Lean Six Sigma and a Particularly Virulent Case of Chicken Pox
I’m amazed at how rapidly lean six sigma is spreading across non-traditional industry sectors, rather like a particularly virulent case of chicken pox. Firstly, in aviation: for example, the is the fastest-selling new airplane in aviation history and uses composites on the airframe to allow the huge structure to be built in just one piece. This means essentially there are six major end items coming together in final assembly — the forward, centre and aft fuselage sections, the wings, the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin.
Since the 787 is assembled from these large assemblies rather than many smaller pieces, traditional monument assembly tools are not necessary. Portable tools, designed with ergonomics in mind, move the assemblies into place. No overhead cranes are used to move airplane structure. A composite airframe also means less waste in production and fewer hazardous materials used during the assembly process. Boeing aims to improve the production time from seven weeks to one airplane every three days.
Still on aviation, Mark over at Lean Blog has a great story relating to kaizen-type activities at Southwest Airlines.
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Next to pharmaceuticals, Meikah at sixsig.info reports that Sanofi Aventis are deploying six sigma and are so proud of it they have produced a case study to download. A summary of the key points are:
- Training, facilitated by Motorola, of employees to be Six Sigma Black Belts.
- Broadening of Six Sigma activities by incorporating Lean Six Sigma Tools.
- Boost of the morale of employees when they saw Six Sigma as part of their job to continuously improve processes. Six Sigma has pervaded the whole organization as employees took ownership of the initiative and got rewarded by their efforts.
Finally, six sigma is also making gains in financial services however the focus here is on revenue enhancing projects and not just cost reduction initiatives, why? –
Labour and material are some of the largest cost contributors in manufacturing. Compare that to a lending institution or a bank: their largest expense is not labour or material, but cost of funds. So, the key is to focus on occurrence – once you get a customer in-house, how to make sure that you keep them and get the most value from the relationship.
Do you work in a market sectors where lean or six sigma is being deployed? Leave a comment below.
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Comments
By Meikah Delid on May 23rd, 2007 at 2:33 am
Yeah, it seems like many different industries have discovered the value of Six Sigma. Not bad at all! Thanks for the link, BTW. And oh, wasn’t I surprised? This is yet another good blog, Ron. Keep at it!
By Meikah Delid on May 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Yeah, it seems like many different industries have discovered the value of Six Sigma. Not bad at all! Thanks for the link, BTW. And oh, wasn't I surprised? This is yet another good blog, Ron. Keep at it!
By thomas fallen on February 8th, 2009 at 4:21 am
I hadn't really heard of lean six sigma before, but from your post I gather my industry can and should be practicing it. I guess I got a lot of reading to do now to catch up.
By ergonomic consulting on April 3rd, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Lean six sigma is very popular in the area that I'm from. Businesses have discovered that this is a truly valuable application and have implemented it into many business plans and models. I think it's a great thing that you are promoting this valuable concept within your blog, I will forward my friends and colleagues to it.
By video on June 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 am
hi all, i hope you’re having fun here
By Sue | Cater on September 1st, 2009 at 9:15 am
Hi there
I have been to this site before and was moderated then approved and not it seems that my comments have just vanished I was just wonder why this may be.
This is a great site and really have enjoyed visiting.
By qamanager on September 5th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Hmm, apologies for this Sue. I'm not sure why this would happen. Thanks for letting me know.