Fostered by consistent and relevant training, and coupled with mentoring, these individuals have been able to use a range of techniques – from simple graphical tools to more complex analyses.Īn example of this recently occurred when a supplier requested to increase the tolerance range for a component in order to meet the capability requirements (Cp/Cpk). With that change, the Six Sigma program at Motorola Mobility transformed from a centralized effort with full-time resources to a grassroots effort where individuals use the methodology to solve everyday problems in their functional areas. At this point, we had a decision to make – should we continue the use of Six Sigma as a management system, scale it back or discontinue it altogether? At Motorola Mobility, we chose to take a “back to basics” approach and focus on the essence of Six Sigma – the methodology used to delight our customers by exceeding their expectations and delivering products and services of the highest quality. In January 2011, Motorola separated into two independent, publicly traded companies: Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Our emphasis on reducing waste and non-value added activities was critical in addressing the continuing competitive pressures and increasing our productivity. The program further evolved in 2005 when we added Lean concepts to the traditional Six Sigma framework to identify redundancies and reduce costs and cycle time. The term “Digital” was incorporated to add the requirement that the solutions implemented had to be controlled with a systematic or non-manual control mechanism to ensure that the change was sustainable. Each business and functional leader sponsored the efforts and provided the ongoing governance needed to remove barriers and achieve results. We assigned our strongest Black and Master Black Belts, based on their change management skills and statistical capabilities, to work on projects with complex problems with an unknown root cause. In 2003, Motorola took Six Sigma to the next level by elevating it to a management system and rebranded our efforts as “Digital Six Sigma.” In this phase, we started with a business-wide balanced scorecard and then determined the activities required to achieve those goals. The Six Sigma methodology gained a strong following and became widely adopted across numerous industries. Other companies soon followed suit by adopting their own approach to do the same. Our employees, suppliers and customers quickly discovered this methodology worked and wanted to use it to improve performance. Six Sigma became a collaborative effort between our customers, suppliers and stakeholders and an important tool to engage our employees in a culture of continuous improvement. We implemented large-scale training efforts and applied the methodology beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, service and engineering functions. Through the direction of former CEO Bob Galvin, we made the Six Sigma methodology available to the world. Over the years, we built on this methodology to include the use of statistical tools, and a step-by-step process to drive improvement, innovation and optimization. Six Sigma became our performance metric and was reflective of a product or process that has just 3.4 defects per million units or opportunities.ĪSHTON KUTCHER TRIES TO FIGURE OUT SIX SIGMA Developing this new methodology was the first step on our journey and gave us the tools to begin measuring and comparing the quality improvement rates of our business groups. Motorola’s journey to achieve Six Sigma performance began in 1986 when engineer Bill Smith quietly set out to devise a methodology to standardize defect measurement and drive improvements in manufacturing. Written by Thomas Goodwin of Motorola Mobility Before you read this, check out the upper-right hand corner of this page to view this article in our digital reader.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |