Six Sigma Lead Time Improves Your Business Processes
Six Sigma lead time refers to the lead times in manufacturing processes where the six sigma management strategy has been implemented. Often a manufacturing process can be tediously long-winded and inefficient, opening up the possibility of defective manufacturing processes and compromising on the quality from the production process. Six Sigma is seen as the answer to this exact problem and it has been proven to do exactly that.
The Six Sigma system was originally developed in the United States by Motorola as far back as 1986 and is now used in virtually every industry across the board. The whole idea is to focus primarily on the quality of process outputs, by implementing statistical and quality management methods.
The basis of the system is that trained and certified Six Sigma specialists are employed in specific parts of the production process to oversee their part of the entire manufacturing process. The premise is that when they focus on individual areas, they will then be able to minimize errors for their specific section. Accuracy for implementing six sigma has been proven up to 99.99966%, or in other words, an average of three and a half defects per million units. As you can see the proof for the effectiveness of this system speaks for itself.
There are specific achievements that are set out by the process and once implemented, each designated person must work towards achieving the specified goals. The structure then is divided into groups of individuals that are trained at various levels of the methodology. These individuals are named according to martial arts terminology; Black Belts, Green Belts, Yellow Belts, etc.
The top level executive leadership will decide on the vision of the process as a whole. The champions will then be responsible for implementing that vision and ensuring that it is filtered down to the lower levels. There is then a clear and concise focus on achieving quantifiable financial goals. Divisions will then implement their decisions based on verifiable data that cuts out all the guess work.
In addition to dividing the process up into specialized units, the system incorporates a number of quality management processes into the mix to ensure that there is no compromise on quality throughout. Check sheets, control charts, Taguchi methods, regression analyses, and quality function deployment are all quality management models that are often used in the process to name just a few. Each one has a particular function that is applicable for a given sub-section of the process as a whole.
By monitoring the process and fine tuning the individual parts, each division will cut back on lead times by making them as efficient and accurate as possible. The end result is a much shorter lead time for the individual parts. If each component of the manufacturing process is streamlined, then the entire production line can produce more goods in less time.
Overall, six sigma is an improved way to manage production, cut costs, and increase profits for a given company that has the system implemented. Even though it has been disputed as being unoriginal and lacking in innovation, it has still lent itself to becoming the best and most widely utilized quality improvement system in the world.
Comments are closed.