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MagnaChip Semiconductor recently announced the launch of its Six Sigma management system designed to improve product quality, save money and enhance its business profile. The program started March 21 at the company’s headquarters in Cheongju, Korea. The initiative focuses on MagnaChip’s…
Rath & Strong recently published a new, easy-to-carry guide to lean implementations. Rath & Strong’s Lean Pocket Guide (Charlene Adair, Rath & Strong, 2006) includes concise, easily accessible, practical instruction for understanding lean and implementing improvement projects.…
The American Society for Quality recently awarded Milwaukee County a $5,000 grant to implement a pilot Six Sigma program. The grant was provided through ASQ’s Community Good Works Program, which provides money and expertise to nonprofit organizations that want to improve their…
PowerSteering Software Inc. recently released enhanced software that features an advanced reporting module and new demand management functionality driven by an active voice-of-the-customer program. PowerSteering Enterprise 4.7 provides more than 100,000 users with beefed-up strategy…
A conference focusing on the use of lean and Six Sigma in defense applications will be held May 8–10 in Washington, D.C. The Lean and Six Sigma for Defense conference will feature case studies that demonstrate how the methodologies have been used for defense purposes, along with experts to…
Cummins, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of engines, will host its annual Six Sigma Project Expo in May. The event will showcase 43 winners of the company’s annual Chairman’s Quality Award on May 9 in Columbus, Indiana. It’s open to the public. The projects displayed will…
The winners of the prestigious Six Sigma Excellence Awards were announced recently at the seventh annual Six Sigma Summit in Miami. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, was the conference’s keynote speaker, and conference organizer IQPC reported a significant increase in the number of…
The Conference Board’s 2006 Six Sigma Leadership Conference—Business Innovation Initiatives for Building Successful Results Through Six Sigma will be held March 28–29 at the Wyndam in Chicago. It’s being presented in collaboration with the Premier Performance Network. James A. Firestone, Xerox…
Ten very different organizations recently received The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. The prize, which has been dubbed the Nobel Prize of manufacturing, recognizes organizations’ quality and efficiency achievements using lean principles. It’s the premier manufacturing…
Dave Rasmusson’s The SIPOC Picture Book: A Visual Guide to the SIPOC/DMAIC Relationship (Oriel Inc., 2006) helps readers use Six Sigma concepts to sort, categorize and organize new concepts and information, and integrate them with what they already know. SIPOC—supplier-input-process-…
The Global Six Sigma Awards will be presented on June 28, 2006, at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Scheduled to coincide with the Global SixSigma Summit, the awards will honor Six Sigma’s best achievements and leading practitioners.Entries for 12 different awards (10…
Synthis Corp., a provider of enterprise knowledge-management software, was recently named one of Georgia’s most innovative technology companies. The list was compiled by the Technology Association of Georgia, which accepts nominees from the state’s technology community. Recipients are…
Perkins Technical Services Inc. was recently awarded a nearly $500 million contact to provide lean Six Sigma consulting, process management and organizational development throughout the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command. Perkins has subcontracted much of the work. One of the…
Diane Ritter, a prolific author and former colleague of W. Edwards Deming, recently joined The Quality Group as its director of business excellence. Ritter is a co-author of the popular The Memory Jogger (GOAL/QPC, 1994) series of Six Sigma pocket guides, and has more than two decades of…
An upcoming conference will examine the dual use of lean and Six Sigma to achieve the most return on investment. Lean Six Sigma 2006, hosted by Ixperion, will focus on the application, not simply the theory of the methodologies. There will be streams designed for manufacturing,…
A new business-process–outsourcing contract Wachovia recently made with Genpact will allow Genpact to drive Six Sigma deeply into the banking giant. Genpact, which was established as a financial services subsidiary of GE Capital and broke off from the company in 2004, reports that all of…
The 4th Annual Six Sigma in Healthcare Conference will be held March 29–31 at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. James G. Springfield, president and CEO of Valley Baptist Health System, will share Valley Baptist’s Six Sigma journey in his keynote address. Valley Baptist has…
six sigma IQ recently announced the speaker panel for its upcoming Six Sigma Summit in London.The panel includes Sir John Harvey-Jones, from the BBC television series Troubleshooter and former chairman of ICI; Dieter List, Alstom Power Services director of business performance…
Cessna Aircraft Co. reports that the implementation of lean and Six Sigma helped it make significant gains last year. The company delivered 249 Citation jets, 822 single-engine pistons and 86 Caravan single-engine turboprops, and won FAA certification for two new jets, among other…
Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey recently announced three recipients of the Army Performance Excellence Awards. The winners are: the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey (Gold Award); Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield…
American Society for Quality’s 2006 Six Sigma Conference will be held Feb. 6-7 in Palm Springs. The event will feature a Superbowl party, a Black Belt certification exam, dozens of educational sessions and the ASQ Golf Classic. It’ll be held at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and Spa.…
The U.S. Navy recently contracted a small Connecticut business to provide upward of $96 million worth of Six Sigma, theory of constraints and lean training within the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE). The training is part of the NAE’s Enterprise AIRSpeed program, an enterprise level,…
Advanced Integrated Technologies Group Inc. recently became the newest member of Decisioneering Inc.’s Six Sigma Partner Program. As a Six Sigma Partner, AIT Group will begin using Decisioneering’s Crystal Ball software in its Six Sigma, design for Six Sigma and lean Six Sigma…
LASON India, a worldwide provider of business-process outsourcing and a leading Indian Six Sigma practitioner, will add 1,600 new jobs to support significant business growth. LASON India was formed in 1992 and currently employs 6,600 people. It recently moved into new headquarters in…
The Defense Contract Management Agency recently awarded Sypris Electronics an “outstanding” rating for its efforts in support of small businesses.Companies that work with the Department of Defense and the DCMA are required to submit Small Business Subcontracting Plans that include a list…