Six Sigma Call Centers

Converging With Six Sigma

Converged Networks

In the 1980s, the concentration was on the integration of voice and data applications into telephone circuits, to serve as a common transmission system. These circuits were enhanced to support the higher bandwidths that were required for data transmissions. However, during implementation, this did not find popular acceptance, but the concept of using one system for transporting information sourced from dissimilar sources was still viable.

Growth Of The Internet And Internet Protocol

The 1990s witnessed the growth of the Internet to dizzying heights with the emergence of new applications such as the World Wide Web, designed around the Internet Protocol, which had till then been used as support to remote host access, file transfers and email. With the rapid spread of the popularity of IP, it literally became the de-facto communication platform for virtually all host-processing systems.

But, as budgetary constraints increased, network managers were faced with the ever-increasing problem of deploying latest IP centric applications, such as e-commerce, under tight budgetary restrictions. To face the challenge of rolling out new revenue generating applications while reducing costs of networking infrastructure at the same time, network managers once again started toying with the idea of converged voice and data network.

Benefits Of Converged Networks

The benefits of having one communication interface from an office to the outside world would translate into lesser number of cables to connect, fewer systems to manage and only one organization to call in case of any difficulty. The applications available on a computer’s desktop integrate both data and voice applications to enable a fax or voicemail to be redirected to an email account, even if the addressee was away. It serves to make online purchases easier by integrating a website with a live customer response center. Along with this, there are economic benefits due to the lower cost of a single high-speed connection, as opposed to the cost of many low speed circuits.

The Six Sigma Approach To Converging

The focus of Six Sigma is to employ the highest quality at the lowest cost, by following a repeated cycle of DMAIC (i.e. Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control), through which it provides the skills needed to meet higher service requirements and reduced costs.

To be really successful, converged networks need to provide 99.99% availability and low latency with low operational and infrastructure costs. To achieve this, network managers need to look beyond technology and adopt a holistic approach that would include identification of areas of potential savings like process efficiencies and operational synergies.

Network professionals can take the benefit of Six Sigma methodologies to benefit from discipline, skills and tools to make sure that their converged networks deliver at the highest quality levels, with minimum operational costs. The continued success of converged networks depends not just on technology, but mainly on ensuring that it is able to provide overall service and value to the user – and there is no better way than Six Sigma.

Genpact and Hikari Tsushin Sign Multi-Year Contracts

Genpact and Hikari Tsushin Sign Multi-Year Contracts
NEW YORK—-Genpact Limited , a leader in managing business processes, and Hello Communications Inc., a 100% subsidiary of Hikari Tsushin Inc. today announced the signing of multi-year contracts to provide services – ranging from customer service and finance and accounting to IT infrastructure support and back office processing – from Genpact’s delivery centers in China.

Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance

Integrating Six Sigma and the Lean Manufacturing Process

The lean manufacturing process and six sigma should be used together in order to have the most effect in the bottom line of a business. By combining resources and integrating programs, more can be accomplished with less expenditure of time and money.

Are they competitors?

Six sigma consultants sometimes tend to have an elitist strain, with black belt experts poring over numbers and engaging in long term projects that can be quite far removed from the shop floor. Many lean manufacturing programs, such as those centered on Kaizen events, place an emphasis on teamwork. A recent book, “The Perfect Engine,” by Anand Sharma and Patricia E. Moody, highlights the benefits of joining forces in a sort of Lean-Six Sigma approach.

When most companies begin their lean manufacturing process, they begin with programs such as 5S, and Kaizen blitzes in order to reduce waste. Once these wastes were eliminated, a need is revealed to address the underlying problem. The need to some kind of measurable, statistical method soon becomes apparent and this is where the marriage of lean and six sigma can make such a difference.

How does it help to join together?

By combining methods, results are improved as baseline levels of performance are established. Now statistical tools can be used to ensure the greatest impact.

Now that the lean manufacturing process has revealed the shortcomings, Six sigma offers a way to solve the problems in a sequential, procedural manner. By using the DMAIC cycle (design, measure, analyze, improve, and control), realistic solutions to chronic problems can be applied.

In this way, the root cause of the problem is much less likely to be overlooked, and long term, ongoing solutions can be logically applied and progress measured.

One needs the other

If you just reduce waste you may not ever get to the underlying cause, and if you just do Six sigma, you may never maximize the full potential of your organization. Six sigma really needs lean to enable it to perform optimally.

One of the characteristics of six sigma is it’s ability to link programs together so they work in as a flow, rather than disconnected, stand alone tools.

Top management needs to be involved

Six sigma black belts must not be allowed to engage in months long programs that will not have any impact on the bottom line of your company. It can and does happen that vast amounts of time and money are spent on well-meaning programs that just don’t touch the bottom line.

On the other hand, chronic, deep seated problems cannot be solved by intuitive, short-term 5S and Kaizen programs.

By having top management working to put these two complimentary programs on the same team, you operations will run more efficiently and your profits will increase.

1 Sigma Decisions in a Six Sigma World

Six Sigma has become the standard for product quality in our highly competitive world, but we are still wrestling with decision-making that is running at a less than one sigma success rate. Paul C. Nutt in his book, “Why Decisions Fail” reports, “For more than twenty years I have been studying how decisions are made, writing about what works, what doesn’t and why. The key finding is startling – decisions fail half of the time.”

In this world of “Continuous Improvement” it seems incomprehensible that we are still working with a decision-making process that results in a 50% success rate. Why worry about competition from off shore when decision-making with a 60%, 70% or even higher success rate would really give organizations a huge competitive advantage. The amount of time and money spent on bad decisions is incalculable and it boggles my mind to think about the cost of covering up bad decisions not to mention the blot a bad decision can be on a reputation or the personal friction it might cause.

Historically, most decision-making has been based on the “rational model.” This involves: define the problem; state objectives; outline alternatives, estimate consequences; evaluate tradeoffs; recognize uncertainty; estimate risk tolerance; remove emotion and choose the best option. Somehow this whole process sounds negative to me. There is nothing positive about problems or estimating consequences. Evaluating tradeoffs signifies settling for something less than the optimum. Estimating risk tolerance doesn’t sound very positive either. Given that we are always faced with imperfect knowledge and the risk of unintended consequences in any decision, choosing the best option seems like a pretty risky proposition. My experience has proven to me that attitude is a huge determinant of success and if this process is negative by its very nature, it seems easy to understand why “decisions fail half of the time.”

There is another school of thought that suggests when faced with a problem, it makes sense to create an hypothesis and then gather data to test the hypothesis. Unfortunately, this approach falls prey to some of the same problems with our traditional model. Problems equate to negatives. The symptoms of the problem may lead you to identify the wrong problem. Data gathered to support an hypothesis might provide the right decision but the wrong problem. Both the traditional and the hypothesis models are based on the “how” of decision-making. The hypothesis approach appears to me to be an expeditious way to the same results. Since data shows that “decisions fail half of the time,” it seems safe to say that reality is often more confused and messy than a neat model can allow for.

Peter Drucker once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” This truth also applies to decision-making. Decision-making is not a problem solving activity. It is an exercise in the construction of a preferred future. Traditional decision-making is grounded in the negative and in the past. The new way to make decisions is to establish a positive mind set, to fully appreciate the “why” of decision-making and build from there.

Since we move toward that which we define, what better way to make decisions than to utilize the Appreciative Inquiry process. Modified slightly as the Taking Aim approach, we “marshal” our resources and think about the best of what is, our successes, the things we have done well and felt good about. This step sets up the positive attitude that is so critical to success. Next we get “ready” by envisioning the perfect future or what might be. This desired future provides us with the answers to “why.” “Aim” is the next step where we actually design what should be and finally we “Fire” or execute what will be. This is a much more positive approach and builds around the desired outcome rather than around the obstacles that may or may not exist. If in this process we can fully understand the why of what we are about to undertake, we can adapt to the vagaries along the way that can stifle a how based solution.

Appreciative inquiry is real and the supporting data is building. Paul Nutt in the book, “Why Decisions Fail” points out that staying issue-centered is critical to good decision- making and AI is a process to stay issue-centered. Real life examples of business successes based in AI can be found at http://aiconsulting.org/success.htm and at http://connection.cwru.edu/ai/practice/organization.cfm . Successful business users include Roadway, John Deere, Green Mountain Coffee and others.

We all agree that our customers deserve six sigma products. If our organizations are to survive; our customers to have an ongoing supply of our products; our owners are to earn a return on their investment and our associates are to have secure well paying jobs; don’t they deserve a better success rate on decisions than 50%. If that rate could be increased to 60% or 70% what kind of competitive advantage would you gain in your industry? Isn’t it time you thought about a new approach to decision-making?

? Copyright Bob Cannon/The Cannon Advantage, 2003. All rights reserved.

Six Sigma and Statistical Methods

Six Sigma methodologies use statistical tools used to transform raw data into information. Based on the results, further actions are taken. Statistical tools and related aspects of Six Sigma methodology comprises about half of Six Sigma. In addition, Six Sigma places a lot of emphasis on graphical interpretation of data collected during the course of measurements.

The importance of statistical methods emanate from the fact that many hypotheses can be disproved with sufficient statistical data. The significance of statistical methods in Six Sigma increases with any increase in sample sizes. The statistical methods quantitatively facilitate evaluation of the performance of any process. The purpose of this being to tackle the cost of poor quality (COPQ) first, Six Sigma has a broader scope than the traditional cost effectiveness model.

Some Important Statistical Methods In Six Sigma

Variations in processes are measured in terms of deviation from the mean and data falling within the acceptable statistical limits. Graphical representation of this data helps companies to visualize things with greater accuracy. Let us examine a few of the most commonly used Six Sigma statistical methods.

Control Chart

The deviations within the acceptable limits (upper & lower) are due to common causes. Anything falling beyond the limits is attributable to some specific cause. For example, take the case of writing your name ten times. Although there are similarities, you probably won’t be able to find any two signatures being exactly the same. The reason is an inherent variation that produces reasonable results within limits and is termed as ‘common cause’. Special causes are those due to forced errors. A control chart has a mathematical mean line in the center and two limit lines. The third component of the Six Sigma control chart is the performance data, which is plotted over time.

You can seek special causes and track common ones through control charts by looking for:

• One set of data falling beyond the acceptable limits (special cause)
• Greater than 6 data sets climbing or declining steadily within limits
• Eight or more subsequent data sets falling on one side of the mean
• Data falling alternately across the mean line

Interpretation emphasizes seeking out the special cause that brings stability to process variation. The real fun here lies in removing the common cause and induced variations also.

Brainstorming & Affinity Group Tool

Brainstorming generates and polishes creative ideas based on the principle that two heads are better than one. An affinity diagram is used to organize & develop brainstorming by fine tuning initial and raw thoughts and removing uncertainties. The advantage of this is that it obviously stimulates for generation of more ideas. The affinity diagram was not originally intended to be a quality management tool. First devised by Kawakita Jiro, the affinity tool emphasizes the need for sorting and titling the data only at the end. A typical affinity diagram organizes the brainstormed ideas on its left panel. On the right side are ideas neatly grouped into affinity sets. Reasons for an idea belonging to a particular set are not given particular importance, but all ideas are clarified. An idea may be present in a single group if it has any resemblance to another.

If there is one thing that summarizes the importance of statistical methods in Six Sigma, it can be none better than a saying, famous in Six Sigma circles – “In God we trust, all the rest bring data”. Need we say more?

Lean Six Sigma Consultancy: the Ultimate Destiny in Your Quest for Flawless Quality!!

<p>”Six Sigma methodologies”, pioneered by the Motorola group gives a new flavor to the term “Quality” by ensuring impeccable business operations with guaranteed customer satisfaction. This process offers a two way advantage where you get to save money on production as well as deliver the best possible quality of products and services to your customers and end users. Our lean six sigma methodology is a business improvement strategy that changes the philosophy of the modus operandi of your company and brings your business to a competitive edge. Some advantageous derivatives in the incorporation of lean six sigma are:-

* Helps minimize the total number of defects in any kind of business function or process
* Yields great return on investments and reveals drastic improvements in the efficiency of existing procedures
* Improves customer satisfaction a thousand fold and helps in building brand loyalty for your company.
* Increases your firm’s net income, reduces expenses and trivial expenditures which may sometimes lead to potential losses.
* Consistent improvement and enhancement of functions, operations and procedures in any kind of organizational set up.
* Suits all business types- corporates, self employed businesses, small scale as well as large scale industries.</p>

<p>Our six sigma consultant is highly knowledgeable and experienced in professionalizing quality management functions. Our team of expert six sigma specialists is committed to make your business operations totally error free thereby making your firm stand out as a stalwart of excellence. The six sigma strategies that we implement for your firm will achieve major reductions in cost, inventory and lead time in less than a year. We also provide <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.qgspl.com”>six sigma training</a> to employees of your firm to make them more quality conscious and interdependent in handling quality issues. We offer customer centered, process focused, data driven tools, and assure your company big performance gains which can be thoroughly validated through your key business results. With in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis and also by taking into consideration inputs from experts in your company we strive to implement the best DMAIC (method to improve existing business processes) and DMADV(method to restructure or create new product or process designs)six sigma methodologies that suit your business requirements. Our lean six sigma consultancy offers efficient and powerful techniques to accelerate the process velocity of your business which in turn helps in faster turn around times for service and sales. The six sigma tools that we employ have been in vogue since 1987, though we customize them according to your business needs. These techniques and methods have been used successfully by corporate giants like Motorola, Sony, Allied Signal, General Electric, Phillips, Toshiba and many other industries over the years and the benefits derived by them have been directly linked to strength in manufacturing, immense financial returns, guaranteed customer satisfaction as well as exquisite product design, sales and commercialization. Check out our services at the earliest to grab yourself a global advantage!</p>

Lean Six Sigma and the Navy

The Naval Sea Systems Command, the largest of the Navy’s five systems commands, has introduced a program called Navsea Lean. The programme is based on a business improvement methodology termed Lean Six Sigma (LSS.) LSS is a fusion of two Toyota inspired business transformation models, Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. Through data collection, data analysis and solution finding both models seek to eliminate waste in terms of over-priced budgets, non-binary process steps, faulty product manufacture and slow process speed. The final result, when the system works, is stream lined processes that delivers better service.

Lean Six Sigma projects are administered by leaders termed black belts within the organisation. Undergoing intensive Lean Six Sigma management training, these black belts are responsible for directing teams of green belts. Black belts are rumoured to save hundreds of millions of dollars on the projects with which they are involved and a typical project lasts around six months. Since its instigation, LSS has played a part in streamlining the naval contracting process, decreasing decision times and accelerating and economizing on base check in check out procedures.

The decision was made in 2004 to introduce Lean Six Sigma initiatives into Navsea (Naval Sea Systems Command.) To date, its application has been broad, with 30 Navsea organisations forming part of the initiative. Following initial introduction, results have been more than impressive. Significantly, the initiative has been held directly responsible for saving two hundred million US dollars before the start of year two of its implementation.

It was Toyota that introduced the systems that spawned LSS. Curiously, it seems that, now, the navy is responsible for exporting LSS back to the nation where its concept was born. It seems somewhat ironic that the U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center in Yokosuka, have a fully integrated LSS program for which the training is executed in both English and Japanese.

Following on from Lean Six Sigma successes in other US service departments, the Department of the Navy (DoN) came to the conclusion that they needed to integrate Lean Six Sigma into their training portfolio. As such, in 2006 they took steps to legitimise their in house training processes by partnering with the world’s leading authority on quality, the American Society for Quality (ASQ) in order to develop a customised Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.

A three-year action plan mandating Senior leaders to place LSS at the top of their problem solving toolkit has been issued by the Secretary of the Navy who personally cross-examines his management team to determine how they are applying the methodology to solve their most pressing issues. There is an expectation, proven in many cases, that the benefits from LSS, will include more rapid transactions and decisions, superior quality control, cost savings and a better safety record. The following is quoted directly from the, “Statement of the Honorable Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy before the Senate armed services committee – 28 February,2008. Under the title of, “Management Process Improvement,” he writes,

“Complementary action to our acquisition improvement initiatives is our commitment to enhance process improvement across the Department of the Navy to increase efficiency and

effectiveness and responsible use of resources. The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program, planned for implementation throughout the Department, began initial implementation at Naval Air Systems Command in October 2007. It is an integrated business management system that modernizes and standardizes business operations and provides management visibility across the enterprise. The Department continues to champion the use of Lean Six Sigma as the primary toolset as a means toward increasing readiness and utilizing resources efficiently. Over 4,420 leaders have completed Lean Six Sigma training, and there are over 2,000 projects underway. The Department’s Financial Improvement Program leverages ERP and strengthens control of financial reporting. The Marine Corps expects to be the first military service to achieve audit readiness.

A major process improvement initiative to ensure that the Department applies fundamental business precepts to its management is the Secretary of the Navy’s Monthly Review (SMR). The SMR is a senior leadership forum, involving CNO, CMC and Assistant Secretaries, designed to afford greater transparency across the Department and set into motion actions that garner maximum effectiveness and efficiency for the Department. The SMR reviews a portfolio of the bulk of Department activities and programs involving manpower, readiness, acquisition, infrastructure, etc. Using Lean Six Sigma tools and other business tools, this forum reviews the most urgent issues and discusses and implements appropriate solutions. Ultimately, this monthly interaction serves as a means to synchronize the Department’s actions to comprehensively address complex problems, accomplish strategic objectives, and better position for challenges in the future.”

This document is irrefutable proof that the Lean Six Sigma stamp of approval has been indelibly written into Naval policy. We can only wait with interest for histories analysis of its legacy.