Creating a sustainable economic environment, in which a company could evolve and increase its performance capability, is the primary goal of any modern entrepreneurship (Pyzdek & Keller, 2014). However, the process of managing change is fraught with numerous difficulties. For this purpose, the concept of Six Sigma can be used as the primary tool for implementing change and coordinating the key processes. As the article by Okampo and Estanislao–Clark (2014) shows, because of the focus on quality and the opportunities for bringing down the defects rates, the Six Sigma approach allows for the promotion of the lean manufacturing principles in entrepreneurship and, therefore, supporting the principle of sustainable resources usage.
The lessons learned, owing to the authors of the article are quite basic. Specifically, Okampo and Estanislao–Clark (2014) point to the fact that the adoption of the Six Sigma framework, which allows for a significant reduction of waste, serves as a tool of extraordinary efficacy when it comes to the promotion of the lean manufacturing principles. Therefore, the research results point to the fact that the adoption of the Six Sigma framework creates prerequisites for the further application of the sustainability principles to the context of a particular company. The article especially emphasizes the role of the DMAIC framework as the primary tool for managing the waste disposal and the rearrangement of the resources available.
The above information can, and should, be applied to my work environment as the means of increasing the efficacy of the quality control and assurance-related processes. Specifically, the concept of the lean approach must be viewed as an essential tool in maintaining quality rates high. In light of the fact that the process of quality assurance requires consistent supervision of the production process, as well as the checks that demand high concentration rates, it is imperative to make sure that the staff members should be able to identify the existing defects within a relatively short amount of time. The lean framework, in its turn, implies that the process of reproducibility and repeatability should be enhanced by redesigning the current schedule of the staff members. By providing the employees with an opportunity for taking breaks more often and shifting more frequently, the managers will create premises for a rapid increase in quality management productivity due to the rise in the staff’s attentiveness and, therefore, quality of their performance (Larteb, Haddout, & Benhadou, 2014).
The article, therefore, can be viewed as the source of ideas for improving the current quality management framework at Sikorsky Aircraft. Even though the company’s QA team does a rather good job at spotting the defects and reporting them, the provision of the lean framework based on the Six Sigma philosophy will help make the entrepreneurship even more efficient. As a result, customer satisfaction rates will rise significantly, helping the firm become more competitive in the global economic environment (Lao & Thejaswini, 2014).
The Six Sigma framework, therefore, should be viewed as the essential tool for shifting to the usage of the sustainability principles through the adoption of the lean manufacturing process and the subsequent drop in the number of defective items manufactured. Although the above approach implies that numerous challenges need to be addressed, including the redesign of the company’s values toward the promotion of environmentalism, it still serves as an efficient platform for a corporate change and a large improvement.
Reference List
Lao, H. J., & Thejaswini, M. L. (2014). Six sigma concept for food industry. International Journal of Engineering Technology and Management (IJETM), 2(2), 52-58.
Larteb, Y., Haddout, A., & Benhadou, M. (2014). Successful lean implementation: the systematic and simultaneous consideration of soft and hard lean practices. International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science, 3(2), 1258-1270.
Okampo, L. A., & Estanislao–Clark, E. E. (2014). Developing a framework for sustainable manufacturing strategies selection. DLSU Business & Economics Review, 23(2), 115-131.
Pyzdek, T., & Keller, P. (2014). Project management using DMAIC and DMADV. In The Six Sigma handbook (pp. 213-244). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.