The Ultimate Six Sigma: Beyond Quality Excellence to Total Business Excellence

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2002), "The Ultimate Six Sigma: Beyond Quality Excellence to Total Business Excellence", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 330-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/tqmm.2002.14.5.330.2

Keki Bhote started his own consultancy (Keki R. Bhote Associates) after retiring from 42 years at Motorola. Starting as a development engineer he retired as Motorola’s senior corporate consultant. Under the stewardship of Robert W. Galvin, he had launched and nurtured the Six Sigma process, a strategic weapon, in the 1980s. Motorola had recorded an 800‐fold improvement in quality. Adi K. Bhote, the son of Keki, is the vice president of the consultancy and specializes in using design of experiment problem solving techniques to optimize products and processes.

World‐Class Quality: Using Design of Experiments to Make it Happen was first published in 1991 and the enhanced second edition includes a number of case studies, new techniques, extension of techniques to services, and a summary of related topics such as benchmarking, total productive maintenance, quality function deployment, supply chain management, etc.

This book comprises 24 chapters grouped into ten parts. The introductory part comprises three chapters: Chapter 1 deals with the need for, and objectives and benefits of, experiments. After highlighting inadequacies of some of the popular movements such as zero‐defects, quality awards, ISO‐9000, and conventional Six‐Sigma in Chapter 2, in the next chapter, a brief overview is given of the ten powerful tools applicable for the twenty‐first century.

The second part, comprising four chapters, is an introduction to the design of experiments (DOE) supported by case studies. First, the concept of process capability is explained with diagrams and examples and then an explanation is given of the four pitfalls to avoid (Chapter 4). Then attention is turned to explaining causes of variation in industry (Chapter 5). The three approaches to DOE – classical, Taguchi, and Shainin – are compared in Chapter 6 before concluding that the Shainin approach is the most effective and least expensive as it caters for separating the main effects from interaction effects. Chapter 7 is devoted to an overview of the ten powerful DOE tools, which are dealt with in detail in the chapters to follow. In this chapter it is stressed that for a successful solution of a given problem, it is necessary to have a measurement system whose accuracy is at least 5:1 relative to the accuracy of the product tolerance or specification width (whichever is larger).

Part III is entitled “Talking to the parts – a set of clue‐generating tools”, and comprises five chapters (8 to 12). This set of five tools based on sampling does not disrupt the production. The treatment of the tools follows a set pattern: a detailed description of the tool and a step‐by‐step procedure supported by case studies (successful and unsuccessful and lessons to be learnt); workshop exercises, application to white‐collar administrative problems, where applicable; and guidelines for DOE teams and questions for project reviews. The first tool dealt with is the multi‐vari analysis, a graphical technique, for reducing the large number of unknown causes to manageable ones. This analysis helps to determine three major families of variation – time‐to‐time, unit‐to‐unit, and within‐unit. This tool gets a fare treatment (40 pages) in Chapter 8. The topic of Chapter 9 (ten pages) is “The concentration chart” for pinpointing locations of repetitive problems within a unit or a part within the unit, if the latter itself is an assembly. B

The next topic of consideration (in Chapter 10) is the components search for identifying unit‐to‐unit variation in assembled parts manufactured at more or less the same time. This method involves analyzing two assembled units, one an extremely good unit and the other an extremely poor unit, by disassembling and reassembling in different ways. This technique is also covered comprehensively in 39 pages. For cases where the disassembly and reassembly of units is likely to cause damage, or radically change the characteristics of units, paired comparison tests are recommended and explained (Chapter 11). The final tool dealt with in this part is the product/process search for separating important process variables from unimportant ones (Chapter 12).

Formal DOE techniques to categorize a product/process are covered in the next three chapters, which form Part IV. Variables search technique is explained in depth in Chapter 13, and full factorial technique for separating and quantifying each interaction effect is dealt with in Chapter 14. In Chapter 15, the authors describe a non‐parametric verification tool to compare two different products, processes, methods, and business policies/practices.

In Part V, comprising two chapters, attention is turned to establishing the optimum target values, specification limits, and tolerances. Two techniques covered are scatter plots to achieve realistic specifications and tolerances for non‐interacting input variables, and response surface methodology to determine the best combination of interacting input variables. Part VI comprises two chapters devoted to briefly describing two unusual tools for linking DOE and SPC (statistical process control). In Chapter 18, the authors describe the positrol plan determining who, how, where, and when of monitoring, measuring, recording, to keep tight control of gains accrued from the previous steps. Process certification for eliminating peripheral causes of poor quality forms the subject of Chapter 19. Statistical process control for monitoring quality is covered in the next two chapters forming Part VII. Control charts are very briefly covered in Chapter 20, whereas pre‐control, a less well‐known tool, is covered in depth in Chapter 21.

In Chapter 22, the sole chapter of Part VIII, attention is turned to briefly listing the shortcomings in traditional reliability testing, before covering two revolutionary reliability tests: highly accelerated life tests, multiple environment over stress tests.

Case studies in sequential design of DOE tools to solve chronic problems are provided in Chapter 23 (Part IX). In Chapter 24 (Part X), the authors stress the importance of learning by doing, and emphasize the importance of diligent, disciplined, and sustained practice in gaining benefits from the use of DOE.

In conclusion, it is worth quoting the views of the chairman of American Productivity and Quality Center, displayed on the back cover of the second edition:

I read Keki Bhote’s amazing book with envy, applause and hope … applause because he stresses practical application, and hope that everyone who wants to improve quality will read this book – it’s Important.

The Ultimate Six Sigma: Beyond Quality Excellence to Total Business Excellence comprises 17 chapters grouped into two parts. The first part comprises five chapters and deals with definitions and concepts. The second part comprising 12 chapters deals with 12 areas of business excellence, supported by case studies. The book also contains a comprehensive list of contents, and a list of illustrations. This book’s preface (11 pages) briefly explains the need for this book, briefly summarizes Motorola’s Six Sigma, the hype and hyperbole of Six Sigma consulting companies, and gives a chapter‐by‐chapter synopsis in some depth.

In this book Keki provides convincing arguments why concentrating on things such as ISO 9000, the National Quality Awards, the hyped Six Sigma, downsizing do not deliver competitive advantage. He also shows how to rejuvenate an organization by concentrating collectively on customer retention, reducing cost of poor quality, total productive maintenance, supply chain management, and innovation.

In Chapter 1, while introducing the concepts of Ultimate Six Sigma, Keki defines Six Sigma and deal with the heresies of the hyped Six Sigma: the 1.5 Sigma Shift, diluting the defect level with part counts, fictitiously increasing the sigma level, and the application of Six Sigma to peripheral areas causing high costs without a corresponding improvement in value. Chapter 2 comprises lists of the needs, objectives, and a set of comprehensive customer and business metrics of the benefits of Ultimate Six Sigma. Chapter 3 is devoted to the 12 key areas of business performance and the strengths and weaknesses of the hyped Six Sigma perpetrated by consulting companies. In Chapter 5, Keki summarizes the scope, structure, and methodologies of the Ultimate Six Sigma; and provides a summary of the self‐assessment chart and scoring system by which organizations can measure their business health.

In Part 2, based on his research on leading companies’ expansion of Six Sigma, Keki devotes a chapter each for each of the 12 areas that are vital for transforming an organization from what he terms “small Q” of quality to the “big Q” of business excellence. In Chapter 6, he deals with the whys and hows of moving from customer satisfaction to customer loyalty, the bedrock of success in a highly competitive environment; and the importance of customer segmentation by classifying them according to the level of loyalty exhibited. In Chapter 7, he turns his attention to briefly explain what is involved in providing inspirational leadership and avoid stifling micromanagement. The topic of Chapter 8, how to move away from Taylorism and create an empowerment infrastructure in ten steps, is based on the ideas in the book Thriving on Chaos by Tom Peters (1987) published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

In the next three chapters Keki briefly deals respectively with how to release the latent creativity in employees by employing a balance of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation; generic and specific measurements for service effectiveness, innovation effectiveness, and empowerment effectiveness; and an array of ten quality tools required to achieve breakthrough quality improvement. The ten tools used by Motorola are briefly summarized. As Keki acknowledges, it would take a book for dealing in detail with each one of the tools, and hence Chapter 11 acts as an appetizer for those interested in detail.

Using Japanese car industry in general, and Toyota in particular as a benchmark, the topic of design productivity is dealt with in some depth in Chapter 12 (the longest chapter of 44 pages). The emphasis is on designing in half the time, with half the defects, half the costs, and half the manpower. In Chapter 13, it is shown how to move away from a confrontational customer‐supplier win‐lose situation into a win‐win partnership throughout the entire supply chain. In another longish chapter, Chapter 14, Keki briefly explains how to restore manufacturing to its rightful place as a major contributor to business excellence using the twin engines of accelerated quality improvement and cycle time reduction.

In the next two chapters Keki deals with the important area of field service to serve customer needs and improving productivity in service functions and service industries. He briefly explains the ten‐step improvement process of next operation as customer (NOAC) road map. In the final chapter he briefly covers the differences between traditional Six Sigma and the Ultimate Six Sigma and has provided a list of 15 primary metrics and 228 secondary metrics covering the entire results, broken out by area and discipline. Organizations could use these metrics to carry out self‐assessment.

The text is well written and easy to read. A clear explanation of the 1.5 Sigma shift and its effect alone makes this a useful book to read to avoid being taken for a ride by some overzealous consultants. It is a useful book for managers, even if they are not intending to implement Six Sigma, as the principles and practices can still be gainfully employed.

Finally, it is apt to summarize from Robert Galvin’s foreword to this book. There is a considerable amount of confusion about the true intent and spirit of Six Sigma, owing to the different and controversial approaches adopted by some companies and their consultants, and Bhote’s landmark book is aimed at setting the record straight. I would certainly confirm that it does, after reviewing a few books on Six Sigma written by other consultants.

This is a joint review with World Class Quality: Using Design of Experiments to Make It Happen, 2nd ed.