Understanding The Increasing Relevancy Of Six Sigma Pilot Projects
http://www.esmartarticles.com/articles/51934/1/Understanding-The-Increasing-Relevancy-Of-Six-Sigma-Pilot-Projects/Page1.html
Tony Jacowski
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts. By Tony Jacowski
Published on October 17th, 2008
Six Sigma may have turned out to be one of the greatest success stories of our time, but even so, businesses need to address caution obviously because there can never be a system that's completely failsafe or risk free.
In effect, it means that Six Sigma also has its risks, even though it has successfully delivered on many loftier goals and objectives, such as bringing down the defect rate to not more than 3.4 per million opportunities that might exist for such defects to occur.
So, what exactly can businesses do for reducing the quantum of risks associated with Six Sigma implementations? Well, for the right answer, you simply have to look at the existing trends in the business world, which is increasingly making its preferences felt in Pilot Six Sigma projects.
Defining Pilot Six Sigma Projects
To start with, you need to know that Pilot Six Sigma projects are nothing but toned- down versions of full-scale Six Sigma implementation projects. You can compare them with the clinical trials of an experimental vaccine, medicine or diagnostic tool that has not yet been cleared for commercial production.
In effect, Six Sigma Pilot projects are basically experimentations that a business conducts in order to check for compatibility and to get a hang of the real thing. The best thing about Six Sigma Pilot projects is that the business benefits, irrespective of the success or failure of the Pilot project.
If the project succeeds, the business gains because it then becomes eligible for full scale Six Sigma implementations. And it gains even in the event of a failure, because a failed Pilot project provides a good opportunity to identify the latent shortcomings of the business that may be difficult to point out in the due course.
Who Are The Most Prominent Beneficiaries?
Over the years, Six Sigma Pilot projects have been carried out by almost all types of businesses, large and small. Benefits, it seems, have also been distributed equally, irrespective of the size or nature of the business.
However, it wouldn't be wrong to say that it's the small businesses that have benefited the most, obviously because they are the ones who often do not have the financial muscle to sustain the grave business risks that can easily become a possibility during full-scale Six Sigma implementations.
Six Sigma Pilot projects have helped these businesses in reducing risks associated with full-scale Six Sigma implementations. Large businesses may be doing the same, but since they often have many other options to choose from, they are not completely dependent on Six Sigma Pilot projects.
Small businesses, on the other hand, hardly have any other option - and this is why they are the ones who stand to gain the most from Six Sigma Pilot implementation projects.
For deriving the best possible benefits from Six Sigma Pilot projects, businesses should make an effort to identify processes that have comparatively lesser risks associated with them.
This way, the day to day functioning of the business will not get affected even if the Pilot project fails to take off. This is applicable for all types of businesses, large and small.
So, what exactly can businesses do for reducing the quantum of risks associated with Six Sigma implementations? Well, for the right answer, you simply have to look at the existing trends in the business world, which is increasingly making its preferences felt in Pilot Six Sigma projects.
Defining Pilot Six Sigma Projects
To start with, you need to know that Pilot Six Sigma projects are nothing but toned- down versions of full-scale Six Sigma implementation projects. You can compare them with the clinical trials of an experimental vaccine, medicine or diagnostic tool that has not yet been cleared for commercial production.
In effect, Six Sigma Pilot projects are basically experimentations that a business conducts in order to check for compatibility and to get a hang of the real thing. The best thing about Six Sigma Pilot projects is that the business benefits, irrespective of the success or failure of the Pilot project.
If the project succeeds, the business gains because it then becomes eligible for full scale Six Sigma implementations. And it gains even in the event of a failure, because a failed Pilot project provides a good opportunity to identify the latent shortcomings of the business that may be difficult to point out in the due course.
Who Are The Most Prominent Beneficiaries?
Over the years, Six Sigma Pilot projects have been carried out by almost all types of businesses, large and small. Benefits, it seems, have also been distributed equally, irrespective of the size or nature of the business.
However, it wouldn't be wrong to say that it's the small businesses that have benefited the most, obviously because they are the ones who often do not have the financial muscle to sustain the grave business risks that can easily become a possibility during full-scale Six Sigma implementations.
Six Sigma Pilot projects have helped these businesses in reducing risks associated with full-scale Six Sigma implementations. Large businesses may be doing the same, but since they often have many other options to choose from, they are not completely dependent on Six Sigma Pilot projects.
Small businesses, on the other hand, hardly have any other option - and this is why they are the ones who stand to gain the most from Six Sigma Pilot implementation projects.
For deriving the best possible benefits from Six Sigma Pilot projects, businesses should make an effort to identify processes that have comparatively lesser risks associated with them.
This way, the day to day functioning of the business will not get affected even if the Pilot project fails to take off. This is applicable for all types of businesses, large and small.