Question

What does 3M Corporation use for Monitoring and Controlling?

Answer 1

What does 3M Corporation use for Monitoring and Controlling?

3M Corporation is an American Multinational Corporation and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It operates in more than 60 countries globally and employs close to 80,000 people worldwide. 3M Corporation was founded more than 100 years ago by a group of 5 businessmen in Minnesota, US.

3M Corporation produce close to 50,000 plus consumable products for Car Care, Health Care, Industrial and Worker Safety. Their products include Glues, Polishing Material, PFP Equipment, PPE Equipment, Medical and Dental Products, Anti Rust Coating Material, Optical Films and Protective Films for Automobiles, Circuit Boards and Electronic Material and Products for Car Care.

3M Corporation uses a Six Sigma set for effective Monitoring and Controlling for process improvement. The Six Sigma concept was devised in 1980 by Mr. Bill Smith who was employed as an engineer with Motorola and later adopted by Mr. Jack Welch at General Electric. Mr. James McNerney introduced the Six Sigma concept to 3M. It consisted of two basic Six Sigma tools; one was known as DMAIC which basically refers to define, measure, analyze, improve, control and the other one was DFSS which relates to the systematization of new product development process.

DMAIC

a) Define                                                                                                                                                                                This first phase of the Six Sigma tool relates to identification of the problem, opportunity and activity for improvement, project oriented goals and customer requirement.                                                             

1) Identification of the problem could relate to a detailed study carried out by organization.                                                 2) Opportunity and activity for improvement relates to various approaches and measures undertaken by the organization.                                                                                                                                                                   3) Customer requirement would relate to both internal and external needs and eke out various to resolve customer escalations and create amicable solutions.

b) Measure

This second phase of the Six Sigma tool relates to measurement of the process performance. It includes 03 basic concepts of Process Mapping, Capability Measurement and Pareto Analysis.

1) Process Mapping relates to recording of all activities carried out during the process.                                                      2) Capability Measurement compares the actual ongoing process performance to certain norms set by the respective customer.                                                                                                                                                                    3) Pareto Analysis relates to a statistical decision making technique that result in overwhelming effects through further selection of limited tasks.

c) Analyze

This third phase of the Six Sigma tool relates to elimination of the root cause problem. It involves three basic areas of Deciding Factor Analysis (DCA), Malfunction and Effects (MAE) and Variability Chart (VC).

1) Deciding Factor Analysis (DCA) is basically a measure undertaken to unearth various reasons and causes of the problem. 2) Malfunction and Effects (MAE) relates to a study undertaken as to why a particular product or service failed and what repercussions or impact it may have.                                                                                                                             3) Variability Chart (VC) basically relates to different process variables or variations.

d) Improve

This fourth phase of the Six Sigma tool relates to improvement in the process performance by repairing and eradication of root causes. It involves Experiment design (ED) and Kaizen.

1) Experiment Design basically revolves around addressing problems from (DOE) to solve problems from complicated systems and workflows where the outcome is influenced by multiple factors and seeming impossible to isolate and factor or problem in the system.

2) Kaizen is a Japanese word for "improvement" and encourages a conscious effort from each employee to the CEO by ways seeking improvement at workplace.

e) Control               

This final phase of the Six Sigma tool is directed at control of the present process performance measures of the future process in place. It involves areas of Planning, Measuring and Controlling Quality (MCQ), 5S and Error Free (EF).

1) Planning relates to formalization and documentation of the basic control plan adopted.                                                    2) Measuring and Controlling Quality (MCQ) relates to control and measure of quality in a production process                      3) 5S is a Japanese concept used at the work place. The “5S” comprises of Shine, Standardize, Sort, Sustain and Set in Order                                                                                                                                                                          4) Error Free (EF) is basically a measure or device to eradicate all possible errors or even detect any such new or occurrence or error.

DFSS

It is basically interpreted as Design for Six Sigma.

What is DFSS?

It is basically a unique initiative adopted by an organization to new process developments and products where numerous tools could be used to good effect.

Reason for implementing DFSS

DFSS have helped companies reduced their Time to Market (TTM) ratio by close to 35%. TTM is further defined as the amount of time taken a product reaches the market from its stage of creation.

When should DFSS be implemented?

DFSS should be implemented during the design stage of a new service or product

Implementation of DFSS

DFSS in short concentrates more on design of product rather than methodology with the help of cross functional teams.