Six Sigma program at 3M, Inc. MBA6151 unit IV case study

Six Sigma, an analytical and quality control method, was first developed by Motorola to improve the quality of production, towards excellence in all business operations Schroeder, Goldst

Six Sigma program at 3M, Inc.

Le Viet Anh

Columbia Southern University

Six Sigma, an analytical and quality control method, was first developed by Motorola to improve the quality of production, towards excellence in all business operations (Schroeder, Goldstein, & Rungtusanatham, 2013) This article would like to take a 3M Inc as an example to analyze the benefits, risks, and points of interest when applying Six Sigma in the enterprise

Benefits, Costs, and Risks of the Six Sigma program

Six Sigma is a systematic approach that uses five basic steps: defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling to improve the business process or minimize defects found

in the product The main process of the Six Sigma is the DMAIC model, which deals with defining problems through the voice of the customer and then finds a way to measure and control the same (Shankar, 2009)

Some typical benefits of Six Sigma are increased customer satisfaction, fueling and activating the organization's operations, improving product quality, service and process 3M's use

of Six Sigma will help the company achieve the benefits of using advanced technology and modern media By addressing outstanding issues and solve them, it will increase the company's sales, management efficiency, and ensure organizational sustainable growth By implementing a streamlined and efficient process, the company will save resources and minimize defects, thereby increasing profitability In addition, more staff will be trained and they will understand the procedure better as well as the objective conditions that affect the implementation of the

procedure In the case the current company does not have existing processes, the Six Sigma will

be used as a process to guide and develop other processes

The cost of executing the Six Sigma is quite high, as it is usually done on dedicated leaders, vice presidents, or selected employees to train them to become "black belts," also known

as full time process improvement specialists It will become even more costly when this training lasts up to 4 weeks with ongoing expenses and trainee need to leave their daily work These costs are mainly for training and management In the case of 3M, the company conducted training programs in 2000 with about 4000 people involved in the project With large numbers of

participants and large costs, large enterprises can afford and will achieve high efficiency when applied, but small businesses need to consider carefully the advance capital for the project The balance between cash flow and efficiency needs to be carefully discussed before proceeding

The risk of the program lies in the high cost, complexity of the program, and the

difficulty in measuring results for service processes and transaction-based processes (Kubiak, 2012) Firstly, if a program is not fully evaluated and controlled, then resulting in

ineffectiveness, the company will lose a large amount of money Next, the complexity of the program requires companies to provide specific instructions to employees Any lack of

information can lead to ineffectiveness of the whole program Finally, if the business is

intangible, the Six Sigma will not be able to evaluate its performance directly The Six Sigma also focuses primarily on product orientation with the least error and variation This can put pressure on and hinder the process of product improvement and innovation

Involvement of functional departments in the Six Sigma initiatives

The main purpose of the Six Sigma is to use DMAIC and identify problems with an organization This process requires the involvement of all departments and related functions with the end result of improving the quality of a product Different departments within the

organization will have different approaches but they have a common implementation schedule that includes identifying specific current issues, measuring, analyzing, improving and

controlling This will enhance the ability of all parts of the company as well as the linkage between the parts Since this is a senior management strategy for improving the current process

or developing new processes, senior management plays an important role in implementing Six Sigma Managers at the middle level serve as a bridge between management and staff so their role is equally important

In short, applying Six Sigma must be done systematically throughout the entire system For management tasks, the responsibility belongs to senior management, black belt Middle level managers will receive policy from the black belt and carry out the work at the bottom

Implications of the human resource for the deployment of Six Sigma

The reason that human resources departments need to implement Six Sigma is to ensure that they will hire the right people, for the right position, at the right time and in the right way to maintain and develop those people (Bloom, 2016) By applying this, it allows HR to reject applicants that are not suitable for the company Although most staff will be trained to make at least a blue belt, all teams will need a black belt, as a leader, to help improve the team

In addition, the Six Sigma also plays an important role in the organizational structure as there will be many divisions to discuss and work on and agree on a specific process The

functional structure of the business describes the flow of information communicated between different levels within an organization, but it does not guarantee cohesion between members, the workflow or process itself will solve that problem In addition, the combination of functional departments can also be changed to suit the conditions, to ensure their work and responsibilities

Moreover, the reward system also plays an important part in improving the quality of work of employees (Bloom, 2016) This program will select personnel for each department and

apply appropriate financial incentives to motivate employees to contribute to the company Once the motivation is large enough, the employee will try to accomplish the task assigned with high quality, even beyond the expectation of management

Recommendations on Six Sigma deployments at 3M, Inc.

Six Sigma will affect the culture of innovation at 3M as it is quite strict, and tends to prevent the flexibility and innovation in creating and developing new products (Schroeder, Goldstein, & Rungtusanatham, 2013) Powerful restrictions will help prevent production defects but it does not allow the company to take the necessary risks to create something new, as 3M has ever had It will be necessary for the company to balance the Six Sigma and creativity

Over the past hundred years of innovation and development, 3M has repeatedly achieved significant sales growth Most of that growth comes from research and development of new products Applying Six Sigma to improve the process is essential for the company to be able to operate stably and to handle the burden of management However, this should not be considered

as a solution for all phases of operation The company needs to study the Six Sigma more closely

to find an organizational structure that can support the development of the process while giving room for innovation and creativity

Bloom, D (2016) The Field Guide to Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma Boca Raton,

FL: CRC Press

Kubiak, T M (2012) The Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt Handbook Milwaukee, WI:

ASQ Quality Press

Schroeder, R G., Goldstein, S M., & Rungtusanatham, M J (2013) Operations Management

in the Supply Chain: Decisions and Cases, 6th ed New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Shankar, R (2009) Process Improvement Using Six Sigma: A DMAIC Guide Milwaukee, WI :

ASQ Quality Press