1. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. The Top Reasons Six Sigma Projects Fail Lou Johnson Technical Training Specialist Minitab Inc. ASQ 2008 World Conference May 2008

2. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Demographics & Data Collection Pareto of Common Failure Modes Top Eight Failure Modes – Detail What Did Not Make the List Question and Answer Overview

3. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. N = 180 Green Belt 24% Black Belt 51% Master Black Belt 17% Champion 8% Demographics: Six Sigma Practitioners

4. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. N = 114 Large Mfg. 35% Large Svc. 18% Small Mfg. 32% Small Svc. 15% Demographics: Companies

5. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. 42 Total Failure Modes Pareto Chart 29 Modes

6. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Top 8 Reasons for Failure

7. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. “We did all our training on a TI83 calculator.” Only Blackbelts are trained - (small company) Management doesn’t have the knowledge to support projects Process owners don’t feel confident of the outcome Project leaders feel overwhelmed No Project “ Only 40% of our students complete a project in the 1 st year.” “We tell our clients to bring a project to training. They never do.” “Trainees never get to practice what they learned.” No coaching or mentoring from MBB’s or Trainers 8:Training was Poor

8. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Project Goal: Reduce wrapping defects to less than.5% The Defect Slayers’ Story Board Financial Results: saved $30,156 in 2006! The Successful Failure Charter

9. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. “My understanding of Six Sigma tells me that improvement realized through the rigor of Six Sigma methodologies must be unquestionably significant, must make the process look different, and generate enough savings to be shared with the team members and still increase the corporate bottom line” Praveen Gupta, Quality Digest commentary, 2007 7: Poor use of resources for DMAIC rigor Take Home Message: It takes about the same effort to complete a $300,000 project as a $30,000 project, maybe less. SelectionExecution $30K Selection $300K Execution After Completing the Project the Team Members Should Feel it was Worth the Effort..

10. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Scope / Definition of Project WeightEvaluation CriteriaAnswerRisk Score 1 The project has a clearly identified customerYes1 1 The project has a clearly definable defectYes1 1 The defect can be effectively and accurately measuredYes1 1 The defect metric can be defined at the opportunity levelYes1 1 Costs can readily be associated with the defectYes1 1 Defects are of an ongoing nature and at a measurable levelNo10 1 The process to be improved has reasonably high output volumeYes1 1 The project can be completed in a timely mannerNo10 1 The project has only one defect (one DPMO)Yes1 1 The project will involve only one productYes1 1 Project improvements will not depend on modifying operations outside of organizationYes1 1 The project is limited to only one geographic locationYes1 1 The project will have visible management supportYes1 1 The input variables can be readily modified producing changes in outputNo10 Scope/Definition - Project Score41 Project Goal: Improve OSHA recordable incidents to < 3 / period. Safety Improvement Team * * Project Risk Assessment tool available in Quality Companion by Minitab

11. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Inappropriate Projects for DMAIC Methodology Select a vendor for our SPC software Reduce auto part failures one year into life of the car Install a new finishing line for our desktop product – Perhaps DFSS for this project “ Having BBs and GBs pick their own projects is not a good strategy in our experience” Snee & Hoerl, Six Sigma Beyond the Factory Floor, 2005 Six Sigma practice projects “You must do a Gage R&R” 6: Project forced into DMAIC format

12. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Limit Project Scope One geographical location Within organizational influence One measurable product / defect Clearly defined customer SIPOC 5: Project Scope Too Large

13. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. “While only 32% of respondents in organizations with new (< 1 year ) Six Sigma programs frequently or always use a formal prioritization process, 63% of those in organizations with 5 – 10 years experience with Six Sigma do.” Jonathan Atwood, iSixSigma Research – Project Selection, 2005 Let’s take a break! Take Home Message: Selecting the right Six Sigma projects is key to their success. Utilize a formal project selection process from the beginning of your Six Sigma implementation.

14. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. No Data Service Quality projects can be difficult Defect occurs in the customer’s process Limited access to operations data – Confidentiality & privacy issues Bad Data – Check it! Do the Gage R&R first – 156% of Tolerance!? Attribute data has a tremendous potential for variation Gage calibration and drift. 4: No Data / Bad Data

15. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Process owner was not involved in the project Six Sigma Department Process owner was never interested in the project Project hand-off The DMA.. Methodology “This is not what we expected!” 3: Solution not implemented

16. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Solution Preventative planning meetings$$ Mold designer checks prescription$ Thicker chrome plating$$$ Reduce press speed$$$ Is this solution worth implementing? One shutdown = $8k Potential Project Savings = 12 x 23 x $8k = $2.2kk/yr Yes! + Work! 2: Project is not linked to finances Project Goal: Reduce the number of press shutdowns caused by mold in equipment from 37 to < 14 per month.

17. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Failure Rate for linked projects26 / 106 = 25% Failure Rate for non-linked projects 41 / 76 = 54% 8035 2641 Yes No YesNo Financial Link? Successful? 2: Project is not linked to finances Data: A major manufacturer of building materials monitored project characteristics and project success.

18. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. “You shouldn’t ask your employees to do something you’re not willing to do yourself. The engagement of senior management is critical to any significant organizational change” Alan Kent, CEO of Meadows Regional Medical Center Commenting on factors that lead to his company’s successful Lean Six Sigma project, 2007 “After our CEO left the company, our Six Sigma program just faded away.” 1: Management support Small Service Quality company employee

19. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. 1: Management Support Consider: Gantt Charts Y Metrics Cause & Effect Diagrams Balloting Presentation Mode

20. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Project was too complex to solve No Rewards / Recognition program “We didn’t understand the statistics behind Six Sigma” Politics Causes that didn’t show up on the list

21. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. Application of DMAIC Best Practices for Implementation Conclusion

22. © 2008 Minitab, Inc. The Top Reasons Six Sigma Projects Fail Lou Johnson Technical Training Specialist Minitab Inc. ASQ 2008 World Conference May 2008 Thank you for your time and participation! Questions?