By Charles WaxerWe've all been there before... you have identified a problem area within your business and now you are chartering a green belt or black belt Six Sigma improvement project. But the problem is... you're unsure if you've captured all of the potential benefits of eradicating a business problem. If this situation sounds familiar, this article is for you!
Use the following checklists as a guide to help build Six Sigma project charters that are compelling to business leaders. It will help support and justify why the business should focus on the problem, devote resources and modify processes.
Financial Benefits of Six Sigma Projects
Creates additional/new revenue
Creates cost savings through tax avoidance
Enables cost avoidance
Faster return on investments
Increases cash flow
Increases profitability of existing products/services
Increases revenue of existing sources
Increases stock price/shareholder value
Lowers cost of production
Lowers cost of servicing
Organizational Benefits of Six Sigma Projects
Builds company reputation
Creates new customer opportunities
Fosters company vision and mission
Improves market position relative to competitors
Improves the ability to serve customers
Increases competitiveness and ability to charge a premium
Operational Benefits of Six Sigma Projects
Decreases employee work loads for undesirable work
Elminates non-value added activities
Improves employee morale / team spirit
Improves internal communication between departments and groups
Improves use of workspace
Increases employee and process productivity
Reduces cycle time
Reduces cycle time of production/process
Reduces external inputs to processes
Reduces person-hours
Reduces process steps
Simplifies processes and workflow steps
Information Technology Benefits of Six Sigma Projects
Decreases maintenance/support costs
Enables service level agreement (SLA) obligations
Improves application/system performance
Improves application/system utilization rate
Increases efficiency of support activities
Increases productivity through automation
Maintains intellectual property investment
Preserves value of technology
Reduces application/system variation (increases reliability)
Reduces paper documentation requirements
Strengthens application/system security
