A recent benchmark report by market research firm the Aberdeen Group shows that equipping Six Sigma project teams with new technology greatly improves the overall process and results.
Sponsored by iGrafx, a provider of business process solutions, the Aberdeen Group report on the impact of Lean and Six Sigma initiatives on a wide variety of organizations divides the companies surveyed into three groups according to their levels of practice and performance – Laggards, Industry Norm, and Best in Class.
The research results show a clear correlation between the use of technology — like software specifically designed for Six Sigma practitioners — and best-in-class company performance.
According to Aberdeen, many companies still use generalist tools like Microsoft Visio and PowerPoint for their business process analysis work. However, best-in-class organizations use technology specifically designed to document, analyze, refine and communicate business processes. These organizations enjoy increased product quality, higher revenue and profitability and lower overall costs than those who do not use software appropriate for business process analysis.
Cindy Jutras, vice-president and service director for the Aberdeen Group, said providing Six Sigma project teams with the necessary data capture and analysis tools is essential. Without the proper tools, teams spend too much time moving and scrubbing data and are prevented from spending the appropriate amount of time analyzing for improvement and control.
Ken Carraher, president of iGrafx, said that for over 10 years its core mission has been to provide best-in-class software tools to analyze and improve business processes.
“We believe this study validates our value proposition and commitment to deliver best-of-breed strategic modeling tools and enable our customers to achieve the highest return on their investment in process improvement initiatives,” he said. “Our tools continue to deliver innovative leading-edge functionality and ease of use that distances us from providers of generic drawing and charting tools.”
SixSigma magazine recently conducted a survey on the financial benefits to Designs for Six Sigma. The survey showed that companies, which used Six Sigma reaped financial rewards and achieved project success over those firms that didn’t use any forms of Six Sigma. The survey also found that those firms using Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control Six Sigma methodology did even better.