The pursuit of providing better quality and services to customers has led companies across the spectrum of economic sectors to adopt Lean Six Sigma methodology.

While first associated with manufacturing at Motorola in the 1980s, Six Sigma has become a popular choice for businesses in fields as wide-ranging as healthcare, finance and information technology.

Six Sigma proves especially useful for those in customer-focused industries. A recent case in point is construction, where a Rhode Island builder has adopted Lean Six Sigma training for employees in the methodology’s techniques and principles.

“Supporting all of our employees with Lean coaching in doing what they do, can not only enhance their daily work experience, but deliver more value to our customers thereby supporting our core value of Dedication to Excellence,” Michael E. McKelvy, the CEO of Gilbane Building Company in Providence, said in a news release.

Helping Clients Succeed

Gilbane Building Company looked into Lean Six Sigma from the point-of-view of furthering their “people first” business plan.

That dovetails perfectly into Six Sigma. The methodology focuses on deep examination of processes to identify areas that need improvement, particularly in the area of eliminating mistakes or practices that provide no value to the product or service.

The ultimate idea is not only to make a business more operationally and financially efficient, but also provide higher value to customers and clients. Areas Six Sigma addresses for customer-focused businesses include:

  • Reducing waste
  • Shortening production time
  • Reducing cost
  • Accelerating activities
  • Improving planning
  • Improving process control

Gilbane, with the company’s “people first” approach to business, immediately saw value in adopting Six Sigma. The company, which has 3,000 employees and has been in existence for 140 years, reported Lean Six Sigma helped them in a new era in which construction companies face “increased pressure” to build quality projects faster and with ever-improving customer service.

How They Did It

Gilbane approached Lean Six Sigma as a learn-as-you-go effort, allowing employees to move forward to the next level only after demonstrating improvements. Their educational journey ends with completion of a business process improvement project.

The company also used the Lean Six Sigma methodology of “pull” – when employees pull to get more information about a certain aspect of the business, they are immediately teamed with a small group of people with expertise in the area in question.

That allows employees to learn quickly and put their newfound thinking into effect immediately. McKelvy said the company is committed to the time and resources involved with implementing the program and not letting employees take the program in an “isolated or limited way.”

Christina DeCarlo, an engineer who became the first employee to complete the program, said the program helped her learn visual management techniques as well as better methods for identifying and solving root problems in operational processes. She used these techniques to promote teamwork and innovation within her project teams.

“I can see myself using these tools on any job no matter what my role is in the future,” she said in the news release.

Gilbane found implementing Six Sigma not only provided excellent development of employees, but also created a great deal of process improvements for the business. They included:

  • Reducing invoice processing time
  • Improving quality assurance on building exterior walls
  • More effectiveness in preparing customers

In short, according to the news release, Lean Six Sigma “is transforming how the company approaches problem identification and problem solving.”