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What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma, created by the Motorola Corporation, is a five-step methodology used to understand customer requirements and to map, analyze, measure and improve processes in order to deliver 99.9997% defect-free products and services, improve cycle time and eliminate non-value added activities.
More information Glossary of TermsCEO ViewPoint Interview with Joe De Feo CEO of The Juran Institute
Exclusive news and an interesting conversation with one of the leading and still hands-on practitioners; Jo De Feo CEO of the Juran Institute.....
We still think he's ahead of the game by integrating cost efficencies with customer satisfaction to bring about enterprise-wide improvements for large multi-nationals...
Introductory Note About Dr Juran
It is striking to note that the late and much admired founder of the Juran Institute, Dr Juran was invited over to Japan in 1954 after his publication of “The Quality Control Handbook” (an up-to-date edition of this is due out in 2010) to help organise senior managers (mostly CEO’s) with Quality Management, particularly with a view to reducing the emphasis on statistics.*1.
Dr Juran’s lectures were way ahead of their time and many Japanese Executives attribute his knowledge as the bible for Quality Management for many decades…
His main points were from a high level strategic management point of view:
1. Doctrine of Quality
2. Choice of Quality Design
3. Organizational Plan
4. Measurement
5. Reviewing Results
Further points look at Control Management with emphasis on the “Cycle of Control”…*1
Question.1: How did your company get here?
“A pivotal time in 1979, Dr Juran was publishing a series of 15 video tapes about quality and improvement and the steps to take to reach breakthrough. To cater for the interest in these videos Dr Juran started the Institute with the axiom ““Whatever you do make sure it improves society. Don’t just do it for the sake of profit.”” Motorola were in fact one of the first companies to use these videos and there is evidence to show this helped lead them to create Six Sigma…”
This followed on from his 40 year career working in the 1940’s and 50’s for General McCarther helping to re-build companies in Japan, among them Toyota. Dr Juran was a trainer and consultant for the American Manufacturing Association and in the 1970’s continued to work for Toyota, Motorola, Texas Instruments and Hewlett Packard, who were early adopters.
“Right up to today, Samsung is one of our best clients; we only work with companies that care about producing the best products and service, ethical and environmentally consious.
“How I got here?, in 1985 I applied for a job and out of 200 applicants, I came second, I didn’t get the job because I didn’t know who Juran or Deming were! Six months later as a manger of Quality the Juran and Deming principles came up and we started to use them in our training for staff. In 1988 I started as the most junior person at the institute, I had been working at a company where I was using Dr Juran’s video and had got my head round it quite well so I was asked to talk at a conference for Dr Juran, I always have been a practitioner, I do learn and teach others….and I have done it longer than most….”
“This year is our 30th Anniversary providing training for profit; a small company with a big impact with 50 reps now truly all round the world.”
“There are many less experienced trainers out there, it’s so important how Six Sigma is applied, the aim must be to:
Reduce costs
Improve customer satisfaction
Improve production
Improve quality of the business
“This can be done simultaneously, improve customer satisfaction and reduce waste…”
“In a way the customer defines quality and you employ methods for improving customer satisfaction and improve the quality of customer service….”
Question.2: If your ethos is to provide a good service that improves the world we live in how is this applied to your business?
“Consistent with our message and mission is our business practice, we have a very good financial record and no customer or supplier issues and we have a very strong ethical background. We make the choice as to who we work with, companies who care about their staff and the environment.
We work from the top; Lean Six Sigma is about CEO’s wanting to be the best in their field, their purpose and strategy tied together.
We utilise Pareto’s Principle which Dr Juran named when he came across the work of Vilfredo Pareto an Italian economist in the 1950’s and applied it to help Quality management building up businesses in Japan. As you probably know it looks at the few failures that account for the most problems and greatest costs to business. We work with this principle. It is what Dr Juran researched, the vital few verses the useful many.
We use the Pareto Principle to select improvement projects for our clients. We start with valuable but bite size projects to help organize focus and manage.
The launch of our e-lifeline helps Performance Excellence specialists and their teams utilise unparalled tips and communicate live with Juran specialists who have many years experience in improving business processes…
Question.3: How does the integration of Six Sigma with Innovative solutions help companies in the current highly competitive climate?
“If you understand the Juran Trilogy that defines the means to manage for quality. There are three methods an organization needs to satisfy customers. It begins with designing quality into the product or service. By understanding the ‘voice of the Business and Voice of the Customers you will discover unmet needs that lead to innovative products. Once you have the right product and service to meet perfectly the customers’ desires and needs you then need to control the variables that will enable to product to be successfully produced and then use the improvement tools to make breakthroughs as needs change.
To innovate means to solve a customer problem that no-one else can do like i-Phone – mobile music and a cell phone all in one. Innovation means solving the contradictions of customer demands, like: “”I want it to be durable but inexpensive…””, good design quality smoothes out the problem…
In our innovation process we have the Pareto and Lean Six Sigma methodology to:
1. Improve the product
2. Control and improve design
3. help improve relationships and understanding with customers
This is all outlined in our new and highly regarded - once every ten years – new publication Juran’s Quality Handbook, due out in early 2010…
References:
*1: Juran’s Lectures to Japanese Executives in 1954: A Perspective and Some Contemporary Lessons by Peter J Kolesar from Columbia University, published in QMJ VOL.15, NO.3, ASQ 2008.
Great thanks to Joseph De Feo for allowing us to interview and for such an informative conversation.
If you are a CEO and would like to be interviewed or if you would like your CEO to be interviewed for our series of CEO ViewPoints email:
Contributor[a]sixsigmazone.com
Or telephone directly on US TOLL FREE: 800 959 3810 ( calls from outside of the US may incur a charge).
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