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Feature Articles
Corporate
Leadership
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Still Going Strong
By Randy Woods
January/February 2010 | Volume 6, Number 1
iSixSigma Magazine reports on process improvement
deployments across industries and around the world. In this fifth anniversary issue, we check in with four of the companies we have featured on the cover - GE Healthcare, Xerox Corp., Cummins Inc. and Alcan Inc. - to see where their Six Sigma journeys have led.
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Law and Order
By Elaine Schmidt
November/December 2009 | Volume 5, Number 6
In recent years, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, a law firm that includes 750 attorneys across 10 offices, had
noticed a change in client expectations, particularly regarding fee structures. The firm is now using Lean Six Sigma to increase communication and collaboration with clients, as well as to shift the paradigm in its delivery and billing of services.
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The DoD Roundup
By Sue Reynard
September/October 2009 | Volume 5, Number 5
To support its overall business transformation, the Defense Department is moving forward on creating a continuous process improvement culture enterprise wide by bringing together the expertise and best practices of the improvement programs already in place within the DoD. The CPI/Lean Six Sigma Program Office is directing and centralizing the efforts.
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Vino and Veritas
By Jamie Friddle
July/August 2009 | Volume 5, Number 4
When Kaj Ahlmann retired from an executive position with GE, he carried the principles of Six
Sigma to his new endeavor - Six Sigma Ranch, Vineyards and Winery in California, USA. Ahlmann and his team have proven that pairing Six Sigma
and winemaking is a good match.
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What's in a Name?
By Katherine Bontrager
May/June 2009 | Volume 5, Number 3
The moniker "Six Sigma" isn't for everyone. Three vastly different businesses - a financial services powerhouse, a diamond mine and a healthcare organization - illustrate that continuous process improvement, by any name, can smell as sweet.
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iSixSigma's Best Places to Work
By Jamie Friddle, Elaine Schmidt and iSixSigma Staff
January/February 2009 | Volume 5, Number 1
Because the work environment is what determines whether an organization can attract, develop and retain talented people, iSixSigma set out to define the environment that is most desirable to Six Sigma professionals and to honor the companies that best provide it. The result is the inaugural list of iSixSigma's Best Places to Work. With their strong Six Sigma cultures, these 10 companies exemplify the kind of place where Six Sigma professionals want to hang their belt.
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Not Just Run of the Mill
By Elaine Schmidt
November/December 2008 | Volume 4, Number 6
From its inception three years ago, NewPage planned to make Lean Six Sigma an integral part of how the company was run. The paper producer is using the methodology to connect its amalgam of mills in a common culture and to differentiate from the competition at a time of decreased demand in the paper industry. NewPage has tailored its deployment to best meet those needs.
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From the Bottom Up
By Elaine Schmidt
September/October 2008 | Volume 4, Number 5
Eight years ago, when a small group of Chevron employees initiated a business unit deployment of Six Sigma, the odds of it reaching enterprise wide were not good. Today, Lean Sigma is the standard continuous improvement program for Chevron's Global Upstream division, which comprises more than two-thirds of the energy giant. The Lean Sigma leaders of the grassroots deployment are as enthusiastic as ever, still fueling the effort.
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Whirlpool's Custom Cycle
By Sue Reynard
July/August 2008 | Volume 4, Number 4
When the world's largest manufacturer of home
appliances deployed Six Sigma in 1996, it opted
for a model based on the Plan, Do, Study, Act
cycle rather than the standard DMAIC roadmap.
Whirlpool Corp. reasoned that the older, more
flexible improvement approach was a better fit
for its goal of creating critical thinkers. With its Operational Excellence program, the company
has exceeded a 10-to-1 return on all its projects,
and has increased the rate of introducing new
products and features in all its lines.
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Rx for Success
By Elaine Schmidt
May/June 2008 | Volume 4, Number 3
Merck & Co. Inc., the third largest U.S. drugmaker, is applying Six Sigma tools across the
business as part of a restructuring plan to revitalize drug development and accelerate the
process of going from test tube to pharmacy. The company shaved nine months off bringing its first-in-class HIV drug Isentress to market - one example of how cycle time and organizational improvements are impacting Merck's pipeline and its bottom line.
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Crystal Clear
By Elaine Schmidt
March/April 2008 | Volume 4, Number 2
When the value of its stock fell 84 percent over three years, Apogee Enterprises knew it was time for change. The glass solutions company was introduced to Six Sigma in 1999, when a customer mandated a deployment at one of Apogee's plants. That first exposure ultimately led Apogee to adopt Lean Six Sigma enterprise wide to help turn the company around.
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Healing Healthcare
By Elaine Schmidt
January/February 2008 | Volume 4, Number 1
Medical errors, lagging technology, increased
costs for drugs and equipment - these are just a
few of the problems plaguing healthcare institutions. Three of the top 10 hospitals in the country, as listed by U.S. News & World Report, are applying the science of Six Sigma as part of the treatment to heal healthcare. Find out how The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Mayo Clinic and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital are using the methodology.
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On a Roll
By Jamie Friddle
November/December 2007 | Volume 3, Number 6
PointRoll grew from 29 to 201 employees in three years and annually serves billions of rich media ads. When errors and missed deadlines mounted, the pioneer in online advertising turned to Six Sigma. Since January 2007, the small company has trained eight employees and started projects in creative services and production engineering. PointRoll sees Six Sigma as a top priority in terms of differentiating itself from its competition and driving its leadership position.
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Call to Duty: Lean Six Sigma in the Army Now
By Elaine Schmidt
September/October 2007 | Volume 3, Number 5
With more than 1.3 million employees across the globe, the Army's deployment of Lean Six Sigma is one of the largest ever attempted. More than 1,600 projects are active, and more than 1,000 have been completed. The goal is to "make the business side of the Army as efficient as the war-fighting side is effective," said Ronald E. Rezek, special assistant to the acting secretary of the Army.
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Good Chemistry: Dow Pairs Six Sigma and Innovation
By Sue Reynard
July/August 2007 | Volume 3, Number 4
As it strives to be the No. 1 chemical company in the world, innovation is critical to Dow. Systematic innovation methodologies TRIZ and DFSS--folded into the Six Sigma deployment--are helping the company achieve its goals. With Dow's combination of tools and methods, teams have a high success rate delivering the intended improvement, be it a step change or a paradigm shift (breakthrough). The company has run more than 11,000 projects over the past eight years.
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Changing LivesLonmin's Deployment in South Africa Touches More Than Corporate Culture
By Elaine Schmidt
May/June 2007 | Volume 3, Number 3
Lonmin Plc, a platinum group metals mining and refining company, is using Six Sigma to drive corporate and societal change that has been endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu and is attracting attention worldwide. The sweeping changes made by Lonmin since its 2004 deployment have improved conditions both in the mines and in the communities surrounding mining operations. For example:- Six Sigma safety projects have reduced the lost time per million man-hours worked by 75 percent.
- Lonmin has committed about $100 million over the next five years to convert hostels to single-family apartment blocks.
- Operating units are taking on the development of one or more of the communities' 29 schools.
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'Relentless Execution' Drives Big Gains at Cat
By Elaine Schmidt
March/April 2007 | Volume 3, Number 2
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.
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Are Your Customers Promoting You...Or Do You Have to Do It Yourself?
By Sue Reynard
November/December 2006 | Volume 2, Number 6
If you feel a slight rumble beneath your feet, it may well be the sound of a paradigm shifting.
For the better part of two decades, the mantra of "customer satisfaction" has been driven into the minds of Six Sigma practitioners around the globe. Make sure you improve customer satisfaction, they've been told, and you'll reap the rewards in terms of profits and growth.
Now a new breed of customer metrics is winning plaudits.
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Duplicating Success: Xerox Reinvents Itself
By Elaine Schmidt
September/October 2006 | Volume 2, Number 5
The company whose very name defined an industry almost half a century ago is now using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and Design For Lean Six Sigma (DFLSS) as a way to stay in the forefront of document technology, and provide better ways for customers to improve business results.
After a low period of declining market share and a devastating charge of accounting fraud, the Xerox Corporation recommitted itself to innovative solutions and services, and adopted the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies as part of its strategy "to rethink, redefine and reinvent itself."
Within this article:- Top-down Training
- 'Quality Improvement Army'
- Competitive Industry
- Design for Lean Six Sigma
- Elegance in Design
- Listening to the Customer
- High Expectations
- Company Profile
- Computer Models in the Design Process
- Xerox DFLSS Snapshot
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Unlocking Value: Lean Six Sigma Gives Private Equity and Acquisitions a Tune-Up
By Elaine Schmidt
July/August 2006 | Volume 2, Number 4
Using Lean Six Sigma to determine whether or not to buy a business may sound unusual. But for Kohlberg & Company, a private equity firm specializing in middle-market investing, the application is a key component in both its acquisition process and its strategy for managing the acquired organizations.
Within this article:- Viewing Waste as Opportunity
- Buying and Selling
- Revitalization Adds Value
- Lean Assessment
- Strategic Plan
- Aligning with Management
- Constant Regeneration
- Focusing Efforts
- Predicting Success
- Holley Performance Group Lean Six Sigma Snapshot
- Singer Worldwide Lean Six Sigma Snapshot
- Stanadyne Corporate Lean Six Sigma Snapshot
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Six Sigma and the City
By Elaine Schmidt
March/April 2006 | Volume 2, Number 2
In a story of cooperation between the public sector and the private sector, Mayor Graham Richard describes how Six Sigma helped Fort Wayne, Indiana, tackle municipal bureaucracy. And how the results helped him win reelection.
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Thinking Big: IDX Proves Size Doesn't Matter in Six Sigma
By Elaine Schmidt
March/April 2005 | Volume 1, Number 2
Not all Six Sigma success stories come from large companies. IDX president and chief operating officer Thomas Butts and Six Sigma champion Ken Edwards discuss the thriving Six Sigma initiative at their software company. Learn about the program that has led to an estimated return of over $10 million for IDX and is going full steam ahead. *BONUS* How IDX prioritizes and selects successful projects.
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