The Unforgiving Demands of "Six Sigma" Process Controls
1. Read the text.
The term “six sigma” is one familiar to statisticians. In practical terms, it means reducing the defects in a process to just over three per million. It is thus an extremely demanding target for quality control.
The term was thought up 10 years ago by the US electronics group Motorola, based on Japanese methods of total quality management. The approach is particularly suited to the high-volume, high precision electronics industry. For example, a mobile phone such as Motorola produces might contain 400 components. If a company operates to two-sigma – 45 000 defects per million – on each part, the chances of the phone being defective are far too high.
General Electric is now in its second year of applying six sigma across its businesses. Last year, it spent $200m on the initial parts of the programme. This year it aims to spend $300m and expects cost savings in the year of $400m-$500m: that is, a profit of $100m–$200m.
Six sigma is by no means confined to manufacturing. GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric, applies it to processes ranging from billing to various kinds of customer service. Denis Nayden, president of GE Capital, says that in practical terms the hard part of applying six sigma is obtaining real data. “It’s highly dependent on the data you have,” he says. “And given all the businesses we’re in, the data are all different.” Thereafter, he says: “The real question is whether you can put the right model in place, so the process has fewer moving parts and less things to break down. It’s very important to change the process fundamentally. You need to change the whole behaviour of the company, to become more responsive to the customer.”
This last part is crucial. GE Capital surveys its customers regularly – some weekly, some monthly or quarterly, depending on their business – to check their performance. “It’s very important that the customer is engaged in this,” Nayden says. “We use a score card, whereby customers identify what’s going wrong and what we should focus on.”
By Tony Jackson
from the Financial Times
2. Questions to the text:
1. What does the term “six sigma” mean?
2. How often does GE survey its customers?
3. When was the “six sigma” term introduced?
4. If a company operates to two sigma, is there a big chance you will gat a defective product?
5. Where was the “six sigma” term invented?
6. Is the “six sigma” approach equally suitable for all goods?
3. What do these figures refer to in the text?
| 1. 2 | 7. 300 |
| 2. 200 | 8. 10,000 |
| 3. 400 | 9. 6 |
| 4. 400–500 | 10. 3 |
| 5. 45,000 | 11. 10 |
| 6. 100–200 |
4. True or false? Read the statements and correct the false ones.
1. GE says six sigma makes it more aware of customers’ needs.
2. GE changes the way it does things when it applies six sigma.
3. GE has found it easy to apply to different activities.
4. GE only uses six sigma in manufacturing.
5. GE expects to save over $400 million in the second year by using it.
6. GE spent $200 million on six sigma in the first year.
7. GE has been using six sigma for three years.
5. There are certain contractions used in the article, such as “the US” which refers to the United States, or “GE” which is General Electric.
Here is a list of some more widely-used contractions. Can you say what they stand for?
| 1. NBA | 10. R’n’B |
| 2. NHL | 11. R’n’R |
| 3. GB | 12. TGIF |
| 4. UK | 13. WC |
| 5. NY | 14. e-mail |
| 6. USSR | 15. UN |
| 7. HR | 16. NATO |
| 8. HP | 17. CV |
| 9. RD |
6. Use the words and phrases separated by slashes and add the missing words to make complete sentences about GE, based on the article. Each slash indicates one missing word, and the words in brackets have to be put into their correct grammatical form.
1. Mr. Nayden (think) it / very important / customers should / (involve) / the process.
2. / involvement / customers / extremely /.
3. GE (use) / score card, where customers (show) what (need) (improve) / what it / concentrate /.
4. GE Capital (question) / customers regularly – some / week, some / month, some / three months: / (depend) / their type / business – / order / check how it / (do).
7. Big Definition Game!
a) Match the words to build new word combinations:
| 1. to break | a. control |
| 2. Japanese | b. defects |
| 3. moving | c. quality management |
| 4. real | d. fundamentally |
| 5. to reduce | e. demanding |
| 6. customer | f. responsive |
| 7. total | g. part |
| 8. to change | h. down |
| 9. to become | i. service |
| 10. quality | j. methods |
| 11. crucial | k. parts |
| 12. extremely | l. data |
b) Now compete with your classmates. Individually or in small groups make the longest sentence trying to include as many word-combinations as possible.
8. Little Definition Game!
a) Match the words to build new word combinations:
| 1. familiar | a. control |
| 2. demanding | b. methods |
| 3. high | c. term |
| 4. mobile | d. precision |
| 5. high | e. target |
| 6. quality | f. phone |
| 7. Japanese | g. volume |
b) Now match these expressions to their definitions:
1) produced in large numbers
2) the activity of achieving and maintaining high quality
3) a goal that is difficult to reach
4) a phone you can use anywhere
5) extremely accurate
6) a word you know and understand
7) the way they do things in Japan
9. Questions to ponder for group discussion:
1. Have you ever bought a defective product and what did you do then?
Did you make a complaint or did you tolerate it?
2. Is total perfection possible?
3. If you are a student, do you think idea of quality can influence the way you study, write essays, compositions, etc.? If you work in a company, how do ideas about quality affect your work?
Key:
Ex. 5.
1. NBA – National Basketball Association (U.S.)
2. NHL – National Hockey League (U.S.)
3. GB – Great Britain
4. UK – United Kingdom
5. NY – New York
6. USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
7. HR – Human Relations
8. HP – Hewlett Packard
9. RD – Research and Development (R&D)
10. R’n’B – Rhythm and Blues
11. R’n’R – Rock and Roll
12. TGIF – Thank God it’s Friday
13. WC – Water Closet
14. e-mail – electronic mail
15. UN – United Nations
16. NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization
17. CV – curriculum vitae (résumé)
Ex. 7. 1. h; 2. j; 3. k; 4. l; 5. b; 6. i; 7. c; 8. d; 9. f; 10. a; 11. g; 12. e