e-Zsigma December
2003 Newsletter
Six Sigma SpotLight:Santa Claus, CEO Polar Enterprises Inc. |
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Six Sigma SpotLight is a regular feature of the e-Zsigma newsletter, and allows us to introduce one of the global six sigma community's superstars. As Chief Executive Officer of one of the world's best known organizations, Santa Claus's responsibilities include everything from order processing, manufacturing and assembly, human resources, through to final delivery to customers. In managing a highly cyclical business, (100% of customer deliveries occurring within one 24-hour period each year), the challenges for Santa and his team are endless. With a world customer base that is now well over six billion people, and continuing to grow at a rate of 1.2% per year on average, Santa and his leadership team continue to leverage and incorporate the latest in world-class business best practices, innovation and technology. In addition to his Masters Degree in Giftology, Santa has a Degree in Toy Engineering, and perhaps not too surprising, also holds a Degree in Veterinary Medicine, specializing in reindeer biology. We were delighted when Santa agreed to our request for an interview for the Six Sigma Spotlight so that we, as well as our readers, could learn more about how Six Sigma is now being incorporated into one of the oldest and largest consumer goods businesses in the world today... -------------------------------- 1. News: "Santa, we do thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview when we all know how busy you must be right now. Speaking of busy... how is your production going this year? Are you on schedule to meet all of the customer demand?" 1. Santa: "Ho, Ho, Ho... Of one thing you can be sure - there is never a dull moment around the workshop this time of year. However, this year has been very different than those of the past. As a result of the launch of our Six Sigma program in early Spring, which was brought in to compliment our existing Lean Manufacturing practices, we took a different approach to problem solving this year. This has resulted in fewer snags, and when problems did show up, we were able to resolve them very quickly by leveraging the in-house experts that have been trained in Six Sigma methodology... Outside, I think they are referred to as Black Belts, but in here, we call them Senior Santa's Helpers. As a result, not only are we on schedule this year, but production efficiencies are up 5% over last year... in areas where we thought additional improvement might be difficult if not impossible!" 2. News: "In a well-known editorial that was published in the New York Sun newspaper in 1897, it was suggested that "the most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see". Has the deployment and practice of Six Sigma across your operations helped to expand your view of that which can be seen?" 2. Santa: "I think you are referring to an editorial that was written by my dear friend, Francis P. Church, in which he sent a wonderful response to a little girl named Virginia O'Hanlon, who had asked if I were real... a wonderful story." Editor's Note: For one of many reprints of this story, e-Zsigma recommends the Barrick Insurance website at http://www.barricksinsurance.com/virginia.html. "The answer to your question is a resounding yes! The deployment of Six Sigma has opened our eyes to new opportunity. I remember the interview you did with the Vice President of Six Sigma at Maple Leaf Foods, Bruce Miyashita, where he referred to one Six Sigma project that upended thirty years of accepted practice." "Now, that doesn't happen too often in business, but we've had a similar breakthrough in our sled routing for gift delivery. As you can imagine, we've been doing this a long time, and over that period, we thought we had it down to a fine art... we couldn't do it better if we tried. What we didn't think about, however, was that the process as well as the entire system is really dynamic, and we just didn't have the right tools to analyze the system - that the sum was actually greater, or in this case, more complex than the parts which we were only focusing on individually. It wasn't until we analyzed all of the key factors or variables in the system with some statistical tools - still quite foreign to me, I might add, but I know they work - and all of this new information came out. Leveraging that new information, we were able to run scenarios - something I think they called modeling and experimental design - and what we ended up with was an optimized routing and delivery process. This has saved us a considerable amount of time... I am home quicker for Mrs. Claus, and I even get to stop for my favorite post-delivery beverage... A Grandé Hot Chocolate at Starbucks... with lots of whipped cream!" 3. News: "You mentioned earlier that Six Sigma was brought in to compliment your existing Lean Manufacturing practices. How was this integration accomplished and did you get any resistance from the Elf workforce?" 3. Santa: "To be honest, as if I could be anything but, there was quite a lot of skepticism at first. Lean had worked for us - we had seen improvements in terms of efficiency with the elimination of a lot of waste and cycle time reduction, and our people were tired. Implementing Lean had been a big project for us and happened over several years - in fact, it is still going on... it never stops. We had a choice, in that we could have brought in Six Sigma tools and methodology as an add-on to Lean... disguised as additional training or something like that. But, we felt that if we did that, we might not be successful in lighting the fire that we know is required for Six Sigma to really take hold and drive results. We wanted people to know that there was something new in the air, and it was different, yet complimentary to what we were already doing. I think everyone realized that something was still missing, since even with Lean, we were still having problems... bottlenecks, quality problems, frustration... What we didn't know at the time... something we learned a little bit later, is that we didn't have right tools that really allowed us to focus on variation." Scroll up to right-hand side of page to continue interview... |
Santa
Claus, CEO Polar Enterprises Inc. Click on image to go to North Pole website Continued from left panel... "I read a fabulous book called 'Straight From The Gut' by Jackie Welch... gosh, I've known him since he was a little tot... loved the building blocks I gave him one Christmas, though... always wanted to build things bigger and better... Who would have thought he would go on to lead one of the most successful businesses in the world? Anyway, Jack had described Six Sigma as the 'most challenging and potentially rewarding initiative that GE had undertaken'. As I read more, and shared what I was reading with some of my Elf senior leadership team, it became apparent that we had found what we were looking for... the tools, methodology, philosophy, and strategy to take our operation to the next level. Two things really jumped out at us: the focus on the customer, and the suite of tools to understand and manage or eliminate variability in our key processes. Combined with Lean and Supply Chain Management, we new we had the right strategy going forward... the rest was a matter of good planning, integration and execution." 4. News: "Well, Santa, it is hard to believe, but our time is almost up. You agreed to give us thirty minutes, and we want to respect our time contract with you. Do you have any last words for our readers before you get back to the last minute preparations for Christmas Eve?" 4. Santa: "Ho, Ho, Ho... I certainly do, but one thing I do want to mention is that 'last minute preparations' are no longer a requirement here at Workshop... Our deployment strategy for Six Sigma included a comprehensive assessment of our core business processes, using such tools as SIPOC, Process and Value Stream Mapping, Root Cause Analysis, and much more to identify the key processes and more importantly, the key variables affecting the capabilities and outcomes of each of these processes. Statistical analysis played an important role at the task level of the processes, so we could really analyze variation and capability. We then tied the outputs of these processes directly to our 6 billion plus customers, and using something I think they called Quality Function Deployment and House of Quality, we were able to align and quantify all of what we were doing with those outputs or deliverables. Our Senior Santa's Helpers were trained in basic as well as advanced tools, including statistics, and were assigned specific projects aligned with our deployment and business strategy that would maximize the benefits to operations and solve many of the recurring problems we had been struggling with." "Some of our more advanced Helpers also worked on Risk Analysis using such tools as Failure Mode & Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). I liked the Fault Tree Analysis... when you're flying around the world being pulled in a sled by a bunch of temperamental reindeer, it sure comes in handy. What all of this has led to is a more predictable environment for all of us, where outcomes are more certain, and we have a more in-depth understanding of why..." "Oh, oh... I think I hear Rudolph calling me, so I had better run. Before I go, I do have one more thing to say to your readers, though... HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT... HO, HO, HO"
For our readers who will be celebrating the holiday season, the e-Zsigma News Staff wishes you a very Merry Christmas. As well as to all of our global readers, we wish you a very happy, safe, and prosperous 2004.
Rod Morgan, e-Zsigma, Inc. -------------------------------- If you have a six sigma "superstar" you would like to have featured in SpotLight, send your submission to spotlight@e-zsigma.com. Please include in your email; 1. a brief biography of the person you are recommending 2. the reason you are submitting their name 3. a photograph or "action shot" if you have one 4. your nominee's contact information (so that the e-Zsigma news team can obtain their consent as well as conduct an brief interview)
If you have any questions regarding Six Sigma Spotlight, please contact e-Zsigma at news@e-zsigma.com. Your feedback is always appreciated.
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