Hitachi is running a series of advertisements in the Wall Street Journal focusing on their plasma TV technology capabilities. In today’s issue (March 13, 2007, p. A16), their ad talks about kaizen: No matter where in the world they’re made, Hitachi plasma TVs have one trait in common: They’re the product of kaizen, the Japanese…
Nortel Networks recently hired Ellen Bovarnick to run their newly deployed Six Sigma program. Ellen was previously the VP of Process Excellence at Coca-Cola. Mike Zafirovski,CEO of Nortel, is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Motorola and before that spent 25 years at GE…No wonder he is pushing Six Sigma at Nortel! Six…
Today, XGP Gaming released an interview with Stuart Scott, CIO of Microsoft. In the interview Stuart talks about his first year as CIO with Microsoft and he elaborates on wherehe sees Microsoft ITheaded in the next few years.When questioned about his goals for Microsoft IT, Stuart stated: “…we expect to cut business complexity in half…
A recent article in Electronic Business Online talks about Lean Six Sigma at four companies in the electronics industry: Celestica, ON Semiconductor, Solectron and Xerox. All have seen an improvement inprofitability over the past five years and each agree that Lean Six Sigma has contributed to the gains. Here are a few snippets of information…
For companies considering a Six Sigma initiative, read what Robert Krakauer, executive VP of strategic operations and CFO of MagnaChip had to say about their new initiative in their Q1 results release: “During the quarter, we initiated a Six Sigma management system that is expected to result in improved product quality, substantial cost savings, and…
It’s nearing the end of tax season in the U.S. and chances are you’re probably using Intuit’s Turbo Tax software to figure out how much you owe, or better yet how much your return will be… Intuit is an innovative company that has revolutionized the way we do our taxes and keep our books. From…
Xerox has a successful history applying Lean Manufacturing techniques in their operations since the early 90s. In 1998 Six Sigma was introduced in various manufacturing and supply chain operations. Although these operations achieved efficiencies, the scope of the deployment was limited. In 2002, Six Sigma and Lean were integrated and driven as a corporate-wide strategy….
LG Electronics (LGE), part of South Korea’s LG Group, was the first LG company to embrace Six Sigma back in 1996 (about the same time as GE). As shown in the timeline below (2000 Annual Report), LGE has a solid history of innovation activities and quality improvement activities dating back to 1989. Since 2000, LGE…
Whirlpool started to investigate Six Sigmashortly after GE and at least a full year ahead of Maytag. Named Operational Excellence, the initiative went corporate-wide in 1997 and involves a blend of methodologies. Just like clothes need a washer and dryer to get clean, Whirlpool has been using Six Sigma and Lean to scrub away inefficiencies….
Maytag coined the term LeanSigma® and has been utlizing the two methods in tandem since 1998.LeanSigma is a methodology that draws on the symbiotic relationship between Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma to eliminate waste and reduce variation.The dual initiative at Maytag has grown to include their suppliers and Design for LeanSigma (DFLS).The basic tenets of…
Sun Microsystems started their corporate-wide Six Sigma initiative in the Spring of 2000. “To institutionalize Sun Sigma, Sun has created a training program for all 37,000 Sun employees, beginning with upper-level management. Scott McNealy and the executive staff have already completed Sun Sigma training, which includes two days of training on the Change Acceleration Process…
The Computers & Electronics sector consists of the following Fortune 500 industries: Computers, Office Equipment Computer Software Computer Peripherals Computer and Data Services Semiconductors and Other Electronic Components Electronics, Electrical Equipment Early Six Sigma pioneers were Texas Instruments, IBM, Solectron, and Sun Microsystems. Below is a list of Computers & Electronics companies that are using…
Michael Dell has built a successful business model that scores of companies are trying to emulate.Dell Inc. is the perfect example of a company that is using Six Sigma not as an end in itself but as an enabler to achieve results. Early in 2000 they started a corporate initiative called Business Process Improvement (BPI).Nearly…
Michael Cyger
Michael Marx