...1 Case study On Six Sigma at Wipro Technologies: Thrust on Quality Abstract: Six Sigma at Wipro Technologies: Thrust on Quality Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technology-driven business solutions that meet the strategic objectives of clients. Wipro has 40+ ‘Centers of Excellence’ that create solutions around specific needs of industries. Wipro delivers unmatched business value to customers through a combination of process excellence, quality frameworks and service delivery innovation. Wipro is the World's first CMMi Level 5 certified software services company and the first outside USA to receive the IEEE Software Process Award. Wipro has one of the most mature Six Sigma programs in the industry ensuring that 91% of the projects are completed on schedule, much above the industry average of 55%. Six Sigma provides the tools for continuous improvement on existing processes thereby helping sustain the SEI-CMM Level 5 and CMMi certifications. This case focuses on the initiatives taken by Wipro Technologies to implement the Six Sigma Quality tool to achieve sustained strategic business results. It explores the implementation procedure at Wipro Technologies and the benefits reaped by the company on account of adopting Six Sigma. The case also throws light on the recent developments in the Six Sigma concept including Wipro’s Six Sigma Skill base and consulting experience and explains how the company intends to build its expertise and...
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...Case study On Six Sigma at Wipro Technologies: Thrust on Quality Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technology-driven business solutions that meet the strategic objectives of clients. Wipro has 40+ ‘Centers of Excellence’ that create solutions around specific needs of industries. Wipro delivers unmatched business value to customers through a combination of process excellence, quality frameworks and service delivery innovation. Wipro is the World's first CMMi Level 5 certified software services company and the first outside USA to receive the IEEE Software Process Award. Wipro has one of the most mature Six Sigma programs in the industry ensuring that 91% of the projects are completed on schedule, much above the industry average of 55%. Six Sigma provides the tools for continuous improvement on existing processes thereby helping sustain the SEI-CMM Level 5 and CMMi certifications. This case focuses on the initiatives taken by Wipro Technologies to implement the Six Sigma Quality tool to achieve sustained strategic business results. It explores the implementation procedure at Wipro Technologies and the benefits reaped by the company on account of adopting Six Sigma. The case also throws light on the recent developments in the Six Sigma concept including Wipro’s Six Sigma Skill base and consulting experience and explains how the company intends to build its expertise and experience '' to bring continuous process improvement to the organization. ...
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...Sigma Significance of Six Sigma By Suhasini Pratapagiri Stratford University INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS SIX SIGMA? Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps a company focus on developing and delivering near perfect products and services. Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving toward six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process – from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of two Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV. The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement. The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement. Both Six Sigma processes are executed by Six Sigma Green Belts and Six Sigma Black Belts, and are overseen...
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...archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0954-478X.htm TQM 19,1 6 Dynamics of organizational learning and continuous improvement in six sigma implementation Taina Savolainen Department of Business and Economics, University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland, and Arto Haikonen Genworth Financial, Helsinki, Finland Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamics of organizational learning and continuous improvement (CI) in the context six sigma implementation in business organizations operating in multicultural environments. Design/methodology/approach – A specific research question is: does learning mechanisms and continuous improvement practices support each other and how, and what type of learning can be identified in the improvement of business processes. The question is linked to one of the fundamental issues currently discussed in the field of organizational learning; how do organizations get “from here to there”, in other words, what is the dynamics of the processes of learning and how progressive learning is achieved. A case study of a few Finnish companies is made and a procedural implementation model is applied. Findings – The findings suggest that the learning process is characterized by measurement, detection and correction of errors, and cost reduction. In six sigma implementation, learning is a single-loop type of learning. It is an incremental change process which reminds a technical variant of the learning organization...
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... 6 SIGMA In 2001, Caterpillar launched its 6 Sigma program to drive change to achieve the company’s long-term strategic goals (Caterpillar uses 6 Sigma to identify its Six Sigma initiatives). This 6 Sigma process was, and continues to be, extremely successful. Some of the results include first-year benefits that exceeded implementation cost and achievement of the revenue goal two years earlier than planned. We’ll briefly discuss Six Sigma in general, describe Caterpillar, and show the entrenchment of 6 Sigma within the company’s strategic planning process. April 2010 I S T R AT E G I C F I N A N C E 25 C OVE R S TO R Y What Is Six Sigma? Six Sigma is a total quality management (TQM) technique pioneered by and applied to Motorola processes in the 1980s by Bill Smith, a Motorola engineer who became known as “the father of Six Sigma.” Since then, other companies, such as Bank of America, Honeywell International, Raytheon, and General Electric, have taken these learned processes and expanded them. Even though many people have reservations about the potential savings from Six Sigma, a story by Charles Waxer (“Six Sigma Costs and Savings: The financial benefits of implementing Six Sigma at your company can be Significant,” www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view= item&id=1228<emid=187) reports that GE saved more than $12 billion over five years, Honeywell saved $800 million, and Motorola saved $15 billion over 11 years. Each company takes the Six Sigma process...
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...Master Thesis Software Engineering Thesis no: MSE-2008-21 November 2008 Applying Six Sigma in Software Companies for Process Improvement Adnan Rafiq Khan Long Zhang School of Engineering Blekinge Institute of Technology Box 520 SE – 372 25 Ronneby Sweden This thesis is submitted to the School of Engineering at Blekinge Institute of Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Software Engineering. The thesis is equivalent to 2*20 weeks of full time studies. Contact Information: Author(s): Adnan Rafiq Khan Address: Folkparksvagen 1905, 37240 Ronneby, Sweden. E-mail: adnanrafiqkhan@gmail.com Long Zhang Address: Villa Flora 951, 37236 Ronneby, Sweden. E-mail: zhl10154@gmail.com University advisor(s): Conny Johansson (Head of Department, Department of Systems and Software Engineering) School of Engineering Blekinge Institute of Technology Box 520 SE – 372 25 Ronneby Sweden Internet Phone Fax : www.bth.se/tek : +46 457 38 50 00 : + 46 457 271 25 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all we thank our supervisor, Conny Johansson, for continuously providing the support, encouragement and motivation during the thesis. His advices, suggestions and feedbacks were really helpful and made this effort an enjoyable one. We are thankful to our faculty reviewer Dr. Robert Feldt. His feedbacks and comments were very useful to design this thesis. We would like to thanks Mr. Kai Xiao, a student at BTH, for introducing...
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...Six Sigma is a revolutionary business process geared toward dramatically reducing organizational inefficiencies that trans- lates into bottom-line profitability. It started in the 1980s at Motorola; then, organizations such as GE, Allied Signal, and Seagate worked with the initiative during the 1990s and made it the most successful business initiative of the era. Key to the Six Sigma methodology of the 1990s is a five- step process—Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC). By systematically applying these steps (with the appropriate tools), practitioners of this approach have been able to save substantial dollars. The basis of Six Sigma is measuring a process in terms of defects. The statistical concept of six sigma means our processes are working nearly perfectly, delivering only 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). Sigma (the Greek letter σ) is a statistical term that measures standard deviation. In the context of management, it’s used to measure defects in the outputs of a process and show how far the process deviates from perfection. A one-sigma process produces 691462.5 defects per million opportunities, which translates to a percentage of satisfactory outputs of only 30.854%. That’s obviously really poor perform- ance. If we have processes functioning at a three sigma level, this means we’re producing 66807.2 errors per million. Figure 1-1. DPMO at sigma levels nities, delivering 93.319% satisfactory outputs...
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...on the process i.e., improved quality, delivery and cost performance has emerged. This has led to the introduction of Lean Manufacturing which focuses on waste elimination and creation of flow within an organization. In the words of Shigeo Shingo “The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.” Lean and six-sigma are methodologies backed by powerful tools that help in improving quality and productivity thereby improving overall profitability and competitiveness. The lean philosophy was initially pioneered by Toyota manufacturing company and aims at various methods of eliminating waste and improving the process flow. Six Sigma on the other hand, focuses on reducing variation using problem solving and statistical tools. It was first implemented in the Motorola Company as a safety margin for product performance. SIX SIGMA Six Sigma is a continuous improvement strategy that focuses on minimizing defects and variation and aims at achieving 3.4 defects per million in productions, design and process flow. Six Sigma minimizes variation in the process flow, thereby improving customer satisfaction. Benefits of implementing Six Sigma methodology are as follows: a. Better knowledge of products and processes b. Defect reduction c. Focus on communication and teamwork d. Improved customer Satisfaction e....
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...Dynamics Mission Systems, a global company that specializes in military defense. To improve product cost, scheduling, quality, and performance, General Dynamics Mission System have deployed an active Lean Six Sigma program. Lean Six Sigma is a combination of two processes, Lean and Six Sigma. Lean is a systematic method for the elimination of waste. Six Sigma is a methodology for eliminating defects, mistakes, or failures in business processes. Both processes are a set of principles aimed at continuous improvement. Lean Six Sigma has become a popular technique for deploying continuous improvement in the manufacturing arena, but not all companies have successfully benefited from the Lean Six Sigma process—mainly due to poor execution. Jeyaraman and Teo (2010) “A Systematic Review of Lean Six Sigma for the Manufacturing Industry” and Albliw, Antony, and Lim (2015) “A Conceptual Framework for Critical Success Factors of Lean Six Sigma” contains comprehensive research studies in the functional area of Lean Six Sigma. These research studies have identified gaps that may be preventing users from benefiting from the Lean Six Sigma implementation strategy. Research Problem Lean Six Sigma has become a popular technique for continuous improvement. Many companies have employed Lean Six Sigma to their manufacturing...
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...Week 5 Six Sigma Improvements Amanda Purdy INF 342: Project Quality Assurance Instructor: Edwyne Duffie June 30, 2014 Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving toward six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process – from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. The Six Sigma DMAIC processes (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement (Unknown). DMAIC is a primary theme within Six Sigma. This theme is used to identify issues and rectify them. Using this methodology helps address issues at the front of the process as soon as they come up which can then fold into preventing problems before they appear or get worse. Six Sigma is a tool not a cure (Bangert, 2014). DMAIC is an acronym that stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, control. An in depth breakdown of this process is that it is data driven, and can be implemented in conjunction with Six Sigma or as a standalone quality improvement measure. The breakdown is this: define the problem, improvement activity, opportunity...
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...Quality Improvement: Six Sigma Individual Paper, Unit 6 Revised Research Paper Shelli Cornwell scornwell@capellauniversity.edu BUS3004 Developing a Business Perspective 12/18/2011 Introduction The primary focus of this paper is to introduce ways to incorporate quality improvement within an organization. Quality matters when servicing members, providers, employees, groups, brokers, etc. Ultimately, customers do not care about great productivity rates when on the receiving end of quality errors. Measuring quality throughout an organization should be the number one focus. There are many quality management tools available to an organization; however; Six Sigma is a strategy that many world class organizations have implemented to improve quality, service and customer satisfaction. The word Sigma is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. An organization as a hole needs to embrace feedback on errors and determine solutions to these areas for improvement. And above all, there must be a better balance between productivity and quality. “Six Sigma improves production quality by removing variables that can cause defects” (Brinlee, n.d.). When a customer has to continuously spend time on the phone or in writing to have an issue resolved, this becomes frustrating to customers. When an organization has displeased customers due to defects in the quality of service, this can ultimately have an enormous impact on the reputation of an organization...
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...lower costs, higher-quality products and services, shorter lead times, and higher returns on investment in infrastructure and resources. To address issues of competitiveness and to uncover hidden value, our clients find that Lean Six Sigma technique is one of the most powerful platforms available. This research addresses the application of Lean and Six Sigma tools to increase the productivity and improve the quality in the steel industry. It illustrates the procedures of implementing lean tools in a process industry with emphasis on Value stream mapping, 5 s and six sigma tools. Study on Integrated applications of lean & six sigma tools in a continuous process industry are limited. The thesis hypothesizes that there are lot of opportunities for improvement in the process industries like steel if lean and six sigma tools are integrated and utilized. It systematically demonstrates how lean manufacturing tools when used appropriately can help the steel industry to eliminate waste, have better inventory control and how to implement six sigma tools to achieve better quality, reduce variation to get better overall financial profits and better operational procedure. This research studies in the areas of (a) Discuss the basic concepts of Six Sigma and lean production, (b) Identify the basic model...
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...SIX SIGMA BASICS Six Sigma * is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement developed by Motorola in 1986. Jack Welch made it central to his business strategy at General Electric in 1995. Today, it is used in many industrial sectors. * seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Champions", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", "Yellow Belts", etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. These are also core to principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) as described by Peter Drucker and Tom Peters (particularly in his book "In Search of Excellence" in which he refers to the Motorola six sigma principles). * The term is originated from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically terms associated with statistical modeling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its yield or the percentage of defect-free products it creates. A six sigma process is one in which...
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...business practices and products. Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is performing. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications. A Six Sigma opportunity is then the total quantity of chances for a defect. Process sigma can easily be calculated using a Six Sigma calculator. The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of two Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV. The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement. The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also...
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...Int. J. Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. x, No. x, xxxx 1 Six Sigma and Total Quality Management: different day, same soup? Bengt Klefsjö* and Bjarne Bergquist Division of Quality and Environmental Management, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden E-mail: Bengt.Klefsjo@ltu.se E-mail: Bjarne.Bergquist@ltu.se *Corresponding author Rick L. Edgeman Department of Statistics, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1104, USA E-mail: redgeman@uidaho.edu Abstract: For decades now TQM has been a dominant management concept for improving competitiveness and financial results. In recent years, however, TQM seems to have lost some of its nimbus with other concepts and approaches such as Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma launched and increasingly in vogue. The aim of this paper is to look at TQM and Six Sigma, their backgrounds, definitions and ingredients, and their similarities and differences to see whether the two concepts really are different dishes or contain the same ingredients in different proportions. Keywords: quality; Quality Management; Six Sigma; Total Quality Management (TQM). Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Klefsjö, B., Bergquist, B. and Edgeman, R.L. (xxxx) ‘Six Sigma and Total Quality Management: different day, same soup?’, Int. J. Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. x, No. x, pp.xxx–xxx. Biographical notes: Bengt Klefsjö is a Professor of Quality Technology and Management at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden...
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