How a typical Business Continuity Program Works ?
In the last decade or so, the threats to the working environment of companies have multiplied ranging from 9-11 type attacks, earthquakes and the spread of diseases like SARS. Further, there is the very real threat of natural and manmade disasters like these disrupting the working patterns of organizations. Hence, there is a need to […]
It’s Now or Never: Why Business Must Embrace Sustainability before it is Too Late
How Climate Change and Ecological Damage is Hurting Our Planet Everywhere we look around us, we see the impacts of our unsustainable lifestyles. Whether it is the Australian Bushfires, the Amazon forest burning, or the unseasonal storms and hurricanes, the effects of climate change and eco unfriendly business and lifestyle practices are taking a toll […]
Medical Tourism and its Potential for Developing Countries
The Emerging Phenomenon of Medical Tourism An emerging trend in healthcare management is the phenomenon of medical tourism or the mixing of tourism with visits for medical treatment. This medical tourism has become popular in recent years mainly because of the fact that healthcare has become prohibitively expensive in the West and as the Eastern […]
Working through Business Process Improvement Project
Introduction Organizations are very similar to living Organisms. They too go through a definite life cycle and different stages of development. As in life, change is the only constant factor especially in the operations of each and every organization. Organizations are constantly engaged in the process of changing and fine tuning their internal processes in […]
Different Levels of a Process – Viable System Model
An organization can be viewed as a collection of processes. At the grass root level, an organization is nothing but an arrangement of humans and technologies in a specific manner to achieve pre-determined objectives. However, work is divided amongst various processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness. However the functions of all processes are not the […]
Six Sigma Project initiatives help the organization in a wide variety of ways and at very different levels. This article describes the immediate operational benefits that an organization derives as the result of implementing a Six Sigma project.
Six-Sigma efficiency is impossible to achieve if the mode of production used by the organization is craft production. To be efficient enough to run processes that have less than 3.4 defects per million, organizations need to be systems dependant. Thus Six Sigma mind set helps transform a people driven organization into a process driven one!
Six Sigma results in massive cost savings to the organization involved. These cost savings are highlighted by the fact that after a Six Sigma project any organization has considerably less requirement for labour hours. Also the requirement of skilled labourers is also reduced. Hence, both these factors combined have an effect of drastically reducing the labour bill of the organization.
Six Sigma projects realise a large amount of their financial value from their ability to eliminate or at least reduce wastage. Since the process is critically analysed for costs and corresponding value addition, measures are taken to eliminate wastage to a large extent.
An ancillary benefit of Six Sigma projects is that it creates a system which is much more efficient than the earlier one. Hence the organization can implement systems like Just In Time Inventory practices and cut still more costs.
Organizations are plagued with defective processes which result in the manufacturing of defective products. Each defect has costs attached. The costs include material, time, overheads and loss of reputation for the firm. Implementing Six Sigma projects often pays for itself in the long run by providing the financial benefits of near zero defects to the firm that implements it.
Customers do not like unreliable products or organizations. This can be verified by the fact that many companies that have implemented Six Sigma have not only found their costs reduced but their market share increased considerably. Hence, Six Sigma is also capable of positively impacting the marketing of the firm.
All of the sources mentioned above can be seen as the revenue model of the Six Sigma project. In the financial evaluation of a project, the revenue (cost reduction) from various sources must be considered before deciding whether the project is worth the effort or not. The idea is to find scenarios that the firm will be in with the project and without it.
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The Cost of Poorly Performing Processes – Need for Six Sigma
February 12, 2025
