All entries for December 2011

SANTA VS SIX SIGMA

Christmas time is here again,

It's a time of peace and goodwill to all men, homecoming/homegoing, shopping, giving and receiving of gifts, opportunity for some good rest and time spending with family and loved ones.

It could also be a time for sober reflection on the year's activities......kind of a stock checking thingy to see how one performed during the year which is about to roll by and what needs to be improved in the new year.

For me, homegoing means a six hour trip back to Nigeria a connecting flight to Delta State and some few hours road trip to the family...with the hope that there are no special causes just common causes only so as not to change the whole process...

Although there wasn't any homegoing for me, but i am just thinking of how six sigma implementation (DMAIC) would have helped solved any problems in the homegoing plan if i had one? Or how it would have helped reduce movement time or any variations in the process.

.......If Santa was the CEO of the christmas season company that was applying six sigma methodology to improve its business performance and ensure consistent quality, i am certain we would all be doing loads of shopping, travelling or buying/receiving gifts rather than looking for ways to reduce waste(no shopping) and cutting down on our movement/cycle times(no homegoing or coming)......just wondering though!!!

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oghenetega Inoni : 25 Dec 2011 22:30 |  Tags: Piuss |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

VARIATION.

I have been able to understand theimportance of identifying variation. The ability to recognise variation either in the process being improved or variation in the people undergoing the improvement process is very key. For process variation, being able to understand what is normal and consistent with a process rather than searching for a non existent reason to alter the process due to just one peculiar or special case. But I wonder if the control limits in companies can be changed? In a situation where the special cause has been identified and eliminated and an adjustment on the control limits is done; if that which acted as a special cause becomes a common cause does that mean the process is stable or more capable? And for people variation, the ability to recognize and be aware of their psychological needs, how it varies fom person to person, their input and the level to which it affects the improvement process is a very significant factor.

Oghenetega Inoni : 18 Dec 2011 15:55 |  Tags: Piuss |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

THE TIME, THE MONEY OR THE ATTITUDE??

If I may ask; which of these is most important, which is most difficult to manage and which stands as a barrier to our growth in becoming better people and mangers in the near future? I am sure these mean different things to us, as well as, their importance in terms of priotity.

For me, the ………. is the most important.

So am just relating these to six sigma implementation in organisations and wondering which of these stands as the most significant barrier to six sigma implementation in organisations? Six sigma doesn’t seem to be a cheap venture to undertake (the money), it tends to be time consuming (the time) and the resistance to change on the part of the people in the organisation (the attitude).

How can it be succesfully implemented in a small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) where these barriers are inherent with the lack of financial resources being topmost and considering that the SME is in a dire need of improvement? Can the six sigma process then be reduced to save time and cost with the aim of also being very effective and producing the same required results like it would have done in a large scale enterprise where the whole six sigma process was fully implemented?

Answering the question I asked earlier, there is a saying “your attitude determines your altitude”….pls don’t ask me who said it because I haven’t got a clue. Having the right attitude to whatever it is you want to achieve is key which is the most important for me. The most difficult thing to manage is time, and yes money could be a barrier … (I am only a student right now), but definitely outside the walls of warwick university fully trained as a masters graduate in management for business excellence, hopefully money wouldn’t pose as a barrier to becoming a better person.

Oghenetega Inoni : 10 Dec 2011 20:57 |  Tags: Piuss |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

“Faces” of 6 Sigma.

“Faces” of 6 Sigma.

In the process of researching and tryin to filter out what articles and books I would use for six sigma PMA, I stumbled across a journal which talks about the different “faces” of six sigma being used either as a Company -Wide Strategy, as an Improvement Program or just as a Toolbox….and i have been wondering if the application of six sigma can work; following just the use of only one of these “faces”…from the little knowledge i have acquired,I think one basic element of six sigma implementation is to improve the business of an organisation by waste reduction and minimizing defects.

So I am of the view that the Company -Wide Strategy initiative is a better approach since it starts from the top management down to the bottom involving everyone in the organisation rather than six sigma being used as an improvement program or as a toolbox which focuses on just certain departments or units within the organisation.

Oghenetega Inoni : 09 Dec 2011 15:11 |  Tags: Piuss |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem