The Sixth Sigma

Australia works to understand pipeline failure modes and proactively addressing them.  The country sees organizational culture as an area that can breed failures, if not properly sustained.  …

…   “If there is a rigorous process for identifying every imaginable cause of failure and taking action to prevent failure, then pipelines can be extremely reliable. This is one of the things we do in Australia.”   …

via New York Times:  Australian Pipelines.

AMD is experiencing supply problems with chips sourced from its manufacturing partner’s Dresden, Germany plant.  Globalfoundries was formed as a spinoff of AMD’s production operations and is the key partner for producing the latest microprocessors.  This production issue has caused AMD to reduce near-term sales and profitability forecasts.  …

…   “Globalfoundries is throwing substantial resources at improving yields, said Drew Prairie, an AMD spokesman … “   …

via Business Week: AMD Manufacturing Glitch.

Disciplined processes that understand capacity, throughput, and satisfaction drive improvement in the MRI process for hospitals.  By addressing the priority modes of failure, using FMEA, actions are leveraged for highest impact.  …

…   “A total of 33 failure modes leading to process waste were identified, along with 113 potential failure causes. Of these, 14 failure modes were prioritized … “   …

via Health Imaging: MRI Process improvements.

Dow Chem investigates root cause of its emissions event at the Freeport Texas plant, which was triggered by a pump failure.  …

…   “Emissions associated with the failure began at 6:30 p.m. local time May 29 and ended today at 9:30 a.m., according to the filing.”   …

via Bloomberg: Dow Pump Failure.

Browns Ferry nuclear plant experiences issue that exposes safety defects. Failure of a low pressure coolant injection valve at the facility was of high safety significance.  Brown Ferry’s Unit 1 started commercial operations in 1974.

Inspections and oversight will be increased by regulating agency.  Safety culture of the workforce will be evaluated.  …

…   “Significant problems involving key safety systems warrant more extensive NRC inspection and oversight, said Victor McCree, the agency’s administrator for the southeast region, in a statement. “   …

via Marketwatch: Nuclear plant equipment failure.

Three operating units at Browns Ferry are boiling water nuclear reactors.

Video (mov) of Browns Ferry operations.

NRC comments on the Browns Ferry safety incident (PDF).

by Department of Defense Patient Safety Program.  …

…   “Naval Hospital Bremerton Title of Project: Improving the High Level Disinfection Process of Vaginal Ultrasound Probes.”   …

via Military Health System: Patient Safety Awards.

Bremerton Naval Hospital Six Sigma Project: “team has recently concluded a Continuous Process Improvement project that incorporated Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to improve the command’s high level disinfection process for ultrasound probes.”

takes down refinery.  …

…   “upset in the plant’s boiler house shut all processing units at the plant. “   …

via Bloomberg: Shell Restarting Refinery.

The case for lean thinking and culture …

…   “complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces came together to allow the initiation and escalation of the accident … “   …

via Reuters: Blame for oil spill.

Local manufacturing companies embrace quality and lean techniques in their internal business processes and connect with their customers processes to reduce defects in the broader value chain.  …

…   “Thanks to feedback and counsel from Plastic Solutions, the practice of stuffing bins has now been modified on the Mexican plant’s assembly line, resulting in reduced parts failure. “   …

via Thrive Michiana: Advanced manufacturing in South Bend.

Dell discusses its manufacturing problems and the process it followed.  The company is committed to continuous improvement.  …

…   “Dell suspended use of Nichicon capacitors after we discovered a problem in its manufacturing process.

As we routinely do with product issues, we actively investigated the failures, audited the Nichicon plants and worked with customers to fix OptiPlex computers on a case-by-case basis. “  …

via Dell: Nichicon Capacitor Issue.

WSJ article confronts the challenge of implementing Six Sigma without a continuous improvement culture. Shift happens. Which usually results in back-slide of performance. A robust control phase, in the DMAIC process, should work to sustain the achieved performance level and proactively identify shifts before its impacts the process. …

… “one aerospace company that implemented more than 100 improvement projects, only to determine less than two years later that more than half had failed to generate lasting gains. ” …

Via Wall Street Journal: Six Sigma Failure

The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare will identify opportunities for improving the health care industry and leverage the best practices of member organization to drive the transformation broadly. The center is initially focusing on hand-washing practices as simple, yet effective, means of improving patient safety. …

… “The Center’s work to identify and measure poor quality and unsafe health care will lead to the development and testing of targeted, long-lasting patient safety solutions. These proven and practical strategies, based on methods such as Lean Six Sigma long used by other industries, can help transform American health care into a high-reliability industry that ensures patients receive the safest, highest quality care they expect and deserve. ” …

Via Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare: Patient Safety Failures

Healthcare Transformation Podcast (mp3).

Six Sigma discipline takes time to adopt and perfect. A more holistic approach to process improvement may be needed to position Six Sigma and lean properly. …

… “There is rising concern across multiple industry sectors regarding the failure of many internally led 6s / lean projects, so much so that we must explore why so many initiatives do not reach their desired results … ” …

Via Supply and Demand Chain: What Went Wrong?

Dyadem enables Maidstone to analyze its failure modes, eliminate root causes, improve quality, and operate efficiently.

… “Maidstone has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars through the use of Six Sigma methodology and Dyadem’s FMEA Pro-7 Risk Management Software — commonly used to improve quality in manufacturing but rarely seen in the consumer products sector. Maidstone produces more than 60 million donuts per week and wanted to ensure top quality while making sure its production operations were as efficient as possible. Dyadem has helped Maidstone significantly reduce costs while improving quality at its 400,000 square foot facility in Brantford, Ontario. ” …

Via Dyadem: Product Failure Analysis Software

TagSYS and IBM collaborate to support pharmaceutical e-pedigree. TagSys brings Six Sigma quality to the table with guaranteed quality of service. …

… “TAGSYS will provide customers with the same expertise and architecture used in its Six Sigma Performance Program, a quality-of-service program that guarantees fewer than four failures in one million read opportunities. ” …

Via IBM: IBM and TAGSYS Team on Serialization Pilot Kit for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers