Course Summary:

During the last couple of decades small, mid-sized and Fortune 500 companies have embraced Six Sigma to generate more profit and greater savings. So what is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a data-driven approach for eliminating defects and waste in any business process. You can compare Six Sigma with turning your water faucet and experiencing the flow of clean, clear water. Reliable systems are in place to purify, treat, and pressure the water through the faucet. That is what Six Sigma does to business: it treats the processes in business so that they deliver their intended result.

What is "Sigma"? The word is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. Sigma is a way to measure quality and performance. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to "zero defects" as possible. This workshop will give participants an overview of the Six Sigma methodology, and some of the tools required to deploy Six Sigma in their own organizations.

Course Objectives:

Research has consistently demonstrated that when clear goals are associated with learning, it occurs more easily and rapidly. 
This workshop is designed to help you in the following ways:

Develop a 360 degree view of Six Sigma and how it can be implemented in any organization.

• Identify the fundamentals of lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, and lean principles.
• Describe the key dimensions of quality – product features and freedom from deficiencies
• Develop attributes and value according to the Kano Model
• Understand how products and services that have the right features and are free from deficiencies can promote customer satisfaction and attract and retain new customers.
• Describe what is required to regulate a process
• Give examples of how poor quality affects operating expenses in the areas of appraisal, inspection costs, internal failure costs, and external failure costs
• Using basic techniques such as DMAIC and how to identify Six Sigma Projects
• Use specific criteria to evaluate a project
• Discover root causes of a problem
• Design and install new controls to hold the gains and to prevent the problem from returning

Course Outline

Module One: Getting Started

• Workshop Objectives
• Pre-Assignment Review

Module Two: Understanding Lean

• About Six Sigma
• About Lean
• History Behind Lean
• Toyota Production Systems
• The Toyota Precepts
• Case Study
• Module Two: Review Questions

Module Three: Liker’s Toyota Way

• Philosophy
• Process
• People and Partners
• Problem Solving
• Case Study
• Module Three: Review Questions

Module Four: The TPS House

• The Goals of TPS
• The First Pillar: Just In Time (JIT)
• The Second Pillar: Jidoka (Error-Free Production)
• Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)
• The Foundation of the House
• Case Study
  Module Four: Review Questions

Module Five: The Five Principles of Lean Business

• Value
• Value Stream
• Flow
• Pull
• Seek Perfection
• Case Study
• Module Five: Review Questions

Module Six: The First Improvement Concept (Value)

• Basic Characteristics
• Satisfiers
• Delighters
• Applying the Kano Model
• Case Study
• Module Six: Review Questions

Module Seven: The Second Improvement Concept (Waste)

• Muda
• Mura
• Muri
• The New Wastes
• Case Study
• Module Seven: Review Questions

Module Eight: The Third Improvement Concept (Variation)

• Common Cause
• Special Cause
• Tampering
• Structural
• Case Study
• Module Eight: Review Questions

Module Nine: The Fourth Improvement Concept (Complexity)

• What is Complexity?
• What Causes Complexity?
• How to Simplify?
• Case Study
• Module Nine: Review Questions

Module Ten: The Fifth Improvement Concept (Continuous Improvement)

• The PDSA Cycle (Plan, Do, Study, Act)
• The DMAIC Method
• Case Study

Module Eleven: The Improvement Toolkit

• Gemba
• Genchi Genbutsu
• Womack’s Principle
• Kaizen
• A Roadmap for Implementation
• Case Study
• Module Eleven: Review Questions

Module Twelve: Wrapping Up

• Words from the Wise