Kodak 7 secrets: The Six Sigma DMAIC Approach

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Six Sigma is a known Process Improvement That helps in minimizing defects and helps to achieve excellence.

What is Six Sigma?

A data-driven approach to achieve excellence by minimizing defects. Six Sigma uses the DMAIC methodology. Standard Deviation defines the spread around this mean inclination. Sigma is also the competency of the process to produce a defect-free environment. Higher the capability, lower the faults or defects.

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology developed in 1986 by Motorola Inc.

What is DMAIC Methodology?

DMAIC is a data-driven problem-solving approach for achieving Process excellence, it has 5 phases

Define        Define the Problem

Measure     Measure  the Problem

Analyze      Identify the actual cause of the problem

Improve      Try to solve the actual root cause of the problem

Control       Maintain or control

Kodak puts Sumo Glove through Six Sigma

What is a Sumo Glove?

Sumo Glove is a safety product that is set to be the catalyst for change and has proved to significantly reduce these damage related costs and enhance health and safety measures. Sumo Glove is made of polyurethane, the sumo Glove is bonded to the forks and replaces the hard steel with a material that has a unique cushioning effect. Designed to greatly reduce product pallet and racking damage while enhancing the safety without affecting the operation effectiveness of the truck.

Sumo Glove Price 

Sumo Glove is an onsite fitted product. The customers should know that the trucks would be out of operation for a minimum of 2 hours While the Sumo Glove is fitted.

An online safety guide is available for the companies wishing to fit their own.

Sumo Gloves cost 425 per single set of gloves. Some discounts are also available on bulk orders.

Sumo Glove is recently used in Kodak center, Leeds, West Yorkshire and it has been a center of majority safety improvement projects. The Kodak plant manufactures the lithographic plates plant in Leeds. It produces 28 million m2 per year which is shipped worldwide.

As a part of Kodak’s six sigma Greenbelt training at their site, their health and safety officer Roger Rustom undertook safety measures especially at the damage caused by forklift trucks. This was probably the first safety measure Kodak has undertaken. This project also minimized loss due to damage. Roger Rustom commented “Following an extensive study between 2007/2008 into the recorded safety incidents and the scrap reports, as well as discussions with the truck operators we determined that some significant changes can be done by reducing the number of incidents involving forklift tip damage to the lithographic plates.

We then started looking for the possible solutions and identified the SumoGlove fork tip impact reduction system as the most proactive and effective way to reduce the damage as well as offering the potential to reduce the severity of injury to the personnel.”

Sumo Glove Impact 

After Kodak enlisted the help of the manufacturer of the SumoGlove Reduction system in August 2008 involved two Jungleinrich reach trucks began their fittings with SumoGloves.After that, it has been reported that there has been no report of the product damage. Due to the immense success of the trial , the remaining trucks are fitted with the SumoGlove impact Reduction system. It is a Six Sigma DMAIC Approach.

The Forklift operator behavior has been also changed in a positive way as he has to be more aware of the tips. Especially in the low light areas. It enables them to judge the fork position more accurately when pulling of loads are in the warehouses. Several accidents and incidents have been minimized. Damage to the plates have been minimized for about 80%. It is a huge success of the six sigma process. Due to the success of the trial area, more Forklift trucks will be fitted with Sumo Gloves.

Simon Ross, Managing Director of Sumo Gloves says it is really a big advantage that the Sumo Gloves has passed the test and has received recognition from such an important company such as Kodak.In current times it is reassuring to be able to all the users to be more productive and be more profitable.

History of Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a set of tools and techniques for process improvement. It was introduced by American Engineer Bill Smith while working in Motorola 1986. Bill Smith is called the father of Six Sigma. Six Sigma was born in Japan. After World War 2, Japan was in great trouble even a lot of nations were suffering. Everything was stuck. The economy of Japan was in a huge loss. They needed to start up with scratch and speed up in the industrial revolution. In 1950s. W.Edwards Deming, an American Statistician went to Japan to teach manufacturing techniques.

Being a mathematician Deming adopted all the techniques to control the manufacturing process. He guided the managers briefly to check whether the defects in the outputs were flowing in the manufacturing process. From the CEO of the company to the managers to the workers he emphasized everyone for the quality control.

In the 1970s many Japanese companies started producing electronics and automobiles in a powerful manner. It was not only good in quantity but also quality. By this Deming became the most sought after business consultant. The statistical methods implemented by Deming were systemized into Six Sigma at Motorola.

Evolution of Six Sigma

The origin of six sigma has its connection way back from 16  century. In 1789, Eli Whitney created the interchangeable parts also called as the Uniformity center. The period of 1760-1840 was known as the Industrial Revolution. The first Industrial Revolution was the age of the mechanical Production. In 1913, Henry Ford introduced his automobile assembly line which effectively powered mass production.

German mathematician, Carl Freidrich Gauss conceptualized Normal Distribution or the Bell Curve which became the central pillar of the history of Six Sigma The Standard deviation on the normal distribution was denoted by the Greek alphabet Sigma ‘?’.

In 1924, Dr.Walter Shewhart introduced the process of the control chart, which was a new form of data collection. He was the first person to work out in six sigma effects in manufacturing.

The Japanese origin

After the world war ended in Japan . Devastation was faced by Japan after world war 2.The growth of many countries were affected. In the 1950s W.Edwards, an American statistician, went to Japan to teach manufacturing techniques.

Being a mathematician Deming adopted all the methods to control the manufacturing process. He guided and controlled the managers, the workers, and the CEO of the company. This process was continuously followed down to narrow the variability in the products.

Deming introduced a Plan Do Check Act. (PDCA).

• In 1954, Joseph Juran visited Japan and took the initiative to implement quality management in all the layers.
• In the 1970s, Japanese techniques and electronic industries started giving powered production. After that Deming became the most sought after business consultant.
• In 1987, Motorola successfully implemented the six sigma methods in their business.
• In 1991, Motorola certified its first black belt, Six sigma expert marking a step to train its staff.
• In 1991, Allied signal, a large avionics company which later on merged to become a brand Honeywell in 1999. adopted the six sigma methods.
• In 1995, General electric’s CEO Jack Welch noticed the improvement of other corporations by using Six Sigma. He also decided to use six sigma in his company. Soon after he decided to use and started using his company to achieve remarkable cost savings.
• Sooner six sigma gained a lot of names and it became very famous; many companies started using six sigma in production and manufacturing.
• By the mid-1990s six sigma became a braided methodology and was adopted by many good companies
• By the year 2000, Six Sigma became a part of the culture, and many companies Many training and certification programs started to establish in various organizations around the world.

  The American Society of Quality, ASQ, a non-profitable organization was the first to become the biggest provider of the Six Sigma certification program. The programs used Six Sigma Black Belt Certification, green belt, yellow belt, and Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification.

Then, parallel a new Japanese inspired concept of LEAN began to increase its popularity. It was a blend of process improvement and reduction of waste.

Lean Six Sigma green belt

Green belts are the vital components of the success of any Six Sigma certification program. many organizations start with a green belt Program moving quickly to the black belts. Six Sigma certification provides a mark of professional distinction six sigma tools are designed to help the entrepreneurs and the startups to establish companies by increasing productivity without wasting any money and time.

Course Objective

The  main objective of the six sigma course is to reduce variation in processes allowing a more predictable output. Six Sigma builds on these foundations to analyze and eliminate the causes of variations that remain using a structured approach. The Six Sigma Green Belt Certification is meant for those working in local areas and participate in wider business projects.

Henry Harvin’s Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Course

Henry Harvin also offers Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course 

• Its duration is live training of 20 hours online.
• Based on this training after 15 days online exam is conducted after which certificate is awarded.
• Post-training 24 hours project support and brush up sessions over a span of 1 year.

It also gives a lot of career benefits.

• Become eligible for jobs demanding analytical background.
• Open doors to job opportunities abroad demanding specialization.
• Distinguish your profile from peers during job interviews.
• Henry Harvin’s Six Sigma course is one of the best courses in India

How to get Six Sigma Certification?

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology that improves the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing the variability in the business.

Consider the needs of your organization

You should first analyze what certification is best for you. Is it suffering from too much wastage in the supply chain?

   .Decide on how you want to optimize your processes

  You should optimize the process continuously. On the other hand, you might be someone who opts for the emphasis on efficiency or producing a quality product with a little waste.  

Determine whether you want six sigma or lean Six Sigma    

You should decide according to the needs of your environment you should opt for what you want. Six Sigma defines waste as a variation within business processes. If you are someone who believes inconsistent processes you have to be consistent with this process. Lean Six Sigma is a combination of Lean methodology and six Sigma. It defines waste to such things which doesn’t add value to the finished product. If you looking for an emphasis on efficiency you should go for Lean Six Sigma.

Recommended Reads

• Best Six Sigma Course in India
• Best Six Sigma Courses in Bangalore
• Best Six Sigma Black Belt Courses in Delhi
• Best Six Sigma Courses in Chennai
  • Six Sigma Black Belt Courses in India
  • Six Sigma Certification Costs

FAQs

1.Lean Six Sigma or Six Sigma which course should I opt?

You should go for Lean Six Sigma as it is more advanced and updated. Various companies demand Lean properties.

2. What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a discipline statistical-based, Data-driven methodology for eliminating defects.

3.what is the value of Six Sigma certification?

Six Sigma certification is a lot of value-added. It is not only required in Large business organizations to reduce wastage and increase efficiency, but on the other hand, it is useful fr small businesses as well as startups.

4. Is Six Sigma certification worth it in India?

If you are applying for a quality control position in India then it is yes. Learning Six Sigma methodology for your work life can help influence the future of your career.

5. What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is an organized approach to improve upon a business presentation that has mixed very two individuals of Lean and Six Sigma.

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