SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION IN

WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROJECT
REPORT
[Submitted in Partial Fulfillment]
[Second Semester – JANUARY-MAY 2010]

As a part of the Curriculum of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [MBA]
From
Bhai Parmanand Institute of Business Studies, Delhi.

Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha

University, Delhi.
SUBMITTED BY

MANMOHAN (03011403909)
MBA SECOND SEMESTER
BHAI PARMANAND INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS STUDIES
 SHAKARPUR, DELHI-92.

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 S.
Thiyagarajan, Project Guide, Bhai Parmanand Institute
of Business Studies, Shakarpur, Delhi-92

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 Guru Gobind Singh Indra
Prastha University, Delhi.

I have not submitted the matter embodied here

in this Project for the award of any other
Degree/Diploma.

Name:
MANMOHAN
RollNo.:03011403
909
MBA II Semester
BPIBS, Delhi.
 Bhai Parmanand Institute of Business
studies
Shakarpur, Delhi-110092
Date:

CERTIFICATE OF PROJECT GUIDE

TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN

This is to certify that Mr. Manmohan Roll

No.03011403909 of BPIBS, 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.

[S. THIYAGARAJAN]
IN-CHARGE – DEPT. OF
MBA
AND
PROJECT GUIDE
 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 Shri S. Thiyagarajan, 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. Ashutosh who has provided me much
needed stimulating suggestion and encouragement in
order to steer this project towards completion.

Student’s Name: MANMOHAN

 Roll No.:
03011403909

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PARTICULARS PAGE
NO.
DECLARATION BY THE [i]
STUDENT
CERTIFICATE OF THE [ii]
PROJECT GUIDE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT [iii]
CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION:
1.0 Introduction of Six 2
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- ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE

2 [IN BRIEF]
 2.1 Wipro Technologies
(Overview)
2.2 Evolution of Six Sigma at
Wipro Tech.
2.3 Difficulties Encountered
by Wipro

CHAPTER- RESEARCH STUDY OF SIX

3 SIGMA
3.1 Levels of Six Sigma
3.2 Strategies of Six Sigma
3.3 Global Perspective of Six
Sigma

CHAPTER- I MPLEMENTATION OF SIX

4 SIGMA
4.1 Indian IT buys into Six
Sigma
4.2 Implementation of Six
Sigma
4.3 Benefits of Six Sigma
4.4 Limitations of Six Sigma

CHAPTER- ANALYSIS &

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

CHAPTER- FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS

6 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 Defects Per Million
'Process Sigma'
successful outputs or Opportunities (DPMO)
operations)
%
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
PPM
LEVEL

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 in-
quality 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.

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

Capture the Provides

market with Stay in business jobs and
better quality more jobs

Fig. The Importance Of Deming for Quality

 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 to guide the analysis.
I 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 • Define the project goals and customer (internal and
Measure external) deliverables
Analyze • Measure and determine customer needs and
Design specifications
Verify • 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

 Avoid 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):

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.

1. Problem Solving and Team Leading Super Stars:

Executive Champion, Deployment Champions, Project Champions, Master
Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts.

2. 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.
3. 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).

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 set-up."

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 Improving
New Existing
Processes 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 Sigma

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.

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 error-
prone, 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 Six-Sigma 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 < 2 years
o >2 years but <=4years
o >4 years but <=6years
o >6 years but <=8years
o >8 years but <=10years
o >10 years

C. Please mark the highest formal education you have:

o Associate Degree
o Bachelors Degree
o Masters Degree
o PhD Degree
o 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 < $25 million (M)
o $25 M to < $100 M
o $100 M to < $500 M
o $500 M to < $1 billion (B)
o $1B or more

(ii)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 Six-
Sigma 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