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Identifying Six Sigma Projects
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"My biggest mistake in the beginning was working on projects that no one seemed to own or really care about too much...as I said, the defect and the improvements need ownership."
Choosing A Project
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Six Sigma is accomplished one project at a time. The billions of dollars saved by companies around the world is the cumulative effect of properly selecting and defining business issues that can be assigned to Green Belts and Black Belts for solution. As you may have read last week, a strategic plan includes planning, adequate links between strategy and action, and effective communications. Six Sigma projects are a key action that you can take to reach your organization's strategic goals. The intent of this article is to present ideas for identifying issues in your organization and function. These ideas can then be evaluated and formalized into project charters which will allow you to prioritize for implementation. Project Selection Ideas By Function
Finance/Accounting Six Sigma Project Ideas
Reduce the time it takes to close the accounting books (cycle time)Improve the forecast accuracyControl spending over timeReduce balance sheet riskEliminate unstable customers and associated risksImprove payment processing to vendors/suppliersImprove Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) — the average time taken by a company to collect payment from its customersReduce payroll process cycle timeImprove cash management processesImprove payment/collection processesReduce electronic financial transaction costsReduce the cycle time of reconciliationReduce the procure to pay cycleStandardize the accrual and deferral processesHuman Resources Six Sigma Project Ideas
Reduce the time required to hire an employeeReduce the time to process an insurance claimImprove employee on-boarding and orientation processesReduce expenditures for recruiting firmsImprove timeliness and the value of employee performance reviewsReduce absenteeismImprove training efficiencyImprove employee satisfactionIdentify and correct retention issues
From Linda Linteau's very beneficial Six Sigma HR Forum post:Adds and Deletes of Dependents to Active Employee Health Care Coverage's Advanced Degree Equity Death Notification ProcessingDefining Ergonomic Concerns to the Wayne Assembly Plant PVT Dependent Level Data Reconciliation - HAPDisability Overpayments - PensionDisability Plan OverpaymentsDisability Re-Engineering Process (DFSS)Disability Retirees Working Outside of FordECPL Audit Process Improvement Process @ VO and PTOEffective Recovery of Recruiting Salaried Signing Bonus upon EE Termination w/1 year of ServiceEffective Recovery of Relocation Costs Upon Voluntary TerminationElimination of Overpayments to RTW from Disability LeavesEnd Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Eligibility ProjectFord and BCBS Medicare EnrollmentHR Salaried Medical Leave - MEGA projectHRCC Phone Tree Dissatisfaction HRCC Supervisor Reporting Inefficiencies Identification and Recovery of Claim Overpayments with Self-Insured PlansImprove Data Integrity Between Ford and BCBSImprovement In the ISE Transaction Process Incentive Compensation Increasing Generic Drug Substitution Rate Mail Order Refill Rate for Maintenance Drugs Medical Department Emergency Response CapabilityMedical Leave Volume at Ford Financial Medicare/BCBSM Coordination of BenefitsOSHA Record Keeping Audit ProcessOverpayments to Terminated Salaried Employees PCE Cost Reduction ProjectPharmaceutical Costs in Ford of Mexico OperationsPost Offer Salaried Medical Exam ProcessReducing Losses of Long Term Advances to ISE's Reducing Purchased Vacation Losses to Terminated Employees Reducing Purchasing Pre-Commitments in Ford HR Organization Reducing Unauthorized Search Firm Usage for GSR and LL6 Reducing Variation in the Independent Medical Exam Process for Workers CompensationReduction in Number of Premium Share ContributionsReduction of "My Personnel Connections" (MPC) transfer and promotion Reduction of Production Defects in Recruiting System Reduction of Salaried EE CDSID and Outlook Exchange Cycle Time Regulatory Compliance ProjectSalaried Discipline ProcessesSpeed of Response - ER&I Primary Queue Sponsored Dependent Overpayments Terminated EE's Actively Enrolled with One or More Healthcare ProvidersUnicare COBRA Cash Pay Project Urine Drug Test Cycle Time - SalariedKey Perfomance Indicators For Human ResourcesSales Six Sigma Project Ideas
Improve cross-sell opportunitiesReduce time required to enter sales ordersReduce errors and rework associated with sales ordersReduce customer credit worthiness cycle timeReduce the number of "bad deals" that are processedImprove the cycle time of the entire sales order to cash processIncrease repeat orders/customersShipping/Receiving Six Sigma Project Ideas
Improve on-time delivery of products to customersImprove on-time delivery of goods to our facility from vendorsImprove documentation accuracyReduce line downtime due to shipping/receivingImprove inventory control/rotationImprove inspection processesInformation Technology
Reduce network/server/application downtimeImprove process of logging-in to network from remote locationsImprove system reliability/uptimeStandardize computer loads for configuration and support productivity improvementProduct/Service Design Six Sigma Project Ideas
Reduce time required to design a product or serviceReduce errors in designReduce production timeReduce testing timeCall Center Six Sigma Project Ideas
Increase/decrease (depending on your business needs) average talk timeReduce abandon callsImprove employee knowledgeReduce number of times customer is put on holdObvious Areas For Improvement
External Defects Audits (customer, regulatory or internal) discovering non-compliance issuesAny out of specification (customer, regulatory or internal) outputAny inspection process in your organizationAnything you cover for by having a guy in the customer's plant, office or facilityInternal Defects Any scrap produced by your processesAny item reworked in a process (sales contracts, invoices, surgeries, software, etc.)Any process with high variation in the product outputAny process with high variation in the material consumptionAny process with many "hand-offs" between individuals or business groupsEfficiency/Capacity Issues Processes producing less than expectedProcesses requiring overtime not requested by a customerProcesses requiring cycle times in excess of expectationsProcesses with computer/machine downtimeProcesses requiring expedited shipping and associated costs due to delayed output productionAny process that has added labor to make the required cycleUnderstanding Process Variation How much variation is there in your incoming materials and/or process parameters and how does this affect your output?Where do you need the input controlled to always have a good output?Can you scientifically adjust your process to compensate for changing material, weather, etc.?Can your Black Belt help your supplier do a project to control the incoming product where you need it?Does understanding your inputs allow you to produce a good part using less material?General Six Sigma Project Ideas
Reduce expenses at...Reduce scrap...Reduce downtimes... or increase uptimes...Reduce rework...Increase throughput at...Reduce quality defects...General Guidelines for Project Selection Any project should have identifiable process inputs and outputs.A good six sigma project should never have a pre-determined solution.If you already know the answer, then just go fix it!For projects that have operator or operator training as an input, focus on ways to reduce operator variation, thereby making your process more robust to different or untrained operators.All projects need to be approached from the perspective of understanding the variation in process inputs, controlling them, and eliminating the defects.
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