subject: Six Sigma Answers For Recession [print this page] Most companies would much rather ride out the recession than face problems such as filing bankruptcy, but the real question is can your business use the Six Sigma method? The answer is yes, any business can adopt this methodology if they have the determination and know-how to make it a success. During the recent recession, it seems that everyone is cutting costs somehow. It is almost certain that somewhere, a business is struggling to stay afloat an unclear economy. This has not only affected big businesses, but small business as well. Many companies have had to make the decision to either try and stay afloat or file bankruptcy.
Within the Six Sigma methodology, and also within the DMAIC framework, the first place to start is design; figure out the problem, does the company have too much overhead, too much inventory? It is a lot like a teacher defining a lesson plan. Decide on the objective and start an outline. This is a good place to start because if company processes were not broken, they would working to gain success for the business. When sales are down, profits are down, and this makes for an unsuccessful business.
The next step in this company saving process is measuring; or information gathering of facts and data, intentionally stays away for opinions. Business teams working together during brainstorms, coupled with meticulous data that has been compiled and stored in one place, can oft times send you in the right direction while setting up the next step in the process; namely analyzing the data. This third step in the process is all about the numbers and data collected and their analysis. Number will talk, if we learn to listen to them. This step will bring out areas that need urgent improvements. The various tools utilized in the Six Sigma methodology will help analyze all data, including sales and expenses to get you quickly on the high road in any economy.
The fourth step is improvement and focuses on the development and implementation of a swift plan of attack. With the knowledge of collected data and the results, you can easily direct your resources to the areas in need of change and the best way to make the changes. Inventoried items are a perfect examples of this. Remove or lessen the production of non performing products, while increasing production and stock of items deemed "hot items" by your buying customers.
The DMAIC process of the Six Sigma Methodology isn't complete until the Control step is off and running. Changes that have been implemented properly to see the success of your hard work is simply what is meant by the Control step. This is the culmination of team members hard work to produce a successful solution for their company. Continued team member cooperation is necessary for the Six Sigma Methods to be successful. Having the solution is useless if the executed procedures are done poorly, or not maintained properly and will have little to no effect on all efforts. The Six Sigma system works and works well when done properly.
by: Craig Calvin
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