Small Organization

To implement the Six Sigma methodology in a small organization is not easy. But it is also not more difficult than a large manufacturing plant.

With a manufacturing plant, one need to search for data and that would involve the resistance of employees providing the right information. On average, human beings are selfish. What most people care most about their job is their personal reputation. When an investigator request for information on a certain procedure or product, the responsible person would always double check if there are any personal mistakes before submitting the data, and this would lead to skewness of the actual fact.

In small organizations however, it’s always the improving phase that is difficult as the resistance to change is higher. About the resistance to change, it will be further explained in the observation chapter.

Nevertheless, the fact of a small organization is that it does not have much statistics and straight-on facts. An investigator would normally require to penetrate into the organization and work as an employee to understand the facts. Furthermore, an investigator  is required to judge the data based on ones expertise and group discussions. It requires some thinking and brainstorming out of the Six Sigma methodology to search for data that could be useful and hidden.

Somehow, A highly communicative investigator stands an advantage in a small organization as one can discuss about the problems faced at anytime during or away from work. An absolute work-oriented investigator may work better in a large organization as most employees are not bonded as close to each other as in a small organization. An investigator that seems too professional may be seen as a threat in a small organization and thus may receive a rather hostile treatment instead.

Introduction

 

Introduction

Business – commercial enterprise, profession, or trade operated for the purpose of earning a profit by providing a product or service; also called business enterprise. Businesses are created by Entrepreneurs who put money at risk to promote a particular venture for the purpose of a profit. They vary in size from a one-person Sole Proprietorship to an international Corporation having billions of dollars in assets and thousands of employees.[1]

As described, regardless what the nature of a business or how big an enterprise, the bottom line of a business is to generate revenue and profit. Unfortunately, most companies lose 20% to 30% of its total revenue due to poor quality. It includes costs of reworking a defective part, redoing a certain task, cost of wastage, to the cost of losing a customer. In order to regain the lost revenue, a careful definition of quality and the implementation of an effective quality methodology are required. Quality should be defined by the customer, integrated into business processes, and implemented by the employees.

 

Customers generally expect product usability and reliability, on-time delivery, good service, and clear and correct transaction processing. These factors influence the quality of the product or service that is supplied to them. Good quality should result in happy and loyal customers. Poor quality results in customers going to the competition.

 

To ensure quality, it must be built into ones business processes. This calls for one to view the product life cycle from the customer’s perspective. This perspective provides insight into customer requirements and expectations, allowing the recognition of key areas to which is needed to add value.

 

A company’s employees create products and provide services. As such, employees require opportunities and incentives to focus their energy and skills on satisfying customers. To produce quality, employees need to be aware that quality is defined by the customer, and they should be given the resources and training required to work towards generating high-quality results.

 

Six Sigma is a quality and management methodology that has produced dazzling results in terms of the quality of products and services, and the processes used to create them. These results have translated into enormous quantitative benefits for companies’ bottom lines. Six Sigma helps companies to produce products and provide services better, faster, and with less expense. It does this by focusing on defect prevention, cycle-time reduction, and cost cutback.

 

Six Sigma benefits a company because it simplifies performance goals, control rate of improvement, maintains the success rate, encourages innovation, identifies directions for strategic change, and aligns all processes to what the customer wants.

 

The Six Sigma methodology aims for virtually error-free performance – 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPM). This focus on improving quality and reducing waste caters for the complexity of products and processes and meet the high expectations of customers.

 

Six Sigma relies on a handful of tools, which are applied within a simple performance-improvement model known as DMAIC, or Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

• · Define the deliverable goals for internal and external customers

• · Measure the current performance

• · Analyze and determine the root cause(s) of the obstacle

• · Improve by implementation of better a process

• · Control the future process by monitoring the change

 

Simply stated, Six Sigma is about applying a structured, scientific method to improve any aspect of a business, organization, process, or person. Regardless if one is fixing a simple problem, redesigning a process, or orchestrating systems organization-wide, the DMAIC methodology can help in achieving the goal.

---

[1] Jack P. Friedman, Dictionary of Business Terms, third edition, Barons Educational Series.