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As early as 1999 the Cessna Aircraft Company was using Six Sigma as one of its business improvement tools.This early work laid the foundation for Textron Six Sigma, the corporate-wide initiative that would follow in 2002. Overview 2004 Annual Report “Textron Six Sigma We have achieved substantial savings through our Black Belt and Green Belt […]

McDonald’s adopts business practice that made GE famous “Selected management at McDonald’’s, a GEFF client, are learning about Six Sigma through GE’s program, “At the Customer, For the Customer,” that brings GE’’s resources and management tools to customers. In 2003, GEFF initiated a meeting with McDonald’’s executives at the John F. Welch Leadership Center at […]

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Overview Circuit City began their Six Sigma initiative early in 2001 as stated in their 2001 Annual Report: “Given the challenging retail climate, we will even more closely examine our operating practices. Specifically, we are undertaking initiatives to…apply the Six Sigma methodology to critical processes so that we measurably increase customer satisfaction while also reducing […]

Larry Johnston, a seasoned General Electric executive, took over as CEO of Albertsons in April, 2001. Unlike his colleagues, James McNerney and Bob Nardelli, Johnston did not immediately sing Six Sigma in the key of G & E. He waited. Instead, he quickly got to work restructuring the company and three years later announced it […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2008 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Overview May Department Stores has not released very much public information about their Six Sigma program. I have found job postings for positions at May and their brand stores that desire Black Belt certification, a “What is Six Sigma” presentation by the Divisional Controller for May Merchandising Company and the biography of a Six Sigma […]

Thousands of people per year use the “Make a Suggestion” box found on every iSixSigma.com page. We love it because it provides a tremendous amount of new ideas for us to think about, prioritize and develop. Keep them coming. Every once in a while we’ll receive a suggestion like, “There seem to be a large […]

The Cox-Box, Six Sigma Guy, and associated characters are the brainchild and creative outlet of Rookie Six Sigma Black Belt Gary Cox. Gary has combined his passion for drawing cartoons with his newly acquired Six Sigma experiences through the characters and tales in The Cox-Box. The situations, characters and bureaucracy are all hypothetical and any […]

As my previous blog described, this is the location that I will be posting thoughts, rants and anything else that I have time to post. Everything you read here will be written by me, Michael Cyger, and it reflects my unique perspective of this Six Sigma community that I’ve helped build and foster since 2000. […]

At the recent IQPC Six Sigma Summit Six Sigma conference, the auditorium was packed to standing room only with executives and practitioners there to hear a question and answer session with Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. Many delegates I spoke with said they registered for the conference just for the chance to hear […]

Federated Department Stores announced their plans today to acquire May Department Stores. You can read all about it in the February 28, 2004 Press Release. Both companies are currently involved in Six Sigma initiatives. Although I don’t know much about May’s Six Sigma ways, Federated is very proud of what they have done, and they […]

I’ve spoken to the iSixSigma editorial staff about creating a blog and received mixed reviews. On one hand, I would personally like to start a conversation with others that doesn’t have to be proofed, edited, or polished before printing. My staff, on the other hand, is probably cringing at the idea of allowing unedited content […]

Overview 3M’s corporate Six Sigma journey began shortly after James McNerney took over at the helm in January 2001. Prior to his arrival, there was some Six Sigma activity taking place in parts of the company, but not at all like 3M would see with McNerney’s corporate driven approach. Now, more than 4 years later, […]

Bank of America is one of the most prominent financial services company with a corporate-wide Six Sigma initiative, and they’re not afraid to talk about it. Their unique blend of Hoshin planning, Kanri management and Six Sigma separates them from the pack. Bank of America began their Six Sigma journey in 2001 as a corporate […]

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 […]

SixSigmaCompanies.com is dedicated to providing information about the Six Sigma initiatives at Fortune 500 companies. The author is a Market Research professional currently working in the Six Sigma Consulting Industry. He has nearly 4 years experience tracking the evolution of Six Sigma in companies throughout the world. Currently, over 40 percent of the Fortune 500 […]

I have often noticed a disparity between the objectives of CXOs (C-level and top executives) and those of aspiring Six Sigma professionals. Look at your company’s goals for 2005. CXOs almost always express them in terms of financial targets for revenue growth, expense reduction or net income enhancement. In contrast, ask any ambitious Six Sigma […]

Welcome to iSixSigma Blogosphere Help, a collection of help documents for those posting to the Blogosphere. Search through our collection with Article Search (above) or just browse through the categories (to the left). If you can’t find what you need here, post a comment to this Help section and we’ll do what we can to […]

In my deployment and implementation experience, Black Belts should not be pooled into a central organization and then farmed out like a bunch of “rented experts.”  To my knowledge, only a few organizations have successfully implemented this type of approach.  When executed in a large-scale corporation, there is a certain amount of “up-front management appeal.”  […]

The first Black Belt project is just that – a training project.  It is not a platform from which to attempt solving world hunger, or the like.  The purpose of a training project is two fold.  The first purpose is related to the reinforcement of learning.  The second purpose is to realize an operational objective […]

Is the process broken because of poor process control?  Is it broken because of inferior technology?  Is is broken because of inadequate operational knowledge?  Is is broken because  of a mismatch between the process technology and the design specifications?  Is is broken because of some interaction thereof?  How can you expect anyone to rationally answer […]

It is widely known (in the field of quality management) that Motorola inaugurated Six Sigma in the mid eighties.  At that time, Six Sigma was employed to make a dramatic gain in customer satisfaction (by way of quality improvement).  Almost by nature, the initiative was based on the idea of defect reduction.  For the sake […]

I do not believe that any of the Six Sigma roles should constitute a career, as they are temporary job assignments.

It is possible to analyze non-normal data when conducting a capability analysis – even if it cannot be transformed to a state of normality.  Of course, this position assumes that the underlying distribution is unimodal in nature (i.e., not multimodal).  Technical details aside, this particular type of problem can quickly become an analytical nightmare for […]

In my opinion, between 25 and 50 percent of variable pay must be directly linked to “hard” Six Sigma goals – throughout the organizational hierarchy.  This tactic usually gets everybody’s attention and quickly sounds the alarm to “align goals and objectives.”  It also sets the mood for “win-win” and generates a lot of leadership energy.  […]

I assume you mean “sustainability of project results.”  In other words, the resulting benefits are not to be enjoyed just one time – they are recurrent in nature.  The best way to ensure that recurrent benefits are continually realized is to monitor the situation.  This would normally involve a proactive accounting system and someone to […]

The first generation of Six Sigma (1984 – 1994) was initiated at Motorola.  At this time, Six Sigma was primarily focused on the reduction of defects (quality improvements).  It was widely believed that the reduction of defects would naturally and invariably offer certain economic benefits – even though such benefit could not often be directly […]

Rhetorically speaking, what is the purpose of ISO9000?  Is it a standard of expectation, much like Six Sigma?  If an organization is currently performing to a Six Sigma level, would there even be a need for this standard?  If this standard was perfectly deployed and implemented in a corporation, would it be a Six Sigma […]

The gentlemen referred to as “Pareto” long ago advocated that 80 percent of the world’s wealth was controlled by 20 percent of the world’s population.  This phenomenon is also called the “Pareto Principle,” and will be designated as “PP” for our discussion.  For the case just given, it should be noted that the 80 percent […]

Obviously, you know how to ask a “huge” question.  In terms of scope and depth, it is nearly equivalent to the question: “How does one go about boiling the ocean without harming the ecosystem – give me some examples (case studies), tell me the best tools to use, how to use the tools, and kindly […]

Having “been there and done that,” I deeply appreciate your question.  A simple literature search will yield a lot on this subject.  However, you should first read the Rath and Strong book on Six Sigma.  I highly recommend this particular reading, especially for “middle management level” guidance.  This book provides a number of relevant templates […]

The following references will provide a very nice overview of the field – from general theory to in-depth case studies: 1) Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World’s Top Corporations by Mikel J. Harry, Ph.D. and Richard Schroeder, Doubleday 2000. 2) Six SIGMA Leadership Handbook by Rath and Strong Staff, John Wiley & […]

As humans, we often seek insight by way of reasoning.  In this case, we are concerned with the reasoning of a “skeptic.”  Referencing the standard dictionary (Excel version), we define a skeptic as “somebody who questions the validity or truth of things that most people accept.”  Of little surprise, it would be generally accepted that […]

Simply stated, an opportunity is merely a set of conditions favorable to some end. In view of the two possible fates of a (critical to quality) CTQ – success or failure – we have the idea of a yield opportunity and that of a defect opportunity. Since one is merely the flip side of the other […]

The simpliest form of an answer to each of your questions is “yes.”  There does exist an ever-present danger that Six Sigma will become diluted.  In fact, there are many signs that it has already happened.  For example, many business executives now see Six Sigma as a commodity.  So what is driving a lot of […]

The best metrics are those that correlate to your business goals. If you are uncertain as to the extent of correlation – measure it.

To me, the ideology of Six Sigma will evolve in two distinct by complementary directions.  The first will be a focus on value creation, not just cost reduction and quality improvement.  The second will be an implosion of Six Sigma to the personal level.  I have been working with these two perspectives for quite some […]

The following references will provide a very nice overview of the field – from general theory to in-depth case studies: 1) Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the World’s Top Corporations by Mikel J. Harry, Ph.D. and Richard Schroeder, Doubleday 2000. 2) Six Sigma Leadership Handbook by Rath and Strong Staff, John Wiley & […]

Of considerable interest, this concept often mystifies newcomers to field of Six Sigma. As you already surmised, the referenced charts rely upon the assumption of a unilateral specification (single-sided performance requirement). From a defect accounting point-of-view, it should be fairly obvious that a unilateral (one-sided) specification must be treated as a single defect category. However, a bilateral (two-sided) […]

Imagine working for a corporation that is operating at an overall quality level of about Six Sigma.  In terms of capability, this means that the company would be about 1,800 times better than the average organization (about Four Sigma).  So, what would such a difference be like?  If it existed, what would not need to […]

Like that of water and potassium.

In my recollection, two recurring questions have dominated the field of six sigma.  The first inquiry can be described by the global question: “Why 6s and not some other level of capability?”  The second inquiry is more molecular.  It can be summarized by the question: “Where does the 1.5s shift factor come from – and […]

The following is a list of some “big dos.”  Just flip things around to answer your question. 1) The project targets only one CTQ (for purposes of improvement).2) The target CTQ should be measurable – conveniently and economically so.3) The CTQ should have a well-defined set of performance standards.4) The CTQ should not involve destructive […]

By the nature of your question, I would assume you are a quality professional of some type or form – especially now that you provide consulting services within this arena.  I find it most interesting that you have only three years experience as a quality practitioner, but now serve as a quality consultant.  Given such […]

Today, very few corporate executives believe that TQM is a viable system of business management.  To this point, a 1996 study titled “Measuring Performance After Meeting Award Criteria” was published in Quality Progress magazine.  The conclusions were quite apparent – the impact of TQM practices may not be nearly as significant as some think.  After […]

Having originated the term “Black Belt” at Unisys Corporation in 1986, pioneered its development at Motorola’s Six Sigma Research Institute in 1990, focused its purpose at Asea Brown Boveri in 1993, delivered its promise at Allied Signal in 1994, and set its destiny at General Electric in 1995, it should stand without saying that this […]

The main difficulties can be extracted from the following assertions: 1) Everyone is a “decision maker,” but every decision requires consensus. 2) The purse strings are many, and so are the knots. 3) The phrase “just around the corner” means there are more corners. 4) The words “yes” and “no” are fully interchangeable — and […]

It is now late in the evening as I prepare an answer to your question.  Maybe it’s the fatigue after a day of providing answers or perhaps it’s the nature of the question, but what really grabs me about your question (perhaps in the wrong way) is the word “tools.”  From a different perspective, I […]

Based on the elements of your question, I would say that your problem could be readily shaped into a Black Belt project.  I would assume that a Pareto analysis has already been conducted. As a more advanced diagnostic, you should consider employing a multi-vari chart.  Although simple in nature, such a chart has considerable power.  […]