SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION IN WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION IN WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the work, which is being present in this Project, entitled “Six Sigma Implementation In Wipro Technologies” is an authentic record of my own work carried out by me under the Supervision and Guidance of Shri XYZ, Project Guide, XYZ Institute of Business Studies.

This Project was undertaken as a Partial Fulfillment of the Study of Human Resource Management in the Second Semester of MBA Degree as per the Curriculum of XYZ University.

I have not submitted the matter embodied here in this Project for the award of any other Degree/Diploma.

Name: XYZ

CERTIFICATE OF PROJECT GUIDE

TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN

This is to certify that Mr. XYZ, Delhi, has done a Research Project Titled “Six Sigma Implementation In Wipro Technologies” under the discipline of Human Resources Management as a part of Curriculum of Second Semester of MBA Degree under my direct Guidance and Supervision.

Her performance was satisfactory during his Research Process for the above said HRM Project.

[XYZ]

Bhai Parmanand Institute of Business studies Shakarpur, Delhi-110092 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Project entitled “Six Sigma Implementation In Wipro Technologies” was a challenging assignment for me and required an improved environment, extensive Endeavour and all necessary guidance and support. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to XYZ, In-Charge - Dept. of MBA and Project Guide for his able guidance, co-operation and out of box thinking without which this Project would not have been exciting at all.

The successful progression of this project also gives me an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate Mr. XYZ who has provided me much needed stimulating suggestion and encouragement in order to steer this project towards completion.

Student’s Name: XYZ

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS

CHAPTER-I

PARTICULARS DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT CERTIFICATE OF THE PROJECT GUIDE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT INTRODUCTION: 1.0 Introduction of Six Sigma 1.2 Objectives of the Study 1.3 Methodology of Six Sigma 1.3.1 Define, Measure , Analyze, Improve & Control (DMAIC) 1.3.2 Define, Measure , Analyze, Design & Verify (DMADV) 1.3.3 Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) 1.3.4 Business Process Management System (BPMS)

CHAPTER-2

ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE [IN BRIEF] 2.1 Wipro Technologies (Overview) 2.2 Evolution of Six Sigma at Wipro Tech.

2.3 Difficulties Encountered by Wipro

CHAPTER-3

RESEARCH STUDY OF SIX SIGMA 3.1 Levels of Six Sigma 3.2 Strategies of Six Sigma 3.3 Global Perspective of Six Sigma

CHAPTER-4

I MPLEMENTATION OF SIX SIGMA 4.1 Indian IT buys into Six Sigma 4.2 Implementation of Six Sigma 4.3 Benefits of Six Sigma

PAGE NO. [i] [ii] [iii] 2

4.4 Limitations of Six Sigma CHAPTER-5

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATIONS 5.1 Analysis 5.2 Challenges Faced while adopting Six Sigma 5.3 Interpretations

CHAPTER-6

FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS 6.1 Critical Success Factors 6.2 Suggestions 6.4 Conclusion BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXURE

CHAPTER 01 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION OF SIX SIGMA

Six Sigma is a term used to describe a measure of quality control that is higher than "normal". Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service.

Although sounding like the title of a science fiction novel, Six Sigma represents a new reality of profit motivation that has permeated conglomerates such as General Electric, IBM, and Motorola. Six Sigma agenda permit organizations to concentrate on process quality and product innovation in order to meet current and future customer demands. While employing an extensive monitoring system for quality and profit achievement, the cornerstone of the Six Sigma approach rests with the fundamental statistical computation of standard deviations from average, or sigma, that measure variability within a given population.

Each sigma value estimates the number of errors (variations) produced from selected business output (population).

Six Sigma represents a comprehensive organizational strategy that entails several months of rigorous training, years of managerial commitment, and multiple levels of employee involvement. Beginning chapters summarize the Six Sigma approach for improving customer

satisfaction and profitability levels of both manufacturing and service entities. Various Six Sigma case studies featuring General Electric.

Six Sigma has been around for over a decade and as such it has been deployed at lots of companies around the world. More than 75% of the fortune 500 companies have deployed Six Sigma in one form or another.

Some companies have chosen not to call it Six Sigma due to copyright or other issues. They have a similar approach but may call it by a different name (such as STRIVE, MEDIC, etc). It is a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. The Six Sigma process uses data and rigorous statistical analysis to identify "defects" in a process or product, reduce variability, and achieve as close to zero defects as possible .

Some of the more famous companies who are using Six Sigma are: - General Electric - Motorola - Microsoft - Philips - Xerox - Dell - WIPRO

THE CONCEPT OF SIX SIGMA Six Sigma is a data-driven quality measure that strives for a near perfection of any process. It is important to understand Six Sigma as a tool, as too many incomplete definitions have made it look like a complicated fad.

Six Sigma focuses on improving quality (i.e. reduce waste) by helping organizations produce products and services better, faster and cheaper.

Six Sigma focuses mainly on defect prevention, cycle time reduction, and cost savings. Unlike mindless cost cutting programs, which reduce value and quality, Six Sigma identifies and eliminates costs, which provide no value to customers and the production process. To understand the concept of Six-Sigma one must understand the concept of normal curve.

Normal Distribution Curve The normal distribution curve is a symmetrical Bell shaped graph representing the distribution of a data set. The bell-shaped curve results when a normal distribution is represented graphically by plotting the distribution f (x) against x. The curve is symmetrical about the mean value.

Normal curve features: • Normal distributions are symmetric around their mean.

• The distribution has two parameters, mean (µ, mu) and standard deviation (σ, sigma) • The mean, median, and mode of a normal distribution are equal.

• 68% of the area (data points) lies within one standard deviation (+/-1 sigma) of the mean.

• 95% of the area (data points) lies within two standard deviation (+/-2 sigma) of the mean.

• 99.7% of the area (data points) lies within three standard deviation (+/3 sigma) of the mean.

Values of Area under Normal Curve Sigma Percentage data Parts per levels within curve million

Motorola engineers argued that a process could shift 1.5 sigma in regular course, as shown in the figure below.Thus, to accommodate 1.5-sigma shift, they proposed that the tolerance has to be +/- 6 sigma. In six-sigma methodology 99.9996599% (or more) of process data lies within +/- six sigma from the mean, thus having only 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). Now, 99.9996599% value is actually for 4.5 sigma level in Normal curve, but keeping in view the 1.5 sigma process shift, the process sigma level is actually six.

One to six sigma conversion table 'Long Term Yield' (basically the percentage of successful

Defects

outputs

Opportunities (DPMO)

or

operations)

Per

Million

'Process Sigma'

%

99.99966

3.4

6

99.98

233

5

99.4

6,210

4

93.3

66,807

3

69.1

308,538

2

In Six-Sigma process, 99.9996599% data will be within +/- 6 sigma levels, which is a -total of 12 sigma under the curve. To have a six-sigma process, 12 standard deviations should be able to fit in the permissible spread (customer specification limits). Let’s look at few terms: LSL = lower specification limit USL = Upper specification limit

Permissible Spread under the curve = USL - LSL

In Six-Sigma, we can conclude: 12*standard deviation (sigma value) = Permissible spread under the curve Here’s a practical example: The customer wants cloth of thickness 1mm +/- 0.001 mm, so the customer wants between 0.999 mm to 1.001 mm thickness.

LSL = 0.999 mm, USL = 1.001 mm Permissible spread = USL – LSL = 0.002 Since, 12*standard deviation (sigma value) = Permissible spread under the curve so standard deviation (sigma value) = (0.002)/12 = 0.000167 for a six sigma process.

It is a highly disciplined approach used to reduce the process variations to the extent that the level of defects are drastically reduced to less than 3.4 per million process, product or service opportunities (DPMO). The approach relies heavily on advanced statistical tools. While these tools have been known earlier, these were primarily limited to the statisticians and quality professionals. Sigma is Greek letter that is used to describe variability. In statistical quality control, this means "standard deviation".

Most of us may be familiar with the normal distribution and its properties. We are aware of the properties of normal distribution: 99.73% of the area lies within mean m ± 3 sigma 95.46% of the area lies within mean m ± 2 sigma

68.26% of the area lies within mean m ± 1 sigma

When we proudly mention that our process capability Cp is 1.33, our process spread is ± 4 sigma. This would mean and estimated defect rate of 0.0063% or 63 defective parts per million (PPM). Moreover, when we deploy processes in production, the mean of the process can shift to the extent of approximately 1.5 sigma. In such case the defect rate will increase to a much higher value. This would be about 6200 PPM! If the process capability is improved to a Cp of 2.0 the PPM level will come down to 0.002. With a shift of 1.5 sigma, the Cpk will drop down to 1.5 and the number of parts defective will be about 3.4 PPM. A Cp of 2.0 corresponds to the process spread of ± 6 sigma. This is shown in the figures below.

Let us consider an example of an assembly with 30 parts and 5 steps. This means that there are 30x5 or 150 opportunities for a defect to occur. If we find that there are 100 defects in every 100 assemblies. This means one defect per assembly or 1 million defects in one million assemblies.

This can be converted to 1000000 x (1/150) or 6666 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). This approximately corresponds to a sigma level of 3.97.

Refer to the following table for relation between sigma quality level and PPM. The PPM values are calculated considering a shift of 1.5.

SIGMA LEVEL PPM 2

308,537

3

66,807

4

6,201

5

233

6

3.4

• Another concept that is used as a metric in six sigma is Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY). Let us assume that a part goes through ten operations. At each stage 99% parts are good and 1% are reject. It is not very difficult to calculate that we get good 90.43 % parts at the end of the tenth stage. This means if we start with a batch of 1000

parts, we get 904 good parts and scrap or rework 96 parts. The RTY of the process is 90.43%.

• Balance Score Card The Balanced score card perspectives help an organization to integrate and operationalize the organizations strategy.

While we are talking about the statistical basis of the PPM levels, six sigma is not only about statistical methods. The backbone of a successful six sigma approach is strong commitment of top management. This is like any other successful programs. Moreover, all improvements planned through six sigma projects must have a direct benefit that can be measured in terms of improvement in the bottom-line.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: “Quality is free. It is not a gift, but it is free. What costs money are inquality things - all the actions that involve not doing jobs right the first time.” – Philip Crosby Six Sigma focuses on improving quality (i.e. reduce waste) by helping organizations produce products and services better, faster and cheaper. Six Sigma focuses mainly on defect prevention, cycle time reduction, and cost savings. Unlike mindless cost cutting programs, which reduce value and quality, Six Sigma identifies and eliminates costs.

Many companies pay a lot in correction, i.e. 80% of the cost in a Software Engineering (SE) project is commonly related to after-delivery corrections.

And we also found: • Unsatisfied customers tell in average 10 persons about their bad experiences. 12% tells up to 20 other persons.

• Satisfied customers tell in average 5 persons about their positive experiences.

• It costs 5 times as much to gain new customers than keeping existing ones.

• Up to 90% of the unsatisfied customers will not make business with you again, and they will not tell you.

• 95% of the unsatisfied customers will remain loyal if their complaints are handled fast and well.

All above motivate us to improve quality. Improved quality can affect the success in many different ways: 1

 More satisfied and loyal customers

2

 Lower employee turnover and sick leave rates

3

 A stronger market position

4

 Shorter lead times

5

 Opportunities for capital release

6

 Reduced costs due to waster and rework

7

 Higher productivity

Figure demonstrates the importance of quality expressed by Deming in 1986. In this figure, Deming connects improved quality with company prosperity.

Improve Quality

Capture the market with better quality

Cost decreases because of less rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays, snags, better use of machine-time and materials.

Stay in business

Fig. The Importance Of Deming for Quality

Productivity improves

Provides jobs and more jobs

METHODOLOGIES OF SIX SIGMA

The projects having large impact of customer satisfaction and significant impact on bottom-line are selected. Top management of the organization has very important role during selection of projects and leaders. The projects are clearly defined in terms of expected key deliverables. These are typically in terms of DPMO levels or sigma quality levels, RTY, Quality Cost etc. In the overall approach, the actual problem is converted in to a statistical problem. Mapping the process does this, defining key process input variables (KPIVs or 'x's) and key process output variables (KPOVs or 'y 's). The power of statistical tools is used to determine a statistical solution. This is then converted in to a practical solution.

Six-Sigma has following methodologies: 1. DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control 2. DMADV: Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Verify 3. DFSS: Design for six sigma by IDOV- Identify, design, optimize and validate 4. BPMS: Business process management systems, nine-step process

1. DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control: In this method Six sigma projects go through four phases: The number of 'x' s go on getting eliminated using various statistical and other tools. This is as if the variation is getting reduced as it passes through a funnel of the six-sigma methodology. This is sometimes called the breakthrough strategy.

The cause and effects relationship between the KPOVs ('y's) and KPIVs ('x's) gets clearer as the project goes through the four phases. Control plans are documented before the closure of the project so that gains are sustained. The project leaders must demonstrate that the key deliverables of the project are achieved and demonstrated.

D

Define the goals of the improvement activity. At the top level the goals will be the strategic objectives of the organization, such as a higher ROI or market share. At the operations level, a goal might be to increase the throughput of a production department. At the project level goals might be to reduce the defect level and increase throughput. Apply data mining methods to identify potential improvement opportunities.

M

Measure the existing system. Establish valid and reliable metrics to help monitor progress towards the goal(s) defined at the previous step. Begin by determining the current baseline. Use exploratory and descriptive data analysis to help you understand the data.

A

Analyze the system to identify ways to eliminate the gap between the current performance of the system or process and the desired goal. Apply statistical tools

I

to guide the analysis.

Improve the system. Be creative in finding new ways to do things better, cheaper, or faster. Use project management and other planning and management tools to implement the new approach. Use statistical methods to validate the improvement.

C

Control the new system. Institutionalize the improved system by modifying compensation and incentive systems, policies, and procedures, MRP, budgets, operating instructions and other management systems. You may wish to utilize systems such as ISO 9000 to assure that documentation is correct.

An important consideration throughout all the Six Sigma steps is to distinguish which process sub steps significantly contribute to the end result. The defect rate of the process, service or final product is likely more sensitive to some factors than others. The analysis phase of Six Sigma can help identify the extent of improvement needed in each sub step in order to achieve the target in the final product. It is important to remain mindful that six-sigma performance (in terms of the ppm metric) is not required for every aspect of every process, product and service. It is the goal only where it quantitatively drives (i.e., is a significant "control knob" for) the end result of customer satisfaction and profitability.

2. DFSS (Design Foe Six Sigma) by Identify Design Optimize and Validate (DOV): Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is a systematic integration of tools, methods, and processes for new product and service development. New product / service development is a business process focused on improving profitability. Properly applied, DFSS is a powerful management technique that generates the right product at the right time at the right cost.

Importance of DFSS: Innovation is the lifeblood of most organizations. For the majority of organizations, long-term success is tied directly to the new product development process. Tomorrow’s revenue and growth are tightly bound to how successful you are at launching new products and services. And yet, the development

effort

faces

many

challenges

in

practice.

By providing tools and teamwork to get the job done in an efficient and effective manner, DFSS can serve as a mechanism to revolutionize the way you develop new products. Through rigorous application of the DFSS process and tools, you can achieve high product quality, market acceptance, and competitive advantage through innovation

Element of training in DFSS: In three days of comprehensive training. The focus will be on driving innovation in your organization using DFSS methodology and understanding how to overcome challenges to successful implementation.

Objectives: • Introduce the DFSS methodology and explore the secrets of success of some of the world’s most innovative companies.

• Introduce effective team design methods.

• Introduce portfolio management concepts and tools.

• Provide product development process audit tools.

• Examine approaches for successful implementation of DFSS Participant Benefits: • A customer and competitor-oriented perspective of innovation.

• An enhanced ability to recognize barriers to new product success early and adjust

quickly.

• A working knowledge of all phases of the new product development cycle, integrating both business and technical elements.

• An appreciation of how to design and lead cross-functional DFSS project teams.

• An understanding of how and when to use structured tools and methodologies for new product / service development (e.g., design analysis, voice of the customer, quality function deployment, Pugh analysis, failure and error mode effects analysis).

3. Business Process Management system (BPMS):

Business process management System (BPMS) is the process to have end-to-end visibility and control over all parts of a long-lived, multi-step information request or transaction that spans multiple applications and people in one or more companies. Business process management means harnessing and enhancing the value of business processes however large or small, wherever they reside within the extended enterprise, and whomever they involve.

Naturally, companies have always created some type of process management system to varying degrees. These earlier solutions might have been custom-built combinations of workflow, document management, or systems automation with large amounts of custom coding needed to round out the capabilities. Typically, no one tool has been capable of providing a satisfactory solution and has left enterprises with large functional gaps and added complexity. With the technology available today, however, new software solutions are available that make strong foundations for business process management a reality.

A BPM solution is for modeling, integrating, monitoring, and optimizing process flows of all sizes, crossing any application, company boundary, or human interaction. To understand the uses of BPM, we must begin with the building blocks of processes. These are the assets that fulfill a process. These assets are employees, customers, partners, applications and database all working toward a specific business goal. Each of these assets has an intrinsic value and part to play in the unifying process. Employees add their intellectual capital to make decisions. Customers drive demand and requests for products and information.

Partners share information that impacts design, delivery, and support of products.

Applications provide functionality to calculate, store, and retrieve data. Databases hold the history of a company, its products, and customer information. Each asset in a business process adds a piece of value. BPM entails integrating each asset to expose its functionality or value and coordinate the efforts of all assets to achieve a specific goal in a given sequence within a set amount of time.

4. DMADV (Define Measure Analyze Design and Verify): It is a method similar to that of DMAIC. These can be explained as follows: DMAIC and DMADV are both: • Six Sigma methodologies used to drive defects to less than 3.4 per million opportunities.

• Data intensive solution approaches. Intuition has no place in Six Sigma -only cold, hard facts.

• Implemented by Green Belts, Black Belts and Master Black Belts.

• Ways to help meet the business/financial bottom-line numbers.

• Implemented with the support of a champion and process owner.

DMADV

Define

•

Measure Analyze Design Verify

Define the project goals and customer (internal and external) deliverables

•

Measure and determine customer needs and specifications

•

Analyze the process options to meet the customer needs

•

Design (detailed) the process to meet the customer needs

•

Verify the design performance and ability to meet customer needs

The difference between DMAAIC and DMADV: Though both these methods of six sigma have certain similarities, there are a few differences that are to be considered. These are as follows: Usage: The DMADV methodology, instead of the DMAIC methodology, should be used when: • A product or process is not in existence at your company and one needs to be developed.

• The existing product or process exists and has been optimized (using either DMAIC or not) and still doesn't meet the level of customer specification or six sigma level.

CHAPTER 02 ORGANIZATION PROFILE

WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES An Overview Reengineering business processes and developing new ones is the need of the hour to ensure business reorientation. Wipro has helped make the transition to stability and standardization, smooth and comfortable to all its clients. They optimize processes and manage complex transformations that lead to customer satisfaction, cost reduction and quality products and services.

Wipro has the necessary skill sets and domain expertise to institutionalize and implement frameworks that are best in breed and are accepted standards for enterprise wide and functional process improvements.

Wipro Limited was established in 1945 and commenced its operations in 1946 as a vegetable oil company. In the early 1980s, Wipro diversified into the Information Technology sector with Liberalization hitting India in the 1980s. This has been a fascinating transformation from a vegetable oil company into a global IT services giant.

Today, Wipro Technologies has become a global service provider delivering technology driven business solutions that meet the strategic objectives of clients.

Wipro has 55+ ‘Centers of Excellence’ that create solutions related to specific needs of Industries. Wipro can boast of delivering unmatched business value to customers through a combination of process excellence quality frameworks and service delivery innovation.

A strong emphasis upon building a professional work environment, leaders from within, and having a global outlook for business and growth have led to innovation of people processes on a continued basis. Over the years, Wipro has significantly

strengthened its

competency

based

people processes

and

demonstrated innovative practices in talent acquisition, deployment, and development, based on strategic needs.

A leading provider of communication networks in the US required improvement in the product performance of a telecom application using Six Sigma methodologies. Thus, with the growing importance on aligning business operations with customer needs and driving continuous improvement, Wipro began moving towards focusing on Quality, thereby, creating a learning environment that led to implementation of Six Sigma .

Integrating Six Sigma concepts was also intended to bring rigor in effective upstream processes of the software development life cycle. Implementation of Six Sigma methodologies brought in quantitative understanding, cost savings, and performance improvement towards product quality.

Some of the key challenges involved were:  Reduce the data transfer time  Reduce the risk  Αϖοιδ interruption due to LAN/WAN downtime.  Parallel availability of the switch for the other administrative tasks during the same period.

EVOLUTION OF SIX SIGMA AT WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

Wipro is the first Indian company to adopt Six Sigma. Today, Wipro has one of the most mature Six Sigma programs in the industry ensuring that 91% of the projects are completed on schedule, much above the industry average of 55%. As the pioneers of Six Sigma in India, Wipro has already put around thirteen years into process improvement through Six Sigma. Along the way, it has scaled Six Sigma ladder, while helping to roll out over 1000 projects. The Six Sigma program spreads right across verticals and impacts multiple areas such as project management, market development and resource utilization. Six Sigma at Wipro simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. It is an umbrella initiative covering all business units and divisions so that it could transform itself in a world class organization. At Wipro, it means:

(i) Have products and services meet global benchmarks (ii) Ensure robust processes within the organization (iii) Consistently meet and exceed customer expectations (iv) Make Quality a culture within.

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY WIPRO Difficulties encountered by Wipro and learning from them Build the Culture: Implementation of Six Sigma required support from the higher level managers. It meant restructuring of the organization to provide the infrastructure, training and the confidence in the process. Wipro had to build this culture and that took time in implementation.

Project selection: The first year of deployment was extremely difficult for Six Sigma success. They decided to select the project on the basis of high probability of their success and targeted to complete them in a short period to assess the success. These projects were treated as pilot projects with a focus to learn. For the selection of the right project the field data was collected, process map was developed and the importance of the project was judged from the eyes of customers.

Training: After the set up, the first step of implementation was to build a team of professionals and train them for various stages of Six Sigma. The training was spread in five phases: Defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling the process and lastly increasing customer satisfaction. These phases consisted of statistics, bench marking and design of experiments. To find the right kind of

people and train them was a difficult job. This motivated Wipro to start their own consultancy to train the people.

Resources: It was difficult to identify resources that were required for short-term basis and long-term basis as it varied from project to project. Wipro did it on the basis of seriousness and importance of the project.

Project Reviews: As timely reviews play a very crucial role to judge the success of a project. Wipro had to develop a team of experts for this purpose. The task assigned was to see the timeliness, find out gap, week areas and to check the outcome as per the plan.

CHAPTER 03 RESEARCH STUDY OF SIX SIGMA

LEVELS OF SIX SIGMA

Master Black Belt / Champion: This is the highest level of technical and organizational proficiency. Master Black Belts provide technical leadership of the Six Sigma program. Thus, they must know everything the Black Belts know, as well as understand the mathematical theory on which the statistical methods are based. Master Black Belts must be able to assist Black Belts in applying the methods correctly in unusual situations.

Whenever possible, only Master Black Belts should conduct statistical training.

Otherwise the familiar “propagation of error” phenomenon will occur, i.e., Black Belts pass on errors to green belts, who pass on greater errors to team members. If it becomes necessary for Black Belts and Green Belts to provide training, they should do only so under the guidance of Master Black Belts. For example, Black Belts may be asked to provide assistance to the Master during class discussions and exercises. Because of the nature of the Master’s duties, communications and teaching skills are as important as technical competence.

Black Belt: Candidates for Black Belt status are technically oriented individuals held in high regard by their peers. They should be actively involved in the process of organizational change and development. Candidates may come from a wide range of disciplines and need not be formally trained statisticians or engineers.

However, because they are expected to master a wide variety of technical tools in

a relatively short period of time, Black Belt candidates will probably possess a background in college-level mathematics, the basic tool of quantitative analysis.

Coursework in statistical methods should be considered a strong plus or even a prerequisite. As part of their training, Black Belts receive 160 hours of classroom instruction, plus one-on-one project coaching from Master Black Belts or consultants.

Successful candidates will be comfortable with computers. At a minimum, they should understand one or more operating systems, spreadsheets, database managers, presentation programs, and word processors. As part of their training they will be required to become proficient in the use of one or more advanced statistical analysis software packages. Six Sigma Black Belts work to extract actionable knowledge from an organization’s information warehouse.

Green Belt: Green Belts are Six Sigma project leaders capable of forming and facilitating Six Sigma teams and managing Six Sigma projects from concept to completion.

Green Belt training consists of five days of classroom training and is conducted in conjunction with Six Sigma projects. Training covers project management, quality management tools, quality control tools, problem solving, and descriptive data analysis. Six Sigma champions should attend Green Belt training. Usually, Six Sigma Black Belts help Green Belts define their projects prior to the training, attend training with their Green Belts, and assist them with their projects after the training.

STRATEGIES FOR SIX SIGMA

There are three different strategies adopted by different organizations:

1. The six-sigma organization: In this strategy, the whole organization is trained on six sigma philosophy and methods. The training is of varying depth for various levels. Six sigma serves as motivational device and also as a metric. Goals are defined in terms of sigma.

While the organization can have a common language of six sigma, large resources are required for training. All improvement ideas are likely to be credited to six sigma regardless of the approach actually used.

2. The Six Sigma Engineering Organization: Here, the attempt is to develop skills in the Engineering functions. The project objectives are usually based on new products, product changes or problem solving. One of the advantages is the relatively higher level of educational and technical background of the individuals that enables them to learn at a faster pace.

On the other hand, individuals from other functions do not appreciate the efforts in absence of the awareness of the techniques.

3. Strategic selection of six sigma projects: The senior management sometimes feels that the current quality processes are generally working well to achieve the overall strategic plan. Hence six sigma tools and concepts are used to enhance the existing quality processes and supplement the skills of the key people thereby making breakthrough improvements. Six sigma projects are identified considering the: • Strategic direction of the company • Impact on the bottom-line • Impact on customer satisfaction

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT MAKES SIX SIGMA WORK Six Sigma only appears to be a little different than TQM in terms of Quality tools, techniques, and principles, but from a global perspective it's a whole new animal for the following reasons (in order of importance):

1. A New Type of Top Level Support: Universal cost oriented metrics and the new level of competition that Six Sigma provides easily acquires top-level support. Even CEOs are seriously supporting large improvement projects run by highly trained business super stars.

2. Problem Solving and Team Leading Super Stars: Executive Champion, Deployment Champions, Project Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts.

3. Training Like Never Before: Much more training for all involved. The training is heavily statistical, project management, and problem solving oriented. Black Belt is well justified by the savings per project.

4. New Metrics: Use of metrics unlike anything ever used before. These metrics not only tie in customer Critical to Quality needs with what is measured by the company, but they also allow processes within the company to be compared with each other using a single scale called DPMO (Defects Per Million Opportunities).

5. Much Better Use of Teams: Very efficient use of highly trained, cross-functional, and empowered teams to locate and make improvements. Black Belts are also trained team efficiency experts.

6. A New Level of Process Comparison: The use of opportunity divisible defect metrics (DPMO) allows comparisons from division to division, department to department, process-to-process, etc. within the company.

7. A New Corporate Attitude / Culture: Implementation of Six Sigma creates a new environment that naturally promotes the creation of continuous improvement efforts.

CHAPTER 04 IMPLEMENTATION OF SIX SIGMA

INDIAN IT BUYS INTO SIX SIGMA

India’s IT industry is respected globally for its focus on quality. While SEI-CMM and other ISO standards are quite common, Six Sigma is now becoming popular amongst Indian IT and ITeS companies. Some have already started reaping the benefits of adopting Six Sigma.

In a business where there is little to differentiate between competitors, quality is that key ingredient that can aid in the differentiation process. Obviously, quality standards and certifications have become a buzzword amongst Indian IT and ITeS companies. The goal of Six Sigma is continuous process improvement. Indian companies are adopting it to gain an edge over the others in the pack. Six Sigma’s adoption has resulted in the improvement of business processes for many companies. While Six Sigma adoption is still in a nascent stage and challenges remain, it is expected to take off amongst Indian IT and ITeS companies in the years to come.

Six Sigma is popular with Indian IT and ITeS players for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it is very clearly result-oriented. Of course, the fact that one of Indian software’s biggest customers, General Electric (GE), is a big proponent of Six Sigma doesn’t hurt either.

More result-oriented Many Indian IT and ITeS players believe that Six Sigma is more result-oriented than other quality and improvement standards and therefore it helps them streamline their processes, bringing about all-round organisational improvement.

As Six Sigma practices aim at quantifying each and every process in numbers, it is easier to measure improvement. Sambuddha Deb, chief quality officer, Wipro Technologies says, "In most other standards it is very difficult to measure quality as everyone has a different definition of quality. However, Six Sigma practices underline defects in a process, thereby making it easy to improve upon it by eliminating the defect from its root." After adopting Six Sigma, many organisations have found that their delivery processes have become sustainable and continuous. For call centres in particular, and IT companies in general, the prospect of improving HR processes using Six Sigma is a big draw. Shwetank Sharad, head of quality at ICICI OneSource says, "There are well defined roles in a Six Sigma practice, like a Master Black Belt, Black Belt and a Green Belt. It aims at zero error in a process, thereby resulting in overall improvement in a setup."

Increased customer satisfaction Several Indian IT and ITeS companies have adopted Six Sigma in order to gain customer acceptability and improve client satisfaction. It has helped them create and deliver value and demonstrate direct savings to their customers. Some IT companies like TCS and iGATE Global Solutions went in for Six Sigma as a result of their long-term relationship with General Electric (GE) one of the pioneers in spreading and adopting the concept of Six Sigma (Motorola was the other pioneer in Six Sigma).

N G Subramanayam, vice president of Bangalore Operations for TCS says, "Initially we took the help of GE and Motorola in adopting Six Sigma. GE trained our core team, which then spread the concept across TCS. After having adopted the Six Sigma practice in 1999 we have worked on nearly 300 projects using this practice."

Continuous process of improvement Indian IT and ITeS companies have adopted Six Sigma across their organisations and have tried to incorporate most of the processes running in their set-ups. As Six Sigma aims at continuous improvement it has resulted in changing the complete mindset of employees as per its procedures. The change in the overall mindset of the organization has resulted in greater efficiency and productivity as well as a reduction in cost and cycle time.

Adoption mainly amongst large IT & ITeS players The adoption of Six Sigma has been largely confined to large IT and ITeS players in the country as they have a large number of repeatable processes that can be improved over a given time period. They also have a large number of projects that follow a similar process. Large IT and ITeS companies also have multiple quality standards running across the organization and it is easier for them to integrate Six Sigma practices along with other standards. Krishnan Puthucode, director and CEO, SEI Authorized Lead Assessor, Software Quality says, "In some SMEs there are hardly 10 projects running and they aren’t many repeat processes in them. In such cases it becomes very difficult to adopt Six Sigma practices. Hence SMEs are struggling to adopt Six Sigma."

Integrating Six Sigma practices with other standards Indian IT and ITeS companies adopting Six Sigma already have a quality standard like a CMM Level 5 certification or an ISO certification. It is easier to integrate Six Sigma practices when there are also practices like CMM or ISO running in a set-up. Some organizations like Wipro, TCS and iGATE Global Solutions in the IT field and EXL Services and 24/7 Customer in ITeS already had other quality programmers running successfully before they went in for Six Sigma. When the Six Sigma adoption idea was mooted the management readily accepted it, thereby paving the way for overall adoption across the organization."

Statistically measuring every process Since Six Sigma is heavily dependent on numbers to underline the number of defects it becomes difficult to measure each and every process mathematically and statistically. Puthucode of SQC says, "It is easier to measure each and every process in a production environment but when it comes to software there is this problem of lack of repeatability. A lot of dedication is required, especially while measuring people processes, as it means a complete change in the attitude of the employees." However some companies like Wipro Technologies have created a data driven system and have made it mandatory to collect data for each of the processes running on Six Sigma.

The difference in IT organizations is that it may be applicable for ‘product design’ oriented projects while ITeS may use process improvement projects." The lack of good consultants in the space who can assess and monitor the adoption of the Six Sigma.

IMPLEMENTATION OF SIX SIGMA AT WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

Wipro has adopted the project approach for Six Sigma, where projects are identified on

the basis of the problem areas under each of the critical Business

Processes that adversely impacts the business significantly. Wipro offers practices to optimize and standardize various processes in line with frameworks. Wipro offers gap analysis with reference to the frameworks, defines IT processes covering policy, processes and performance metrics. Wipro value is in the implementation support and plan for development of detailed specifications, deployment of policies, tools and procedures, organization requires a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities, as well as the proper tools and techniques to accomplish it.

Today, Wipro applies best in class tools, methodologies in a systematic way.

This provides measurable milestones that can be presented to those involved and stake holders. A robust process thus becomes suited for process automation. It can serve as bedrock to move to higher level of building capabilities.

Wipro has evolved following Six Sigma methodologies:

(I) For developing new processes: (i)

DSSS+ Methodology – Wipro employs DSSS methodology for software development. The methodology uses rigorous in-process metrics and cause analysis throughout the software development lifecycle for defect free deliveries and lower customer cost of application development.

(ii) DSSP Methodology – used for designing new processes and products (iii) DCAM Methodology – used for designing for customer satisfaction and Manufacturability

(II) For Improving Existing Processes (i) TQSS Methodology –used for defect reduction in Transactional processes. (ii) DMAIC Methodology -used for process improvement in Non-transactional process

(III) For Reengineering CFPM Methodology - used for cross functional Process mapping.

The list of players at Wipro is as below:  Executive Management  Six Sigma Champions and Deployment Leaders  Financial Executives  Black Belts  Green Belts  Yellow Belts

SIX SIGMA

Developing New Processes

Improving Existing Processes

Re Engineering

Six Sigma projects at Wipro are: (i) Driven by business heads, also called Champions for the projects. (ii) Led by Green Belts (GB) Assisted by Black Belts (BB) The Management of the project at Wipro follows the following tools for implementation of Six Sigma:  Ideation  Definition  Selection

 Tracking  Reporting

WHY SIX SIGMA WORKS?

A Six Sigma program integrates the elements of management culture and quality techniques that are critical to driving performance improvement and business excellence.

Six Sigma projects are results-oriented.

 Their leaders are held accountable for return on investment  Projects are selected and driven by data  Senior managers sponsor improvement projects  A critical mass of people is trained in quality improvement techniques  Achievement is recognized  Success is celebrated to create momentum and encourage a chain reaction through the organization  Revealing Those Hidden Costs.

WHY SIX SIGMA WORKS IN AN ORGANIZATION?

Turning around an organization requires a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities, as well as the proper tools and techniques to accomplish it. Six Sigma is a proven way to examine, refine, improve processes and eliminate defects. They are committed to teaching and utilizing it to make your products and service the standard by which the rest of the industry is measured.

Some tips that show Why Six Sigma Works in as Organization:  To produce higher quality goods and services  To work smarter, not harder  To exceed customer expectations  To earn your competitive edge  To enhance your growth  To promote job security  To map all of your processes and to make them defect free  To learn the language of CHANGE and STATISTICS.

BENEFITS OF SIX SIGMA

The Cost of Quality SIGMA LEVEL DEFECTS

PER

MILLION COST OF QUALITY

OPPORTUNITIES 2

308,537

(non

competitive Not applicable

companies) 3

66,807

25-40% of sales

4

6,210 (industry average)

15-25% of sales

5

233

5-15% of sales

6

3.4 (world class)

< 1% of sales

Each sigma shift provides a 10% net income improvement.

Financial Benefits of Six Sigma Projects:

Creates additional/new revenue.

Creates cost savings through tax avoidance.

Enables cost avoidance.

Faster return on investments.

Increases cash flow.

Increases revenue of existing sources.

Increases stock price/shareholder value.

Six Sigma and Financial Gains: YEAR

SAVINGS(IN MILLION)

1997-98

00

1998-99

48

1999-00

192

2000-01

315

2005-06

1180

Organizational

Benefits

of

Six

Operational Benefits of Six Sigma Projects

Decreases employee work loads for undesirable work.

Eliminates non-value added activities.

Improves employee morale / team spirit.

Improves internal communication between departments and groups.

Improves use of workspace.

Sigma

Increases employee and process productivity.

Reduces external inputs to processes.

Reduces person-hours.

Reduces process steps.

Simplifies processes and workflow steps.

Information Technology Benefits of Six Sigma Projects

Decreases maintenance/support costs.

Enables service level agreement (SLA) obligations.

Improves application/system performance.

Improves application/system utilization rate.

Increases efficiency of support activities.

Listing out all these benefits clearly shows the potential impact that the six sigma process can have on any organization. The question is that how does one achieve six sigma. I will throw some light on that part of it in the application section of this project from my understanding on how to achieve six sigma. Just to conclude on why I chose this topic for my project on quality control I would like to say that six sigma can achieve in the following success factors:  Cost reduction  Productivity improvement

 Market share growth  Customer retention  Cycle time retention  Defect reduction  Culture change  Product/service development  Generates sustained success  Sets a performance goal for everyone  Enhances value to customers  Accelerates the rate of improvement  Promotes learning and “cross-pollination”  Executes strategic change

LIMITATIONS /BOTTLENECKS OF SIX SIGMA

1.

Delays in project execution: There are often significant delays in Six Sigma projects and intermediate deliveries. One of the most frequent reasons is decision-making errors that lead to rework and time-consuming data collection activities. Other reasons are listed below in relation to Six Sigma project phases.

2.

Faults in Project Phases

a) Define/Identify Phases • Poor project selection and/or problem formulation.

• Non-exhaustive list of potential directions for change and/or for innovation.

• Underestimated secondary problems which may arise during and/or as a result of primary problem solving.

• Poor definition of alternative causes and effects and screening of significant inputs.

• Failures caused by narrowing the scope of the projects in the wrong direction.

b) Measure Phase •

Time-consuming data-collection and measurements.

•

Lack and/or high variability of measurement systems.

•

Failure in finding root cause.

c) Improve/Design Phase

•

Lack of really productive and/or innovative ideas for improvements (upgrade to 4 sigma level and higher) or lack of competitive design or redesign.

•

Time and labor consuming DOE.

d) Verify/Control Phases •

Non-systematic and non-exhaustive failure prediction

•

These reasons lead not only to delays, but also increase the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) due to rework. Repeated idea collection, endless meetings and discussions, screening the alternatives, measurements and analysis also significantly deteriorate overall acceptance and support of further deployments.

•

The need for additional efficient analytical techniques and tools, which not only accelerate the above decision-making activities but also make decision-making and problem-solving activities errorprone, increase their productivity and reduce cycle time, and increase Roll Throughput Yield of innovative and competitive solutions through the whole Six Sigma process, is apparent and urgent.

e) Small and medium size companies or business units, who actively enter the Six Sigma community, have additional limitations when deploying Six Sigma methodology: • Personnel are limited and often working overtime.

• It is often difficult (if not impossible) to find suitable candidates for Black and Green Belt positions to lead Six Sigma projects on either a full-time or part-time basis.

• Resources, both financial and human, for Six Sigma projects are extremely limited. Black and/or Green Belts are often left to conduct their projects on an overtime basis.

•

Innovative products and services are critical to business survival and should be introduced or updated as quickly as possible.

•

Big capital investments are often avoided or postponed, even when their return on investment is very high and financial justification convincing.

CHAPTER 05 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

ANALYSIS

All the data that entered the analysis phase was tested against the CHART test (Complete-Honest-Accurate-Relevant-Timely). Appropriate Six-Sigma tools were deployed to monitor and analyse performance of processes. For example: The statistical control chart was used to monitor the quality level of communication.

The control chart was used to monitor the recruitment process. The run chart was used to monitor the feedback process.

.

Process owners, with assistance of Six-Sigma Black Belt conducted the analysis.

Targets were set based on customer requirements and process capabilities. The analysis aimed to identify the vital parameters that affect process results. They were identified by using the experience of process participants, correlation analysis and customer feedback. Other Six-Sigma tools were also deployed. For instance, Pareto analysis was used to analyse reasons for employees leaving the company.

Improvement Action followed the analysis. The HR database was updated regularly to monitor the improvements after implementation. The focus began to shift from monitoring measures of performance (MOPS) to controlling inputs that control the

MOPS.

Control

.

A quarterly HR review was developed and issued by the HR. It contained all the process analysis results and implementation. It also contained a detailed SixSigma Score Chart.

Achievements The cost of the HR function reduced by 34% •

The turnover reduced by 15%.

•

HR systems transformed into a cost-effective, fast, proactive department that averted probable problems.

•

The morale of the department rose since they evolved from being mere back room boys to strategic planners.

•

The reduction of throughput time, defects and rework contributed to the tangible cost saving. The intangible cost such as poor quality management was also averted.

•

Six-Sigma helped evolve a participative management and teamwork.

•

Six-Sigma now became a way of thinking.

Six-Sigma thus proved to be an effective approach for Quantum to improve its HR processes.

CHALLENGES FACED WHILE ADOPTING SIX SIGMA

Customizing Six Sigma to an organization’s requirements is a big challenge. The whole mental attitude of the organization has to change in order to adopt Six Sigma and realize its benefits. Vikas Bhalla, vice president, Quality & Process Excellence, EXL Services says, "Quick adoption of Six Sigma depends on how mature an organization is and where it is headed. During the initial stage of adoption strategic directions are not very clear as to how to go about adopting the practice but once they are clear Six Sigma can be customized and adopted throughout the organization across departments. Fresher’s in an organization are more open to the Six Sigma practice." Besides this it is important to train people to adapt to change and new practices. Considerable resources have to be pumped into training employees on Six Sigma. K L Murughan, deputy general manager iGATE Global Solutions says, "Applying Six Sigma in the software development process is very challenging, as it is important to identify and quantify each and every project in terms of the number of defects."

For TCS it was the enormous size of the company and partly because it was taken up as a global initiative that it was a challenge to adopt the practice initially. N G Subramanayam of TCS says, "After adoption of the Six Sigma practice it is easier for us to deal with companies like GE but dealing with other companies that are not very comfortable with the Six Sigma concept it is very challenging for us."

Identifying areas for improvement: It is equally challenging for companies to identify projects and areas that need immediate improvement. Deb of Wipro Technologies says, "We have set up a mechanism to identify projects upon which

we can improve immediately. However, as business priorities change every year we ensure that the same holds true for the parameters for selecting the right project that can reap the maximum benefit if Six Sigma is applied to it." It is also challenging to identify projects and pain areas in those areas where Six Sigma has never been adopted before, like some areas in the sales and marketing operations.

The Challenge will be to transform Six Sigma from a tool for improving product quality to an overall business improvement methodology. The company’s aim will be at having 100% of its management trained in Six Sigma.

To summarize, the quality system will continue to be based on incremental optimization, with rigorous implementation and sustenance of the same. The goal will be to make quality as the No.1 objective for all employees.

INTERPRETATION

1. From an upper management perspective, what has been the principal motivating factor in embracing six sigma? a. Bottom line results b. Market share growth c. Defect reductions d. Customer focus Interpretation: In above case principal of motivating factors remains more than 60% in hand of bottom line results. Bottom line results means that sales, demand of products, need of customers etc.

2. In most cases, an improvement team receives the least control and direction during which of the following stages? a. Forming b. Storming c. Performing d. Norming Interpretation: Improvement in any field can be done only by performing and giving good results or output.

3. The purpose of "rolled throughput yield" in the six sigma define step would include all of the following, EXCEPT: a. Spotting significant differences in yield b. Providing a baseline metric c. Using the calculation for customer analysis d. Analyzing a process flow for improvement ideas Interpretation: The purpose of “rolled throughput yield” in six sigma is “using the calculation for customer analysis”

4. Flowcharting of activities and systems is most helpful in detecting: a. Inappropriate use of resources b. Deficiencies in the organizational structure c. FMEA risk areas d. Improper use of statistical methods

Interpretation: flow charting of activities and system is most helpful in detecting “inappropriate use of resources”.

5. A null hypothesis requires several assumptions, a basic one of which is: a. That the variables are significant b. The variables are independent c. That the sample size is adequate d. That the confidence interval is ± 2 standard deviations Interpretation: A null hypothesis requires several assumption because the variables are independent such as customer need, technology etc.

6. Which three of the following four techniques could easily be used to display the same data?

I. Stem and leaf plots II. Box plots III. Scatter diagrams IV. Histograms a. I, II, and III only b. I, II, and IV only c. I, III, and IV only d. II, III, and IV only Interpretation: All above four options helps to display data but the most appropriate and effective technique is boxplots.

7. I have done Six-Sigma project in my college: a. Yes b. No

Interpretation: Yes I have done my six sigma project in my college.

CHAPTER 06 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

Senior Leadership: • Mobilize for change • Provide Strategic vision and purpose • Be actively involved at every stage

Ownership: • Incentives for change • Ensure process user participate in redesign and accept • need for change (forcing factor) • Publicly reward enthusiastic participation

Business Focus: • Customers and Products • Set clear Objectives • Measure value in outcomes rather than inputs

Action: • Change How People Think and Work • Recognize and overcome the barriers to change • Employ effective human resource strategies

SUGGESTIONS

TOP 10 TIPS FOR MANAGING SIX SIGMA 1. Leadership/top management commitment is essential. Secure the Top management commitment by first training them. This training should consist of an introduction to Six Sigma, tools and techniques used, and the roles and responsibilities of the management as Champions. The Leadership team has to be totally convinced of the benefits of Six Sigma.

In addition, executive management should form a Steering Committee which will now ensure that: a. Organizational goals are aligned with Six Sigma projects b. Resources are planned for and roadblocks removed c. A person to lead this effort in the organization is selected. S/he will be trained as a Black Belt and will report to the Steering Committee. They must select their best performing person for this job.

2. All leaders should be trained as Six Sigma Champions. This is normally a 2-day training session that ensures that the Champions learn to ask the right questions of Six Sigma practitioners. This group includes the Steering Committee, process owners, and functional managers (like Production Manager, Maintenance Manager, etc.).

3. Include Six Sigma planning within the business-operating plan.

Ensure the when the Operating Plan for the next year(s) is being made, Six Sigma Project savings become an input for that plan.

4. Select the right consultant to train your Belts. There are a lot of mediocre programs floating around being offered even by reputed training institutions. One point to remember is that you will be best trained by a Six Sigma practitioner (Black Belt or Master Black Belt) rather than an academic who will teach you only theory. A typical Black Belt training program is spread over 4-5 months, and a Black Belt will need to complete two projects before s/he is certified (which will typically take longer than 6 months). A Green Belt training program is spread over 4 months and requires one project for certification. At Owens Corning I have designed the White Belt (3 day) training program to help employees on the shop floor lead their own projects (though smaller in size and duration).

5. Ensure that the Return On Training Investment is at least 20 times. This can be done by good project definition and correct practitioner allocation.

6. Gets the movement going at the shop floor level. Rather than having a few Black Belts or Green Belts doing projects all the time, train shop floor operators and supervisors in the use of tools and techniques (White Belt program). This way the ownership is theirs and they are doing the improvements on their own. Reward well the project leaders and their team members when they receive certification. Make it such that other

people aspire to get this certification. The certified candidates should be adequately compensated during their annual performance review.

7. Create a certification process. Ensure that the certification process is rigorous and true. This will ensure that only after successful completion of projects and demonstrating proper use of tools/techniques, the practitioner candidate will get certified. The Functional Area Manager, Finance Leader and Six Sigma reviewer should sign on the certificate declaring that the benefits have actually started accruing.

8. Develop

a

mentoring

process.

Ensure

that

proper

guidance/handholding is being done by experienced practitioners for the new candidates after their training. This will ensure that the course corrections are made regularly and the projects get completed on time.

9. Ensure financial validation of projects. Make sure that the Finance Leader is signing off on the project's actual savings. The finance department should do the reporting of the metrics and savings in the control phase of the projects. The project metrics should continue to be tracked after the project is declared completed. This tracking responsibility should be on the project leader or process owner if handed off by the project leader.

10.Never allow Six Sigma to be classified as a Quality Manager's job. A Quality Manager's role is distinct and s/he will not be in position to manage the Six Sigma process as for the entire business.

CONCLUSION

Six sigma is a business initiative that helps the organization meet its changing business need. It is widely used to provide a structured approach to improve process but many organizations have found that the return of an organization's effort will be much more favorable to the "bottom line" if the six sigma methodology was focused on the design and not the product alone. Although six sigma brings a new direction to quality and productivity improvements.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

Wipro-Annual Report, 2002-2006

Express Computer, Sept.2002

Websites:

www.isixsigma.com

www.wipro.com

ANNEXURES

Six Sigma for Design – Survey Questionnaire (i)

Sample A.

A. Can we quote from the responses you have provided?

Yes

No

B. How many years have you been associated with the Design field? o o o o o o

< 2 years >2 years but <=4years >4 years but <=6years >6 years but <=8years >8 years but <=10years >10 years

C. Please mark the highest formal education you have: o o o o o

Associate Degree Bachelors Degree Masters Degree PhD Degree Other, please specify____________

D. Please select which area of industry you are currently engaged with: □ Electronics □ Aerospace □ Software & Services

□ Health Care Equipment □ Consulting □ Automotive □ Other, please specify ____________ E. What are your Business Unit’s Annual Sales? o o o o o

(ii)

< $25 million (M) $25 M to < $100 M $100 M to < $500 M $500 M to < $1 billion (B) $1B or more Sample B.

Introduction and your status 1. I am Designer or Non-Designer (Marketer, Engineer or others) in my organization. a. Designer b. Non Designer 2. I have a work experience for: a. 1-3 years b. 3-6 years c. Over 6 3.

I have learned Six-Sigma education in my organisation: a. Yes b. No

4.

I have done Six-Sigma project in my organisation: a. Yes b. No

(iii) Sample C.

Six-Sigma’s Impact & Six-Sigma and Creativity 1. Could you think that Six-Sigma has significantly improved your organization's profitability? a. High (100%-60%) b. Middle (60%-10%) c. Low (Below 10%) d. Neither 2. Could you think that Six-Sigma has significantly improved processes of your work at organization? a. High (100%-60%) b. Middle (60%-10%) c. Low (Below 10%) d. Neither 3. Could you think that Six-Sigma process has improved design process at your organization? a. Agree b. Disagree c. Neither 4. Do you think that Six-Sigma could be interrupted your creative work at your organization? a. Agree b. Disagree

c. Neither

(iv) Sample D.

Design process, Six-Sigma and Customer Relationship Management & Using SixSigma Tools 1. If you are using or done your project with Six-Sigma, could you think that it is necessary to get for customer satisfaction through your work? a. Agree b. Disagree c. Neither 2. Could you think that Six-Sigma has significantly improved customer satisfaction at your organization? a. High (100%-60%) b. Middle (60%-10%) c. Low (Below 10%) d. Neither 3. Could you think Six-Sigma uses too many tools? a. Agree b. Disagree c. Neither 4. Could you think that the complexity of the Six Sigma methodologies varies with the complexity of the project? a. Agree

b. Disagree c. Neither