Thursday, December 4, 2008

A Case Study Displaying Results of Using Six Sigma

By Craig Calvin

Folks who are interested in Six Sigma often want to know how it has been used with larger companies. A good example is General Electric. This company went from a wasteful mess to an efficient, streamlined company through Six Sigma. Six Sigma made the difference to GE.

GE was once your typical American company--the type you see on the evening news every night. They were ran by a bureaucratically fashioned board and hierarchy of corporate management. This was leading the company astray, and dramatic moves were made to keep GE from becoming yet another example of corporate waste and greed. The first step was Six Sigma training. Many corporate level employees underwent Six Sigma black belt certification, and lower level employees attended Six Sigma training. Once they were adequately trained, GE took the principles of Six Sigma and applied them methodically to their company structure.

Every process was reduced to a set of quantifiable steps. Processes were evaluated and re-evaluated until all waste was eliminated. Executive level employees were taught to ask for input from employees at every level and open lines of communication. This created an atmosphere of maximum efficiency, maximum customer service, and maximum creativity. This change has had a huge impact on productivity and morale, which has continued to set GE apart in their field.

The process through which Six Sigma delivers such excellent results is quite simple. The employees who have passed the Six Sigma black belt training now identify the aspects that are Critical to Quality (CTQ's). Identifying defects, and measuring the process capabilities is then performed.

Once this data has been compiled, Six Sigma training teaches people who use it to identify variation--that is, times when the process failed to deliver the desired outcome. The process is redesigned and controlled for minimal variation and maximum customer satisfaction. Six Sigma is about changing processes to create an efficient and streamlined business.

Does maximum customer satisfaction and higher efficiency sound good to you? If so, Six Sigma training may be the single factor that turns your company around. With so many companies finding new and unprecedented levels of success with Six Sigma, this may be training you cannot do without. - 15359

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