Demystifying six sigma: a company-wide approach to continuous improvement

Alan Larson9780814471845, 0-8144-7184-6

Is Six Sigma the exclusive domain of manufacturing and service operations, or can excellence be mandated (and achieved) throughout an entire organization? This refreshing book reveals how to apply the legendary quality assurance program across all departments and processes, creating a permanent, company-wide Six Sigma culture.Author Alan Larson, a Motorola veteran, has created a simple and practical Continuous Improvement model, and offers a strategy for managing the change to Six Sigma-driven operations and philosophy. Larson’s approach is based on the seven key elements of Six Sigma: * Focus on customer satisfaction * Use of data and systems * Setting improvement goals * Team approach * Employee involvement * Defining roles * Personal growth Field-proven in organizations of all types, Larson’s methodology can help any company make quality a real and viable strategic objective.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
CONTENTS……Page 6
Preface……Page 10
SECTION ONE: THE BASICS OF SIX SIGMA……Page 16
Why It Had to Be Invented……Page 22
The Birth of Six Sigma……Page 24
Black Belts and Green Belts……Page 28
The Required Components……Page 32
Notes……Page 33
Senior Management Roles and Engagement……Page 34
Organizational Development……Page 38
Requirements for Change……Page 42
Note……Page 46
What Do You Want?……Page 47
Selecting Projects……Page 49
Identifying Required Teams……Page 52
SECTION TWO: A SIX SIGMA CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT TEAMING MODEL……Page 54
Operational Statement……Page 64
Internal and External Defects……Page 68
Metric……Page 72
Variable Data……Page 73
Attribute Data……Page 75
Creating the Metric……Page 78
Identifying the Required Teams……Page 83
Pareto Diagram……Page 84
Staffing the Teams……Page 88
Roles and Responsibilities……Page 93
Rules of Conduct……Page 97
Notes……Page 101
Flowcharting……Page 102
Brainstorming……Page 114
Fishbone Diagram……Page 118
Prioritizing……Page 120
Action Plan……Page 123
Check Sheet……Page 127
Stratification……Page 137
Histogram……Page 141
Scatter Diagram……Page 145
Institutionalization……Page 153
Physical Change……Page 157
Training……Page 160
Notes……Page 163
Back to Focused Metric……Page 164
Success of the Enterprise……Page 166
Team Recognition……Page 168
SECTION THREE: GETTING STARTED……Page 172
Do Something……Page 174
The Fallacy of Zero Defects……Page 175
First Steps……Page 178
Before and After……Page 184
Overview……Page 185
Participation……Page 187
A Six Sigma Change Management Model……Page 190
Notes……Page 196
Index……Page 198