SQT Blog

We are holding the 1st Annual Irish Lean Six Sigma Conference on Wednesday March 21st 2012 at the RDS in Dublin.

There will be a great line-up of speakers.

Conference topics include:

Lean Six Sigma in the 21st Century

Designing a public sector for tomorrow: Developing a roadmap for Lean implementation in the Irish Health System to uncover hidden opportunities in our Health Service

Embedding Continuous Improvement into the core of your organisation

Challenges and benefits of implementing Lean Six Sigma in a Commercial Semi State

Lean Healthcare – improving the patient’s experience

Maintaining customer focus, through Lean Six Sigma, in a rapidly changing business landscape

Speakers include:
Sherif Gayed, eBay – Head of Continuous Improvement, eBay European Customer

Padraig Kelly, Rotunda Hospital – Head of Quality, ASST – Tutor

Paul O’Brien, Pfizer – Senior Director, Finance & Business Operations

John McConnell, An Post – Head of QualityServices

Mary Hickey, AMNCH (Adelaide Meath National Children’s Hospital) – Process Improvement Manager

Michael Fahy, Syncreon – Executive Vice President Business Development Technology

The full conference brochure is available here.

The conference cost is €250 which includes Conference Presentations on USB, Lunch and all refreshments.

If you would like to book a place, please email jfeehan@sqt.ie or telephone 061 339040.

I wrote an original blog post a while back on unusual lean six sigma projects called the ‘Usual Suspects – Part 1’.

This is the sequel, just when you thought it was safe to go back into the Line Up Room!

Typical lean six sigma projects focus on everyday process and metrics that most companies use. For example in manufacturing – yields, defects, cycle times, downtime, lead times, set-up and changeover times and in the transactional and service industry – call duration, number of errors, service level agreements, over and under payments. These would be considered – the usual suspects, the same type of projects focused on the same type of processes.

However, since the ‘Usual Suspects – Part 1’ we have come across a range of quite innovative and uncommon projects. For example;

· Reducing the number of reports in a financial services company
· Reducing the cycle time of the interview process whilst maintaining or reducing the level of turnover in the organisation
· Reducing the level of scanning of customers files
· Optimising the use of Online payslips
· Reduce the waste and cost of customer issued literature
· Increase the use of ‘Green Statements’
· Better meeting management
· Application of Lean Principles for Quality Systems
· Reduction in Canteen Operating Costs

If you notice the common theme here is that these projects are being carried out in departments and functions which in many organisations are always ‘left out’ of continuous improvement or process improvement Programs. It has always been the manufacturing, engineering, materials, customer service, and operations processes.

The morale of the story is that it doesn’t always have to be the ‘usual suspects’

At the end of last year ISO published an updated edition of the ISO 19011 auditing standard which aims to help organisations to save money, time and resources by providing a uniform approach to multiple management system audits.

In today’s business environment, many organisations incorporate a number of management systems, such as quality, environmental, occupational health & safety and information security. As a result, these organisations want to harmonise and, where possible, combine the auditing of these systems.
Compared to the first edition of the standard published in 2002 which applied only to ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment), the scope of ISO 19011:2011, Guidelines for auditing management systems, has been expanded to reflect current thinking and the complexities of auditing multiple management system standards (MSS).

The new standard aims to help user organisations to optimise and facilitate the integration of their management systems and, in facilitating a single audit of its systems, will streamline the audit processes, reduce duplication of effort and decrease disruption of work units being audited.

Specific attention is given to the implementation of the audit programme. By fully applying these guidelines, the prerequisites are provided to make auditing a crucial tool for top management to achieve the objectives of the organisation and add-value.

ISO 19011:2011 provides guidance on the conduct of internal or external management system audits, as well as on the management of audit programmes. Intended users of this International Standard include auditors, audit team leaders, audit programme managers, organisations implementing management systems, and organisations needing to conduct audits of management systems for contractual or regulatory reasons.

Alister Dalrymple, Convenor of the team that updated the guidelines, described the benefits which the new standard is expected to bring to users and the improvements made compared to the 2002 edition it replaces:
ISO 19011:2011 has been revised to provide auditors, organisations implementing management systems and organisations needing to conduct audits of management systems an opportunity to re-assess their own practices and identify improvement opportunities.

Compared to the 2002 version, the standard adds the concept of risk and recognises more explicitly the competence of the audit team and individual auditors. Also, the use of technology in remote auditing is acknowledged, for example, conducting remote interviews and reviewing records remotely.”

Another improvement is the clarification of the relationship between ISO 19011:2011 and ISO/IEC 17021:2011, Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems. While those involved in management system certification audits follow the requirements of ISO/IEC 17021:2011, they might also find the guidance in this International Standard useful.

This post has been adapted from information published on the International Organisation for Standardisation website