Andrew Corporation Earns Green Belt in Cost Savings

Keith Burgh, HR director of shared services for the Andrew Corporation, shares an insightful moment with colleagues during their recent Six Sigma Green Belt workshop.

While a green belt in karate may help you defend yourself, a green belt in Six Sigma will help you save millions of dollars.

The Andrew Corporation learned this first-hand when their entire HR department participated in a Six Sigma Green Belt five-day workshop last December.

"We were contacted by Keith Burgh, HR director of shared services, to put together a Six Sigma Green Belt program for his HR staff," said Bruce Kuzmanich, contract training manager for Joliet Junior College's (JJC) Corporate and Community Services Division. "Burgh was already sold on the program because he is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and used this training in his previous job at GE."

In response to this request, Joliet Junior College put together a Green Belt Six Sigma Program for Andrew. JJC also invited the Chicago Manufacturing Center (CMC) to participate and, together with Praveen Gupta, president of Accelper Consulting, designed a solid five-day workshop in Six Sigma methodology.

Instructor Praveen Gupta shares a lighter moment with workshop participants.

"The beauty of Praveen's approach," said Kuzmanich, "is that he formed four teams among the students and looked into specific problem areas. The combined estimated cost savings of all four teams at the Andrew Corporation is over $5 million. Even if they save one quarter of that amount, it is a significant savings and more than justifies the cost of the training."

While $5 million is a great start, it is only the beginning of the cost savings experienced by companies trained in the Six Sigma program. For example:

• Motorola saved $17 billion from 1986 to 2004, reflecting hundreds of individual successes.
• General Electric saved $750 million by the end of 1998, cut invoice defects by 98 percent, and improved productivity.
• Allied Signal/Honeywell saved more than $600 million a year by 1999 and reduced project turnaround from 42 to 33 months.

Additional companies that adopted Six Sigma methodologies include Caterpillar, Raytheon, Bank of America, 3M, and Merrill Lynch.

"The best way to achieve dramatic cost savings is for top management to be committed to the Six Sigma methodology," explained Corporate and Community Services Director, Amy Murphy. "Implicit in the goals of Six Sigma is the desire to improve to a high level of quality and stay there."

Burgh agrees. "Now we've raised the bar because this becomes our standard way of doing things," he said to the participants from his department. "I'm impressed with this type of learning; this thinking generates the right kind of questions which helps us to understand our process better."

For Praveen Gupta, workshop instructor and president of Accelper Consulting, the best way to understand a company's process is to solve a problem using the Green Belt techniques to develop relevant solutions that succeed. "My objective was to generate an interest to explore something, to move toward perfection," said Gupta.

Graduates of the Six Sigma Green Belt class include from left to right: Kim Swanson, Linda Powell, Tricia Latva, Marie Wohler, Maggie Fleming, and Denise Egan. Seated is instructor Praveen Gupta (left) and Keith Burgh.

All the participants in the Green Belt course are committed to solving the problems they outlined and generating the savings they projected. That commitment does not end with them. Burgh will also be monitor their progress and help them stay on-track. He promised to seek updates from each team and help them live up to the stated objectives of the Six Sigma program which is to Increase profits by eliminating variability, defects, and waste that undermine customer loyalty. Andrew, like many other corporations, will soon experience the cost savings this program delivers.

If you would like to know more about the Six Sigma program and how it can reduce costs and increase productivity, call Bruce Kuzmanich at (815) 280-1512, or e-mail him at bkuzmani@jjc.edu.

Employers Find Creative Ways to Keep Good Workers

In an economy generating less than five percent unemployment, retaining workers is becoming a challenge forcing many companies to find creative ways to keep their workforce intact.

Listed below* are a few examples of what some employers are doing to attract and keep good workers. Perhaps they will spark an idea for you.

Laundry Services
The Wilton Conner Packaging Company of North Carolina enjoys a half of one percent turnover rate. One reason may be that the company employs laundresses who work in a laundry facility attached to the plant. Workers bring their laundry to work in the morning and by the end of the workday, pickup their clean, folded clothes packaged and ready to take home. The cost to the employee is only a dollar per load.

Special Occasions
Mary Kay Cosmetics in Dallas, Texas knows how to show appreciation to employees. Company founder, Mary Kay Ash personally signs birthday and anniversary cards. New babies receive little silver banks in the shape of ducks, and newly weds get a silver bowl. Other tokens of appreciation include free lunches for two, free movie tickets, and a $100 savings bond for every five years of service.

Making a Difference
Fairfax, Virginia is in the middle of Virginia's hi-tech corridor where most companies experience huge employee turnover rates. One company, however, enjoys a comparatively low 13 percent.

DateTel, Inc. is a software development company employing 350 people who really want to affect change in the lives of others. The company responded by making May 1, the company's Founder's Day, an opportunity to participate in community service. Employees and friends have remodeled a house, rebuilt trails in a local park, and helped with events for Special Olympics.

Emergency Childcare
When the snow gets deep enough to cancel school, many employees have to miss a day of work because they cannot find someone to care for their children. BankBoston employees, however, still make it to work because of the company's Snowy Day program. Offering backup and emergency childcare to employees is a benefit that has caused fewer half-day and full day absences. BankBoston has more than 400 employees signed-up for this free service in their Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut locations.

Help Me Learn
Back in 1987, New Jersey manufacturer, Ames Rubber realized that many of their employees lacked the ability to read English. Rather than ignore the problem, the company offered English as a Second Language classes to their employees who needed help. Working with their local community college, the company put together a 13-week program that improved the language skills of their workforce. The program successfully helped employees improve production and become happier on the job.

Training as a Way to Retain Employees
As Ames Rubber has learned, training employees is a successful way to keep good people and make them stronger.

If you would like to learn how Joliet Junior College can help you retain good workers, call Joe Giunta at (815) 280-2729, or e-mail jgiunta@jjc.edu, for more information.

*Based on information from Roger E. Herman and Joyce L. Gioia-Herman, co-authors of How to Become an Employer of Choice and principals in The Herman Group, a consulting service to business and government agencies.