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a glance, what is going on and to lead
more effectively, Kelsey says. "It is about
understanding the normal versus the ab-
normal. Normal is operating the way we
want it to operate," he says.
Visual management is particularly
powerful when used in combination
with MBWA, or management by walk-
ing around, he says. (MBWA emphasizes
the practice of managing by going to thework area directly and interacting with
the work force to better understand and
react to what is happening, as opposed
to managing from a distance, or from be-
hind a desk.) For example, where visual
signals indicate that production lines are
operating as they should, a plant manager
or other leader can provide positive feed-
back and quickly move along. Stop by a
communication board that shows abnor-
mal conditions, however, and "that im-
mediate feedback allows us to take action
when we need to take action." In some
instances, the issues challenging produc-
tion lines can be management-createderrors of commission or omission. Those
issues become more quickly apparent if
plant leaders walk the plant floor and in
combination with the appropriate visual
signals. "It's a great way to understand
what's going on," Kelsey notes. It's alsothe least wasteful way to lead.
The continuous improvement manage
points out that plant managers routinely
visiting the plant floor and reviewing
communication boards, and engaging
with operators or value-stream managers
is visual management in and of itself. It
says to the plant floor workers that the
managers care about quality, effort andimprovement. H4
Editor'sNote: Kelsey will co-presenta sessi
on visualmanagementat hvDusTRYWEEK's 2011
Best PlantsConference, April4-6, in Atlanta.
How to Choose a Black Belt ProjectIf the selectionprocess is all about the dollars,then it's all wrong.
here exists a conceptthat cost savings is
the measure thatmust be met for a project to
qualify as a Six Sigma green
belt project or a Six Sigmablack belt project.
That concept iswrong,says William "Wes" Waldo,COO of consulting firm
BMGI, who shared his ob-
servation during a recent
online training event "Per-formance Metrics: How to
Select Them, Adjust Them,
and Tie Them Into Your
Strategy." (The event is ar-
chived on the IW website.)
Waldo shared his objection
first by outlining a typicalconversation surroundingthe selection of a black belt
project: The conversation
begins with a black belt proj-ect proposal, which likely is
met with the question, "How
much is the project worth?"
Told that it is worth $50,000,
the response becomes,
"That can't possibly be your
project. All black belt proj-
ects must be worth at least$300,000. That's what makes
it a black belt project."
Where did that $300,000
figure (or similarly high
figure) come from? It dates
back to the measurementsystem that existed when
Six Sigma programs first
launched, explains Waldo.
The programs often werekicked off in engineering-
driven organizations, which
looked at the typical al-located cost of an engineer,
recognizing all the trainingnecessary to turn that per-son into a dedicated black
belt. The organization then
determined it required atleast a 3x return on that en-
gineer's time, for example,and calculated that cost.
Carrying out its calcula-
tions further, the organiza-
tion determined a black
belt could complete twoprojects per year, therefore
requiring each project be
worth $300,000 for a totalof $600,000 per year in cost
savings."So they backed into
the math," Waldo pointsout. "That's a very activity-
driven approach and whatwe look at are results."
Aren't the numbers theresults? No, says the BMG
chief operating officer. Thconversation should be
about matching the skill
necessary to the problem."So, if I have a problemthat requires a ton of linea
regression and a DOE [de-
sign of experiments] andall these types of analyses
that clearly are the skill se
of a black belt or a master
black belt, then I shouldassign them to that regard-
less of the dollar amount,
especially if I don't havea million dollar projectsitting out there," he says"What we want to do is
match skill on problem as
opposed to dollar amounwhich is a fictitious typeprogram management me
ric that's out there."If you are putting the
right people on the right
problems, thathave the rig
skill sets, the money event
ally will flow out of that, a
that's something importantfor people to realize." m
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How to Choose a Black Belt Project
Ind Week 260 no1 Ja 2011 p. 17
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