Hi Barry

I have just joined this forum so I hope it's not too late for me to try and help you out.

I've worked with Six Sigma for the past 3 years or so in a number of organisations, 'cutting my teeth' in Six Sigma so to speak with a division within Siemens.

Everything that Nero and Joe have posted is essentially true, but I'd like to add my own experiences too.

Six Sigma is many things to many people. It is a sophisticated toolbox to many, to others it is a result in itself, to still others it is a philosophy on management.

I have used both the philosophy aspect, and some of the simpler tools within the toolbox to initiate projects at the shop floor level with great success, but I didn't sell it as Six Sigma or any special initiative. I sold it as fact-based problem solving and decision making with some very simple tools (no maths needed!).

I've had tremendous success with this in both the private industry and local government, from manufacturing to social services (very much anti-measurement, so I didn't tell them about measurement, I told them about certainty and fact!).

There is much value to be had from using the philosophy and some of the tools of Six Sigma without going anywhere near the Green Belt & Black Belt training, or trying to become a 'Six Sigma' organisation.

I'd be happy to help you address some specifics if it is still appropriate, and I'd like to share with you some excellent books that have helped me help others:

"Six Sigma For Everyone", by George Eckes - available from Amazon.Com - a US book that provides a wonderfully accessible introduction to the heart of Six Sigma.

"Six Sigma and MINITAB" by Quentin Brook - available from amazon.co.uk if not from the '.com' site as it's a UK book. This is a gentle lead in to the fairly sophisticated toolset that goes with much of Six Sigma - there is some math in it, and the MINITAB part of the title refers to a software package for statistical analysis - it's still a good intro to the horrible stuff though!

Finally you might find some value in a series of short papers I have on Six Sigma and using it to evaluate training & ROI - as my web site is the window in to my business it may not be appropriate to post it's URL here - email me off line (martin@p-nrg.com) if you'd like the URL.

Best wishes

Martin Schmalenbach

Six Sigma will likely flop if its not a good match with the company culture.

Perhaps you can give us more information about your companies situation and will can help you understand the posible implications.

Specifically,

What is your companies history with quality initiatives?
What is the maturity level of its current quality program? - (SPC, Lean, ISO)

Barry B.

our local community colleges do offer it as part of their workforce development initiatives. Whether or not organizations use it, I'm not sure. I do know the local community college in my area spends more time on LEAN than six sigma although I admit to not knowing heads or tails about either...

quote:

Originally posted by SFS:
Six Sigma will likely flop if its not a good match with the company culture.

I think it is reasonable to assume that a poorly executed six sigma approach that doesn't take account of the culture will flop, as will any kind of approach. Six Sigma isn't especially culture dependent, only the way you present the concepts.

I have been involved in implementing Six Sigma in big and small organisations, from manufacturing, local government and social services, to telecomms, R&D labs, transportation, defence and everything in between. Six Sigma can work in almost any organisation - so long as you present it the right way!

Moral of the story? Don't rush in to it, and think carefully about how you do things - Steve Sulkin is right here.

I think it would be very beneficial.