The Hindu Business Line : 72 tips to make Six Sigma provide real-time savings

THERE is this story about how a battle was lost because of a nail. Likewise, "Six Sigma is a great methodology but often fails to deliver sustained benefits when we forget the small little things that make a large difference," writes Debashis Sarkar in his preface to Lessons in Six Sigma, published by Response Books (www.indiasage.com).

The book "unfurls some of those little things" — not some, but "72 must-know truths for managers" that are "often lost and missed during Six Sigma implementation." First lesson: Here is a `problem-solving methodology' comprising two voices, that of customer and of process. Make them match, but don't go by gut-based solutions; look at "all variables affecting a process." Next lesson puts the onus of Six Sigma success on the CEO — he has to "ensure that it becomes a cultural platform which changes the organisational fabric."

Lesson 5 is about champions, Black Belts, Green Belts and so on. "Black Belts can come from any function. When trained adequately and given support, they can become change facilitators in the organisation." Among the fundamental pillars that lesson 8 talks of, you'd find, apart from communication, process audits, quality council and such, `dashboards' to help in getting an overview on the status of various projects. "It may be a good idea to appoint a Dashboard Manager for the purpose."

There are `tollgates' in another lesson: These provide an opportunity to listen to the teams; "tollgate reviews are also called technical reviews." Before hiring a consultant, take a tip from lesson 13: "Consultant selection is like finding a wife for yourself." Don't trust a consultant who gives a proposal to improve an organisational business process, "without the involvement of employees." Take up high-impact and meaningful projects to start with; "during the first year of Six Sigma implementation, focus of deployment should be on value and not volume."

Identify `core business processes' in lesson 19. How to script a problem statement is what lesson 23 would teach you. "Once a pain or concern has been identified, a problem statement helps to understand it by giving flesh to it. It is a mental representation of what is wrong."

There are three types of measures, as lesson 25 explains: Process (efficiency), output (effectiveness) and outcome (customer satisfaction). Ill-defined, defined, refined, capable, efficient and effective, and mature are the names of six classes of process, numbered 6 to 1, respectively. "The goal of all processes is to become class 1," states Sarkar.

Lesson 28 spells out an important accounting truth: "It is imperative that all Six Sigma projects provide Real Time Savings." No mirages because it is the CFO who has to vet the savings. "Keep the finance function in the loop during the entire life cycle of the project."

Lesson 31 lays down a measure to save millions: "Effectiveness of meetings can be judged by the number of actions being generated and number of actions getting closed." Keep the ideas flowing, states lesson 33; for this, listen to your customers, and look into complaint box. Also, "find out all the high cost processes," because these may be good candidates for improvement. We don't have a Deputy PM, nor a DPMO, but in Six Sigma the abbreviation stands for defects per million opportunities. Sarkar would extol the `beauty of DPMO' — "It gives a common language to compare processes of various complexities."

Lesson 39 mandates, "Do not be satisfied merely with Yields, commence with the calculation of a First Pass Yield." This is "the number of units made without including the defectives that have been reworked." Lesson 46 has a simple definition of `defect' as "one which does not meet the customer needs."

Don't launch Six Sigma with the sole idea of saving cost for your organisation, advises lesson 49. "Leverage its power for driving revenue, customer retention, productivity improvement and so on."

This is but a sampler of a great read. Don't miss it, for Six Sigma's sake.

ManageMentor@TheHindu.co.in

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