Quality Beyond Six Sigma
Providing a practical implementation of the issues of Six Sigma, Lean Enterprise and Total Quality, this stimulating guide aligns the 'hard' sigma message with the softer sustainable 'strategic issues'.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Quality Beyond Six Sigma
Chapter 1: Why FIT SIGMA ?
Men my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new: That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do.
Tennyson
Introduction
This chapter considers the world of change and the need for organizations to be aware of the factors required to sustain competitive advantage from the introduction of change programmes.
A Competitive World
This is a competitive world. The pace of change is increasing, and businesses are continuously being disrupted by external factors. In recent times the biggest external factor has been e-commerce or e-business. The spectacular rise in 1999 and fall in 2000 of so many dot.com companies showed that without substance no business will survive. When a large bubble bursts, innocent bystanders will feel some effect. E-business has actually been around for many years, and organizations with substance have benefited vastly from the intelligent use of information technology. The most successful pioneer in e-business is arguably the banking industry; likewise, the success of bar coding in the supply chain cannot be denied. In 2001 e-business made another spectacular advance, with the formation of large business-to-business alliances. Business to business (B to B) took on a new meaning with the advent of the Covisint alliance between Daimler/Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. It is reported that the alliance of these three major (and fiercely competitive) organizations has a purchasing power of $300 billion per annum. The interesting phenomenon is that such fiercely competitive organizations have been able to form an alliance at all! Other industry...
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