3 list of questions for louann

7/27/2019 3 List of Questions for Louann

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3 List of questions for Louann?

Before listing the questions for Louann, the senior manager, there are several issues which

need to be considered, which forms the basis of this meeting. Anthony has already said “yes”

to Louann’s request to implement Six Sigma @ the Edge at Rivermede plant. So it is certain

that Six Sigma @ the Edge will be implemented. Further, Anthony has already worked as the plant manager of Rivermede plant for 19 months (From Dec 2003 [1] to Jul 2005 [2]). He has

been through many Six Sigma projects. In only one month in August 2005, there were seven

Six Sigma projects underway in his plant, and two of them were championed by him[3].

Anthony is a specialist in Six Sigma project. He is experienced. He knows how to deal with

the detail.

These are the list of questions that could be posed to Louann :

The Resource and the support that would be provided to implement Six Sigma

@ the Edge: The resource required could be monetary or nonmonetary.Every change

or project require funds to implement. Six Sigma @ the Edge may not need largeamount of money to be implemented since there is no need to purchase any expensive

equipment. However, it is still necessary to know if there is a fund limit. Although

there were many Six Sigma projects that have been implemented in Rivermede plant

and almost one third of the hourly workforce were involved, there still are too few

black belts in Rivermede. The project needs to be supervised and the employee need

to be trained. To facilitate Six Sigma implementation, senior leaders and managers

must commit dedicated resources to lead projects and mentor others who are working

to make process improvements[4]. It is necessary to know how many black belts

Anthony can get from other plants of MLF, and how uch training support Anthony

can get.

Time to implement Six Sigma @ the Edge: A certain deadline or a series of

milestone are required for making schedule. So, it is necessary to know this.

Degree of freedom to implement Six Sigma @ the Edge: Six Sigma @ the Edge is

an initiative that brings methodology and role changes for the employees. There might

be need to adjust the organization structure to fit the new way of working. Although

Anthony is the plant manager of the Rivermede plant, change in structure is still not

likely to be permitted. It is necessary to know how much degree of freedom Anthony

has.

Acceptable decrease in production rate is for high level management and

stakeholders: Six Sigma @ the Edge is initiative that will change the plant. It has

risk. The production rate of the plant could decrease for a while. Although this

situation won’t happen in the most cases, it is still not impossible. It is necessary to

know how much risk high level management and stakeholders are willing to take.

Employees incentive: During a change in a process, It is more likely that the

employees will get demotivated and they might , in certain cases resist it. To keep

them motivated and engaged its is necessary to know what could be the possible

employee incentives

Also, one would want to know who takes what role and responsibility. Because

when a change is involved, it is important to handle the transition. For Six Sigma to

be successful, a steering committee has to be created[5]



4 Criteria to evaluate the readiness of the Rivermede plant to proceed with

implementation of Six Sigma @ the Edge:

Six Sigma should be used in situations where management has built, or is actively building, afact-based, scientific, transparent, open and customer-focused environment. Six Sigma also

requires a readiness and ability to work pro-actively, the discipline required from high

performance, and the ability to conduct organized projects across functions, locations and

businesses[1].

The criteria which the Independent Operating Companies(IOC) used to nominate potential

pilot sites [2] can be a good reference and guideline to evaluate the readiness of Rivermede

plant:

Management and Structure: Management and structure of the Rivermede plant is a

vital issue which decide how capable the site is to implement Six Sigma @ the EdgeAny mistake in the management level will directly lead to failure in implementation.

o Is the top management willing to participate in Six Sigma @ the Edge?Since

Anthony Scire is the plant manager in this case, without doubt the top

management of Rivermede plant is willing to participate in Six Sigma @ the

Edge.

o Is the plant management team capable and progressive? Anthony is an

experienced manager who has worked in various roles including production

manager, maintenance manager, business unit manager and plant manager.

There were 7 Six Sigma projects which were successful under Anthony’s

management in August 2005.Two of them were under Anthony’s directchampionship. [3] Facts proved that Anthony’s management team is capable

and progressive.

o Is Rivermede plant able to assign a site coordinator during the pilot? Firstly,

there is no fact that can prove that Rivermede plant can’t assign a coordinator.

Secondly, based on the historical record of Rivermede plant, both external and

internal issue were well coordinated. So there is no reason for us to doubt

Rivermede plant can assign a coordinator.

o Is the communication level adequate within the organization? Is the whole

organization willing to change?

o Personal readiness: do the individuals and front line employees have the passion, creativity and enthusiasm required for change? Are they willing to

learn new tools which is required for the project? Do employees understand

the objectives of the project? Is everything done to educate the employees

about the project and its objectives? Are they willing to do the additional work

and take the additional responsibility required for the Six Sigma @ the Edge?

Is the rewards and incentive enough to engage and motivate team members?

Labour situation: Six Sigma @ the Edge is a project aimed at engaging front line

employees in Six Sigma methodology and tools to improve its quality. a project must

have training and commitment involved. A stable labour situation will make thetraining efficient.



o Is the labour situation in Rivermede site stable and good? The 175 current

hourly employees of Rivermede plant are unionized, which means they are

well organized. And Anthony considered labour relation to be good. So the

labour situation will not be a problem. But it is to be noted that in 2 years the

Rivermede Plant reduced the number of employees by half [4] .Although

the reduction is a result of a project, it still rings the bell.

Historical Records: The two aspects above only tell how capable the Rivermede

plant is theoretically. But the historical data tell the answer to the same question in

real cases.

o Does Rivermede plant have local black belts who have strong performance in

previous projects? Yes. Chihab Kaab, one of local black belts, acted as the

project leader in the new mixers project. He made the suggestion that using the

DOE methodology in the project and successfully completed the project. [5]

o Does Rivermede plant have a good record of previous six sigma projects? Yes.

Only in August 2005 there were 7 Six Sigma projects under way.

o How many hourly workers and supervisors in Rivermede plant were involved

in previous Six Sigma projects? After the success of the first Six Sigma

project in Rivermede plant, both supervisory and hourly ranks strongly

participated in the following projects. As Anthony estimated, one-third of the

hour workforce took their participation in at least one Six Sigma project.

Almost everyone in Rivermede plant is experienced.

After answering all these questions, Rivermede plant has been assessed by the criteria above.

The answer is yes, Rivermede plant is ready.

References:

[1] P.Fraser Johnson, 2006, SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT MAPLE LEAF FOODS,

Ivey Management Service. p3

[2] ] P.Fraser Johnson, 2006, SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT MAPLE LEAF

FOODS, Ivey Management Service. p5




FOODS, Ivey Management Service. p5[5] ] P.Fraser Johnson, 2006, SIX SIGMA IMPLEMENTATION AT MAPLE LEAF


3 list of questions for louann

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