Over the last 20 years Six Sigma has grown to global popularity as one of the best improvement initiatives that any company can implement.

However as the cost of entering into a Six Sigma isn't cheap, how can we ensure that we get the best value for our money? In this presentation I will be looking at some of the issues that cause this vast disparity in the value of Six Sigma implementations. Also the ways and means of identifying that value has or hasn't been met, and if the latter how early warning can be used to turn things around to minimise and negative impact . Return to Program or go to Bio

Estimates for Six Sigma project failure rates vary widely, from around 30% up to 80% of all projects. The gurus who provided the basis for quality management theory, such as Deming, Juran, Crosby, Imai and others gave detailed prescriptions for successful quality improvement programs. However, they provided little in the way of addressing the critical requirements of individual improvement projects (for an exception, see Juran & Gryna, 1988, chapter 22).
In contrast, the literature on project management concerns itself almost exclusively with the critical factors for project success. This presentation asks how quality projects such as those carried out using Lean and Six Sigma approaches can be improved by applying insights from project management research. It also questions the level of empirical support for the advice of Six Sigma consultants. Return to Program or go to Bio

There are a number of Training providers for Lean and Six Sigma in Australia . This includes large multinational corporations, private companies and academic-linked institutions providing training at Black Belt level to middle management and above and also Registered Training Organizations (RTO's) providing (equivalent) training to middle management and below.

Training and competency of lean six sigma practitioners to a particular standard is not consistent across the training providers. Further, there is no recognized common and widely used international standard of certification either.

This presentation proposes a standard model as a way of assessing competence of lean six sigma practitioners. The model is linked to the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) and allows participants to receive a Diploma of Competitive Manufacturing as well as a Certification at Black Belt level with the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Return to Program or go to Bio

Green Belt, Yellow Belt, Black Belt, Black Belt Master, Yellow Belt Plus, these are some of the levels achievable from training providers in Australia, but do they all mean the same thing and how close to the Green/Yellow/Black Belt status are they?

The concept of standardising Six Sigma training provider certification in Australia can help to level the field and deliver consistent outcomes to course attendees and their ultimate customers.

RABQSA International is proposing such an approach and Peter Holtmann, Director Business Development & Marketing, aims to explain the model by which this can be achieved.

The perceived benefits of standardised, certified Six Sigma training include:

• Recognition of the Six Sigma qualification by industry;
• The transportability of qualification between industries and countries;
• The recognition of training provider certification internationally through the assessment against the International Standard SIO/IEC 17024:2003; and
• The benchmarking of training and examination processes to ensure training graduates can meet the certification requirements of Organizations such as the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

The presentation will outline the keys concepts in the design, development and delivery of a competency-based training certification scheme .Return to Program or go to Bio

Ever wondered why most improvement efforts fail to realise their benefits?
Is a structured method key to successful change?
Can you develop then sustain a workplace where improvement is business-as-usual?

Enterprises are spending unprecedented amounts qualifying their people to conduct systematic improvement . and it simply isn't working.

In his controversial address, Dan Jackson will provide empirical evidence why most organisations don't achieve successful improvement. He will challenge:
•  non-egalitarian approaches to improvement,
•  the danger of qualifying 'belts' and its effect on the workplace,
•  Statistics, statistics and lies in trying to measure non-transactional processes.

Dan will go on to offer what is crucial to real improvement and provide a team-based alternative to bringing successful change to an enterprise; change that can be sustained by in-house teams with the tools to conduct improvement properly.Go to Bio or Return to Program

Designing and implementing such continual improvement interventions such as Kaizen, Automotive 8D, Lean, Quality Circles, BPR, Six Sigma T along with current best practice research, point to a need to get back to the basics:

• Understand the drivers for change within the business plan and how the continual improvement intervention supports or enables its delivery
• Define who are the various organisation stakeholders, the current and likely expectations to assist selecting a CI intervention
• Access your Business or QM System and determine if it is process based or clause based ( Opportunity for Improvement) for identifying processes
• Assess what the business plan goals or strategy map, stakeholder needs, QMS process and customer issues or 'Rules' that drive the business
• Select the 'Tools' that best meet the needs of the business and its stakeholders that deliver quality, cost and delivery targets
• Given past and current change initiatives, decide, resource and enable 'the People' engagement process in 'Productive Learning System©' training
• •  Integrate lessons learned, improvement, problem resolved, causes eliminated and QMS procedural process changes and audit to business plan

Every organisation has a system and a hierarchy of processes that converts inputs, through its processes to produce outputs and then outcomes. Given the history of modern quality improvement from Dr Walter Shewhart in 1924, the seven steps above have been proven successful in making continual improvements stick within a continuous improvement culture. Go to Bio or Return to Program

Six Sigma projects do not occur in an organisational vacuum - the key enabler of sustainable business results from a Six Sigma program is an organisational culture of continuous improvement.
This presentation will cover:-

• A culture of Continuous Improvement
• Necessary and sufficient conditions - the requirements on culture for Continuous Improvement
• Project based Six Sigma versus everyday
• Requirements on Leaders. Go to Bio or Return to Program

The AOQ-QLD is the oldest member based association for quality and like professionals in Australia. It conducts a wide range of effective State as well as National programs across quality, continuous improvement, aerospace, aged care, risk, etc.

High on its list of priorities is to develop a "home" for six-sigma and lean technology based individuals where they can discuss common technical problems and develop new techniques and processes through interaction with up to six universities.

Mario will also discuss the opportunities open to members of the Six Sigma Division members eg
1. Advice on implementation of Lean Six Sigma
2. Advice on research into Lean Six Sigma
3. Advice of case studies and best practice
Return to Program or go to Bio

You will learn how a number of organisations have implemented interactive Lean Six Sigma learning experiences which take people out of the business with almost no process improvement competency and over a 2 to 4 day period transform them into motivated and enthusiastic change agents.

Through a combination of classroom training, hands on workshops & an interactive process simulation, they begin to see business processes they didn't know existed, and gain practical experience in applying Lean Six Sigma tools to solve problems.

They see their processes with a "new set of eyes", and leave the training being able to:
•  see waste where is wasn't previously visible to them,
•  how backlog impacts the business and customers, and
•  how to continually improve their work environment.

Typically, they catch the "Lean bug", and will never again look at a supermarket queue in the same way, as they mentally calculate how long it will take to reach the checkout by using Little's Law.

Organisational outcomes include a way to harness the many good ideas for process improvement without waiting for large-scale IT projects, much improved engagement scores from team members, and noticeable benefits in customer service and business capacity. Return to Program or go to Bio

Like any other technologies or techniques, implementing Six Sigma (SS) in an organisation requires a comprehensive understanding on surrounding issues on the implementation process. Many have been written on this topic which strongly suggests that "It is not what you implement, but how you implement it".