.
If you look carefully at each of these examples, you can see a common thread. The companies had good intentions, and their strategy of using Six Sigma to improve performance was basically sound. What they lacked was a knowledge of how to shape Six Sigma execution to meet their goals and expectations.
This case shows closely a link between strategy and execution and provide a framework for making this connection.
© 2005 Lean Six Sigma Solutions
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LSSS, Lean Six Sigma Solutions, 5S, 6 Sigma, 6Sigma, Analizy, Analizy procesowe, Analyze, Analysis, Audyt, Audytor, AWO, BB, Benchmarking, Black Belt, BPMS, BQC, Brainstorming, Business Process Management System, Capability, CBA, Cellular manufacturing, Certyfikacja, Certyfikat, Champion, Chart, Coaching, Consulting, Control, Control chart, COO, COPIS, Cost & Benefit Analyze, Critical to Quality, CTQ, Cycle time, Data Collection Plan, DCP, Defect, Define, Design of Experiment, DFSS, DMAIC, DMAIC-NPI, DOE, Creative Workshop, Efektywność, Execution, Fishbone, FMEA, GB, Green Belt, Heijunka, Implementacja, Implementation, Improve, ISO, Issue log, Jakość, Jidoka, JIT, Just In Time, Kaikaku, Kaizen, Kanban, Kick-Off meeting, Konferencje, Konsulting, Korelacja, Leader, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Lean SixSigma, Lean 6Sigma, Lean6Sigma, Lean 6 Sigma, Lean manufacturing, Lean management, Lider, Master Black Belt, MBB, Mapping, Mapowanie, Measure, Measurement System Analysis, Mediana, Memory jagger, Mentoring, Metodologia, Metodologia Lean, Minitab, MSA, Muda, NPI, Normy, Odchylenie standardowe, Operational excellence, Operations, Optymalizacja, Pareto, Parking lot, Plan Zbierania Danych, PM, PMI, PMO, Poka Yoke, Prince 2, Prince2, Proces, Process, Process management, Produktywność, Project, Project charter, Project management, Project Management Office, Projekt, Projekty, QNI, Quality, Quality Net Income, Regresja, Satandardisation, Scheduling, Seiketsu, Seiso, Seiton, Seminaria, Seminarium, Serii, Shitsuke, Single Piece Flow, SIPOC, Six Sigma, SixSigma, SMED, SPC, Sponsor, Standaryzacja, Statistical Process Control, Statistics, Statystyka, Strata, Supermarket, Szkolenia, Szkolenie, Takt time, Team, Team composition, Team contract, Total Quality Management, Toyota Production System, TPS, TPM, TQM, Transfer function, Value Stream Map, Value Stream Mapping, Variation, Variation management, VoC, Voice of Customer, VSM, Waste, Wdrożenie, Work Out, Work-Out, Workshop, Wydajność, Yield, Zarządzanie procesami, Zarządzanie zmiennością, Zmiennoć
LSSS, Lean Six Sigma Solutions, 5S, 6 Sigma, 6Sigma, Analizy, Analizy procesowe, Analyze, Analysis, Audyt, Audytor, AWO, BB, Benchmarking, Black Belt, BPMS, BQC, Brainstorming, Business Process Management System, Capability, CBA, Cellular manufacturing, Certyfikacja, Certyfikat, Champion, Chart, Coaching, Consulting, Control, Control chart, COO, COPIS, Cost & Benefit Analyze, Critical to Quality, CTQ, Cycle time, Data Collection Plan, DCP, Defect, Define, Design of Experiment, DFSS, DMAIC, DMAIC-NPI, DOE, Creative Workshop, Efektywność, Execution, Fishbone, FMEA, GB, Green Belt, Heijunka, Implementacja, Implementation, Improve, ISO, Issue log, Jakość, Jidoka, JIT, Just In Time, Kaikaku, Kaizen, Kanban, Kick-Off meeting, Konferencje, Konsulting, Korelacja, Leader, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Lean SixSigma, Lean 6Sigma, Lean6Sigma, Lean 6 Sigma, Lean manufacturing, Lean management, Lider, Master Black Belt, MBB, Mapping, Mapowanie, Measure, Measurement System Analysis, Mediana, Memory jagger, Mentoring, Metodologia, Metodologia Lean, Minitab, MSA, Muda, NPI, Normy, Odchylenie standardowe, Operational excellence, Operations, Optymalizacja, Pareto, Parking lot, Plan Zbierania Danych, PM, PMI, PMO, Poka Yoke, Prince 2, Prince2, Proces, Process, Process management, Produktywność, Project, Project charter, Project management, Project Management Office, Projekt, Projekty, QNI, Quality, Quality Net Income, Regresja, Satandardisation, Scheduling, Seiketsu, Seiso, Seiton, Seminaria, Seminarium, Serii, Shitsuke, Single Piece Flow, SIPOC, Six Sigma, SixSigma, SMED, SPC, Sponsor, Standaryzacja, Statistical Process Control, Statistics, Statystyka, Strata, Supermarket, Szkolenia, Szkolenie, Takt time, Team, Team composition, Team contract, Total Quality Management, Toyota Production System, TPS, TPM, TQM, Transfer function, Value Stream Map, Value Stream Mapping, Variation, Variation management, VoC, Voice of Customer, VSM, Waste, Wdrożenie, Work Out, Work-Out, Workshop, Wydajność, Yield, Zarządzanie procesami, Zarządzanie zmiennością, Zmienność, LSSS, Lean Six Sigma Solutions, 5S, 6 Sigma, 6Sigma, Analizy, Analizy procesowe, Analyze, Analysis, Audyt, Audytor, AWO, BB, Benchmarking, Black Belt, BPMS, BQC, Brainstorming, Business Process Management System, Capability, CBA, Cellular manufacturing, Certyfikacja, Certyfikat, Champion, Chart, Coaching, Consulting, Control, Control chart, COO, COPIS, Cost & Benefit Analyze, Critical to Quality, CTQ, Cycle time, Data Collection Plan, DCP, Defect, Define, Design of Experiment, DFSS, DMAIC, DMAIC-NPI, DOE, Creative Workshop, Efektywność, Execution, Fishbone, FMEA, GB, Green Belt, Heijunka, Implementacja, Implementation, Improve, ISO, Issue log, Jakość, Jidoka, JIT, Just In Time, Kaikaku, Kaizen, Kanban, Kick-Off meeting, Konferencje, Konsulting, Korelacja, Leader, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Lean SixSigma, Lean 6Sigma, Lean6Sigma, Lean 6 Sigma, Lean manufacturing, Lean management, Lider, Master Black Belt, MBB, Mapping, Mapowanie, Measure, Measurement System Analysis, Mediana, Memory jagger, Mentoring, Metodologia, Metodologia Lean, Minitab, MSA, Muda, NPI, Normy, Odchylenie standardowe, Operational excellence, Operations, Optymalizacja, Pareto, Parking lot, Plan Zbierania Danych, PM, PMI, PMO, Poka Yoke, Prince 2, Prince2, Proces, Process, Process management, Produktywność, Project, Project charter, Project management, Project Management Office, Projekt, Projekty, QNI, Quality, Quality Net Income, Regresja, Satandardisation, Scheduling, Seiketsu, Seiso, Seiton, Seminaria, Seminarium, Serii, Shitsuke, Single Piece Flow, SIPOC, Six Sigma, SixSigma, SMED, SPC, Sponsor, Standaryzacja, Statistical Process Control, Statistics, Statystyka, Strata, Supermarket, Szkolenia, Szkolenie, Takt time, Team, Team composition, Team contract, Total Quality Management, Toyota Production System, TPS, TPM, TQM, Transfer function, Value Stream Map, Value Stream Mapping, Variation, Variation management, VoC, Voice of Customer, VSM, Waste, Wdrożenie, Work Out, Work-Out, Workshop, Wydajność, Yield, Zarządzanie procesami, Zarządzanie zmiennością, Zmienność
LSSS, Lean Six Sigma Solutions, 5S, 6 Sigma, 6Sigma, Analizy, Analizy procesowe, Analyze, Analysis, Audyt, Audytor, AWO, BB, Benchmarking, Black Belt, BPMS, BQC, Brainstorming, Business Process Management System, Capability, CBA, Cellular manufacturing, Certyfikacja, Certyfikat, Champion, Chart, Coaching, Consulting, Control, Control chart, COO, COPIS, Cost & Benefit Analyze, Critical to Quality, CTQ, Cycle time, Data Collection Plan, DCP, Defect, Define, Design of Experiment, DFSS, DMAIC, DMAIC-NPI, DOE, Creative Workshop, Efektywność, Execution, Fishbone, FMEA, GB, Green Belt, Heijunka, Implementacja, Implementation, Improve, ISO, Issue log, Jakość, Jidoka, JIT, Just In Time, Kaikaku, Kaizen, Kanban, Kick-Off meeting, Konferencje, Konsulting, Korelacja, Leader, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Lean SixSigma, Lean 6Sigma, Lean6Sigma, Lean 6 Sigma, Lean manufacturing, Lean management, Lider, Master Black Belt, MBB, Mapping, Mapowanie, Measure, Measurement System Analysis, Mediana, Memory jagger, Mentoring, Metodologia, Metodologia Lean, Minitab, MSA, Muda, NPI, Normy, Odchylenie standardowe, Operational excellence, Operations, Optymalizacja, Pareto, Parking lot, Plan Zbierania Danych, PM, PMI, PMO, Poka Yoke, Prince 2, Prince2, Proces, Process, Process management, Produktywność, Project, Project charter, Project management, Project Management Office, Projekt, Projekty, QNI, Quality, Quality Net Income, Regresja, Satandardisation, Scheduling, Seiketsu, Seiso, Seiton, Seminaria, Seminarium, Serii, Shitsuke, Single Piece Flow, SIPOC, Six Sigma, SixSigma, SMED, SPC, Sponsor, Standaryzacja, Statistical Process Control, Statistics, Statystyka, Strata, Supermarket, Szkolenia, Szkolenie, Takt time, Team, Team composition, Team contract, Total Quality Management, Toyota Production System, TPS, TPM, TQM, Transfer function, Value Stream Map, Value Stream Mapping, Variation, Variation management, VoC, Voice of Customer, VSM, Waste, Wdrożenie, Work Out, Work-Out, Workshop, Wydajność, Yield, Zarządzanie procesami, Zarządzanie zmiennością, Zmienność