Six sigma – it’s so like, yesterday
(Note that this image doesn’t really have anything to do with this post, but I just found it strange that a glass of beer can be larger than a womans head.)
What with Home Depot, 3M, GE all apparently acknowledging the days of six sigma are gone, what are we to do?
So has the Six Sigma moment passed?
“I think it has,” says Babson College management professor Tom Davenport. “Process management is a good thing. But I think it always has to be leavened a bit with a focus on innovation and [customer relationships].”
… the notion of Six Sigma as a corporate cure-all is subsiding.
… the “define, measure, analyze, improve, control” mind-set doesn’t entirely gel with the fuzzy front-end of invention. When an idea starts germinating, Carter says, “you don’t want to overanalyze it,” which can happen in a traditional DMAIC framework.
AAARRGGHHH!! How many more times do will I hear that six sigma and innovation are not compatible. How many more times will someone say six sigma is dead, or ISO 9001 or any other quality management process? If you are tying to build an innovative product, would you rather have a stable, capable process where variation is known and controlled to work as a base to build upon or one which is widely fluctuating all over the place? Come on – this is a total no-brainer! Next it will be lean which is under attack, even though:
Improving productivity in the face of lower production is a huge accomplishment
I wonder if India’s largest automaker is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle, a very innovative product, uses six sigma? The Air Car
… uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons.
It’s unlikely Air Car will be sold in the US – the world’s biggest single auto market – especially considering its all-glue construction!
Technorati Tags: six sigma, lean manufacturing
Keep it simple!
Metrology is a complex subject, however applying a lean mindset to the whole subject gives us this:
Condition | Forecast |
Stone is wet | Rain |
Stone is dry | Not raining |
Shadow on ground | Sunny |
White on top | Snowing |
Can’t see stone | Foggy |
Swinging stone | Windy |
Stone jumping up and down | Earthquake |
Stone gone | Tornado |
It’s rather like the urban legend:
During the space race back in the 1960’s, NASA was faced with a major problem. The astronaut needed a pen that would write in the vacuum of space. NASA went to work. At a cost of $1.5 million they developed the “Astronaut Pen”. Some of you may remember. It enjoyed minor success on the commercial market.
The Russians were faced with the same dilemma.
They used a pencil.
Technorati Tags: six sigma, lean manufacturing