Vishwadeep Khatri

Dear All, As far as job assignments for freshers are concerned, there are cases of freshers joining in a Six Sigma role as their first job in Automotive companies, Consulting, Banking, Hospitals primarily due to Six Sigma competence. Some of them have agreed to share their experience in interviews. You shall be able to find some in interviews at http://forum.benchmarksixsigma.com/blogs/ Regards, VK

Dear All, It is very important to keep HIGH SIGMA LEVEL distinguished from SIX SIGMA APPLICATION. Many companies have reached wonderful performance levels because they have a good process in place with some mistake proofing and visual controls. They applied these concepts as plain common sense warrants their use. My question was "Is Mumbai Dabbawalas performance a good application example of Six Sigma?" If we pay attention to the term "application example for Six Sigma", the answer should be "NO". I agree that we may use it as an example for application of Lean concepts (or for providing example for high Sigma Level or low DPMO) Lot of people have been referring Dabbawalas as a great example for Six Sigma, which is misleading. The best examples for Six Sigma should be companies who use DMAIC or DFSS rigorously to progressively achieve performance excellence through customer and business focus projects using appropriate techniques. Some people even refer to Dabbawalas as "Six Sigma Certified". Please note that no company gets the tag of "Six Sigma certified" Thanks to all for contributing in this discussion. Amol, Rohit, Karthik, Ravindra, Renu, Imraan have highlighted the high SIGMA LEVEL appropriately and mentioned that process can be considered beyond Six Sigma. However, Rahul, Anees, Reddy, Venkatesh and Arup have appropriately highlighted that we should not consider this as SIX SIGMA APPLICATION (and that this was not a conscious effort with the methodology) By mentioning this, we do not wish to take away the credit for what they achieved. May they achieve greater success! and let us hope that they really use Six Sigma some day. Best Regards, VK

Hi Shalini, Accurate means average same as targeted value. Precise means low variation A broadband connection that has OK speed on an average but large variation can be taken as an example for "ACCURATE BUT NOT PRECISE" Regards, VK

VOC - Voice of Customer - The expectations, complaints, feedbacks of an internal or external customer. VOC is the driving force of many Six Sigma projects. QMS - Quality Management System - ISO 9001 is the most used QMS standard. When a company designs its quality management system, it needs to suitably include elements of QMS. These include the creation of processes that shall meet requirements of clients. One way of designing the QMS is through the implementation of ISO 9001:2008.

Dear All, Let us have a discussion on this one. One of the most publicized examples of Six Sigma in India is the Mumbai Dubbawallas. Do you think it is a good application example for Six Sigma? Why/ Why not? VK

My views are as follows. I presume the discussion is about 2 sample t test where we are trying to test the significance of difference in mean length of stem due to change in fertilizer. Alpha value (significance level) is something we fix before testing a hypothesis. So, I do not think we should be interested in checking the analysis results with different alpha values after the test. However, the question is valid for academic interest. Continuing with the point 2 above, we would have fixed an alpha value of 5% if we are willing to accept a 5% probability of rejecting a true null hypothesis (this means maximum 5% chances of concluding that the height of stems are different when they actually are same). If we wish to accept a lower risk in such a conclusion, we may have chosen a smaller alpha of 1%. How much risk we are willing to accept is based on our own assessment of seriousness of impact of error. Sample Size calculation should be done with predetermined alpha value. If I use Minitab for sample size calculation for the same example, (by clicking on options I can change the alpha value. Alpha 0.05 gives me a sample size of 23. Alpha value of 0.01 gives me a sample size of 32. I have assumed a standard deviation of 2 and a power value of 0.9. I agree with Kiran - We like to run sufficient simulations to cover sample size in situations where real data cannot be generated. As we gather more knowledge (with Chandrayaan - I for example), our simulations become more realistic with better assumptions and facts. Regards, VK

Hello Vikas, Process Capability covered in detail in Six Sigma Body of Knowledge, while it does not carry much coverage in Lean Management Body of Knowledge. However, Toyota Production Systems (from where "Lean" emerged) do cover these concepts in "another way". Regards, VK

Have a look at this one. CDF is ever increasing till it reaches 100% as it is the cumulative distribution. PDF can have peaks as it shows actual probability. We can derive PDF from CDF and vice versa. http://www.predictionprobe.com/DistributionProbe/ex1_PDF_CDF.jpg

Dear Rajesh, If you toss twenty coins, PDF can tell you the probability of getting exactly 10 heads. CDF shall provide you the probability of getting up to 10 heads (This is the cumulative of getting 0,1,2,3 ......10 heads) In a similar way, CDF can provide you the probability of obtaining a PIZZA within 30 minutes if you know the mean and standard deviation of normally distributed PIZZA delivery data. If you need statistical details, have a look here

I am posting a query from AMSR below on - Differentiating Discrete and Continuous Data. Written by Arun Maruthi Selvan Ramasamy Hi!! I had a big discussion regarding a project that I'm currently working on. It boils down to the basic question of how I can differentiate Discrete data from Continuous data. The data collected was the number of errors found in each drawing. I assumed that X is each drawing and is discrete..Y is number or errors..which is also discrete because it is a count of the number of errors. However my BB suggested that Y is continuous, because, it can have any value from 0 to say 100 and is totally random. I tried to fit the data to a normal distribution using a software that we use in our company. When fitted to a normal distribution(Glog), the p value was 0.125. which indicates that the data is normal. When fitted to a discrete distribution, the p value was 0.96, which indicates that the data is discrete. I'm confused. Its a fine line between discrete and continuous data, but what type of data am I currently looking at? Another question is whether there are different types of normal distribution and discrete distribution? Looking forward to a response. Thanks & Regards, AMS

Dear All, Here is an article on Six Sigma in Pharma Industry. http://www.expresspharmaonline.com/20051130/market01.shtml

Dear Adhiraj, Please find the answers to your questions below. Software based improvements relates to solutions many cases. In quite a few cases, improvements are brought about by other means like elimination of steps, re-sequencing, scripts etc. Improvement ideas are to be generated when the critical X's have been identified. Often, the most difficult part is identification of critical X's. Sloppy errors are "unintended" errors. IRR stands for Internal Rate of Return. It is used to find out whether a single project is worth investing in. In Six Sigma choosing an appropriate improvement project that makes business sense is one of the most important steps. To read more about IRR, click here Please note that Six Sigma Green Belt/ Black Belt is not responsible for calculation of IRR in most companies. This assessment is done by finance people who provide a go ahead for a cross functional Black Belt project that may require reasonable investment in terms of time and effort from key people in the company.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_38/b4147064137002.htm?chan=rss_topDiscussed_ssi_5 Dear All, This article in Business week says "Six Sigma makes a comeback" I don't agree with this theory of comeback. It did not go anywhere. What are your views? Regards, VK

Dear Ashish, The various approaches for productivity are as follows. Consider a lower specification limit only (no upper specification limit). Consider both limits. Lower specification limit to ensure that productivity never goes below a minimum specified value. Upper specification limit to ensure that productivity is never above a value (for example more than 105% may adversely affects machine life or increase maintenance costs). Consider upper specification limit only. This would safeguard against over-usage. The approaches more likely to be used are number 1 and 2 as they make more business sense in most cases. Approach 3 may be counter productive if there are waiting orders or demand all the time. To give examples for the first two let us consider the following: Lower Spec Limit = 100 pcs per hour. Mean = 125 pcs per hour, Std Dev = 5. The Sigma Level calculation shall be Z = (125-100)/5 = 5 LSL = 100, USL = 150, Mean = 125, Std Dev = 5. Sigma Level calculation shall be Z upper = (150-125)/5 = 5 and Z lower = (125-100)/5 = 5 Both approaches take care of variation in productivity. Regards, VK

Managing Security risks in companies is one of the biggest priorities. In addition to corporate the security industry would cover Government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) whose primary task is to provide security to society. These agencies would include Policing and other security organizations whose responsibility is to protect society. One of the Police departments in US (Mesa Police) saved $327K by way of Six Sigma Application. GE has also extensively gained by implementing Six Sigma principles in its security processes. Security officers in GE were trained as Six Sigma Green Belts. Six Sigma applications in security range from national security to corporate security. Some of the Six Sigma Projects in Security Industry are: Reducing the booking process time in policing Reducing number of security violations by employees in an organization Reducing time taken to conduct background checks Reducing number of illegal entrants into a country by improving & strengthening related processes. Identification & Mitigation of critical security risks

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) play a key role in various developmental and public welfare initiatives in society. One of their primary aims is to benefit a large number of people through various initiatives. Hence, it is very important for an NGO to have a set of well defined & robust business processes right from fundraising, scheme design, fund deployment and tracking progress of various initiatives. Lean Six Sigma with its inherent strength of building strong, robust & world class processes finds natural application in NGOs. Some of the applications of Lean Six Sigma projects in NGOs are: Improving the fundraising processes Improving the information management process related to the identification of fund sources. Designing effective fund deployment schemes. Improving the effectiveness of managing donor expectations. Improving communication processes. Improving the brand building processes. Improving the efficiency of social benefit processes. (more benefit per million Rupees) Improving the effectiveness of social benefit processes. (confirmed benefit for targeted beneficiaries) Improving trust and ease of verification of fund utilization.

Gems is a vast industry and there is always an ever increasing demand worldwide for the best quality gems like diamonds, sapphires, topazes, ruby and emerald. All these are amongst the precious gemstones that are the cynosure in the eyes of potential buyers or customers. These gemstones are prized for their beauty and perfection and these are the attributes that are of primary value to their consumers. Lean Six Sigma finds applications in Gems industry by helping in improving these and other attributes that are of value to the customer. Some of the Six Sigma applications in this Industry are: Optimizing the shape of the crystal (diamond) in order to make it reflect light with fire and sparkle. Improving & optimizing the Gems Extraction processes Improving & optimizing the diamond cutting & polishing processes in line with customer needs Designing effective VOC capturing systems and underlying processes to effectively meet the VOC.

Aviation is one Industry that is highly competitive. The competition is getting more and more intense with a number of players venturing into Aviation over the years. The competition is not restricted to adoption of technology alone but is in all areas right from new product/service introduction to customer service. New products/packages need to be introduced to the market at high speed and faster than the competitors. Before than even designing the right product/package that suits the needs of majority of customers is the key. Hence, Lean Six Sigma has lot of applications right from capturing customer VOC till actual delivery of service. Recently, World Aviation Group has aligned its key business processes with the Six Sigma Methodology. World aviation is a company delivering services to aviation industry with an equal equity stake of Air Malta and Cassar Airways Services Pvt Ltd, Sydney. Boeing, GE Aircraft Engines are other world famous companies in the Aviation sector that have benefitted from Six Sigma both in Manufacturing & Service Operations. Some of the Lean Six Sigma Projects done in Aviation Industry are: Speeding up turnaround times in all customer interfacing processes Achieving cost reduction in Airline Operations by identifying & removing wastes Improving customer feedback on critical factors impacting customer satisfaction Designing an effective customer feedback capturing & analysis process Reduction in Turnaround time for Intermediate Maintenance on GE Aircraft Engines from 83 days to 5 days. Reduction in repair time and cost of the Aircraft Engine Increasing %age of on time departures Reducing customer waiting time in Check-in queues Reduction in overall maintenance and repair costs Improving overall safety of Operations Source - Duggan Inc

Amongst the many applications of Six Sigma in metal refining, the one in metal refining stands out as one of the foremost areas of Application of Six Sigma tools & techniques. Met-Mex Penoles, world's largest refiner of Silver extensively uses simulation of the refining process along with DoE to cut down on the number of trial runs. This enables the company to work on Process Optimization and sacrifice a minimum of gold and silver during experimentation. While working with Silver and Gold it is costly to run pilot projects testing innovations in the manufacturing process. However, by simulating changes to the Process Design, Met-Mex Penholes is able to address lot of issues and questions without actually running trials of the process. Besides, a number of metallurgical plants across the world have successfully applied Process Control techniques including SPC. Some of the other examples of Lean Six Sigma Application in Metallurgy Industry are: Improving overall Quality of welding process by identifying & controlling critical input variables before welding, during welding and post welding. Improving the Quality (&Yield) of the Metal Finishing Processes Improving Powder Metallurgy Processing techniques Maximizing Productivity and reducing variability in Operations

Real Estate is a project based industry with an essential requirement to serve and meet the customer need in the best possible manner. In addition to being customer focused the real estate developers need to be efficient & productive as well. With emerging competition in Real Estate, especially in India the need to be both effective and efficient has increased all the more. Be it residential or commercial venture Six Sigma has credible applications in the Industry with a potential of immense gains. Some of the projects and areas of application of Six Sigma in the Real Estate Industry are: Reducing Cycle time of Capital Projects Reducing cost Improving quality of facility support Proactively identifying & eliminating risks related with delayed approvals, time overruns & Cost overruns

Dear Pravin, You had a question specific to marketing. You may have a look at the following discussion and continue with the string there. http://forum.benchmarksixsigma.com/topic/695-six-sigma-in-marketing-and-sales/ Regards VK

One way of relating Six Sigma with Blue Ocean Strategy is by working with hypotheses at different stages. I have marked this response with Examples in Green and Hypotheses in Blue. So if I want to use Blue Ocean Strategy (make competition irrelevant), the first question is - what are the possible options I have? If the possible options are A, B, C, and D. Some more questions I need to answer are - If I have chosen one amongst them (let us say,C), how do I design a product that meets the objectives that I have visualized (DFSS). Will X product design meet the objectives? Is Y likely to meet the objectives and so on. When we design, are we documenting it in a manner that shows what hypotheses have been tried during design and where we have failed? (Thomas Alva Edison could do it with individual brilliance, but we have many experimenters who are bad at firstly designing the experiments, secondly in recording them and lastly in analyzing and infering from them). If X product is the best, Have I optimized my design (part of DFSS) with simulations with best estimates of values that factors can assume? Do I have systems in place that shall help in realigning during the prototype development phase if I realise that the design is not really moving in a meaningful direction (Is the concept still making business sense?) How do I choose among these? Which option is the best? Is there really a Voice of Customer that supports our option? One of the most hyped products which was a huge disappointment at its first launch was the IRIDUM (the satellite phone). It was very much Blue Ocean strategy (uncontested market space) but unsupported by VOC. Even if our new design is successful, let us say one like iPod, how do we keep listening to customers and keep doing DMAIC and DMADV as relevant to keep competition at bay? Is premium pricing the best approach or is it time to get to competitive pricing (These are some more hypotheses that require VOC and forecasts) To me the BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY is about starting with hypotheses at a high level. If we want to reduce risks we would like to use several of the Six Sigma techniques. I am sure there are many ways of responding to Valluri's question. Ideas and comments are welcome.

Hi Nitika, For Kaizen and related application, you can join our Lean Management Certification Program. Have a look at the calendar at www.benchmarksixsigma.com/cal.html Regards, Vishwadeep Khatri Lead Facilitator, Benchmark Six Sigma

Hello Ashish, To view career benefits please have a look at the following link http://forum.benchma...igma.com/blogs/ Regards, VK

Dear Sarang, Six Sigma is the most powerful DOMAIN INDEPENDENT learning. Six Sigma professionals switch industries and functional areas with ease as Six Sigma practice is virtually the same. People have been moving from Manufacturing to Banking, from Banking to KPO, from R&D to BPO, from Hotel to BPO, from HR to Quality, from Quality to Operations, from Operations to Quality, from OTHER DOMAINS to Senior Management just to name a few. The best example is GE, where professionals with Six Sigma competence have moved a lot across industries. Many of them grew a lot while remaining within the GE as a corporation. I want to highlight one comment made by Jack Welch once "Six Sigma is the most important management training thing we've ever had. It's better than going to Harvard Business School." This statement is from "The GE Way Fieldbook" and can be seen from the book review by clicking here Regards, VK