Month: January 2012

Everything seems to be available in 3-D these days – movies, magazines and even television – so why not DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control)? The idea may sound silly, but many opportunities go unnoticed because practitioners do not have the right tools in place to see them from different perspectives. The traditional DMAIC process […]

I was recently asked, “What is the most efficient way to communicate change throughout the value stream?” What I am about to propose does not need to take the place of other methods to communicate change. Historically, email, newsletters, video or updating policies all have had their place. I have had good experiences using a […]

To facilitate the development of its employees and better respond to the changing business environment, one department of a large financial-services company decided to revamp its existing performance management system through a Six Sigma project. A pre-project analysis revealed that a complete redesign of the system was required. As incremental improvement in the existing system […]

As a career operations professional, many of my friends understand that I see process flows in nearly everything I encounter. Some friends find this entertaining, others find it a bit annoying. But mostly they allow me to exercise (not exorcise) my craft. You see, I was born of operational parents. I’m not sure if it […]

A common metric many organizations use to assess the performance of their Lean Six Sigma program is project cycle time – the total time from the beginning to the end of a process improvement project, including total process time and all delays. If your organization’s project cycle time is running higher than your targeted rate, […]

Michael Cyger is on a roll with videos about the new iSixSigma.com – he’s posted a new one on how to use your iSixSigma profile. If you have any questions about how to upload your avatar (I needed help with the cropping feature), learn what’s contributing to your reputation, add your bio and more, this is […]

The path to Lean and Six Sigma is different for every company. Some begin a deployment as a means to increase productivity or profitability; others start with encouragement from a new leader. For DC Electronics, the journey stemmed from an unlikely combination of circumstances – unprecedented business growth and a bit of tough love from a […]