GHANA TELECOM UNIVERSITY AND COVENTRY UNIVERSITY ECM29EKM: Quality Management and Six Sigma Individual Written Assignment–April 2013 IMLOs Covered: 1,2,3,4,5 Module Leader: Andrew Nunekpeku Submission Date
Two (2) weeks after the written examination date.
Assessment Guidelines
• This coursework is worth 70% of the overall module marks. • The assignment questions are based on the main case. Supplements A and B provide useful insights into previous Six Sigma initiatives in the organization. • Preferably your write-up may not exceed 5000 ± 10% words. • This coursework should adopt academic conventions in terms of writing style, be supported by research, with proper attribution of sources and be fully referenced. • Do not submit an
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• Which group will feel the greatest impact if Six Sigma @ the Edge is implemented: managers, supervisors or plant workforce?
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Assessment Criteria
Criterion Content (Knowledge and Understanding) A-level quality Highly relevant content, demonstrate an excellent standard of understanding and critical awareness of the subject matter. Clear evidence of ability to select, critically evaluate, analyse and apply highly relevant sources, accurately cited in the text. Presents an insightful and thorough analysis of all questions. Makes appropriate and powerful connections between the case featured and the concepts studied Excellent clarity of expression, consistently accurate use of grammar and spelling with fluent professional/academic writing. Extremely well organized B-level quality Relevant content, demonstrates commendable standard of understanding and critical awareness of the subject matter. Very good evidence of selection and application of relevant sources, accurately cited in the text. C-level quality Satisfactory content, demonstrates a reasonable standard of understanding and critical awareness of the subject matter Evidence of some research and analysis, but gaps evident; inconsistencies in citation practice. F-level quality Content fails to demonstrate adequate level of understanding and critical awareness of the subject matter. Little or no evidence of reading or application of research sources;
employees on what Six Sigma actually is, how to use, and how it helps them perform
The driving factors for a success or failure of implementing Six Sigma is largely dependent on the inputs set forth at the conception and duration of the integration. This whitepaper will compare and contrast these critical inputs for a successful deployment. In order to accomplish this five various companies: GE Electric, W.R. Grace, Royal Chemicals, Diversified Paper and Lemforder. Some of these organizations had very successful results while others failed to reach their full potential. What is clear is the similarities of those that succeed and those that failed.
Senior leadership must determine and direct the level of quality that is acceptable within the organization. Leadership should prioritize areas of quality and use data based on benchmarks from other facilities. (Dlugacz, 2006). In addition the author states there are some important areas that must be monitored for quality. Compliance must be followed by leaders and all
Committed leadership of top management and fully fledged training are crucial to the success of Six Sigma implementation. Human resource functions need good harmonization with Six Sigma approach(Tjahjono, B. et al., 2010).The right selection and prioritization of projects is also a critical success factor(Antony, J., 2004).
Six Sigma can help companies achieve performance levels that externally are invaluable to customers and internally can reduce costs. These projects can now be found in very diverse industries and can span far-reaching …these two initiatives can be complementary, especially for "Greenfield" process improvements… UPS Supply Chain Solutions 2 business processes and geographies
In this document we have done a detailed study of Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma and how they help Business Analysts to maximize their skill sets to attain maximum process improvements in their activities. We introduce the topic, provide a historical timeline and disucuss its relevance to the topic. After that, we analyze current state and use the information to provide results in Analysis and Synthesis section.
A quantitative study conducted by Lifvergren, Gremyr, Hellstrom, Chakhunashvili, and Bergman (2010) analyzed the experiences and from a hospital group during a three-year period after the introduction of Six Sigma. It reports on 22 large Six Sigma improvement projects, their results and influence on other improvement activities. The study shows that 75% of the completed projects reached their goals within 18 months. The average net cost savings per completed project/year was $55,300. Overall, the results showed that Six Sigma is a useful concept when trying to improve healthcare processes. They recommend that Six Sigma should be an addition to the improvement practices used in healthcare development initiatives. It was also observed that the Six Sigma program can create much organizational pull regarding quality management and improvement efforts if teamwork is applied.
Six Sigma is a quality improvement method that is being used more frequently in healthcare. This tool was developed and used in industry since around 1980 and began to be used in healthcare in the 1990's (Powell, Rushmer, & Davies, 2009). According to Lighter (2011) "This lean process management system provides quality improvement professionals with the ability to remove non-value added work and improve process efficiency" (p. 287). The healthcare industry needs to find a way to get rid of errors. Today's society demands a lot from the healthcare providers and will not tolerate unnecessary errors, no matter how small they may seem. Six Sigma works to recognize errors as soon as they occur so
The six sigma Black Belt has found and accepted all known underlying drivers for the current open door. The six sigma methodology obliges Black Belts to distinguish arrangements. Couple of thoughts or opportunities are good to the point that all are a moment achievement. As a major aspect of the six sigma approach there must be checks to guarantee that the coveted results are being accomplished. A few investigations and trials may be needed with a specific end goal to locate the best arrangement. At the point when making trials and tests it is imperative that all task partners comprehend that these are trials and truly are a piece of the six sigma
Hulsoman, a senior manger at Maple Leaf Food’s, had asked to meet Anthony Scire, plant manager at Maple Leaf Food’s Rivermede plant in Toranto, regarding a new initiative that she was heading, six Sigma @ The Edge. Based on the recent success of Six Sigma at the Rivermede plant, Louann had approached
The purpose of this paper is to discuss: (a) overall comparison of the Lean and Six Sigma performance improvement methods, (b) steps involved in implementing Lean and Six Sigma, (c)
Critical questions arose at the inception of the Six Sigma implementation within 3M, according to 3M United Kingdom (UK) Leader at the time; Phil Wide. Pertaining to the differences between country to country and business to business, what approach would you take to deploy continuity and proof of methodology? What works culturally? What works in that particular operation? Implementation of the Six Sigma tools was a challenge, especially in achieving the initial buy-in and continued support from their workforce who have seen management fads come and go. Regardless, 3M took the reins of their workforce, training and motivating them in the ideals of Six Sigma. This was done around a central core of excellence and focus. Overtime the benefits of this move have yielded many advantages as compared to traditional improvement processes, one of which is the ability to ‘close the
Brassard, Michael, and Diane R. (2001). “Sailing through Six Sigma: How the Power of People Can Perfect Processes and Drive down Costs”. Marietta, GA: Brassard & Ritter, 2001.
In 1990’s Jack Welch launched Six Sigma in GE in a big way. He implemented Six Sigma in all areas and ensured that the entire organization participates in the initiative. He changed the performance incentives and made them based on individual’s ability and enthusiasm to take part in Six Sigma initiatives. He transformed GE to a state where Six Sigma had become the culture of the organization and not just a methodology for brining organization-wide improvements.
The above four were the main reasons for the company to put together a set of processes which would formally combine SCM and six sigma, by training and developing supply chain people become capable of leading innovations. Over the last years of implementation, SCM six sigma became a unique and useful component of Samsung’s strategy for systematic and continuous improvement of its SCM