Corporate Leadership Profile
Four People You Should Know By Kate Burrows
As run-of-the-mill Six Sigma deployments take a backseat to other approaches, leaders are faced with a new challenge. The four people profiled here - Dr. Gary Kaplan of Virginia Mason Medical Center (pictured above), Scott Heydon of Starbucks Corp., Russell Ford of ClearEdge Power and County Executive Chris Collins of Erie County, N.Y., USA - are using their experience and vision to apply process improvement in innovative ways.
Research
Spreading the Word By Heidi Hanson
In this age of constant contact, how do organizations communicate about their Lean Six Sigma programs? This research report examines what methods are being used to share deployment news and how effectively they are keeping stakeholders informed.
"Final Tollgate" Project Example
Lab On-time Testing By Bill Poynor and Holly Duckworth
When Kaiser Aluminum Trentwood facility brought physical property tests of its metal products in house, the group began encountering delays. To combat this issue, the laboratory manager completed a Green Belt project to improve lab on-time testing.
The Final Tollgate features a Six Sigma project as it would be presented to a panel of company executives at the final project review. The objectives of such a presentation are to 1) communicate significant results of the project, 2) share highlights of how results were achieved and 3) gain agreement to close the project. The slides are the Black Belts visual presentation and the accompanying text is the verbal presentation. It is assumed that the project leader has been making regular presentations at each tollgate and that the executives in the audience have a basic understanding of Six Sigma. The content for this project was assembled for illustration purposes. It is based on fabricated data from a fictional company. Any similarities to an actual project are coincidental.
Do you have an exemplary Six Sigma project to share? Would you like to see it here? Submit it to us at www.isixsigma.com/submit/.
Strategy
Taking the 'Nay' Out of Six Sigma Naysayers By Gianna C. Clark
Naysayers can be a challenging obstacle to gaining buy-in for Lean Six Sigma. Program leaders should keep an eye out for five particularly damaging personalities and nix the nay before these resisters cause permanent harm.
Methodology
Getting a Grip By Sean Rohen
Belts and process owners can learn valuable lessons about project handoffs from the USA Track & Field men's and women's 4 x 100 relay teams' performance at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Product/Service Guide
Still Reaching for 'The Goal' By Christopher Lindstrom Eliyahu M. Goldratt's The Goal uses a novel format to introduce the principles of the Theory of Constraints in a compelling fashion.
More Features
Kaizen in Local Government Elementary, My Dear Black Belt 6 Tips to Manage Executive Sponsors
Also In This Issue
Editor's Notes
Best Black Belt
Ask an Expert
Six Sigma Basics
Tool Spotlight
Shop Talk
Plugged In
The Cox-Box Cartoon
Open Mike
Digital edition included free!
As run-of-the-mill Six Sigma deployments take a backseat to other approaches, leaders are faced with a new challenge. The four people profiled here - Dr. Gary Kaplan of Virginia Mason Medical Center (pictured above), Scott Heydon of Starbucks Corp., Russell Ford of ClearEdge Power and County Executive Chris Collins of Erie County, N.Y., USA - are using their experience and vision to apply process improvement in innovative ways.
