Page 70 - Six Sigma Demystified

Chapter 3 f o c u s i n g t h e d e p loy m e n t 51

Internal process objectives must be defined in customer terms, and the
everyday focus must be kept on the needs of the customer’s operations. This
visibility is a key aspect of the lean techniques used throughout Six Sigma
deployment. The linkage of internal process objectives is mapped effectively
using quality function deployment (QFD) techniques. Operationally, we strive
to understand how internal processes drive the customer response. To facilitate
this understanding, critical- to- quality (CTQ), critical- to- cost (CTC), and
critical- to- schedule (CTS) metrics are measured and tracked on a continual
basis. These metrics allow internal estimates before errors reach the customer
and come back as nonconformance reports (or, in the absence of complaints,
interpreted as improvement). This proactive approach fosters an ongoing attack
on non- value- added (NVA) activities so that resources can be shifted to
value- added customer exciters (in the Kano terminology).
An interesting and well- documented example is found in the book Moments
of Truth, written by Jan Carlzon, former president of SAS Airlines. In the late
1970s and early 1980s, the company was losing vast sums of money because its
market had changed drastically with the advent of deregulation. While the most
prevalent idea was to cut costs across the board or cut costs in recoverable
expenses such as labor, instead the company set an ambitious objective to
become the frequent business traveler’s first choice for travel. Each expense and
resource was evaluated for its contribution toward serving the frequent business
traveler. Whole business units and functions were dropped, as were a host of
operations and procedures that didn’t serve the target market (the business
customer). Practices that contributed to the service of the target frequent busi-
ness traveler actually were expanded so that a large portion of the money saved
was reallocated to expand the business. As the company struggled with signifi-

cant loss in revenue, it spent $45 million to improve its customer service,
including projects focused on punctuality, turnaround times, and service qual-
ity. The company eliminated the detailed marketing reports that took months
to create by staff disconnected from customers, replacing them with empower-
ment of the front- line employees who had direct customer contact for analysis
and action based on real- time feedback.
The elimination of NVA activities is a lean practice used in Six Sigma to
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concentrate the always- imited resources on the customer. Quick feedback
mechanisms using key service metrics is a fundamental Six Sigma approach.
QFD techniques can be used to identify practices that contribute to customer
satisfaction.
In any organization, the leadership sets the vision and the strategy. As Carl-