Vishwadeep Khatri

Hi, There are different ways to begin and we can’t say one of them is the best. We like to engage with leadership and help them understand various roadmaps. Leadership also needs to understand that to get large benefits, they need to explore many aspects themselves. To answer your question, in the long-term, Kaizen, Kaikaku and Kakushin - all approaches need to work in tandem. At some places we begin with Kaizens, at others we start with Kaikakus and we have engaged with one global leader with Kakushin. It is a journey to be co-created and there is no single best approach.

While Shashikant Adlakha and Natwarlal have both given correct answers, Natwarlal has provided very good examples for when to NOT use subgrouping. Natwarlal’s response is the winner for this question.

Q 244. Explain the difference between Confidence Interval and Prediction Interval. Also highlight when is one preferred over the other while solving business problems. Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time. Questions launched on Tuesdaya are open till Friday and questions launched on Friday are open till Tuesday. The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

Q 243. The process capability assessment is sometimes associated with subgrouping of data. This has led to the concepts of Zwithin being compared to Zoverall. While assessing process capability, when is it that subgrouping makes sense? When will you decide to not use subgrouping? Explain with examples. Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time. Questions launched on Tuesdaya are open till Friday and questions launched on Friday are open till Tuesday. The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

In the answer above this response and below, everyone has contributed with valid ideas. While Shashikant has started very well, he seems to have meandered a bit. Ajay Sharma has provided a broader outlook of Business Excellence models and has referred more to sales and a bit less to marketing. Kiran Shinde has been to the point and has talked about various example projects in Sales as well as marketing. Lurthu has provided relevant points some of which are approaches and some are examples. Kiran Shinde is the winner for this question as he has been to the point and has covered a variety of applications. If we refer to the 4 P's of marketing, they are Product, Place, Price, Promotion. With advent of automation in each of these domains, the opportunities for data driven decision making have multiplied in recent times. Product - Product Management includes new product development which is largely driven by marketing. The entire field of DFSS is suitable for new product development. The scope of APQP (Advance Product Quality Planning) includes all stages of a product life cycle. New product decisions - Which products to launch and promote in specific geographies makes use of Analytics and Researches of various kinds. Product mix decisions - Many companies struggle with product mix decisions and modelling methods help in this area. Price Pricing and changes in pricing driven by hypothesis tests. Profitability analytics have a huge scope to bring improved business results. Promotions Advertising - More than other domains, the field of digital marketing is a huge potential area for analysis and decision making with Lean Six Sigma methods as well as analytic based approaches. This includes areas like Google Ads, and Social media ads among others. Personal Selling assisted by chats and chatbots is another booming area for LSS professionals. Social Media Engagement - Sometines engagement works better than direct selling and this is being heavy utilized in social media which uses analytics to a large extent. Public Relations - Decisions on use of celebrities, media posts and PR methods is driven by results that they derive. Place Regions to serve and areas to be present. This is a strategic decision area which is supported by data analytics. Efficiency of intermediaries in marketing sales channels is being analyzed. Wholesalers, retailers, commission agents etc both in brick and mortar world and in digital world increase reach and have huge areas of application. In the field of Sales Management, the entire sales funnel and sales pipelines are suitable for LSS applications. This includes the sequences and conversions in Suspects - Prospects - Leads - Proposals -leading to Business Accounts.

Q 242. While Operations as a function is commonly targeted with the concepts and tools of Lean, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints etc., what are the areas in Sales and Marketing that are highly likely to benefit from Business Excellence approaches? Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionaryat https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

The winner for this question is Shashikant Adlakha. Please read the response by Benchmark Expert Venugopal as well.

I can create examples or have discussions in the following areas - Orange text shows example and discussion (Green text shows the related MBB competency) Common Leadership Priorities as shared by Black Belts and MBBs Marketing/Sales Increasing Market penetration and establishing a market share .managing the competition - Example - Digital marketing advertising effectiveness (BME) Activated revenue (not promised or agreed revenue) is the top focus area of another client. They count activated revenue as revenue realised in account quarter by quarter. The growth targets are highly ambitious and most people in the org are fully aligned towards this goal. Example - Improving lead generation and conversion. (BME, C&I) Improving market share: auto-ancillary suppliers are facing a bust these days owing to low demand.. However many bosses (that I know of) say that they still have the same market share.. So if demand rises tomorrow, business would be proportional - Discussion - Capturing VOC using Kano model (ECIL) enhanced customer. Experience through design thinking - Discussion - DFSS Reinforce Brand image Identify & target new market for growth - Discussion - Decide which markets or which customer segments to enter (BME) Enhanced customer experience through digitalization, adding interface for self service - Discussion - New digitization, IT component, App development, Automation (ECIL) Whether new products launched are the top priority requirement of the customer - Discussion - Kano, QFD as part of DFSS Providing value added business solutions to customers & partners - Example - Product life cycle management who is our customers and what they actually want - Discussion - Survey and research methods (BA, BME) Enhancing Customer experience. Example - Mystery shopping How Opex can contribute to top line ( we have lot of initiatives to reduce cost) - Examples of few applications in sales (BME) They want innovation to diversify their business and grow on revenue and marketshare. - Example - Creativity and Innovation (C&I) Marketing/ Sales + Operations Product mix - What should be the ratio of products A, B, C, D, E in geographies V, W, X, Y, Z? Example - Product mix optimization (BME) Demand and capacity prediction in uncertain market - Discussion - Two approaches ot predictions (BVA) al a carte customer service with brand product mix (particular to DTH , TELECOM, hotel's and hospitality) - Discussion - Adding service components (BME) Demand and capacity prediction in uncertain market - Discussion - Two approaches ot predictions (BVA) New Product Development Reducing lead time from product conceptualisation to product launch in market - Example - Rapid DFSS (LPLG) Delivering flawless launch quality of new products - Example - DFSS Being Cost competitive, by VAVE idea generation and implementation - Example - Product Tear Down Supply Chain/ Delivery Timely deliveries is the biggest concern for another e-commerce client of ours. People cancel orders in large numbers if deliveries don’t happen in a 4 hour window. The business is based on on-site impulse buying. Example - Creativity and Innovation (C&I) Logistics cost optimization - Example - logistics modelling (BME) Supply chain rationalization Less noise from customer and reduce Cost of delivery to improve margin - Example - Cost of delivery (LPLG) Finance Cash flow is the killer at another place. They are hard pressed to pay salaries and to pay vendors on time month after month. Discussion - Improving cashflow (BVA, LPLG) Increasing ROI. Maximising returns is one of the biggest focus points - Discussion Increasing ROI (BVA) Optimum utilisations of resources - Resources like manpower , assets . Companies have lots added over years and not able to assess if its used well - Discussion Increasing ROI (BVA) Reduction of operational cost - Discussion Decreasing Operational Cost (BVA) Lowering of Variable Overhead Costs - Discussion Decreasing Operational Cost (BVA) Improving cash flow and to maintain clean boom of account from both our and customer end.F&A domain - Discussion - Improving cashflow (BVA) Reduction in Manpower cost from matured processes thru non intrusive (non tech) interventions - Discussion RPA impact on profitability (RPA) Outsourcing benefit calibration - Financials of Outsourcing (BVA) Future focus.investments of today or technology will they be of use in future. Is our business model sustainable in future Impact on cash flow and reducing cost - Discussion - Improving cashflow (BVA) Allocation of funds in different aspects of the business. Working capital management Have the projects actually achieved the RoI they promised? - Discussion - ROI realization (BVA) Top management wants higher profits and customer retention. - Discussion - Customer retention Minimize their corporate taxes Legal/ Compliance/ Regulatory Risk reduction and regulatory compliance while not increasing cost of operations - Example - regulatory risk (ECIL, LPLG) One of our clients focuses on minimising penalties. Growth is good and is not a concern. Complaints lead to reimbursement of damages in this financial company. They are super concerned about penalties as this area can result in closure of business - Example - regulatory risk (ECIL, LPLG) Being an NBFC we are highly regulated and there r huge penalties for non compliance. Hence 100% compliance is top target i.e. zero audit points - Example - regulatory risk(ECIL, LPLG) Health and Safety Employees’ health (fear of Covid-19): precautionary measures and tactical steps Technology + Ops insourcing. Using technology interventions - Example - Insourcing increasing productivity using RPA - Example - Aspects around RPA (RPA) use of ML & AI and move from transactional process to stratagic decisions process - Example - Strategic decision making (AHP) Operations/ Knowledge Management/ HR People Dependancy since in old Indian companies people don't share knowledge due to fear of losing importance/ job - Example - Knowledge Management (ECIL) Effective measurement of productivity and justification for the resources at hand. Thereby transparent performance evaluation. - Discussion - Performance evaluation (BVA, ECIL) Reduction in end to end cycle time - Example - finding better focus area through mapping methods (BME, LPLG) Quick capitalization of new equipment/processes How changes in demand can be accomodated, Both sudden high demand.. And sudden low - Approaches to demand management (BVA,LPLG) How employee turnover can be reduced.. More so.. How new talent can quickly give results - Discussion - Faster learning curve (C&I) How do i shift from pyramid type human resources to hourglass - Example - Self performing teams (ECIL) Multi Functional Cutting down baseline costs and increasing top line revenue by either process improvements or innovation using latest technologies (ECIL)

Grouping them here - Marketing Management + Operations Management Product mix has been the top challenge in one client organisation of ours. What should be the ratio of products A, B, C, D, E in geographies V, W, X, Y, Z? Demand and capacity prediction in uncertain market al a carte customer service with brand product mix (particular to DTH , TELECOM, hotel's and hospitality) Demand and capacity prediction in uncertain market New Product Development/ Product Management Reducing lead time from product conceptualisation to product launch in market Delivering flawless launch quality of new products Being Cost competitive, by VAVE idea generation and implementation Deliveries/ Supply Chain Timely deliveries is the biggest concern for another e-commerce client of ours. People cancel orders in large numbers if deliveries don’t happen in a 4 hour window. The business is based on on-site impulse buying. Logistics cost optimization Supply chain rationalization Less noise from customer and reduce Cost of delivery to improve margin Finance Cash flow is the killer at another place. They are hard pressed to pay salaries and to pay vendors on time month after month. Increasing ROI. Maximising returns is one of the biggest focus points Optimum utilisations of resources - Resources like manpower , assets . Companies have lots added over years and not able to assess if its used well Reduction of operational cost Lowering of Variable Overhead Costs Improving cash flow and to maintain clean boom of account from both our and customer end.F&A domain Reduction in Manpower cost from matured processes thru non intrusive (non tech) interventions Outsourcing benefit calibration Future focus.investments of today or technology will they be of use in future. Is our business model sustainable in future Impact on cash flow and reducing cost Allocation of funds in different aspects of the business. Working capital management Have the projects actually achieved the RoI they promised? Top management wants higher profits and customer retention. Minimize their corporate taxes Marketing Increasing Market penetration and establishing a market share .managing the competition. Activated revenue (not promised or agreed revenue) is the top focus area of another client. They count activated revenue as revenue realised in account quarter by quarter. The growth targets are highly ambitious and most people in the org are fully aligned towards this goal. Improving market share: auto-ancillary suppliers are facing a bust these days owing to low demand.. However many bosses (that I know of) say that they still have the same market share.. So if demand rises tomorrow, business would be proportional. enhanced customer. Experience through design thinking Reinforce Brand image. Identify & target new market for growth Enhanced customer experience through digitalization, adding interface for self service Whether new products launched are the top priority requirement of the customer Providing value added business solutions to customers & partners. who is our customers and what they actually want Enhancing Customer experience How Opex can contribute to top line ( we have lot of initiatives to reduce cost) They want innovation to diversify their business and grow on revenue and marketshare. Legal/ Compliance/ Ragulatory Risk reduction and regulatory compliance while not increasing cost of operations One of our clients focuses on minimising penalties. Growth is good and is not a concern. Complaints lead to reimbursement of damages in this financial company. They are super concerned about penalties as this area can result in closure of business. Being an NBFC we are highly regulated and there r huge penalties for non compliance. Hence 100% compliance is top target i.e. zero audit points Health and Safety Employees’ health (fear of Covid-19): precautionary measures and tactical steps Technology + Operations insourcing. Using technology interventions increasing productivity using RPA use of ML & AI and move from transactional process to stratagic decisions process Operations/ Knowledge Management/ HR People Dependancy since in old Indian companies people don't share knowledge due to fear of losing importance/ job Effective measurement of productivity and justification for the resources at hand. Thereby transparent performance evaluation. Reduction in end to end cycle time Quick capitalization of new equipment/processes How changes in demand can be accomodated, Both sudden high demand.. And sudden low How employee turnover can be reduced.. Moreso.. How new talent can quickly give results How do i shift from pyramid type human resources to hourglass Cross Functional Cutting down baseline costs and increasing top line revenue by either process improvements or innovation using latest technologies

For this question, I got 50 plus responses. They are here - Product mix has been the top challenge in one client organisation of ours. What should be the ratio of products A, B, C, D, E in geographies V, W, X, Y, Z? Timely deliveries is the biggest concern for another e-commerce client of ours. People cancel orders in large numbers if deliveries don’t happen in a 4 hour window. The business is based on on-site impulse buying. Cash flow is the killer at another place. They are hard pressed to pay salaries and to pay vendors on time month after month. Increasing ROI. Maximising returns is one of the biggest focus points Optimum utilisations of resources - Resources like manpower , assets . Companies have lots added over years and not able to assess if its used well Reduction of operational cost Lowering of Variable Overhead Costs Increasing Market penetration and establishing a market share .managing the competition Improving cash flow and to maintain clean boom of account from both our and customer end.F&A domain Risk reduction and regulatory compliance while not increasing cost of operations Reduction in Manpower cost from matured processes thru non intrusive (non tech) interventions Activated revenue (not promised or agreed revenue) is the top focus area of another client. They count activated revenue as revenue realised in account quarter by quarter. The growth targets are highly ambitious and most people in the org are fully aligned towards this goal. Demand and capacity prediction in uncertain market One of our clients focuses on minimising penalties. Growth is good and is not a concern. Complaints lead to reimbursement of damages in this financial company. They are super concerned about penalties as this area can result in closure of business. Improving market share: auto-ancillary suppliers are facing a bust these days owing to low demand.. However many bosses (that I know of) say that they still have the same market share.. So if demand rises tomorrow, business would be proportional. Employees’ health (fear of Covid-19): precautionary measures and tactical steps Outsourcing benefit calibration insourcing. Using technology interventions increasing productivity using RPA use of ML & AI and move from transactional process to stratagic decisions process enhanced customer. Experience through design thinking al a carte customer service with brand product mix (particular to DTH , TELECOM, hotel's and hospitality) Demand and capacity prediction in uncertain market People Dependancy since in old Indian companies people don't share knowledge due to fear of losing importance/ job Future focus.investments of today or technology will they be of use in future. Is our business model sustainable in future Reinforce Brand image. Identify & target new market for growth Enhanced customer experience through digitalization, adding interface for self service Whether new products launched are the top priority requirement of the customer Providing value added business solutions to customers & partners. Cutting down baseline costs and increasing top line revenue by either process improvements or innovation using latest technologies Effective measurement of productivity and justification for the resources at hand. Thereby transparent performance evaluation. Reduction in end to end cycle time who is our customers and what they actually want How Opex can contribute to top line ( we have lot of initiatives to reduce cost) Quick capitalization of new equipment/processes How changes in demand can be accomodated, Both sudden high demand.. And sudden low Impact on cash flow and reducing cost How employee turnover can be reduced.. Moreso.. How new talent can quickly give results Allocation of funds in different aspects of the business. Working capital management How do i shift from pyramid type human resources to hourglass Being an NBFC we are highly regulated and there r huge penalties for non compliance. Hence 100% compliance is top target i.e. zero audit points Being Cost competitive, by VAVE idea generation and implementation Supply chain rationalization Enhancing Customer experience Have the projects actually achieved the RoI they promised? Less noise from customer and reduce Cost of delivery to improve margin Reducing lead time from product conceptualisation to product launch in market Logistics cost optimization Delivering flawless launch quality of new products

I have come across a really important question forBBs/ MBBs - We all know that Black Belts/ MBBs want to be trusted. Trust is built in a company by demonstration of competence. - Our competence should link with what top leaders are concerned about. We need to link with what gives sleepless nights to absolute top guys (CXO team). - Among top guys there are a few who are the biggest influencers in the direction for management. Typically we know who those people are and what they are trying to drive. - I asked many BB/MBBs to think what is the top focus area of the key influencer in your organisation and mention the focus area here. This would help us to think what direction should Black Belts/MBBs take. We got the following list in some time (See message below)

Both Harsha Subbanna and Shashikant Adlakha have provided very good answers and are joint winners. Please go through Mr. Venugopal's answers for additional strategies.

Q 241. As a tribute to Jack Welch, the GE leader who got tremendous success with Six Sigma and passed away recently, here is our question - One of the most powerful change sequences in GE in the past has been the Change Acceleration Process, this included the Action Work-Out. Explain the following statement "Work-Out can address issues that Six Sigma projects probably cannot." Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionaryat https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

While all published answers are appropriate, the two winners for today are Shashikant Adlakha and Mohamed Asif as both have provided very good examples.

Q 240. Time is money and it should be spent on doing 'Important but NOT Urgent' tasks. However we all are like Sisyphus (a prisoner in the ancient Greece who was given a never ending task of rolling a heavy and huge rock up a hill only to watch it roll back down and start over again). Endless to-do lists that only grow longer are a big deterrent for Continuous Improvement Projects that require creativity. Explain what can be done to address the Sisyphus effect. Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionaryat https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

Winner for this question is Mohamed Asif as he has provided the method to carry out the analysis using Statistical Software as well. Please go through reply by Benchmark Expert Venugopal as well.

The winner for this question on Bootstrapping is Shashikant Adlakha. Please go through the answer by Bencmark Expert Mr. Venugopal as well. (Especially the reference to Central Limit Theorem)

The winner for this question is Shashikant Adlakha as he has provided a good number of examples along with advantages and disadvantages of stratified sampling. Please go through the response by Mr Venugopal as well.

Very good answers by T Jayaram and Shashikant Adlakha. Both are winners. Also, do review the response from Mr Venugopal for expert view.

The winner is Shashikant Adlakha for his excellent answer.

Q 239. Sir Francis Galton, in 1906, took more than 700 guesses from fair visitors about the weight of an Ox and the average value from guesses was found to be precise. Sometimes surveying for guessed values makes a lot of sense because the average obtained through crowd intelligence is better than individual assessments. At other times crowds provide values that are completely off the mark. What are the elements to be considered before we think about relying on wisdom of the crowds? Are there any practical applications of this theory today? Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionaryat https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

Q 238. The Kaplan Meier Estimator helps Doctors estimate which treatment works best. How does it work? Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

Q 237. Why is Bootstrapping, a method of drawing samples with replacement, used an alternative to inferential statistics. Explain with simple examples. Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

Q 236. The “Trial of the Pyx” seems to be the longest continuing practice of stratified sampling. Provide some other very common and effective uses of stratified sampling. Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term

Q 235. The Chinese “Seven multiplying squares” became the Pascal’s Triangle several centuries later and then gave rise to binomial theorem. Explain how these relate to some of the basics of probability. Note for website visitors - Two questions are asked every week on this platform. One on Tuesday and the other on Friday. All questions so far can be seen here - https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/lean-six-sigma-business-excellence-questions/ Please visit the forum home page at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/ to respond to the latest question open till the next Tuesday/ Friday evening 5 PM as per Indian Standard Time The best answer is always shown at the top among responses and the author finds honorable mention in our Business Excellence dictionary at https://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/forum/business-excellence-dictionary-glossary/ along with the related term