The 25-bed critical access Monadnock Community Hospital faced a huge deficit as a direct result of an unexpected ice-storm that hit the state of New Hampshire in December 2008, causing a two-week power outage. The hospital was in deep financial trouble.Fortunately for the hospital and the region, the hospital management had decided to look into various options to bail the hospital out of this crisis. The hospital's lab department had some success following a lean Six Sigma model, so the hospital authority pursued the strategy hospital-wide. Mr. Peter L. Gosline, president and CEO of Monadnock Community Hospital, had highlighted the success of the hospital's five-year "lean" journey during the American College of Healthcare Executive's 2014 Congress in Chicago, a model that he estimates has saved the organization $1 million a year!

To read more, visit the link address given below:

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/how-lean-strategies-saved-nh-critical-access-hospital-financial-ruin/2014-04-07

Lean Six Sigma is a managerial concept combining Lean and Six Sigma that results in the elimination of eight kinds of wastes / muda (classified as Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-Utilized Talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Extra-Processing) and an improved capability of performance. The term Six Sigma is statistically based on the provision of goods and service at a rate of 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). A mnemonic for the wastes is "DOWNTIME”.

Over the years, this methodology has helped many firms to achieve process & output improvement. However, how about implementing lean six sigma concept to improve operating a city? That’s interesting! That was beyond our imagination. However, Tyler, a city located in Texas, United States, implemented Lean Six Sigma concepts to manage various projects and of course, with a saving of 5 Million US dollars, it can be said that the result was in its favour! Tyler Senior Public Relations Specialist Serena Butcher said the idea behind Lean Six Sigma is to identify waste and variation, so the city can save time and money and overall be more efficient. Mayor Barbara Bass also addressed attendees in a recent gathering to celebrate their success, saying, “In five short years, we’ve changed the culture of how we look at our jobs at city hall.”

To read more about how implementing Lean Six Sigma concepts actually worked for the City of Tyler, visit the following link address:

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/197509/lean-six-sigma-city-of-tyler-celebrates-over-5-million-in-savings-with-program#.U0I6iqhgXgw

Different financial services suffer high operational risks when there is market failure and industry transformation. In order to reduce the cost of risk management operations, financial organizations are seeking new models and methodologies. FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) and Control charts are two very powerful Six Sigma tools which not only help to identify and prioritize risks but also monitor the risks. To know how FMEA and Control charts help in risk management, please go through the following article written by Abhishek Soni, a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Professional.

http://www.isixsigma.com/industries/financial-services/leverage-six-sigma-to-manage-operational-risk-in-financial-services/

Legal firms are adopting Continuous Process Improvement as a part of their excellence program.

Yes, you have read it right.

Though Continuous Improvement, Lean and Six Sigma tools have touched almost every industry, legal firms are new ones to join. In fact, global giant Clifford Chance has rolled out training in Continuous Improvement methodologies as it is bringing up the concept of law in a more process oriented approach. The company is already reaping benefits from it. Their efficiencies have improved in several areas of operation – ranging from document review to reducing the cost of customary asset disposals for a client.

Sounds interesting? Read more at http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/lean-six-sigma-business-transformation/articles/lawyers-jump-into-process-improvement.

Six Sigma is not just a toolbox. It is a way of thinking about business, about processes and about cause-and-effect relationships. To ensure success, the application of Six Sigma relies on traditional scientific methods to examine processes, remove undesirable causes and their effects. Six Sigma also seeks to innovate through the discovery of truth with refined, rational cognitive skills and the objective analysis of empirical data. It is a collection of tools. It is a methodology. It is a thought process that dissects the large picture into smaller parts and reassembles it into a more efficient configuration.

Many of the tools used for Six Sigma also proved useful in conjunction with TQM and other process improvement methodologies. While some of the tools are new to process improvement activities, it is important to note that Six Sigma also provides a new way to use existing tools. This leads to a debate about whether Six Sigma is something new or a new way to employ existing tools!

An article by Robert Tripp, Scot Shank and Mike Carnell, emphasizes on this debate and speaks about DMAIC phases of six sigma methodology. Visit the following link to access the article:

http://www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/dmaic/six-sigma-toolbox/

Can enterprise IT learn some best practices from Industrial Engineering? Not so obvious? Yes. It can. Heavy engineering companies like automobile manufacturing or aerospace manufacturing, make use of process flow maps intensively to analyze steps, identify and eliminate wastes and more importantly get an accurate description of the process. Now, it is not that IT program managers do not use process flow maps at all, but a more holistic approach towards process flow mapping can give an idea of which steps can be automated to reduce cycle time. Well experienced program managers can implement this approach resulting in a more efficient and cost effective process.

Stephanie C. Hill, Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil business, writes about how enterprise IT can learn best practices from Industrial Engineering. Read more at http://www.informationweek.com/government/leadership/what-enterprise-it-can-learn-from-industrial-engineering/d/d-id/1141589?piddl_msgid=207611.

To help your Enterprise IT team create detailed process flow maps, or to conduct Value Stream Mapping exercise or Lean Action Work Out to identify wastes and reduce Cycle Time, contact SigmaWay at contact@gosigmaway.com. We have experienced Black Belts and Master Black Belts who can chart out an operational excellence plan for you.

Robust demand for continuous improvement talent remains concentrated on lean skill sets, but Six Sigma shows renewed strength in a new study. A survey conducted by the Avery Point Group on 7097 internet job postings revealed the changing demands landscape for lean and Six Sigma talent.

To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.industryweek.com/lean-six-sigma/demand-six-sigma-talent-staging-comeback

Nowadays patients are demanding more and higher quality healthcare provisions. These have posed challenges to the healthcare facilities. Insurance companies in the healthcare sector are striving to keep claims at minimal. In most of the cases, these companies bear a negative perception in the minds of patients which forces them to leave hospitals prematurely. Also, they do not get critical treatments or medicines.

However, a shift is taking place with Lean Six Sigma’s holistic approach. Insurance companies are now looking for effective ways to bring their costs down while at the same time providing medical cover for improved healthcare provisions.

CIGNA, a health insurance company describes how it is using Six Sigma to bring down medical costs while simultaneously improving the outcomes. To know about it, please click here: http://ciaranmay.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/focusing-power-of-ss-in-healthcare-insurance-industry.pdf

Inventory optimization (IO) solutions are meant to help managers match supply volume to customer demand over a large number of stock keeping units or SKUs. One significant drawback of single-echelon solution is that safety stock can only be managed at the individual facility level, which can result in excessive inventory if a company operates in multiple functions. Multi-echelon solutions allow safety stock to be managed and optimized over the entire network & are required for complex situations in which facilities are considered as parts of a network. With the time, business houses had realized the value of inventory optimization for improving gross margin. The potential benefits are substantial, albeit many managers had conveyed that cutting back too much on inventory can cause delays in order fulfilment and hence, there is a high chance of increased customer attrition. However, a recent survey revealed that best-in-class firms actually improve service levels and financial performance through their use of inventory optimization solutions. Hence, balancing inventory and service levels doesn’t have to be a win/lose exercise.

Author Al Bredenberg had given a detailed view on this aspect in his recent article. To read, visit the following link:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/inventory-optimization-helps-straddle-the-line-between-shortage-and-excess

As most manufacturing firms know, Lean Six Sigma is a proven way to improve operations. It works best when initiatives are aligned with the broader strategic goals of the company.  However, Six Sigma initiatives must be aligned directly to a company's business goals. Senior leaders face a lot of challenges as they try to connect day-to-day activities with strategy. Lean Six Sigma initiatives address these strategic gaps and issues, generating breakthrough performance. Leading companies, that have adopted the Six Sigma methodology, have seen major improvements in their processes. Initiatives are originally sought by adopting what we call a Focused Lean Six Sigma approach. This approach takes a different perspective to create long-lasting change.

For call centres too, to make your task easy, there are different performance management solutions that you can put to use to know various aspects – out of which you can make out areas of improvements. But for this, you have to know how to use your performance management solution. Read more at:  

http://www.callcentrehelper.com/trade-secrets-getting-the-best-from-your-performance-management-solution-60462.htm

GoSigmaWay Consulting Services [www.gosigmaway.com] offers various training programs on “Lean six sigma”, apart from their arsenal of cutting edge consultancy solutions to enable your organization achieve its performance goals.

In the Six Sigma domain, 5S Program is a valuable continuous process improvement in reducing waste. The process of 5S was started in Japan to engage process teams. The 5S consist of: Sort – Straighten – Scrub – Standardize – Sustain. For an effective 5S program, it is important that all the steps are carried sequentially. Also, it is important that the management must motivate its employees to carry the 5S Program on a regular basis and must review the processes from time to time.

To know more on how a 5S Program helps to add value to the organizations, follow the link http://www.isixsigma.com/tools-templates/5s/a-model-for-implementing-a-5s-program/?type=LINL .

When it comes to delivering software, today’s business climate has three prerequisites for success: speed, agility, and innovation. While multi-year, expensive and bloated software initiatives were once a reality for some companies, today’s expectations for new projects are measured in days, weeks, and months. Today, leaders understand that a faster, iterative approach can result in faster development that is also of a higher quality.

To read more, Visit:

http://venturebeat.com/2014/03/10/continuous-delivery/

Vertellus Specialties Inc., a specialty chemicals company in Indianapolis, IN, is reaping quality and productivity benefits, even as part of its workforce undertakes projects after getting trained in Lean and Six Sigma in 2013. The training participants had learned to make process improvements, eliminate waste, and find better ways to execute and perform respective roles in their functional areas. They have undertaken projects on variation reduction, cycle time and yield improvements, QA/QC, product specifications development, design of experiment studies, etc. The projects aim for greater consistency, higher purity, improved environmental profile, shorter lead times, lower costs, and greater throughput. 

To further this wave of continuous improvement, Vertellus aims to have 25% of its salaried workforce trained in Lean and Six Sigma by the end of 2014.

The American Society of Quality (ASQ) is having its 2014 Lean and Six Sigma conference from February 24-25 in Phoenix, AZ, USA. The theme of the conference is “Sustaining Results Through a Culture of Quality,” focusing on new and unique applications of lean and Six Sigma, lean and Six Sigma in service, change management and the human side of lean and Six Sigma." Attendees can learn how oraganizations can embrace, apply, sustain and continuously leverage Lean and Six sigma methodologies to increase efficiencies, profitability and return on investment.  

The full program and session descriptions can be found at http://asq.org/conferences/six-sigma.