Although most organisations want to improve quality and reduce costs, the deployment and implementation of continuous improvement methodologies is commonly viewed as a daunting journey. Many organisations fail to properly structure and/or support continuous improvement initiatives, which ultimately doom them to failure. South African Banks are not adopting Lean and/or Six-sigma to the point where it is going to make any sort of significant difference to the bottom line over a significantly meaningful period of time. So where are they going wrong? Often it comes down to key issues that are not addressed effectively as part of the deployment. The research objectives are: • The primary objective is to establish what the mission critical success factors for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementation in South African Banking are. • The secondary objective is to define a list of the sources of benefits for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementations in South African Banking. The research questions/problems to be addressed are: • What are the mission critical success factors for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementations in South African Banking? • How do South African Banks prioritise these critical success factors? • How do South African Banks that are already on the Lean and/or Six-sigma journey perform against these critical success factors? • What are the gaps between the importance’s of the critical success factors versus the banks actual performance against these, and how is this gap impacting on the benefits that the banks are experiencing? • What sources of benefits are South African Banks experiencing? • Can generic guidelines be provided to the South African Banks for successful Lean and/or Six-sigma implementation?

ITC/USA 2009 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fifth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2009 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Sponsored by the Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program (CTEIP), the integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) project has created a proposed architecture for network enhancing aeronautical telemetry. Given the static nature of the current aeronautical telemetry architecture (it has not significantly changed in over 50 years), it is recognized that iNET must be carefully deployed to avoid test disruptions and safety issues. In support of a smooth transition to this new architecture, the Naval Air Warfare Division Aircraft (NAWCAD) conducted an extensive continuous process improvement project. This paper will describe the process, defined and launched by this study, to assure the safe deployment of iNET.

Although most organisations want to improve quality and reduce costs, the deployment and implementation of continuous improvement methodologies is commonly viewed as a daunting journey. Many organisations fail to properly structure and/or support continuous improvement initiatives, which ultimately doom them to failure. South African Banks are not adopting Lean and/or Six-sigma to the point where it is going to make any sort of significant difference to the bottom line over a significantly meaningful period of time. So where are they going wrong? Often it comes down to key issues that are not addressed effectively as part of the deployment. The research objectives are: • The primary objective is to establish what the mission critical success factors for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementation in South African Banking are. • The secondary objective is to define a list of the sources of benefits for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementations in South African Banking. The research questions/problems to be addressed are: • What are the mission critical success factors for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementations in South African Banking? • How do South African Banks prioritise these critical success factors? • How do South African Banks that are already on the Lean and/or Six-sigma journey perform against these critical success factors? • What are the gaps between the importance’s of the critical success factors versus the banks actual performance against these, and how is this gap impacting on the benefits that the banks are experiencing? • What sources of benefits are South African Banks experiencing? • Can generic guidelines be provided to the South African Banks for successful Lean and/or Six-sigma implementation?

Studien går ut på att se om metoden DMAIC (Define, measure, analyze, improve och control) är ett bra sätt att minska kvalitetsbristkostnader hos ett kontrakts tillverkande företag. Aktuell forskning på Six Sigma, som är en metodik för förbättringsprojekt, och DMAIC har legat som bas för den teori som applicerats.  Produktfamiljen som har att undersökts heter STB och består av två olika processer, montering av motor och montering av strömmodul. För att avgränsa studien ytterligare kommer endast montering av motor att arbetas med och analyseras för att identifiera vilken är fyra stycken olika komponenter där modellen DMAIC kommer att appliceras som förbättringsmetod, för att finna vilken av dem som bidrar till höga kvalitetsbristkostnader.   Under arbetets gång har det framkommit att verksamheter inom samma bransch till sin fördel, bör logga testresultat för att underlätta framtida förbättringsarbeten. Det grundar sig i att många förbättringsarbeten med DMAIC som fokus, använder sig av statistiska metoder. Med det sagt har det visat sig att det går att utföra ett DMAIC projekt utan den typen av statistik, men att det är en fördel ifall den finns tillhanda. / The study is about whether the DMAIC (Define, measure, analyze, improve and control) method is a good way to reduce cost of poor quality in a contract manufacturing company. Current research of Six Sigma, which is a method applied for improvement projects, and DMAIC has been the basis for the theory applied.  The product family that has been examined is called STB and contains two different processes, mounting of engine and mounting of the power module. For further delineation the study will only focus on the mounting of the engine to analyse and identify which one of the four different components where the DMAIC method will be applied as an improvement method, could be the source of the high cost of poor quality.   During this study it has been found that activities in the same industry, to their advantage, should log test results to facilitate future improvements. This is based on the fact that many improvements, with DMAIC as a tool, focuses on using statistical methods. With that, it has been found that it is possible to perform a DMAIC project without statistics but for future state there will be an advantage for the company if it would be available.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T17:40:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo597_1.pdf: 3436623 bytes, checksum: 8bbb71dd0d1a5827437a026f07b7fa98 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / No mundo globalizado e de intensa concorrência que vivemos hoje, fica evidente a necessidade de buscarmos forma de melhoria no desempenho competitivo das organizações, seja pela melhoria de qualidade nos processos, produtos e serviços, seja pela diminuição dos desperdícios em nossas operações, neste sentido a metodologia Lean Six Sigma tem sido preconizada como forma de atingir a excelência necessária a sobrevivência das organizações. A presente dissertação propõem um modelo de implementação da metodologia LSS nas organizações, utilizando seus elementos mais visíveis , apresentados como ferramentas do sistema e os organiza levando-se em conta os aspectos sistêmicos e subjetivos da mesma, representados pela filosofia, cultura, conceitos e questões psico-sociais necessárias para que o LSS cumpra seu papel no desenvolvimento das diferentes áreas da organização. O modelo de implementação do LSS utiliza ainda, alguns indicadores de desempenho que visam possibilitar o melhor acompanhamento do processo de implementação, da performances das ferramentas utilizadas e do próprio resultado obtido por esta metodologia para organizações, além de se preocupar em aferir o alinhamento do LSS com a própria estratégia de negócio da organização

En la actualidad, la gestión de riesgos de calidad es un tema de gran importancia en todas las organizaciones. Sus principios, que son eficazmente utilizados en diversos campos, también están siendo aplicados, de manera limitada, en la industria farmacéutica; a pesar de que la fabricación y la utilización de medicamentos implican algún tipo de riesgo. En la industria farmacéutica nacional es conocido que la tecnología utilizada para la fabricación de medicamentos está un poco desactualizado; por ende, los riesgos presentes, en sus distintas etapas de fabricación, pueden influir en directamente en los atributos críticos de calidad (CQA´s) y en la salud del paciente. Es por esta razón que nos propusimos gestionar los riesgos presentes en las etapas de secado de excipientes y envasado de polvos para suspensión oral a través de dos metodologías: Gestión de riesgos y Lean Six sigma (Lean manufacturing, metodología DMAIC) con el objetivo de identificar, mejorar, y controlar los factores que representen desperdicios o riesgos en los procesos de secado y envasado. Los resultados obtenidos en la siguiente investigación demuestran que la utilización de herramientas Lean Six-Sigma pueden ser utilizados para la reducción o eliminación de riesgos presentes en ambientes de producción farmacéutica, mejoran la eficiencia de los procesos incrementando la disponibilidad y rendimiento de los equipos; así como, aumentan la capacidad de proceso. Estas mejoras permiten reducir los riesgos asociados a estas operaciones obteniendo un proceso más seguro y eficiente. Palabras clave: Gestión de riesgo, Lean Manufacturing, Six-sigma, CQA´s, eficiencia, disponibilidad, capacidad / --- At present, the quality risk management is a major issue in all organizations. Its principles, which are effectively used in various fields are also being applied in a limited way, in the pharmaceutical industry; although the manufacturing and use of drugs involve some risk. In the domestic pharmaceutical industry it is known that the technology used for manufacturing drugs is a bit outdated; therefore, the risks involved, at various stages of production can influence directly critical quality attributes (CQA's) and patient health. It is for this reason that we set out to manage the risks in the drying stages of excipients and packaging of powder for oral suspension through two methodologies: Risk Management and Lean Six Sigma (Lean manufacturing, DMAIC methodology) with the aim of identifying, improve, and control the factors that represent waste or risks in drying and packaging. The results obtained in the following research showing that the use of Lean Six Sigma tools can be used to reduce or eliminate risks involved in pharmaceutical production environments, improve process efficiency by increasing the availability and performance of equipment; and increase the processing capacity. These improvements can reduce the risks associated with these operations to obtain a safer and more efficient process Keywords: risk management, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, CQA´s, efficiency, availability, capacity / Tesis

This thesis work has been performed at Volvo Aero Corporation in Trollhättan, at the department of “hot structures” involving aircraft engine GP7000. The purpose with the study was to investigate the possibility to reduce size of the forging of flanges on the rear turbine frame when purchasing. Thereto examine the parameters that affect the flanges motion during the manufacturing process. The goal was to provide Volvo Aero with foundation to later bring in slimmed forgings. In order to supply the company with a concrete result the report was limited into studying the P-flange. During the manufacturing process the flanges moves. By measuring the deviation from calculated points on nominal geometry relative to scanned geometry after affecting operations, the motion could be mapped. From these studies two proposals for optimization was presented. The first proposal is based on evening out the tilt caused from the TIG-welding operation. Purchasing tilted forgings would compensate the angle and make room for further savings. If the introduction became a success it could eventually mean that a whole operation (roughing) might be removed. Due to insufficient knowledge about whether the tilt would change as expected after introduction, it requires another analyze after implemented before material can be reduced. The second proposal is based on reducing material solely on the point´s motion. Calculating with four sigma safety (99,379%) on the movements gave information about how much excess material that could be reduced on the forgings. Considerations about whether decreased material would modify the movement pattern have been taken into account. The result shows that 10 % from the bought in forgings can be removed directly. The authors suggest that Volvo Aero begin with the tilt-proposal as a first step in bringing in slimmed forgings. For future work the company could implement the approach taken on this report to the other flanges. / Examensarbetet har utförts vid Volvo Aero Corporation i Trollhättan på avdelningen ”heta strukturer” där bakre motorfästet till flygplansmotorn GP7000 utvecklas. Rapporten avhandlar en studie av P-flänsen på bakre motorfästet. Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka vilka parametrar som påverkar flänsens rörelse under tillverkningsprocessen.  Målet var att utreda möjligheten att införa ett slimmat flänssmide. För att hinna skapa ett konkret resultat avgränsades arbetet till att endast granska P-flänsen. Flänsarna rör sig under tillverkningsprocessen. Genom att mäta avvikelser från punkter utsatta på nominell geometri i förhållande till skannad geometri efter påverkan av tillverkningsprocessen kunde rörelsen kartläggas. Utifrån kartläggningen skapades två förslag. Det första förslaget baserades på en vinkling av flänsen. Förslaget skall kompensera lutningen som orsakas av TIG-svetsningen. Ett lyckat införande skulle eventuellt kunna innebära att en hel operation (grovsvarvning) skulle kunna avlägsnas. På grund av otillräcklig kunskap om huruvida lutningen skulle förändras efter införandet krävs analys av utfallet innan material kan reduceras. Det andra förslaget baserades enbart på punktavvikelser. Avvikelserna var normalfördelade vilket möjliggjorde statistiska beräkningar där fyra sigma (99,379%) i säkerhet användes för att skapa ett säkerhetsintervall för punkternas avvikelse. Resultatet från beräkningarna utgjorde underlaget för mängden överflödigt flänssmide som med säkerhet kunde reduceras vid inköp. Resultatet påvisar att cirka 10 % av inköpt flänssmide kan tas bort. Författarna föreslår att Volvo Aero använder sig av förslag ett eftersom ett mer slimmat smide enklare kan införas på sikt. För framtida arbeten rekommenderas företaget att applicera tillvägagångssättet från rapporten till undersökning av de resterande flänssmidena på GP 7000 TEC. Analysen utförd i rapporten kan även beaktas då nya smidesgeometrier till andra projekt skall utvecklas.

With its successful deployment by the legendary CEO Jack Welch of General Electrics, the Six Sigma methodology of management has achieved wide recognition and popularity among corporations around the globe. This Six Sigma concept for quality management has been sprouting in Taiwan and waiting to be blossomed. The purpose of this case study is to redefine the Six Sigma concept based on the framework of DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control); to implement and pinpoint a strategy for corporations adopting the Six Sigma while deploying VOC (voice of customer) to transform operations into the CTQ (Critical to Quality) stage. The concept of performance management is the nexus where balanced scorecard and Six Sigma can join to produce a formidable weapon that aligns strategic intent with tactical execution. Balanced scorecard is a comprehensive collection of financial and non-financial data and information supplied to the managers of an entity in order to help them achieve the entity¡¦s objectives. This case study uses surveys on the targeted company for further research on how to drive a powerful management tool through the unification of these two proven strategies. An approach that combines the targeted performance indicators of a Balanced Scorecard with the statistical rigor of Six Sigma to be used to effectively focus an organization on the achievement of long-term strategic goals. Based on the statistical result from the surveys on the targeted company, it meets the strategic priorities for various business processes that create customer and shareholder satisfaction (i.e. Internal Business Process). However, it deviates from three other perspectives, financial, customer, and learning and growth. This reveals the company¡¦s needs to be improvised to drive the long-term value and competitive performance.

In the ongoing pursuit of excellence in products and services, many enterprises have been seeking ways to ensure their superiority in process and quality. To improve competitiveness, many management techniques and concepts have been tried, for example; TQM, Lean Thinking (Lean Production), Six Sigma, and Design for Six Sigma, etc. These are quality management systems currently having widespread application in virtually all well-known companies. This empirical study utilizes a questionnaire to explore the relationship between Process Excellence (PE) with that of quality performance (QP). In a correlation analysis we have found a positive correlation between QP and such categories as ¡§leadership and information analysis¡¨ ¡§resource utilization and participation¡¨ ¡§improvement of quality process¡¨ ¡§clear objectives and customer oriented¡¨. We have also found that two of these categories ¡§improvement of quality process¡¨ and ¡§leadership and information analysis¡¨ play especially important roles in raising QP performance. We can conclude that the greater the emphasis on these two items the better will be the performance of QP. We are also assured that the company can experience continuous quality improvement by acting on the basis of the above research findings.

Abstract Six Sigma is a management philosophy that is widely accepted among global industries. This study reviews literature on the definitions of Six Sigma and business strategy. Also, the study constructs a preliminarily exploration model of integrating Six Sigma program with business strategy. The exploration model for business excellence includes independent dimensions of business strategy, Six Sigma implementation and the dependent dimension of quality performance. The dimensions of business strategy include the variables for organizational culture, organizational assessment, strategy formulation and improvement methodology. Meanwhile, the dimension of Six Sigma implementation includes steering organization of Six Sigma, skills of quality improvement, integrating orientation of quality improvement and performance bottom-line. The dependent dimension of quality performance is based on employees¡¦ motivation, customer satisfactory, increasing profit and deceasing cost. 1. For an exploration model integrating Six Sigma activities with business strategy, the organizational culture variable is the most important factor. The top management must have commitment towards the Six Sigma activities, involvement in the Six Sigma training and emphasis on customer satisfaction to enhance the integration of Six Sigma with business strategy. 2. The more integrated the dimension of business strategy, and then the variable of steering organization is more confirmed. The variable of skills of quality improvement will produce efficiently, performance bottom-line will be good outcome and integrating orientation of quality improvement is positively. 3. The 8 variables with the model of integrating Six Sigma activities with business strategy are positively related with the index of quality performance. The variable of strategy formulation within the dimension of business strategy and the variable of integrating orientation of quality improvement within the dimension of Six Sigma implementation are most highly related with the index of quality performance. It means that Six Sigma strategy must be confirmed and the business resource must be integrated to reach quality performance. 4. The key factors in the predicted model of quality performance by multiple regression methodology are as follows in sequential order: integrating orientation of quality improvement, performance bottom-line, organizational assessment, improvement methodology, organizational culture, skills of quality improvement, and steering organization. The best predictor is the variable of integrating orientation of quality improvement. It implies that the quality activities must be combined with management by objective, quality skills training must be implemented continuously and quality plans by executed by project for reach best quality performance. This study concludes that the firms do not necessarily have to adopt Six Sigma activity to reach excellent performance. Integrating the management activities of business strategy will help balance the technical elements of Six Sigma implementation for quality performance, and the business strategy dimensions that will make implementing Six Sigma more effective.