Six Sigma Explained In Six Steps- The Details Behind The Glitz And Glam

By Craig Calvin

When businesses are looking to eliminate defects in their production process, and improve the quality of the products that they are manufacturing, they often turn to Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a set of processes and tools that will help you analyze your current production process, determine what the causes of the defects are, and help you determine the ideal solution to the problems. Six Sigma is not something you can just decide to implement on your own though. Their is extensive training needed to understand the processes and tools that are involved, and the more experience you have using Six Sigma, the more likely you will be to achieve your desired results. Below is an introduction that will outline the steps in the Six Sigma process for those who are unfamiliar with Six Sigma.

It is very important, if you are going to bring Six Sigma into your business, that the owners of the business, or at least the upper management of your business are behind this decision. Six Sigma will require formal training for individuals who will be on the project but do not have the necessary certification. It is also recommended that you either bring in consultants with extensive Six Sigma experience, or hire an experienced Six Sigma project manager, who can guide you through the process until the employees in your business become more experienced themselves.

After you have the support of your senior management, the next step is to make sure all of the employees in your company are on board as well. Most people are resistant to change, especially when the change is forced on them. If you include as many employees as possible in the Six Sigma process then they will have a say in the changes that are being considered, and therefore they will be more willing to implement these changes when they are finalized.

When the Six Sigma project starts the first step is to define what process you are looking to improve, and why. You will need to collect as much raw data as possible related to the number of defects, what types of defects they are, and any other data you can collect. Once the data is collected it needs to be quantified, or turned into numeric values that can represent different types of defects, so it can be properly analyzed. Six Sigma makes use of many statistical tools to analyze the quantitative data which will provide a more accurate picture of where the problems are, and what the underlying problems may be. You cannot begin to determine a change plan without first being sure that you going to change the process that truly need it.

The final two steps go hand-in-hand. Improvements will be made after analysis is complete, and then those improvements need to be controlled after the project has been completed in order to keep things running smoothly. Random events can occur, and things can happen that can require much more attention than usual after a Six Sigma Process is completed, causing problems if the team or process owner isn't prepared. As you can see, Six Sigma is more than just a fancy buzzword that catches a lot of attention. It is a very detailed process of improving processes and products within an organization that requires a lot of special training and business skill. - 32179

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When Using Six Sigma Sometimes It Helps To Bring In A New Point Of View

By Craig Calvin

In an ideal world, when your business introduces the Six Sigma methodology to improve the existing processes within the organization, the Six Sigma project would be staffed with internal employees. When you train your employees in the Six Sigma methodology it not only helps these employees feel like they are important to the future plans of the business, but it will also help the Six Sigma project since you will have individuals on the project who know both Six Sigma and your business. After gaining the necessary training and experience you will eventually have employees who complete the Six Sigma Black Belt certification, and can run their own Six Sigma projects.

Ideally, you would like to use as many internal employees as possible on a Six Sigma project, as long as they have the necessary experience and training. If you hire external Six Sigma efforts to lead your Six Sigma projects there is a perception that these individuals will not be as effective as internal employees with Six Sigma training. Even though these people may have Six Sigma training, the assumption is that you would still have to provide training so they could get up to speed with the way you operate, which would take time and money.

Employees that already work with the company are already trained and familiar with the culture and objectives. However, this knowledge and previous training can inhibit their critical problem solving abilities because they will be limited in their resources. The solution is? Hire outside resources as team leaders for Six Sigma Projects and you can gain more insight and get a different perspective on how to resolve the problem from someone with an unbiased opinion.

If you bring in an outside Six Sigma Black Belt to run your Six Sigma efforts it does provide a greater opportunity for objectivity in your Six Sigma project. An outside Six Sigma Black Belt, who is brought in as a project manager for your Six Sigma effort, will be more open to new ideas, will provide new ideas of their own, and will help guide the project team to consider as many options as possible when determining the ideal solution.

Another benefit to hiring outside sources to complete Six Sigma Projects is that there will be no inherent tendency for a person to think within a certain limit to protect their territory. When people are afraid of change, it is often because they fear losing their place. Therefore, the solution to the problem will be more focused on how to improve things while protecting one's place within the organization. Bringing in outside resources with the right Six Sigma training can be beneficial to any company. Not only will it allow for objectivity, but it will also help foster growth and learning between the Six Sigma team and the members or employees of the organization. - 32179

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Lean Six Sigma Process

By Helen Carswell

Originated by Motorola, the Lean Six Sigma process is a business management strategy that uses a detailed plan and measurable targets to get quality output. Six Sigma removes the obstacles that cause errors and creates a quality process. Leading U.S. companies like Staples, Bank of America, GlaxoSmithKline, and Ford have used the strategy for process quality to outperform competitors and run successful operations for years.

The original Six Sigma process was focused primarily on quality output. Many companies, though, have begun to integrate Lean principles, which emphasize quick turnaround time and eliminating waste in the manufacturing process. Lean manufacturing adheres to cutting actual process time, having zero inventories and zero wait time, and a production system built on the internal customer pulling the process rather than each department pushing the process along.

Each Six Sigma company has a core of process experts in the structure of the organization whose experience help move an idea or product toward a finish. Process experts can be certified as white belts, green belts, black belts, or master black belts, depending on their level of expertise. Companies benefit from these professionals monetarily: a black belt can save a company about $230,000 on a given project and does up to six projects per year. General Electric has revealed that during its first five years using Six Sigma strategies, it was able to save about $10 billion.

Six Sigma does have its shortcomings as a concept. Some business analysts have noted that the simplicity of the strategy has all but disappeared. So many experts and "business scientists" have added so many formulas; statistics and complex calculating process that many people need a tutor just to stay ahead of the curve and understand the lingo. Six Sigma was bound to become complex. The more people who have jumped on the bandwagon, the greater the effort to keep the "secret" of it a pass code for an exclusive club.

Another trend that may have affected the worldwide grasp of Six Sigma is the national shift in the type of manufactured goods. At one point in the history of the U.S., almost everything manufactured was a tangible good - or something you could hold in your hands. Six Sigma formulas were appropriate when the success of those products needed to be measured in numbers. Now, many things released on the market are intangibles like information or ideas. The numbers do not make as much sense for measuring those things. Fortune magazine places the number of top 100 companies that still do tangible goods at 32. The rest of the companies manufacture services or ideas.

For those who want hands-on expertise in order to work through the Six Sigma process, there is the Six Sigma Center of Excellence. This is an Indonesia-based facility that houses core experts in the field and deploys them to companies around the world for consulting opportunities. In early fall 2009; the Center completed an executive briefing session in which leaders traveled to Indonesia for a daylong conference on Six Sigma principles. The conference focused on how to implement Six Sigma during economically uncertain times.

Those who are interested in streamlining their processes should not be intimidated by Six Sigma learning. The amount of waste that will be saved is worth the education you receive about the process. Six Sigma employees are sharp workers: they do not waste resources, talent or company time. - 32179

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Six Sigma Process- Exploiting The Naysayers

By Craig Calvin

There are many critics of the Six Sigma methodology who insist that it is nothing more then a waste of time and money, and it is more of a hindrance to your business then it is a help. There are, however, many successful business who have implemented Six Sigma, and seen the results first hand. The critics of Six Sigma are often those who have not been trained properly and do not have adequate Six Sigma experience, and therefore they have not been part of a successful implementation of Six Sigma. If you are trying to decide if Six Sigma is right for your company, you should talk to some experienced Six Sigma experts at companies where Six Sigma continues to help improve quality and eliminate defects.

The fact is, Six Sigma is a complicated process that requires thorough training and it helps if you have experience with the process. People who tell you Six Sigma does not work have probably never had Six Sigma training, and do not understand how the research, processes and tools can help you improve your quality, reduce the number of defects in your process, increase revenue, reduce expenses and improve customer satisfaction. If you examine the Six Sigma methodology logically, it makes sense though. The only way to eliminate defects, and improve quality, is to do the necessary research to determine what the root cause of these defects are, and then research possible solutions to see which will be the most effective.

When you are going to make a significant decision in your company, you need to consider how it will impact your customers, that is what is most important to your future success. When you are going to implement Six Sigma, your focus should be on how it will increase your customer satisfaction, eliminate defects, and improve quality, all great things for your customers. The happiness of your customers is certainly more important then what some other people may be saying about the Six Sigma methodology, especially when their opinions are most likely biased or uninformed.

The problem with the people who don't agree with the practices of Six Sigma is that they've never been given the genuine opportunity to share their process improvement with a Six Sigma team, so they're highly uninformed about the process as a whole. If they have never used Six Sigma, where do they get the authority to say that it's not useful to a business?

Don't be deterred from using such a useful and versatile process just because a few people are trying to convince some others that it is a herd mentality, a buzz word, an ineffective tool, or anything else when it truly is a great process improvement methodology to work with. Only the people within an organization can determine if Six Sigma is right for their needs, but everyone should at least give it one chance, because the use of quantified data can add a fresh perspective to almost any business. - 32179

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How Six Sigma Can Help Eliminate Variations

By Craig Calvin

The Six Sigma Methodology was specifically designed to address variations in the manufacturing industry that could be fixed or redesigned to produce a better end result than what is currently in place. By taking the time to learn the proper methods of the Six Sigma Process, and how it benefits any company that has a process that needs improvement, you might realize that it is a lot less hype than many people claim and that it can actually improve your business significantly in very short amounts of time. The process begins with data collection and measurements to determine the scope of the improvements that are needed.

First, you will need to understand the common variations that can occur in any process that will cause it to produce higher defects than it should. Then you will need to study the proper Six Sigma Training methods and practices to figure out how to determine the root cause of those variances and fix the problems where they start. For example, if one in every 10 orders placed through your company is not processed correctly, there is probably an underlying problem in the computer servers that needs to be addressed, streamlined, or remodeled in order to achieve the best end result and success rate.

Once you have determined where your variations are, and how they are impacting your final product, you can work to eliminate the variations. For example, if you manufacture widgets, and may be able to decrease the number of defective widgets from one in a thousand to one in three hundred thousand. If you make this improvement you will see a decrease in your production expenses, since you will not be wasting as much material, and an increase in profit since you will have more widgets to sell then before.

The key to getting rid of defects and lowering the rates at which they occur is understanding the variances and how they occur in the first place. Nonetheless, this information might seem complicated and overwhelming at first. However, when you take the time to learn proper Six Sigma Training or hire a professional team that knows the Six Sigma Process, you will definitely see an improvement in your variation rate and your defect ratio no matter what the process or product might be.

If you think your business will benefit from the use of Six Sigma, then it is critical that you receive the necessary training. A certified Six Sigma practitioner can help reduce the defects in your products which will result in a reduction in expenses and an increase in profits for your business. - 32179

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Considering Starting Your Own Website? Here Are Some Tips

By Craig Calvin

Are you considering starting your own website? For many people who are looking for work, or who are looking for a career change, starting your own online business is a great way to do something you love, without all of the expenses associated with stating a new business. If you are considering starting your own website, here are some important tips you should be aware of.

There are more and more people out of work, due to the economic troubles across the nation. It is becoming more and more difficult to find a job, since there are more and more people applying for the limited number of jobs that become available. If you have decided to start your own business, then making it an online business is a great way to eliminate many of the start up expenses associated with a new business, and it will also help to keep your operating expenses to a minimum. Obviously your website will be the most important aspect of your online business, but creating your own website is not difficult and not expensive.

If you are looking to establish an online retail business, the best way to start your business is to take advantage of the tools that are available on certain websites, like Yahoo Stores. Yahoo will provide you with an online store where you can sell your merchandise, provide a shopping cart for your customers, and process payments for your business, all for under fifty dollars a month. Another benefit of Yahoo Stores is that the site will calculate shipping charges for you. If you are looking for an advantage over other business that use Yahoo Stores, and offer products similar to what you are offering, you could consider offering free shipping. You can calculate the shipping costs yourself, based on the furthest locations you will ship to, and then include these costs when you are establishing pricing for your products. Then you can offer free shipping to your customers without actually having to pay the shipping costs yourself.

Getting ranked on Google and Yahoo has become a big part of the game for online business owners. Obviously, there is 'pay per click', where you are literally paying every time someone clicks your ad. It does insure that you will be at the top of the search list, and can be customized and targeted to limit the amount of click-throughs. (A click-through is when a customer clicks on your ad and quickly leaves your site without buying anything). For those that have the budget, ad words can definitely jump start an online business.

If your business start-up costs do not include room for an ad word campaign, then you need to do it the 'old-fashioned' way with blogs. Setting up a free blog account is easy and literally involves you writing about your products with a link included to your website. Search engines give these blogs a fairly high ranking and while they may last only for a short time (which is why you need to do it daily) they can be a part of a successful do-it-yourself campaign. So, choose your product, find your manufacturers, choose an easy online store, put your ad word campaign in place, or start blogging, and hopefully you will soon have customers at your online business front door. - 32179

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