Six Sigma Results Quantified by Case Study on GE

by Craig Calvin

A lot of people have wondered how Six Sigma has been implemented in bigger companies. A prime example is General Electric. This corporation morphed into a lean, efficient business through the use of the Six Sigma training process. GE has Six Sigma to thank for making them a success and not a failure.

General Electric was your normal American corporation, fraught with greed and waste on the corporate level. They decided to do the Six Sigma training. Their corporate level workers went through black belt training, the lower level workers the Six Sigma training. After proper training, GE applied the principles of Six Sigma to their business.

Every process was reduced to a set of quantifiable steps. Processes were evaluated and re-evaluated until all waste was eliminated. Executive level employees were taught to ask for input from employees at every level and open lines of communication. This created an atmosphere of maximum efficiency, maximum customer service, and maximum creativity. This change has had a huge impact on productivity and morale, which has continued to set GE apart in their field.

The process of Six Sigma being able to create such changed is actually pretty simple. The employees that have gone through Six Sigma black belt training can identify areas that are Critical to Quality (CTQ’s). Defects are then identified, then they will measure the process capabilities to see what the process can deliver.

After the data is gathered, Six Sigma then teaches people to identify variation- which is the time when a process doesn’t deliver what was desired of it. Then a process is redesigned and controlled to prevent variation. This is what Six Sigma is all about.

Creating maximum efficiency and the highest level of customer satisfaction is the result of Six Sigma. This could be the precise thing you need, as well as what you cannot pass up.

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Do You Really Need Freight Shipping For Large Boxes?

by Amy Nutt

Freight shipping, which is usually determined by weight, is the way to go when you have an extremely large package that won’t be able to be delivered via traditional methods. A good example of this is furniture delivery - one cannot box up a sofa and bring it into the local post office.

While it is okay to bring some large parcels into a normal courier agency, most of them cannot exceed 70 pounds for overnight service. Freight companies on the other hand, can deliver several hundred pounds of merchandise. The mode of transportation for these services can vary and often include:

- Ocean liners - Airplanes - Trucks and - Trains

The transit options you choose will greatly depend on the time frame you are working with as well as the item to be delivered. For example, if one is having a car delivered in the continental United States, it may very well arrive via train or freight truck. On the other hand, take this same car and move it to Europe and it may be delivered first by train then by cargo ship.

Freight costs fluctuate and are calculated by the weight and class of the item. Freight shipping is also determined by whether the shipment is a commercial or a residential one.

Commercial freight shipping

Commercial freight shipping is usually initiated by businesses. These companies usually have large amounts of heavy inventory to move all at once. This cargo can be construction site machinery, medical equipment of office furniture. Special discounts can be applied to companies who utilize freight shipping on a regular basis.

Residential freight shipping

Residential freight shipping is usually applied in situations where large items such as autos or home furniture are delivered to a home. Freight costs can be paid by the company you are purchasing your items from. For example, shipping costs may be added into the final purchase price when buying a living room or bedroom set from a furniture store.

International freight shipping

If one were going to Europe for an extended stay visit or moving there permanently, they would use a courier company that specializes in international goods shipping. These shippers are well versed providing service both domestically and abroad.

Reliability and Reputation

With both residential and commercial freight, you will want to ask around and find a reputable company with a good track record of on time delivery. You will also want call any references see if they have been held liable for damaging goods. Check to see if they offer a guarantee or insurance as well and go over the ins and outs of the contracts you sign to see what their accountability is should they fail to deliver or harm your items in transit.

Freight companies

There are hundreds of freight companies operating all over the country and internationally and all have the capacity to move an item from point A to point B. The true merit of a freight company however is in its customer service and attention to detail.

How effective would a company be if you can’t get straight answers or have someone return phone calls regarding your shipments?

And suppose a package gets lost or misplaced - how will the company handle it?

These are all very necessary things to know about any shipping company before you sign any contracts or pay any fees.

Online services

Companies that offer freight services can easily be located on the Internet. Because there are several different types of courier services and modes of transportation available you may wish to do some comparison shopping for the best rates. Once you locate a company that seems fair make arrangements to have your valuable items processed and sent off as soon as possible.

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How Executive Chairs Can Keep Employees Happy

by James Fisher

When attempting to upgrade office furniture, it’s always a great idea to pay close attention to stocking a company with quality office chairs. Keep in mind that office workers will spend many hours every week working in the chairs given to them. Inexpensive and painful chairs will bring down productivity over time. An uncomfortable worker is an unproductive office worker.

The remarkable thing about office chairs is that most owners don’t consider them as an aspect of the arrangement when choosing fresh office furniture. Nevertheless, if a place of work is packed with fantastic looking furniture and the workers using the workplace are forced to sit in inferior chairs, then the great looking office loses its sheen quickly. Pieces such as executive chairs will go a long way in helping to make employees feel contented and looked after.

Higher level employees and officers will typically prefer using leather executive chairs. These types of office chairs offer extra back support and overall sootheness. There are many different types of executive chairs to pick from and one must take the time needed to come to a decision on the right one. Looking on a website can help make the investigation go more quickly.

After it’s been decided to improve an office furniture design with better executive chairs, it’s then important to decide which kind of features are really important. Does the office space need a more traditional looking chair or would a futuristic style fit better? Would an undersized computer chair fit in certain areas of the workplace or are lavish executive chairs needed?

There are various options when it comes to upholstering executive chairs. A choice can be made among high value leather or less pricey leather. Certainly, when looking for the best quality and long lasting office furniture, it’s always good to bear in mind that paying a tad bit more now can be more beneficial in a few years. One means to lesson costs is to employ a non-leather area on the back of the chair and just use leather on the front seat and back-rest region. Rather than picking leather, fabric might be utilized. Once again, the price will be affected depending on if the office chairs possess fabric on both the face and backside or simply on the face vicinity.

When coming to a decision on executive chairs to finish an office furniture renovation project, it’s also vital to mull over the features of each kind of chair. Not all office chairs are equivalent. Since a lot of people are now working on computers, which chair offers better back support for someone sitting all day at the computer screen? Does the chair have adjustable arm rests so that each employee can find the most relaxed angle when typing?

It’s also good to consider whether office chairs provide the ability to adjust the seat height and seat depth. When working in their executive chairs, most folks will wish to be able to change how distant they are from the floor for maximum leg comfort and to change how far away they are to the back rest for the best possible back and spine ease. Does the chair slant or recline? This will influence how much upper body mass leans and sits on the head cushion.

It should be obvious that office chairs and/or executive chairs are important pieces of the puzzle whenever it comes to preparing an office design. A corporation is put into place in order to be prolific. If the individuals working at that business are developing back and neck pain because their office chairs are painful and stiff, output is certain to fall. Once employees feel as if their happiness is being thought of seriously, though, they will be more quick to go the additional mile in their work. Comfy office furniture will help verify to workers that they are thought to be essential.

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Top Communication Skills For Team Leaders - What Is The Benefit?

by Martin Philip Haworth

A manager needs to have good communication skills. It is one of the major elements of communication. One of the most vital skills in any manager or supervisor’s portfolio of skills. But why? What are the benefits of being a good communicator? Often a manager is asked to explain or make understood a new policy which is to be implemented or a particular process that is already in use be refined. It could be that new approaches are needed to make the difference in our challenging world.

Whilst using your capabilities to find out about what’s going on around you is important, the impact of under-performance cannot be overestimated. If something isn’t working right, asking questions to get the information you need is a tactic well worth developing. But, that’s not all. A manager worth their salt will be able to extract information in ways that others would find impossible. It’s a mix of asking the right questions linked to the capacity to hear what others say as well.

Whilst special communication situations are important, it is likely to be just a small part of the manager’s role, compared with the need to interact with their people on a regular day-to-day basis. Good managers talk to their people all the time, getting to know them well and building great rapport as they go. Understanding how important this is, helps those managers who care for success to decide just how they are going to develop this skillset to the full.

Misunderstandings often come from communication gaps, leading to more and more frustration! While trying to explain something new to the audience, it’s sometimes found that the manager is wrongly interpreted or seems to be speaking out of context. During breaks, it’s worth checking with the audience whether they have followed and where necessary, amend a presentation the next time. It’s also worth exploring where they misunderstood and learning from this for the future.

When your people have come up with a problem, you might have felt that you understood all it’s complex twists and turns. Trust me; you are not the only one to misinterpret what you thought you understood - it’s so easy! When people are given a problem, they divert their attention towards finding a solution to it and in doing so they fail to understand the various aspects that the particular issue involves. By listening very carefully to the problem, by paying close attention to the detail and asking incisive questions, you will ensure there is little home for misunderstanding. This is a really effective way of getting into a problem and resolving it.

Being able to appreciate information for what it is, requires a special capacity within any manager. Time, ‘busyness’ and all the other demands on time, means that a manager has to be pretty smart to make quick judgments based on limited information. In those cases it’s a good idea to make sure that actions are not taken in haste, but considered carefully when the time is available to make the nest decision possible.

When working with a team, top-class communication and collaboration is essential. You need to manage your team well and build team-spirit where you can. Where new ideas and plans are going to be implemented, let your team know about it in the most timely fashion - if possible, get them involved in the ‘how’ of the implementation. Another thing you can do is to discuss changes fully with them, so they can voice their opinions and integrate their contributions in how they feel it will be best to work in future.

When you are keen to ensure any communication processes that you have in place are effective, it’s pretty important to adequately source relevant materials to deliver all that you need to. There can be few managers who haven’t got circumstances wrong at some time in their career. Once it happens you don’t easily forget when a piece of vital equipment fails, or your laptop battery died at just the wrong moment. Sometimes it’s just as challenging when you can’t find a flipchart pad. On an even more an informal basis, it can be a bit embarrassing when you haven’t got a bit of paper in your pocket to take a note or two down!

Developing your personal communication skill is one of the most important tactics in your management development toolkit. It has the potential to catalyze great success. Only you can do it!

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Maintaining Your Pay Per Click Advertising Campaign

by Brian Basch

You finally have everything together. Your have done your keyword research and have set up your campaign for the next 6 months. But here is the challenge, how are you going to maintain your campaign? This is something that many advertisers neglect to think about.

While it would be nice to set up your campaign and just let it run by itself, that won’t work. You’ll have to track each of your ads and its activity to see how efficient and productive it is. There are plenty of ways to do this.

AdWords offers tools that’ll help you calculate what percentage of traffic an ad brings in. You can use tools provided by your web host to find out which ads brought in traffic that actually led to sales. Remember - no web spider ever bought a product.

So why go through this extra hassle? This is because, if your ad is not performing well, it is costing you money, and will not bring in profits. In other words you are paying for useless traffic. Even if no sales are made you will still be paying for each click.

Do not give up hope there are ways to fix ads that are not doing well. Check its position. It should appear within the first 5-10 pages of the search results. If this is alright then your next step is to check your keywords.

Initially most people think of popular keywords before they consider anything else. They feel that they will drive lots of traffic to their website. This is true but unfortunately this will not result in sales, because it is untargeted. Searchers use these popular keywords when they first start searching but these keywords do not usually take them to where they want to go.

That means that people using these keywords are often not sure what they’re looking for. They’ll look at a lot of sites before they buy. Good keywords are general enough to be searched for by someone who’s not sure what they’re looking for, but specific enough to reach the audience that will buy your product or service.

You should think about searching with your own keywords. The results may surprise you, as you view other sites that are using the same keyword. Be sure to check out the top 10 competitors in the search results. Look at their sites carefully and see if these are the right sites for your market. If they do not match your site you may have to adjust your keywords. Bear in mind if your keyword is wrong you can be losing money.

It is important to look after your campaigns and keep a close watch on them. This will give you an indication of how well your keywords are doing and which ones should be replaced. When you choose effective keywords you will have profitable pay per click campaigns that will help your business prosper.

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Communication Skills For Leaders - What Is The Value?

by Martin Philip Haworth

A manager needs to have good communication skills. It is one of the major elements of communication. One of the most vital skills in any manager or supervisor’s portfolio of skills. But why? What are the benefits of being a good communicator? Often a manager is asked to explain or make understood a new policy which is to be implemented or a particular process that is already in use be refined. It could be that new approaches are needed to make the difference in our challenging world.

Whilst using your capabilities to find out about what’s going on around you is important, the impact of under-performance cannot be overestimated. If something isn’t working right, asking questions to get the information you need is a tactic well worth developing. But, that’s not all. A manager worth their salt will be able to extract information in ways that others would find impossible. It’s a mix of asking the right questions linked to the capacity to hear what others say as well.

Of course, the ability to get a special message across is very valuable, in all sorts of circumstances. What must be remembered is that such occasions are probably relatively rare. In the day-job, interpersonal understanding is far more important, so the ability to communicate one-on-one with all sorts of people is a skill worth having. Rapport building comes from listening effectively, so that people really feel you are interested and understand them as individuals too. It does involve some investment of time…and it’s time spent that is well worth it.

Many managers fail to understand the effects their poor communication style can have on their people. You see miscommunication commonly comes from arrogance, linked to a lack of appreciating that misunderstandings are almost always the fault of the person imparting the information. And, how frustrating and inefficient can it be to have gotten the message wrong! A good manager will always acknowledge that they have the accountability to get a clear message across to everyone and anyone that needs to get it right.

When your people have come up with a problem, you might have felt that you understood all it’s complex twists and turns. Trust me; you are not the only one to misinterpret what you thought you understood - it’s so easy! When people are given a problem, they divert their attention towards finding a solution to it and in doing so they fail to understand the various aspects that the particular issue involves. By listening very carefully to the problem, by paying close attention to the detail and asking incisive questions, you will ensure there is little home for misunderstanding. This is a really effective way of getting into a problem and resolving it.

When deciding on a course of action, it is important to make sure that you have all the detail down first, check that you have heard what you have been told is correct and then, only then, go for a course of action. You see, how well a manager receives information, is at least as critical to success as how they impart it - probably even more so.

When working with a team, top-class communication and collaboration is essential. You need to manage your team well and build team-spirit where you can. Where new ideas and plans are going to be implemented, let your team know about it in the most timely fashion - if possible, get them involved in the ‘how’ of the implementation. Another thing you can do is to discuss changes fully with them, so they can voice their opinions and integrate their contributions in how they feel it will be best to work in future.

Resources for your communication activities need to be arranged and, where investment allows, improved over time. New support staff can be involved to make things run more smoothly and more appropriate equipment bought. These are a few ways to improve the technical side of your communication skill. So, starting today, it’s worth deciding that you are going to take yourself the top of the communications scale with your people.

Developing your personal communication skill is one of the most important tactics in your management development toolkit. It has the potential to catalyze great success. Only you can do it!

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World Growth Maximized by Engineer To Order Manufacturing Style

by Chuck R Stewart

In todays environment of more engineer-to-order philosophies, companies are looking for manufacturing methods that are unique and that will allow for level of differentiation from their closest competitors to allow them to enjoy sustained margins. The topics challenging even the best of engineer to order companies lie in the areas of estimating, purchasing, building, testing, shipping, on-site tryout and debug and then final commissioning. These complex manufacturers can use technology to help sustain a manufacturing advantage over the long term. The modern technology offered by the best erp software providers and their legions of consulting resources continually comes back to the following key areas listed below.

Invest in new technology. While many ETO companies do not think twice about spending $250,000 on new equipment to make their plant more efficient, they balk at spending the same amount on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software that will have a much more dramatic bottom-line impact than a single machine tool. This technology is not limited to ERP, and includes CAD, project management, PLM, and Configuration software. The companies who continually make these investments typically outperform companies who elect to not spend the capital on further developing their infrastructure.

Focus on niche markets. Trying to compete without differentiation with a “commodity” machine builder is futile. Creating a niche focus of expertise creates product and industry sector distinction. Typically, the larger, more complicated and robust equipment requires additional services and support and generate an alternative revenue stream. That revenue stream can become the predicatable factor in the operating budget as they require well trained technicians to service the complex equipment.

Lean thinking throughout the whole organization. Lean manufacturing cuts costs and inventories rapidly to free cash and resources, which is critical in a competitive world economy. Lean supports increasing the productive qualities and improving growth and quality, reducing lead times, and freeing resources. For example, it frees cash flow and reduces the total manufacturing area and increases capacity so companies can add product lines, in-source component production, and increase output of existing products. ETO manufacturers that begin to leverage lean concepts can enjoy gains of renewed economic growth by increasing sales while controlling costs.

New markets. Most engineer to order manufacturing organizations are small family-owned businesses that have traditionally relied exclusively or predominantly on the domestic market. Overseas markets represent huge growth potential for ETO manufacturers. Even domestically, ETO manufacturers are finding untapped sectors such as automotive transplant factories that require automation equipment. The more quick to adapt modern ETO companies are able to better adapt to the changes requested of their customers in a shorter amount of time, allowing them to take advantage of technology shifts long before their larger competitors have a feel for the change required.

Company executives often complain about the challenges of operating an ETO manufacturing business: too much regulation, the cost of health care, unfair competition from overseas. Waiting for the government to do something about these issues, these small, often privately owned companies will suffer the consequences of inaction by withdrawing themselves from the landscape. The ETO manufacturers that are going to survive are implementing some of the strategies described above. Truly lean and progressive ETO companies will continually thrive, even during difficult economic times.

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Bottom Line Info On Business Grants

by Bradley Warner

The dream of being able to put up a home-based business is shared by many but there are a few people who think that they can not afford to do so. Small business grants are valuable financial tools that many aspiring entrepreneurs can use. You may doubt it but, there are several sources for small business grants that are available that you can avail of to finance your business endeavor.

Bear in mind though, as things are always easier said than actually done, getting a small business grant isn’t easy, but the successful operation of such an endeavour bears truly sweet fruits.

If you have just started your business or you have just conceptualized the business you want to engage does not matter in the process. Basically, the small business grants are designed to help you establish a new little company as well as help established small organizations expand and improve.

Take note though that the small business grants are not come directly from the federal government. But this does not mean you can not avail of this so you can start your business. You will be provided with financial assistance by your home state. You can get started with finding your home state’s correct website.

Your state’s website would be a great source of actual information regarding the matter of small business grants. Some sites even offer more than just steps, offices, and/or numbers to call/visit, going the extra mile by providing tips and tricks that come in handy where planning and organizing is concerned.

A business plan that is well thought out and well organized is your best tool for getting a grant for a little company. Make sure that you are thorough in this endeavor. This is a great opportunity for you to show off your passion as well as your knowledge in your field of interest.

Though it isn’t all the time that small business grant applications get approved, many engage in settling with low interest loans to jumpstart their business, then, after a period of time geared to prove the business “established”, the application for small business grants would follow.

However, if this does not work there is still another option. You can consider getting a low interest loan to help finance your company. You can also always reapply for a small business grant once you are up and running.

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How Keywords Can Help Your Pay Per Click Advertising

by Brian Basch

A good list of keywords is vital for a successful pay per click campaign. You should be diligent in your research and attempt to find the best keywords. Try to compile a substantial list and leave no stone unturned to be successful.

You may be puzzled about how you can do this. Let us use a keyword like “loan” for our example. This is a well searched keyword. Because it is also very saturated it is hard to get a good placement with it. Extending your keyword research will earn you some better placements.

Try to imagine all the ways that your base keyword can be searched for. When they type in “loans” a searcher can be looking for several things. It is important to put yourself in a searcher’s mind set and understand how they are interpreting your keyword. Some ideas would be; “bad credit loan,” “getting loan” etc.

All these keywords are small variations on your original keyword. You can research them and find more niche keywords. In fact there are so many different loans to be had. Put these keywords together with your initial list and look at all the different keywords you have made from your original keyword.

You can also start a campaign made up of lenders names. Added to this you can put .com. a country extension or .net at the end of your keyword. It does not matter that there are no domains with that particular keyword; searchers will still use these domain style keywords and you will get some extra visitors.

Highly competitive words are not such a good idea, because there will be a lot of people bidding for them. You can find niche keywords that are related to the original keyword and not so general. You can turn around key phrases like “bad credit loan” into “loan bad credit.” In this way you will find different searchers.

Campaigns and keywords can be created around the different search keywords that your potential buyers will be looking for. It is wise to try all sorts of different keywords and phrases as searchers can use a wide variety of keywords and phrases.

Initially you can use; misspelled words, domain names, products, serial numbers and plurals. Sometimes searchers forget to put spaces in between words and when you use these types of key phrases you can find more traffic.

Company names are good as are domain names and variations on them. You can use adjectives like “best and “cheap. Think about different spellings of keywords.

Web logs are a good source of keywords. These will help you to discover the ones your visitors are using to get to your site.

A successful pay per click campaign is based on a list of good keywords. It is important to explore all avenues before you put your keywords into action.

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How to Sell Your Business to Google

by Harvey Zemmel

It’s every small business owners dream to be bought by Google. The good news is that they are buyers and they have plenty cash.

We are all familiar with the high profile large deals like its acquisition of Youtube for $1.65 billion but there are plenty of small, low profile purchases too.

There are 7 criteria you need to consider:

1. What types of companies do Google buy?

Google is an engineering centric company focused on hiring the greatest computer scientists in the world. They first build products internally and then pursue acquisitions.

Most acquisitions fall into a well defined set of groups.

Initially, those groups were search, advertising, maps and a general interest/social networking/blogging category.

The groups have now extended to mobile, enterprise and security.

They seek potent engineering talent, high IQ and great IP.

If the company is related to traffic, they require high value traffic that can generate money. They don’t do traffic for traffic’s sake!

2. Deal sizes tend to be small.

At the recent AGM, Brin was asked if they would be making another large purchase like Doubleclick and he said there aren’t many large things. Google prefer smaller acquisitions as it’s easier to integrate smaller teams.

3. Focus on the end user.

Most business owners forget the importance of focussing on the end user. Business start ups focus on competition not end users. Google expects the business owner to understand the end user as they must care about your product, nothing is worse than indifference.

4. Don’t be afraid to tackle the big boys.

Large companies like Ebay and Microsoft have significantly greater manpower and financial resources but they also have drawbacks. They aren’t as hungry or driven as start up businesses who are also more flexible and willing to make sacrifices.

Google bought Youtube which was far superior to Google Video. Ebay bought Paypal as very few people were using Ebay’s Billpoint.

5. Pay attention to details.

When your product is 80% done, that means you have another 80% not 20% to go.

To get something close is easy but it’s vital to focus on the little things. This will set you apart from your competition. You can have the best algorithm in the world but if the user struggles to find out how to click a box, you wont succeed.

6. Will you get swallowed up or retain autonomy?

The answer depends on the role your company will play. If you’re small, you’re more likely to fill a gap and get absorbed in the culture and existing teams. If you’re larger, you may retain more autonomy. Google don’t insist people relocate.

7. What makes deals fail?

The biggest obstacle is lack of openness and honesty.

Disclose everything upfront, even if it’s difficult e.g. disclose you have a contract with a competitor whose terms you can’t legally disclose. If they discover something later, the value of your deal goes to zero not half, but zero. If you disclose tough issues upfront, they’ll work with you to make it happen. If you aren’t open, the trust is gone.

At the recent AGM, Schmidt confirmed that they weren’t going to see more large acquisitions, but they would continue to focus on acquiring talent and technologies.

Harvey Zemmel is a top business exit strategist and author of The Secret to Exceptional Wealth and founder of www.maximizeyourexit.com.

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