Drivers for Six Sigma Process Improvement Customer expectations for higher quality Customers want immediate access/service and control over their research process Competition for scarce resources; potential for cost reduction Library resources will remain stable or be reduced in the coming years New business models enabled by advances in information technology Technology can be designed to facilitate ease of use and reduce costs
Why engage in Six Sigma Efficiency: 30-40 percent of service organization’s operating costs result from unhealthy processes that produce scrap, rework and needless complexity
Competition: to provide access to information for our academic community, we are pressed to assess our ability to compete on costs and on quality of service
Values: The Library holds to quality leadership principles such as continuous improvement and learning, customer focus, and flexibility. When to use DMAIC? Where variation in product or service quality is hurting your customer relationship
When costs are no longer sustainable
When measures suggest the use of control charts or other data analysis tools will help identify the current process capability and the cause of problems How to Plan for Use of the DMAIC Approach Gain commitment from leadership group (whole system) Appoint a team Some who know the process—and who will implement the new process; Some who don’t know the process and have no bias Someone who has clout to convince the organization to support the changes and get buy-in from the top Combination of people who have strengths on different part of the DMAIC approach Questioners, learners, no defensiveness re: current way of accomplishing the process Openness to change Train in Six Sigma DMAIC Formal in-depth training is key Consultant availability helps
