Vishwadeep Khatri

Hi Tushar, This topic has emerged from a Gallup study that resulted in a book "Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter" Although their are a lot of welcome thoughts and concepts, the book does not provide detailed approach on "how to" go about improving human sigma. It does not seem that the topic has matured enough yet. It relates a lot to measuring effectiveness or satisfaction in employee-customer encounters. You can read more in the book. Regards, VK

Dear Deepak, It seems you have a unique situation. One tool that you may like to learn and use for the purpose of metric finalisation and prioritization is QFD. Once you have finalised the metric, you can use benchmarking to set expected performance. A good list of metric can be found in table f of COPC. Regards,

Dear Sathish, You can use Sigma Level as a metric which can be calculated in several ways. For one sided tolerance and normally distributed data, the method works out as Sigma Level = (upper specification limit - average)/ standard deviation OR Sigma Level = (average - lower specification limit)/ standard deviation Regards, VK

The best time to apply Six Sigma tools in network marketing is while designing the network marketing system. The company should carry out simulations, DFMEA, and benchmarking while designing the system. Another opportunity to apply tools is to analyze data so that the right push can be provided at the branches in the system. However, these opportunities lie with the company planning the whole system and not with individual who are parts of the system. Individuals can at best try and get opinions on what their branch members feel and then try to see if they can address the biggest reasons that create a bottleneck in the chain growth. The possible Xs are Communication Quality that leads to meetings for presentations. The quality and content of presentations The trust inducing evidence that is used. The support provided to network members for helping them to reach next level. The promotional media mix (like bulk emails, sms) etc. Ability to choose members who have networking abilities.. As you can probably understand, each factor above could be taken up as a Six Sigma project objective. There is scope for testing hypotheses, analysing data (especially if are able to get into a reasonable following network) The opportunity of success through the tools depend on your level in the network and the obvious biggest scope for improvement lies with the company running the system (more scope in design stage as discussed earlier) The biggest barrier generally is the belief that in any kind of network marketing, majority of members lose money and a small minority gains well at the expense of losing members. Most people feel "A member who induces others into the system stands a big risk of spoiling his relationships". Herein lies the biggest challenge for an individual networker. Regards, VK

Hello All, Have a look at some developments in Six Sigma implementation at US Army through links shown below: http://www.armyobt.army.mil/about-continuous-process-improvement.html http://www.armyobt.army.mil/news-process-improvement-specialists.html http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/03/26/36470-process-improvement-specialists-earn-lss-master-black-belt-certification/index.html Regards, VK

Dear Ganesh, In the MBB program, the important elements covered are - Six Sigma Deployment Strategies Ways of integrating Lean and Six Sigma Advanced elements in MSA Important elements from multivariate (multiple Y's and multiple X's) analysis. Advanced DOE and Taguchi Methodology Simulation techniques and various applications Forecasting techniques and applications Integrating BPR (Business Process Re-Engineering) and ToC (Theory of Constraints) with Six Sigma. Soft Skills to address various types of resistance in Six Sigma deployment Managing/ Reviewing/ Controlling multiple Six Sigma projects in a company. Regards, VK

We had this discussion at another platform recently. For everyone's benefit I am posting it here. Manish Rawat Management Operations Trainee at Avery Dennison I would like to study the penetration of the Six Sigma concept at bottom level & sustenance of the project carried out years ago Venugopal R. Manager-Quality at Moog, Controls India I would review the performance of key indicators and evaluate the effect of six sigma on improvements in KPI Mamoon Md.Abdullah Al Head of Enterprise IT Projects,BRAC Bank Ltd I would examine and assess the impact of Six Sigma in every business processes and derived improvements/benefits that ultimately contributes or complements the strategic intents/goals of the company. Vishwadeep Khatri Principal Consultant, Benchmark Six Sigma Good comments by Manish, Venugopal, and Mamoon. Sustenance of improved process performance, Impact on strategic intents (or KPIs) of the company - all seem valid and good methods. Do these seem enough for assessing maturity? Would someone like to add to these? Prasad Vemuri Intelenet Global Services For me the most mature six sigma organization is where there are no more six sigma projects to be done in the organization. Now coming to the level of maturity of the process, I would say assess the Cost, performance and quality of the manufacturing process using probably metrics like OEE ( of course OEE in its true sense, not the fudged OEE that we normally see on the shop floor) and then see if we are close to 85%(You can set your own target while starting the six sigma program). At the start of the sigma program, say your OEE was 40% and now after 5 years of implementation it is 47% then your program is about 15% effective ( 7/45)% (actual improved OEE/Delta Target OEE)%. One more thing that you can measure would be the plant overall sigma level. Again integrity in the data while reporting is a must. But to some extent it will take mostly quality into account. So we can leave it to the discretion of the management to decide as to which is most important, or inline withe mission and vision of the company for profitability. V.B. Manian Outsourcing/Offshoring Professional The leads given by all so far (viz, KPIs, Performance metrics aligned with the Business mission & vision, OEE, sigma level, etc) are good indicators to keep us all (as SS professionals) on our feet. However, the driving factor of any SS project/initiative/business can be summed up in two broad terms, viz 'Business Profits' & 'Customer Satisfaction' (demonstrated by increase in customer base). The level of growth in these two over the years (since the company/business became one to operate at Six Sigma level) with continued sustenance of the same should give a fair idea on its level of maturity as a SS company/organisation. Prasad Vemuri Manian, You have a very good point, but I have a follow up question. How will you measure it? V.B. Manian Outsourcing/Offshoring Professional Hi Prasad. Six Sigma is defined as a measure of Quality that strives for perfection with benefits to both the business & its customer(s). Herein, the term measure applies to the level of performance from a (six) sigma perspective and not financial/customer base perspective. Increase in business profits & customer satisfaction (resulting in increased customer base) with continual improvement are the additional confirmed benefits of operating at six sigma level of performance, which cannot be quantified/measured in specific terms, & are variable from business to business. As mentioned in my previous post, sustained growth in these are an indicator of the level of maturity of a company/organisation operating at six sigma level of performance over a period of time. & your input OEE/Sigma level is an indicator of the measurable performance. Hope this clarifies. Vishwadeep Khatri Principal Consultant, Benchmark Six Sigma Dear Mr. Manian, My inference from your comment is that irrespective of business benefits, if a company reaches Six Sigma performance level in its important processes, it should be considered mature in the implementation journey. Am I summarizing it correctly? V.B. Manian Outsourcing/Offshoring Professional Hi VK Sir, As mentioned in my previous post, Increased business benefits & customer satisfaction alongwith continual improvement are the CORNERSTONES of a Six Sigma process by its ACCEPTED DEFINITION in business language. So, a company/business operating at Six Sigma level of performance (in its key processes) over a sustained period of time MUST be invariably accompanied by the above two (increased business benefits & customer satisfaction) all long, & NOT irrespective of it (per your inference), to be used as a yardstick in gauging its maturity level from a Six Sigma perspective. Vishwadeep Khatri Principal Consultant, Benchmark Six Sigma Interesting response but still little unclear to me. Are you saying that if a company tries to reach Six Sigma level of performance and achieves it (for important processes), the company is surely going to reap business benefits and have high customer satisfaction? V.B. Manian Outsourcing/Offshoring Professional Hi again VK sir The fundamental reason as to why SS is so much sought after as a professional discipline & object of business contention with its growing influence over the professional & business community at large is mainly because of the win-win situation it creates for both the business (profits) and its customer/s (satisfaction) apart from other things (increased productivity, better quality, continual improvement, etc). There may be a few one of cases where some of the expected outcomes of a supposed SS process may not be realised due to certain prevailing business &/or other conditions, but the situation can always be improved in the time to come through continued application of SS & other business efforts to fructify the same (unaccomplised objectives). Hope this answers your question. Vishwajit joshi Manager – Continuous Improvement at Integreon Managed Solutions India Pvt Ltd The key elements for assessing Six Sigma maturity in a organization can be broadly viewed at two levels viz results/effectiveness and progress on program/initiative. Some of the KPIs (aligned with Balanced Scorecard quadrants) for assessing effectiveness of Six Sigma program can be - 1. Financial KPIs - Net savings from Six Sigma projects (include all reduced costs, increased revenue, increased sales, improved margins etc) 2. Customer KPIs - CSat ratings, responsiveness, MTBF, MTTR 3. Process KPIs - COPQ, Process maturity, productivity, quality 4. Learning & Growth KPIs - Six Sigma DNA, New products/services Some of the KPIs for assessing progress on Six Sigma initiative can be - 1. Training penetration - % of organization covered under various trainings like Six Sigma overview, Yellow belt, Green belt, Black belt etc 2. Projects coverage - % of organization (in terms of functions or processes) covered under projects implementations 3. Projects selection - ad hoc or low hanging opportunities indicate low maturity of program whereas projects aligned with organization startegy, innovation, new product/service introduction etc indicate higher maturity of program 4. Six Sigma assets - processes for Six Sigma trainings, projects, certifcation etc are well defined and implemented, digitized tools are in use, reporting is real time and structured 5. Culture - strong leadership support, Six Sigma is integrated with organizational processes (strategic goals and objectives, appraisals), critical mass is covered and believes in the approach Of course there can be other additional or different KPIs for particular situations and depending on the organization's strategy and environment, but these are the generic ones which can serve as the starting point. Ashok Muthuswamy, PMP, CPIM, CSSBB Global Program Manager at HP, Supply Chain Strategist, Lean Sigma Black Belt I am going to respond to VK's question asking whether six sigma will ensure business benefits... The answer is yes and no. It certainly contributes when it comes to productivity and bottom line improvement. However, the long term strategy formulation and deployment is the key for sustained business benefits. Six sigma can only help facilitate the strategy formulation/deployment, but not substitute that. Let me use Motorola as an example here. While Motorola pursued lean sigma approach to optimize its operation, it failed in developing a longer term strategy and direction. One of their well known failure is the lack of being able to foresee the switch to digital cell phones and develop appropriate products. This resulted in a huge disadvantage for them despite coming up with path breaking phones such as Startalk, Pockettalk, etc., that they released in the mid 1990s. Finally, they caught up and did release Razr, but couldn't repeat that success either. One of their issues is not coming up with products fast enough, over reliance on the existing products to do the selling, etc. Now they have been pushed to the backseat by agile players like Nokia, Samsung, etc. Motorola is even being split into two different companies now, clearly signaling the end of their domination. The bottom line is that the six sigma is a great optimization tool. It will help you streamline your operations, product design and eliminate waste throughout the value stream. However, it is not a substitute for long term vision and a farsighted corporate strategy. It can aid but not substitute the vision.

We had the following discussion recently at another platform. I am posting the sequence here for the benefit of forum members. VK - People in IT, KPO's, EPC (Engg, Projects and Construction) and the like tend to move away from Six Sigma saying - "Our processes are not repetitive. Process focus does not make sense here". Your views? Mamoon Md., Head of Enterprise IT Projects, BRAC Bank Ltd - This is not appropriate in saying that processes of IT, KPO, EPC are not repetitive. Could be more appropriate to say that Scope of Works (SOWs) or intended output differs in new assignments/projects. There are standard processes or process groups that every developments or works will eventually have to go through. For example, activities to achieve the deliverables of inception stage or delivery stage of any projects; say it IT or construction, are the same irrespective of the overall SOWs of the project. Srikanth Srinivas, A.G.M. - WAREHOUSE at Nagarjuna, Oil Corporation limited - Well Sir, I can very vehemently put it that kind of approach is wrong. For the simple fact that larger are the projects (like the one refinary project i am currently in) everything is driven by clearcut well charted processes and process ownership. The margin of error are zero, particularly plant, equipment and machinery, to say the least. All engineering and project management functions follow a well laid out and agreed processes with clear ownership otherwise everything including project goals gets compromised. Thus project deliverables, whether hard or soft, may vary but project management process and practice remains the same. Six sigma and lean can be helpful in identifying non-value added activities in the processes and in eliminating them. Manas Dandekar, Student at Welingkar - Agree to the points mentioned however the question here is that when there is less standardization and more element of customization can six sigma be still implemented. Since the approaches are project based and not product based, the parameters for evaluation of the project will constantly keep on changing. The challenge here is to change either the evaluation parameters or to comply to the standards, both of which are difficult and time consuming and non value added items, which would increase the cost of the projects. Hence they tend to move away from six sigma. However if we breakdown the entire project into the most basic processes we would be able to arrive at a level where are all the projects would be similar. Implementation of six sigma would then be possible. Even if at the macro level it may seem that the processes are not repetitive if we look deep at the micro level it would all boil down to the same set of processes. For example if we look at innovation, one may say that it is all about creating chaos and disturbance there is no fixed straight path to it hence no repetitive activity and hence no six sigma. But if we look at the basic way one innovates is, firstly he ideates, then converts the idea into invention, commercializes it using his creativity and that is innovation. But this after all is a process, and six sigma will definitely help in improving the process. Vishwadeep Khatri - Good points by Mamoon and Srikanth. Manas has raised an important point here. Some people agree that processes do exist at micro level, but a project manager is busy handling bigger execution challenges specific to the situation (unique to the project). This leads to an understanding that Six Sigma shall be extremely time consuming as each individual element has a relatively small contribution to overall project success. While a project manager (say, Jacob) understands the logic but does not find it practical to focus on small elements as they sometime appear in a project and sometimes are absent. Jacob feels that on-the-spot-at-the-moment management works well as it is planned and executed as per the situation. What are your views? Mamoon Md. Abdullah Al, Head of Enterprise IT Projects, BRAC Bank Ltd - Ideally project should be monitored (in respect of project triple constraints costs, schedule & scope) at the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) level and a Project Manager has to have the control and accountability at that level without any choice. If there are established processes (where six sigma can effectively contribute) to monitor and control any project at WBS level, I guess the biggest real life challenge in project management; i.e. managing the triple constraints of a project become manageable within tolerable limit. Yes, as mentioned by Manas, it is a fact that time allotted to a WBS is very short to have the assessment/control/evaluation system in place for six sigma to work effectively but again we can take care about that by redefining the evaluation parameters as rightly said by Manas. However, there are exceptions even in complying with the regulations/internal control due to some unnatural causes for which we may not follow guided procedures or processes and those are 'fire fighting' rather than standard operating procedure. As such six sigma may not be applicable to those exceptions. I am not sure whether it will be wise to frame out the process of articulating 'innovation' or 'creativity'. Hence I wouldn't recommend six sigma for any intangible/undefined outcome. Though we know the great histories of many great Inventors of the world, but I guess following their path (repititive process), may not enable someone to be an Inventor. Srikanth Srinivas, A.G.M. - WAREHOUSE at Nagarjuna, Oil Corporation limited - I would like to address the question 'ad seriatim'. 1. Processes exist at only micro level!! - Surprising indeed. 'Whole' is sum of parts. The answer to bigger execution challenges typically lies in some micro level process being ignored, compromised (in essence mismangaged). Many a time a particular situation ( what you call as 'unique to a project',) arises only because at the conceptual or formatory stage of the project that particular situation was not factored into or there was lack of subject matter expertise at that point of time. That to say, overall initial design of the project has not gone thro' the steps of DFSS. Thus a process compromised somewhere in the beginning leads to more compromises on later dates and all the blame is shifted to the 'Tool' and not to the poor understanding of the 'Tool' by the individual/ company! Paradoxical! 2. Secondly, when i said a 'tool' then a 'skill' is associated with it, in handling of tool. Now this comes in only one way. 'Practice'. Like a lathe operator or welder. So a skilled person will know, from the desired application, what kind of six sigma tool and to what extent need to be employed, in order to make a decision 'errorfree'. So time is purely a matter of skill. Ofcourse, a minimum required process time is to be allotted, based on available technology, to submit the patient to various tests before one concludes on the type of disease to be treated. 3. In jacob case, 'small' or 'big' are w.r.t. impact of the activity on the whole project. What may be a very big impact in 'Logistics' scenario is very small in corporate conglomerate. The 'on the spot' judgement and execution stems out of experience gained and that is the result of step 2 mentioned above. 4. Further, i would beg to disagree with Mr. Mamoon here, as we do have SOP for 'Fire fighting' and training also. 5. Even when we talk abt innovation, 'ideation' is the random part, but perfection of ideation for commercial success is a 'methodology' which can be subjected to six sigma tools! Karan Arora, Director - EBT at Sterling Infosystems, Inc. - What about DFSS? Vishwadeep Khatri - Yes, Karan has brought forward an untouched area to the fore (DFSS). Would you like to use DFSS or DMADV for a one time sequence of activities? Some companies actually do it. Any views in this context? vishwajit joshi Manager - Continuous Improvement at Integreon Managed Solutions India Pvt Ltd --- While I agree with most of the points by all of you, I would like to bring a different perspective - Six Sigma need not always be looked as end-to-end project. It as a methodology of systematically adressing a problem - at any level. So deosn't matter whether the process is one time activity or repatative, at macro level or micro level, existing or new - in all cases, the Six sigma "style of thinkning" is useful. Define the problem, understand the quantum of it, analyze the impacts/causes/options and accordingly decide course of action. Further, certain Six Sigma tools can be of great help in particular situation if used in standalone also e.g. simulation in call centers of predicting wait times, FMEA for preparing test cases in application development etc Kanchan Date, Principal Facilitator Vishwajit Joshi's views are most practical. There are tools in the tool-kit of six sigma that can effectively address even one-of-a-kind processes. NVAs have no bias for repetitive processes. They appear in all processes, soft or hard, repetitive or non-repetitive. Only the degree varies. But, even the smaller degree may be great in value.

Anish Mohandas shares his experience at Sify and Zylog Systems.

Hello All, In the video below, Udaya shares with us several Six Sigma projects in Finance domain at Flextronics. />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYm6rGyfRR8

Dear Dhurv, Please enter the values in Sigma Level Calculator and get the answer.If std deviation is extremely small, Sigma Level may be good. Regards, VK

Dear Dhruv, The solution lies in moving your current output average of 50AMPS (1800rpm) to a higher targeted value. You need to define this target based on business, technical and cost considerations. If other factors support, you may like to get an average output of 57.5 AMPS (which is the centre of the two specification limits) Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jyotiram, who has undergone Green Belt, Black Belt and Lean Management Certification from Benchmark Six Sigma explains how he has been benefiting with Six Sigma despite having not done a full fledged project.

Despite being a quality professional, Why Tiina Liisa chose Green Belt and Lean training. />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5JMe3QPi0M&feature=player_embedded

I came across someone who is a Quality Auditor and wanted to know whether Six Sigma shall be useful for him. Having done more than 350 third party audits of Quality management Systems and Product Certification audits of different kinds before moving into Six Sigma consulting and training, I am qualified to answer this question with reasonable justification. Strictly speaking, the role of an Auditor is limited to verification whether requirements are met. Having said that, the other truth is that Auditees respect an auditor only if he can provide some clues on how improvement can be made. The most respected Auditor is one who provides his observations (in closing meeting and reports) in a manner that makes business sense.So an Auditor who wants to build capability to add value to his Auditee's processes should learn Six Sigma. By doing so, he shall be in a position to not just look for "WHAT" is required but also provide ideas on "WHY" and "HOW" things should be done differently. The auditor should be able to articulate this to indicate tangible business benefits due to suggested change Questions and comments welcome.

Dear Harikrishna, Six Sigma provides good management approaches, tools and techniques. Whenever you join a company, you would like to bring improvements in processes of the company. As an example, if a company is finding that their security systems are not good currently, they need to identify an area where they have concerns (Define Phase). Next, they would like to study the extent of damage it is causing currently, (Measure phase). They would then like to analyse the root cause for the problem (Analyse phase). Next step would be to find a solution that works and does not create other problems. They also need to simulate or pilot the solution before going live (Improve Phase). Finally there is a need to create good controls in the new improved process so that the benefits are sustained. (Control Phase). DMAIC provides a structured roadmap with tools and techniques. This roadmap is covered in our Green Belt training and equips a professional with a systematic process improvement approach. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions. Regards, VK

Dear Desai, My advice - you should attend our Lean Management Certification workshop to get clarity on these topics. Regards, VK

From 1995 till 2007 - About 50,000 US citizens died due to want of a suitable organ donor. An interesting statistic - Only 28% Americans have chosen to donate their organs while 99.9% of French citizens are potential donors. What is the reason for this striking difference? Let us explore one by one. Awareness? - This cannot be the reason as dozens of campaigns have been carried out in USA.Moral development? - Do Americans believe that Doctors may not work as hard to save life of patients who have agreed to donate organs? This cannot be the reason. Evidence - Germans and Austrians share the same language, culture and are neighbors but have huge difference on this issue - 12% Germans are donors while 99.9% of Austrians are donors.Something more important is at work behind all this - something more important than deliberate reasoning, national thought processes, or individual preferences. The reason is - In the US, Great Britain and Germany, the legal default is that nobody is a donor without registering to be one. While in France, Austria, Hungary, everyone is a potential donor unless they opt out. This means the DEFAULT RULE works everywhere on this issue. This is the same as Opt-In versus Opt-Out rule in a software program. As you see this rule can have serious long standing repercussions. Have you tried working with the default rule in organisational processes? It can work wonderfully for you. Comments welcome. Best Regards, VK

Dear Dhruv, Please mention the following for better clarity What is the business case? (why this project is being done) What is the CTQ? What is the goal statement of the project? Best Regards, VK

Dear All, I have just uploaded this video of Suvendu Mahapatra and his Six Sigma journey. You can view his interview by clicking here. Best Regards, VK

Suvendu Mahapatra - AVP Quality and Transition, Zenta Technologies, shares his Six Sigma experience after his Black Belt and Lean certifications from Benchmark Six Sigma.

If you are trying to relate this with IT projects - Many of the SaaS (software as a service platforms) have shown that if individual elements and their integrations are perfected, the projects that integrate them shall be successful too. Important points for this example are Integration of elements follows a process. Troubleshooting is a process. Creation of each element is a process. Regards, VK

Dear All, This recent article shows that Toyota did get a series of warnings related to failures. The unfortunate part is that finally the action does not seem to be internal (from within Toyota) but induced by external forces (Government Departments). http://www.nytimes.c...oyotaGrfxX.html What are your views of Lean and Six Sigma community on this series of events? Regards, VK

Dear David, You can go ahead with a Black Belt even without doing a Green Belt project. There are quite a few of our participants who have done their first project as a Black Belt project. Black Belt training greatly enhances your ability to apply Six Sigma and is considered an important criteria in large number of companies. It is also important not to have a big time gap between Green Belt and Black Belt as you tend to forget the concepts and it gets more difficult to relate with the subject later. (Unless you are applying them). I am currently conducting a Black Belt training at Chennai at Hotel Radisson and 8 participants here have not carried out any project after their Green Belt. To understand career impact, have a look at http://forum.benchmarksixsigma.com/page/media.html Let me know if you have any further questions. Best Regards, VK