You Can be Great If You Really Want To

For years, many have held that conventional wisdom dictates that Six Sigma is most appropriate for implementation in large multi million dollar companies.  Massive companies all over the globe have used Six Sigma to save millions of dollars by using efficiently managed processes to cut costs and increase profits.  The general thought has been that Six Sigma is best confined to huge companies that employ thousands.  But this is not necessarily so.  The very nature of the Six Sigma orthodoxy is to implement efficiencies and control them.  That measure can be applicable to any sized business, including new startups.

Considering employees, new startup managers who earn Six Sigma Black Belt certificates while at new companies with just a few employees will continue to grow as their careers progress and they eventually move on to larger companies.  Six Sigma is a method of teaching how to increase profits by controlling costs, certainly two things that will never go out of style.  The advantage of a startup company having managers with Six Sigma certification gives the employer the comfort of knowing that the manager is dedicated to running the company with a sharp eye toward the bottom line.

Startup companies are also plagued by lack of process control and optimization, a skill that is honed through six sigma training. 6 sigma certification can teach start up managers to scrutinize what processes they do have in place and identify areas where new processes need to be constructed. This type of 6 sigma training can help start up companies diminish their burn rates, increase their cash flows, and, ultimately, become profitable — which is the entire goal of six sigma training in the first place.

Good startup managers have a good rapport with their employees, but they sometimes become so distracted by the socialization that they overlook the processes that are becoming money losers for the company.  Six Sigma training trains the manager to focus on the operations with an eye toward the profitability of the project.  More than managers of any other segment, startup managers need to be focused in this way, because it can literally make or break a young company’s ability to become successful.

Six sigma training also allows the startup manager to become a medium-sized company manager as the company leaves the incubation stage. In many cases, when the startup grows, the management team doesn’t — it’s either acquired or the business goes public, and in both cases the management team is often replaced by professionals with impressive management backgrounds. 6 sigma certification provides the start up manager with professional mettle — and, sometimes, a job.

If you are beginning a startup company and are looking for managers and employees, you would be wise to choose those with <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.sixsigmaonline.org”>6 Sigma</a> certificates. The internet’s highest regarded source for <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.sixsigmaonline.org”>Six Sigma</a> training is www.SixSigmaOnline.org. They specialize in the vaunted Six Sigma Black Belt training.

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Business problems plague all companies from time to time. A Google search reported 33.2 million results on the topic alone. In my opinion, it is not the business problem itself that defeats people from solving it, but it is the fear the problem generates. Recognizing that difference is the first step into breaking down the problem into smaller elements. By identifying critical elements to the problem the solutions reveal themselves as a by-product of the process. 

Paul worked for ABC Enterprises, a supplier of widgets, as the Inventory Control Manager. The company was successful in assembling widgets and had developed several different types of widgets ranging in size, features, and quality. To support shorter delivery lead times to their customers, ABC had a 80,000 square foot warehouse filled with components. A sudden increase in sales orders stretched ABC to their limits in assembly. Component shortages were reported for parts that were recently delivered, yet were unable to be found. The finger pointing started. The Purchasing Manager thought the Receiving Department was lagging behind in recording the receipt of material. Paul thought that the Purchasing Manager was not ordering and expediting material in fast enough. Several meetings were scheduled to figure out what was happening.

 What fears has this problem generated for the managers, just by its very existence? In addition to others, probably, the top three fears would be as follows. 1) The fear that their reputations will be damaged when it is discovered that the problem originated in their department. 2) The fear that they will not be able to correct the problem fast enough, if it is theirs to solve. 3) The fear that they do not know how to fix the problem within budget and labor constraints. 

How do these fears present themselves in the behavior of the managers? Here are just a few; 1) Defensiveness: an unwillingness to admit the problem might be in their department. 2) Denial: the problem is temporary due to fulfilling the high number of sales orders and will go away on its own when things settle down. 3) Blaming: on other departments as well as the lack of time, money, and labor. 

ABC employed a problem solving methodology that helped them to identify the critical elements to the shortage problem that revealed the primary cause. In reviewing the issue of component shortages, clarifying the problem revealed that it was the components for widget B that were late to the assembly line most often. Defining that distinction made the problem of component shortages smaller than all components and made the managers now curious instead of defensive. They reviewed the evidence by tracking sample component orders from Purchasing to Receiving into Inventory and out to the assembly floor. Purchasing was about two days behind what they could have been in the ordering process. Receiving was one day behind in their process. They went to the Inventory component bins and found some of them empty. As they stood there looking around the bin, Paul noticed that there were components placed in odd places and at eye level which made them easier for the warehouse stock pickers to grab and deliver to the assembly floor. Only certain stock pickers knew where to look. When the next shift arrived, they found empty bins and reported the component as on shortage even though they were sitting right there in an unmarked location. 

The managers were relieved that the root cause was something so easy to fix. They were impressed with the ingenuity of their well-meaning stock pickers to create short cuts to deliver components to the assembly floor not realizing the other problem they were creating. 

The moral of the story here is not to have your stock pickers attend component shortage meetings. Rather, it is to employ problem solving methodologies that break down the problem and fear surrounding it by; thoroughly defining it (which widget components, widget B) into smaller elements (purchasing ordering process, receiving process, stock picking process) based on objective evidence (time and identification) to lead to the best solution.