Corporate Leadership Profile
'Relentless Execution' Drives Big Gains at Cat By Elaine Schmidt
With sales and revenues up more than 80 percent since implementing Six Sigma company wide in 2001, bigger is definitely better at Caterpillar. Two thousand improvement projects were completed in the first year, and since then more than 58,000 projects have been completed or are active. The 6 Sigma program is part of every facet of the
company, from design, to manufacturing, to the transactional arena and even the value chain.
Research
Fourth Annual iSixSigma Global Salary Survey By Michael Marx
The compensation, education and experience of more than 2,500 Six Sigma professionals worldwide form the basis for this year’s report. U.S. practitioners represented 56 percent of the total survey respondents, a decline from 60 percent last year. The fact that the overall proportion of survey respondents from the United States is declining – while the total number of survey respondents is holding steady or growing – suggests that Six Sigma is continuing to proliferate globally. In fact, participation from India jumped 31 percent this year.
More key findings:
Since the 2004 report, BBs and MBBs have seen a steady increase in salary. The average BB salary has increased by 8 percent, and the average MBB salary has increased 12 percent.
BBs in computer-related (IS, MIS, DP, Internet) businesses are the highest-paid BBs worldwide with an average salary that exceeds that of financial services BBs by more than $9,000.
This year we collected data on bonuses. The survey shows that respondents from Canada and Asia are more likely to receive a bonus than those working in Europe or the United States.
"Final Tollgate" Project Example
Processing of Damaged Inventory By Aidan Trindle
In this real-world project from EMC Corp., a Green Belt-led team reduced damaged material inventory levels by almost 55 percent and average holding time from 330 days to 56 days.
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
Building a Solid Foundation for Lean Six Sigma: 10 Factors to Assess and Address By Mary Federico
A company must understand its organizational readiness and process maturity before launching Lean Six Sigma. By looking at these 10 factors, a company can get a good sense of where it is, what it is up against and what it needs to do to lay a solid foundation for success:
Leadership Support
Organizational Culture
Case for Change
Resources
Alignment
Process Definition
Process Measurement, Monitoring and Control
Customer Focus
Causal-driven Operations Planning
Continuous Improvement and Problem Solving
Methodology
Organize!: Implementing Six Sigma in a Union Environment By Jonathan Atwood
With the myriad work rules that regulate union activities, it would seem that implementing Six Sigma in a unionized workplace would be more difficult than in a non-union environment. The reality for most companies is that implementation
of Six Sigma in a unionized workforce is challenging – but it simply requires the same attention to employee relationships, change management savvy and employee participation that is necessary in a non-union environment. The specific actions found in this article increase the chances of success.
Bonus Section
Faces of Quality: Walter A. Shewhart By Joan Skipper To celebrate 20 years of Six Sigma, in each issue of the magazine this year, we profile an influential figure in the development of Six Sigma. This month's quality guru is Dr. Walter A. Shewhart, who is known as the father of modern quality control.
More Features
Fewer Failed Projects The Role of Leadership in Healthcare Quality A Leadership Roadmap for Managing with Metrics Help Desk Can Provide Help for Process Improvements
Also In This Issue
Editor's Notes
Best Black Belt
Blog Blurbs
Six Sigma Basics
Tool Spotlight
Shop Talk
Six Sigma News Scan iSixSigma Crossword Puzzle
The Cox-Box Cartoon
Open Mike
Digital edition included free!
With sales and revenues up more than 80 percent since implementing Six Sigma company wide in 2001, bigger is definitely better at Caterpillar. Two thousand improvement projects were completed in the first year, and since then more than 58,000 projects have been completed or are active. The 6 Sigma program is part of every facet of the
company, from design, to manufacturing, to the transactional arena and even the value chain.
