Sigma effect. Two out of six sigmas is a diagnosis of Russian competitiveness. Six Sigma Design Paradigm Practical Applications Six Sigma Steel Manufacturing

The seminar is being held quality managers of the European Organization for Quality (EOQ).

The seminar is aimed at developing the knowledge and skills of representatives of the top management of organizations and their deputies, managers and specialists of production and engineering services, specialists in the field of system management and performance management, managers and quality specialists in the field of modern effective quality management techniques.

AT modern conditions In the domestic and global industries, a situation has developed in which for the sustainable development of an organization it is necessary not only to modernize equipment and technologies, but also to restructure the thinking of an engineer and a manager. Manager with knowledge and skills in the field modern technicians effective management and owning the best practices for the implementation of solutions, is able to increase the efficiency and profitability of his own company in a key way.

To date most effective techniques management in terms of ensuring and improving quality and reducing costs are united by the methodology "Six Sigma".

« Six Sigma» - a method for setting processes for reduction:

• product defects(quality control);
• costs(reduction of unproductive costs);
• resource losses(efficient use of resources);
• wasted time(reduction of cycle time).

Method "Six Sigma" was developed by Motorola and is management strategy company aimed at cost reduction in production activities, and has become the dominant philosophy in many industries today.

It should be noted that from 500 companies included in list of the largest in the world, 53% use methods "Six Sigma" in one way or another in their activities, and of the first 100 largest companies peace of such 82 % (according to iSixSigma magazine (http://www.isixsigma-magazine.com) ).

Method "Six Sigma" is basis building production systems such giants of industry, how General Electric, DuPont, Samsung, Boeing, Honeywell International, Lockheed Martin and many others. CIS most significant success in implementation "Six Sigma" achieved OJSC Verkhnesalda Metallurgical Production Association (VSMPO) and PJSC Russian Aluminum (RUSAL).

With the help of Six Sigma, identification, elimination of defects and inconsistencies, as well as:

• significant and rapid increase in productivity and competitiveness;
• reduction all types of costs and losses;
• achievement optimal level of quality;
• formation a team focused on solving problems of continuous improvement of activities.

"Six Sigma"- a powerful complex tool that allows you to reduce inconsistencies to level no more than 3.4 defects per million cases, and thereby significantly reduce costs and improve business efficiency.

In the Republic of Belarus, the methodology "Six Sigma" reflected in state standards STB ISO 13053-1-2014“Quantitative Methods in Process Improvement. "Six Sigma". Part 1. DMAIC Methodology" and STB ISO 13053-2-2014"Quantitative Methods in Six Sigma Process Improvement". Part 2 Tools and Techniques.

The program of the seminar provides for consideration of the following issues:

Fundamentals of Six Sigma projects. DMAIC Methodology ( STBISO13053-1 );

Six Sigma tools (according to STB ISO 13053-2), such as: SIPOC, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), Pareto Chart, Bar Charts, Control Maps, Ishikawa Chart, Cause and Effect Diagrams, Control Plan, SOP, etc. .;

Determination of quality measurement indicators (ppm, DPMO, Zvalue, etc.), determination of process capability measurement indicators (indices Ср, Срк, Pp, Ppk);

Six Sigma staff.

The workshop will include practical trainings and business games on the application of Six Sigma methodologies and tools that will help you understand the specifics of the DMAIC project methodology and apply these tools to improve product quality, process stability and reduce costs in production and provision of services.

In the Republic of Belarus, only BelGISS for all participants who successfully passed the test, assigns a yellow belt within Six Sigma Methodologies. For more information on the Six Sigma Yellow Belt roster, please visit the website.

All participants of the seminar according to the results testing certificates will be issued.

Included in the price of the seminar Handout on paper and electronic media, issue of the magazine "Standardization", lunch and coffee breaks.

The Six Sigma management approach will help you identify areas of failure that you do not yet know, as well as what you need to know and what actions to take to reduce the number of errors - because these errors have to be corrected, which takes time and money, and sometimes deprives you of the trust of customers and does not allow you to realize the opportunities that have been presented. In other words, Six Sigma transforms knowledge into the necessary potential for business growth.

Definition and explanation of the essence of the concept of Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a statistical concept for measuring a process in terms of the number of defects. Achieving Six Sigma means that only 3.4 defects per million possible occur during the analyzed process; in other words, the work is carried out almost flawlessly. Sigma (actually the name of the Latin letter) is a statistical term, a measurement parameter, which is also called the root mean square (standard) deviation. When this letter is used in business, it indicates the number of defects (scraps) at the output of the process and helps to understand how this process different from perfect.

Sigma is a term used in statistics to represent the root mean square (also called standard) deviation, an indicator of the degree of deviation of a set of measurements or the results of a process.

six sigma- a statistical concept, on the basis of which the process is measured in terms of defects: when highest level in Six Sigma the number of defects is 3.4 per million possible. Six Sigma is also a management philosophy that focuses on eliminating waste through the use of techniques that focus on analyzing measurement results and improving processes.

One sigma corresponds to 691,462.5 defects per million, which corresponds to only 30.854% defect-free production. Of course, such indicators are considered very bad. If we get processes to operate at a three sigma level, that means 66,807.2 errors per million possible, or we have a perfect product 93.319% of the time. This is much better, although it still wastes some money and frustrates some of the consumers.

How well are the processes going? Have they reached the level of three sigma? Four sigma? Five?

Most companies operate at a three or four sigma quality level. This means that in some process too much waste is allowed, for the subsequent elimination of which both time and effort are spent, and also dissatisfied consumers appear. Such a marriage is the reason for the loss of up to 25% of total income. Can we be satisfied with this? The answer is obvious: of course not.

The basic idea of ​​Six Sigma management is that if you can measure the number of defects in a process, you can also identify ways to eliminate them, and thus reach a level of quality with almost zero scrap. If we state the essence of Six Sigma as briefly as possible, then they can be interpreted as follows. It:

• statistical basis for measurements: 3.4 defects per million possible;
• philosophy and goal: to be as perfect as is practically possible;
• methodology;
• quality symbol.

General context for applying Six Sigma

Let's take a well-known example: luggage lost at the airport. Many of us have personal sad experience in this regard, so let's remember those cases when we carefully looked at the conveyor along which luggage unloaded from the plane crawled, trying in vain to find our own suitcases - they did not arrive. The baggage delivery system for passenger flights is far from perfect. How far is it from him, if measured in sigmas?

In general, the baggage handling capacity of many airports is approximately three sigma. This means that for every million pieces of luggage there are about 66,000 defects; this is equivalent to approximately 94% chance that you will receive your luggage on time. To what extent is this result good? Of course, it is bad for those passengers whose suitcases and bags were lost. Defects like these add to the cost to airports, as employees have to search for missing luggage and calm angry passengers. In addition, such cases may cause dissatisfied people to refuse the services of this airline in the future.

If an airline shifts its baggage handling to Six Sigma, then in terms of cost savings and passenger satisfaction, it certainly pays off; moreover, passengers are much more likely to use that airline again. Performing any operations at a level below Six Sigma means that the company has a fairly high probability of defects in goods or services.

At times, it may seem that reaching the level of three sigma is a completely acceptable result. After all, if there are 66,807 defects per million, this simultaneously means that 933,193 units are produced normal, that is, 93.319% perfection is achieved.

For consumers, three sigma is an unsatisfactory measure of performance. The airline does not live up to their basic expectation that their baggage will be loaded onto the same flight and travel with them on the same route. If the trouble did happen, then it is likely that passengers angry with the lack of their luggage will try not to use the services of such an airline in the future.

Plus, three sigma costs extra money. Deviations (in terms of time, costs and number of errors) in the baggage handling process are very significant: sending the baggage along the wrong route, reporting a problem, writing a report, searching for the baggage, receiving it from the place where it was sent by mistake, delivering the baggage to the passenger. If you translate the probability of losing 6% of baggage into monetary terms, it turns out that the financial consequences of such errors can far exceed 6% of the total costs associated with baggage handling, and possibly reach several million dollars a year. If the elementary baggage handling process were improved, the margin of loss an airline incurs due to such errors would be significantly reduced, and a more rational allocation of resources (both labor and money) would allow for much higher profitability.

How many customers can afford to lose your business? And how much money can your company lose due to mistakes? Why accept such deficiencies as the norm and work out only three or four sigma processes when, by changing the way you manage processes, you can move closer to Six Sigma and thereby receive corresponding benefits?

The Six Sigma approach shows the different layers of process variables that you must understand and control in order to eliminate defects and cost-related costs.

If management sets such goals for itself and strives to achieve the maximum High Quality By measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling processes, it will help to identify the causes of defects and radically improve the end results.

A small digression into the history of quality

Many associate the Six Sigma program with the desire to improve quality. It is quite logical to consider this concept in this way, especially at the beginning of the problem analysis. But Six Sigma is very different from the quality programs you may have come across. How? To answer this question, let's briefly recall the history of achieving high product quality.

To fully understand the desire to achieve required quality impossible, except for the ideas of Edwards Deming, well known for his developments for Japan, which he helped to restore all sectors of the economy after World War II. His approach was completely new for its time and had a huge impact on the evolution of quality and the implementation of continuous product improvement programs in companies around the world.

Total Quality Management(TQM - from the English Total Quality Management) is a management approach that focuses on the organization as a system, with a focus on teams, processes, statistics, continuous improvement, and the release of products and services that fully meet or exceed consumer expectations. Six Sigma is an expanded and more streamlined version of TQM.

It would be fair to mention that Deming's approach to management, also known as " integrated management quality” (though Deming disliked the term) changed the way thousands of companies operate and determined it for decades to come. By the mid-1980s, the scale in which corporate management was concerned with quality issues had become completely different: the types of businesses that adopted TQM were transforming and abandoning everything they had previously staked on, moving on to create better products and services. Managers began to understand that quality does not require an increase in costs, that more efficient and reliable processes can achieve zero defects in finished products and that they need to focus on improving the manufacturing process and meeting consumer demand. In short, TQM is an excellent foundation upon which to build the next level of quality management, the Six Sigma approach.

However, Six Sigma is not just the latest trend in the fight for quality. Do you need proof? Companies that have implemented the concept of Six Sigma have achieved excellent financial results and developed smarter, more pragmatic plans that enable them to make real and significant improvements in business profitability and expansion.

Companies such as Motorola, Texas Instruments, IBM, AlliedSignal, and General Electric have successfully implemented Six Sigma and achieved billions of dollars in cost savings. This methodology was later adopted by Ford, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Microsoft, and American Express. And when we talk about success, it's not just about saving money. Jack Welch, the managing director who started the Six Sigma program at General Electric, called it "the most important project ever implemented at GE" and stated that Six Sigma is "part of the genetic code of our future leadership."

Method "Six Sigma" (Six Sigma) is an approach to improving the production process by finding and eliminating the causes of errors or defects in business processes, focusing on critical output parameters for the consumer.

How did the term Six Sigma originate?

Sigma is a sign, which in statistics is called the standard deviation of values ​​in the total population. Six Sigma refers to a level of process efficiency where there are 3.4 defects for every million manufacturing operations.
This is the benchmark that Motorola set for everyone in the 1980s. production processes as the achievement of a goal, and since then this concept has been a trademark of the concern. The Six Sigma methodology was borrowed and popularized by such famous companies as: General Electric, Honeywell, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Xerox, including Russian divisions.
For comparison: the standard indicator of companies is the level of "Four Sigma", that is, 6,210 errors per 1 million transactions. Therefore, the transition of the workflow to the level of Six Sigma saves about 25% of annual income. This level of error-freeness allows you to significantly reduce the initial price and expand the product sales market.

What is the name of the method

The Six Sigma theory is based on six points on which the effectiveness of business processes depends.
1) Showing interest in the client. This is reflected in the constant monitoring and analysis of customer needs.
2) Management based on verified data and facts, and not on the basis of assumptions that can happen with a certain probability.
3) Orientation to the production process. Continuous process management, improvement, process improvement. The entire production cycle can be divided into separate processes and managed - this is based on the process approach to management.
4) Proactive management (in advance). Leaders do not wait for what might happen, but anticipate possible changes.
5) Openness to cooperation, transparency of production for both customers and suppliers.
6) Continuous improvement. Any quality improvement process is about continuous improvement, and being forgiving of failures is about overcoming and learning from them.
To implement the Six Sigma method, Motorola proposed a systematic course of action called DMAIC(English define, measure, analyze, improve, control), which consists of five steps:

• Define– definition of project goals and customer requests (internal and external);
• measure– process measurement to determine current performance;
• Analyze– analysis of defects, determination of the root causes of defects;
• Improve– process improvement through defect reduction;
• control– control of the further course of the process.

Implementing Six Sigma

To implement this process in enterprises, staffing is necessary. Training in Six Sigma is somewhat similar to the science of martial arts. In addition to knowledge and diplomas, students also receive belts - a symbolic confirmation of their competencies, and the title of "agents".
The list of persons, agents of Six Sigma, is as follows.
"Champions and Sponsors"
"Champion" is one of the top managers who knows the Six Sigma ideology and is actively striving to implement it.
"Sponsors" are the owners of the processes who assist in the implementation of the concept and coordinate the related activities within their responsibility.
"Black Belt Masters"- these are employees with the highest technical and organizational skills and providing technical guidance program. They understand the basis of certain statistical methods, and are also able to correctly apply these methods in non-standard situations.
"Black Belts"- these are persons who are engaged only in improving the quality of projects, without being distracted by any other duties.
"Green Belts" are the leaders (formal and informal) of specific projects leading the respective teams. Unlike Black Belts, they spend only a fraction of their time on Six Sigma projects.
"Yellow Belts"- these are performers who have been trained and can participate in the work of teams led by "black and green belts".

This is a stub for an encyclopedic article on this topic. You can contribute to the development of the project by improving and supplementing the text of the publication in accordance with the rules of the project. You can find the user manual

The right combination of these practices in Brazil's mining and metallurgical industries brings noticeable results. The website //www.industryweek.com spoke about the successful application of the iTLS methodology at the enterprises of the Votorantim group

It is obvious that profit-oriented production organizations concentrate their efforts on achieving the intended levels of income from their production activities, relying on their own capacities and resources. If targets are not achieved, this results in low revenue and high inventory levels, increasing operating costs. As a result, the amount of profit and the rate of return on investment are significantly negatively affected. This situation also leaves the organization in a state of stress and some emptiness due to a seemingly paradoxical situation where key organizational resources become a potential threat to the company's future earnings.

To improve the performance and increase the profitability of organizations, it is customary to apply various techniques as part of the continuous improvement process, such as Lean Manufacturing (Lin), 6-Sigma and Theory of Constraints of Systems (TOC). However for a long time no scientific studies have been conducted that could measure the effectiveness and contribution of the use of such methodologies in improving the performance of organizations. For this reason, in the period from 2003 to 2005. large-scale studies have been conducted on this issue, which also analyzed the effectiveness of using these three methods together in a logical sequence, and also compared the results obtained with the results from using only one of these methods.

The integrated method model was subjected to a series of specific tests known as iTLS as part of a continuous improvement process. This iTLS model included the Theory of Constraints of Systems created by Eliyahu Goldratt, a technique Lin production, more commonly known as production system Toyota, as well as 6-Sigma, a technique created by Motorola. This model assumed the use of the mentioned methods in a certain sequence, which contributed to focusing on key strengths each of these methods.

After 2.5 years, for which 21 production plant 211 continuous improvement process professionals implemented their preferred methodologies, and 105 projects were completed.

The study made it possible to measure the financial efficiency obtained through the application of each of these methods. Statistical analysis showed that the methods Lin and 6-Sigma have generated significant financial results for the organizations in which they have been applied. The results from applying these methods separately were approximately the same (the obtained value of the significant probability (P-Value), equal to 0.622, did not indicate a significant difference between these two methods when analyzing the financial efficiency factor).

One organization that took an integrated approach was the Votorantim group of companies, the fourth largest privately owned organization in Brazil, operating in several countries and in various market segments such as mining, steel, cement, pulp and paper, steel, as well as the production of fruit juices. Five plants have implemented an integrated system of TOC, Lean and 6-Sigma, the so-called iTLS continuous improvement methodology, developed and published in detail in 2006 by Dr. Reza Piratesh (Piratesh and Farah, 2006). Two of these factories, which will be discussed below, were a mining factory and a smelter.

In the case study below, iTLS has successfully synchronized production and utilized existing production capacity to ensure process stability. This methodology was applied without hindrance due to the involvement of the personnel of the organizations and their strong focus on success. TOC Integrated System Model, Lean Manufacturing and 6-Sigma Models (iTLS)
iTLS combines three powerful components - Lin, 6-Sigma and TOC - optimally matching and synchronizing them:

• focusing on only a few critical elements that limit the activities of the company as a whole, through the use of TOC;
• eliminating defects in production by detecting the so-called "hidden factories" within the framework of the methodology Lin;
• reducing the possibility of unwanted variability to ensure process stability through 6-Sigma.

The use of this integrated system of continuous improvement in production has made it possible to ensure that the capacities and resources involved in the production process are converted into stable production generating income with a high profit margin.

results

The practical example below is brief description experience of applying the iTLS methodology in several Brazilian conglomerates, which included mining plants, ore dressing plants, and metallurgical plants. In all the cases where the iTLS methodology is applied, the throughput rate for production increased significantly in 3-4 months. The continued use of this technique over the next 3-4 months allowed to stabilize production processes, along with the achievement of strategically important target production volumes, which was previously considered almost impossible.

New production figures significantly exceeded the previous ones, and investments in additional capacities were not poured in. The result was higher revenue, profit and return on investment.

Practical example

Initial conditions:
None of the plants could reach the target production volumes, good production performance was only a single occurrence, which led to loss of income due to late deliveries.
Plant managers were under constant pressure for not achieving strategic performance targets and, as a result, the overall performance of the organization was deteriorating.

Other undesirable phenomena were observed:

• The goals set were not achieved.
• The number of actions taken was large and continued to grow, making it difficult to manage these actions.
• Growing pressure to acquire more and more resources.
• Employees despaired; there was an opinion: "the more we try, the less we achieve."
• The search for the perpetrators on the one hand and their constant excuses on the other hand, along with the attitude of non-intervention of some employees, created a negative atmosphere in which there was no positive cooperation between the staff.
• Resource productivity was very low.
• Lack of necessary preventive measures.
• Employee apathy.

Application

The iTLS model was applied simultaneously to all plants. Its goals were to stabilize and improve production processes to ensure optimal interaction with the market. There were 4 main elements:
1) Application of the TOC tool "Drum-buffer-rope" to identify the limitations of the production process and plan the limiting section:

• A “drum” resource that set the pull rate for production and set the TACT for delivering (i.e., production began to work in such a way as to directly respond to customer requirements) of manufactured products to the market.
• Creation of buffers related to the "drum" resource and providing protection against emerging deviations in the production process and in shipment.
• Pulling release of materials (“rope”), which ensures the synchronization of the production process with the “drum” resource.

2) The use of Lean tools to identify the stages responsible for the occurrence of manufacturing defects and exclude them from the production process in order to increase its efficiency.
3) Applying 6-Sigma tools to ensure the sustainability of the changes made by introducing statistical control over production processes.
4) The introduction of well-established templates and methodologies for solving emerging problems, available to workers and management personnel, in order to ensure that each of these groups of employees can independently ensure continuous improvements in their processes.

There is a direct relationship between the response to the work of the “drum” resource in combination with maintaining the stability of production and financial efficiency indicators. As soon as the "drum" was found based on the determination of the optimal capacity of the restriction, its operation became a key moment for the release of materials and the implementation of shipments.

The resource constraint needed to be protected from possible deviations that occurred at the stages of the production process that preceded it as a result of interdependent operations. The purpose of this was to ensure that the required capacity of this resource was fully utilized in production. In organizations with a continuous production process, the protection of the constraint resource, which is the starting point for the organization of the "drum" and the shipping department, was carried out by creating buffers of a given size that feed this resource when the production process fails to ensure continuous production and uninterrupted supplies.

As soon as buffers of the required size were introduced, they began to absorb all the negative deviations that potentially affect the resource-constraint and the shipment process. It was important to understand that when such deviations affected the buffer, the latter decreased in volume and needed to be restored. Its replenishment became possible due to the use of excess capacity preceding the resource-limitation ("drum") and the shipping department (~10%). In essence, they were protective powers. Their use when appropriate needs arise and made it possible to replenish the buffers.

Thus, any production step that was less than 110% of the “drum” was considered a limitation, as it could potentially have a global negative effect on the pass rate. It might seem that the activity in this case was temporarily unbalanced. However, the work crews then set to work to maximize the value of the manufacturing process by reducing and stabilizing scrap rates. For this, 6-Sigma tools were used to reduce variability.
This model included buffer management in order to optimize the decision-making process based on the interpretation of the state of the buffers at certain points in time. Buffers have become the main source of information for management, allowing them to track what is happening in the production process, prevent potential threats, determine the causes of their occurrence and make decisions that contribute to the continuous improvement process. For this, the tools of Statistical Process Control were used.

The similarity of the results obtained using the iTLS model was in line with expectations. Below are some of the results that each plant has been able to achieve:

• Production increased by 10%, which made it possible to satisfy the requirements of consumers by 100%, without the need to attract additional capital investments.
• Profits increased by 5%.
• Each company's payback period was reduced to a few months, and at one plant it was only 28 days - an all-time low level.
• Production processes stabilized, which made it possible to achieve the strategically important target production volumes predicted earlier.

Eugenio Germont, CEO of Votorantim Metais Unidade Tres Marias, commented that “…we have been able to succeed in this ambitious undertaking…and that is why we have achieved all of our goals…”

Synergy in application CBT, Lean and 6-Sigma, expressed in the iTLS model, has become a tool to provide fast and efficient productivity improvements in mining and smelting plants. This, in turn, made it possible to fulfill obligations to customers by 100%. This model used the tools of the Theory of Constraints to focus on areas requiring change, the Lean methodology to eliminate manufacturing defects, and the 6-Sigma system to control the production process and the resulting deviations.

This year marks exactly a quarter of a century since, first, American industry, and then government agencies, adopted the Six Sigma methodology for optimizing production and management processes.

Today, studying a huge array of English-language literature on the practical application of Six Sigma in various fields, you are involuntarily surprised that in Russia only a few specialists know about this concept. For the unprepared majority, when you pronounce the phrase "six sigma", you get the impression that we are talking about either a new sect, or some kind of Masonic knowledge. Therefore, it is reasonable to start the story about the use of Six Sigma in the American military industry and the Ministry of Defense with a short digression into history.

The battle for quality

In the late 1970s, US industry faced strong competition from Japanese companies. For Americans, this was a shock - for the first time since the United States gained independence, foreign firms pushed them into their own, American market. Moreover, the Japanese took not only the price, but also the quality and reliability of products. Most of all, Asian competitors pressed car manufacturers, consumer electronics and means of communication. US management began to feverishly look for ways to remedy the situation, primarily in terms of improving the quality of manufactured products. The early works of American researchers of product quality management problems were rethought, and the Japanese experience was comprehensively studied. The result was the emergence of several concepts for optimizing manufacturing processes, of which the most viable was the one proposed by Motorola engineer with the simple name Bill Smith. Its concept is based on three simple ideas:

• for successful business, it is necessary to constantly strive to establish a stable and predictable flow of production and management processes (in a simple way - less chaos and mess);
• indicators characterizing the flow of production and management processes should be measurable, controllable and improveable (only numbers, no “significantly improved” and “significantly increased”);
• for achievement continuous improvement quality, it is necessary to involve the personnel of the organization at all levels, especially top management (nothing will work without the will of the authorities).

The name of the concept comes from the statistical concept of the standard deviation, denoted by the Greek letter σ. The maturity of any manufacturing process is described as a σ-rating of deviations, or the percentage of defect-free products at the output. The 6σ quality process produces 99.99966 percent defect-free outputs, or no more than 3.4 defective outputs per million operations - to achieve this result was the goal of the implementation of Six Sigma.

Practical use Six Sigma is built around many short term projects with achievable and quantifiable results. Each project includes a standard sequence of DMAIC steps - by the first letters of English words, meaning: define, measure, analyze, improve, control. Smith saturated his concept with tools from economic statistics, to which he later added a large set of software. In addition, a system of training specialists was created, where titles were assigned by analogy with martial arts - black belt, green belt, yellow belt, etc. This is perhaps the most famous feature of Six Sigma, although if Smith had changed her to Masonic titles or military ranks, would also work well.

The early years of Motorola's use of Six Sigma yielded tangible results. The company managed to achieve a significant improvement in the quality of manufactured goods and subsequently completely abolished testing of communication equipment after assembly (the cost of organizing such testing ceased to justify itself due to too few defective products detected). Motorola saved $2 billion between 1987 and 1991 by significantly reducing product quality control and warranty costs. In 1988, Motorola received the US National Quality Award. Largely due to the application of the Six Sigma concept, the company managed to regain its leadership in the communications market in the United States, displacing Japanese competitors. Moreover, almost everyone has experienced the success of Motorola's implementation of Six Sigma. After all, the optimization of production and management processes made it possible to make public, first, paging, and then cellular communications.

Sigma for the defense industry

The success of Motorola's implementation of Six Sigma, of course, did not go unnoticed, and soon the technique began to be used by other American companies, primarily defense ones. After all, in the early 90s, the American military-industrial complex was in a difficult situation. Potential adversary - Soviet Union collapsed, President Bush congratulated the nation on victory in the Cold War, and for the defense industry, all this meant that in the near future they would have to tighten their belts - the era of cuts, mergers, acquisitions and other headaches began. This is where the concept of Six Sigma came in handy - after all, it allowed to optimize production and management processes, which in turn freed up resources for modernization and improved competitiveness. In 1993, one of the founders of the Six Sigma concept, Michael Harry, was invited to the Allied Signal Corporation.

The technique has been successfully applied, among other things, in the production of avionics and auxiliary power units of combat and military transport aircraft. Already in the first two years of using the concept, the company has achieved savings of two billion dollars. Within five years (1994-1998) of using Six Sigma, the value of the company's shares increased fivefold.

Success in the market allowed Allied Signal to absorb one of the oldest and most famous American industrial corporations Honeywell in 1999 - now the company operates under this brand. Another pioneer in the use of Six Sigma in the military-industrial complex was Texas Instruments Inc. By the beginning of the 90s, the company was a manufacturer of guidance units for guided bombs and other high-precision weapons, thermal imaging devices, and computers for military needs. Texas Instruments was sold to Raytheon in 1997 and the new owners quickly took advantage of the Six Sigma experience and extended it to all of their manufacturing programs.

The 2004 annual report estimated that Raytheon's first five years of Six Sigma generated about $3.8 billion in additional revenue. Savings on manufacturing processes allowed Raytheon to significantly expand its investment in R&D, which made it possible to gain technological leadership, primarily in rocket science. Six Sigma has been used to optimize manufacturing processes in all of the company's critical defense programs, from simulators and combat vehicle simulators to AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, Patriot air defense systems and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The experience of using Six Sigma in one of the largest industrial concerns in the United States and the world, General Electric (GE), received the greatest fame. In the mid-1990s, analysts predicted an unenviable future for GE. Extremely diversified production (from light bulbs to aircraft engines and nuclear reactors) had a negative impact on the controllability and competitiveness of the concern - many saw the only way out in its dissolution and absorption in parts. However, the "black belts" showed the competitors a couple of tricks. In 1995, GE CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors Jack Welch announced the company's plans to reach a quality level of 6 by 1999. As a result, the use of Six Sigma in 1999 brought the company more than two billion dollars in profit. It has seriously strengthened its position in many markets, primarily in the aircraft engine market (a division of GE Aviation, the main manufacturer of engines for Boeing aircraft). In 1999, Fortune magazine named Jack Welch the "Manager of the Century". And what other title could be given to a manager, during whose reign the company's turnover increased fivefold - from 26.8 to 130 billion dollars?

Six Sigma and Japanese Thrift

All of these Six Sigma successes would not have been possible were it not for the continuous improvement of the concept. For example, already the first years of using Six Sigma showed that the original methods are rather limited in use. Smith's Six Sigma focused on eliminating defects, while not taking into account other types of waste. For example, in the Japanese concept of "lean management" (lean management), eight more types of losses are identified: from losses during overproduction to "false savings" (the use of cheap and low-quality raw materials and materials, which leads to losses).

The original concept of Six Sigma does not link quality and customer satisfaction, on the one hand, and the duration and speed of processes, on the other. At the same time, the duration of the process is directly related to customer satisfaction in the service sector. The initial Six Sigma missed opportunities for process improvement such as reducing waste, reducing waiting times, reducing inventory and transportation costs, optimizing jobs, etc. Therefore, the real breakthrough in the development of Six Sigma was the fusion of its ideas and methods with the ideas of the Japanese concept of "lean" production. All three listed shortcomings of the original Six Sigma were successfully solved within the framework of the Japanese methodology, and the shortcomings of the latter, in turn (lack of strict obligations and customer orientation), were successfully compensated by the advantages of the American model.

The result of the merger was the emergence of a unified concept, called Lean Six Sigma ("Lean Six Sigma"). In addition to the general principles, Lean Six Sigma has received a lot of other borrowings, such as Kaizen (a philosophy that focuses on the continuous improvement of development, production and management processes), the 5S methodology (a system for organizing and streamlining the workplace and increasing labor productivity), the concept of Poka-yoke (protection from a fool).

Eliminating the shortcomings of the original Six Sigma contributed to the rapid growth of the concept's popularity. In the early 2000s, a list of companies using Lean Six Sigma methods to optimize their manufacturing and management activities, was replenished with such industry giants as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Samsung, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and others.

According to iSixSigma magazine, of the 500 largest companies in the world, 53 percent use Lean Six Sigma methods in some way in their activities. Moreover, of the first 100 largest companies in the world, there are 82 of them. The total amount of funds saved by the world's leading firms in the first 20 years of using Lean Six Sigma methods (1987-2006) is estimated at an astronomical amount - 427 billion dollars. Taking in best ideas optimization of production and management processes in the West and East, Lean Six Sigma has become a universal tool, which made it possible to use it not only in industry, but also in the service sector, public administration and in the armed forces.

Poka-yoke for the Ministry of Defense

The first among the structures subordinated to the US Department of Defense (Department of Defense - DoD), Lean Six Sigma began to introduce enterprises for the repair and maintenance of military equipment and the production of ammunition. It is worth noting that the beginning of the application of the concept here coincided with the start of the campaigns of the American army in the Middle East, due to which the load on these enterprises increased significantly. Successful experience implementation of Lean Six Sigma methods in certain areas of activity of the Ministry of Defense led to the idea to extend this experience to all structures that are part of the military department.

In October 2005, for this purpose, the Business Transformation Agency (Business Transformation Agency) was established in the DoD structure under the leadership of US Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England. England himself, before joining the Ministry of Defense, held senior positions at General Dynamics Corporation for a long time, from where he brought extensive experience in implementing Lean Six Sigma methods. In fact, the agency has become a kind of conductor of ideas for optimizing various management processes within the armed forces. In addition, it plays a significant role in the implementation of various technological improvements in service. military equipment and technical means offered by both industry and the military. The activities of the agency made it possible to carry out the rapid re-equipment of the US Army automobile units with vehicles with improved mine protection (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected - MRAP). All the way from the initiative of individual military personnel and prototypes developed small companies, prior to mass procurement, the MRAP program was completed in just one year of 2007, which contrasts sharply with the usual procurement lead times.

In addition to the MRAP program, over the years since the establishment of the Business Transformation Agency, several thousand projects have been completed using Lean Six Sigma methods. A 2011 report noted that thanks to their use, the US Army reduced direct costs by $ 1.6 billion and avoided additional costs in the amount of 3.6 billion dollars. Projects include optimizing the supply chain, reducing the number of erroneous payments and transfers of funds to military personnel, reducing the consumption of ammunition and fuel during exercises and maneuvers, etc. Rereading a long list of projects completed with Six Sigma, you catch yourself thinking that you know for sure one more Ministry of Defense, where it would also be nice to implement, optimize and improve all this.

Six Sigma in Russia

In the Russian Federation, the ideas of Six Sigma began to penetrate in the late 90s and early 2000s thanks to branches and representative offices of American companies that introduced the concept in the States. Among proper Russian companies The pioneers of Six Sigma implementation were OJSC Verkhnesalda Metallurgical Production Association (VSMPO) and Russian Aluminum (RUSAL).

It is unusual for Americans to see the steel industry among the first companies to apply the concept - after all, in the United States, the pioneers of Six Sigma were the defense industry and the electronics industry. But this is understandable: both VSMPO and RUSAL are largely exported to developed countries, and they need advanced methods for optimizing production processes and improving product quality in order to meet the high requirements of their markets. Thus, the implementation of Six Sigma at VSMPO was largely influenced by the requirements of the main consumer of titanium and titanium alloy products manufactured by the American aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing.

The Russian industry of a high degree of redistribution, primarily the military-industrial complex, operates mainly in the domestic market and the markets of developing countries, where the requirements for product quality and after-sales service are largely underestimated. But this situation is temporary - the main consumers of Russian weapons abroad, such as China and India, are placing increasingly higher demands on their quality and technological excellence, and in the domestic market (as part of the state defense order), the domestic military-industrial complex is beginning to experience increasing competition from foreign manufacturers. . Under these conditions, the introduction of advanced methods for optimizing production and management processes and product quality control in the Russian military-industrial complex is an inevitable process. And Lean Six Sigma has a clear advantage here, because, unlike other similar methods (the same Japanese “ lean management”) has vast practical experience in implementing it in the military industry, and the most powerful and high-tech - American. As for the experience of implementing such methods in public administration and structures of the Ministry of Defense, here Lean Six Sigma is generally out of competition.

This is obvious to enthusiasts and practitioners of the Lean Six Sigma concept in Russia, who have united in Russian association"Six Sigma". They prepared a project for the implementation of the concept in the military-industrial complex of Russia and the Ministry of Defense, called "Breakthrough-2020". Among other things, it involves the creation of an improvement and innovation service (an analogue of the US Department of Defense Business Transformation Agency) in the structure of the Defense Ministry. “We have before our eyes extensive experience in implementing Lean Six Sigma in the US Department of Defense and the US military-industrial complex,” said Sergey Glukhov, president of the association. - Many projects from American practice can be taken almost entirely, only slightly adapted to Russian economic conditions and legal framework. The association prepared and sent corresponding letters with proposals to the government and the Ministry of Defense. And here we must remember the third principle of the success of the implementation of Six Sigma, formulated by the founder of the concept, Bill Smith, - the presence of the will of management. The question is whether the Russian military-industrial complex will have its own Jack Welches, and the Ministry of Defense will find its own Gordons England.