Introduction

Business methodologies, programs, and disciplines often become fashionable quickly and then drop out of fashion just as quickly. What remains constant is the relationship between people, technology and business strategy. This relationship sometimes favors one at the expense of the other two, even though the goal is always to have a balance among the three.

Rather than review a litany of past programs and methodologies, here are just a few to make the point:

1. The Allen-Bradley pyramid, which represented the structure of a manufacturing enterprise, was basic and easy to remember. It was associated with a great company but was simplistic in its top-to-bottom depiction of corporate/financial, plant, area, cell, and work units. With its clearly defined hierarchy and neatly fitting layers, the pyramid gave many people a sense of security; however, it was a false sense of security offering "good luck" rather than good judgment.

2. The CIM (computer-integrated manufacturing) wheel replaced the pyramid with integrated systems architecture at its hub and the functions and factors of CIM spread out like spokes from the hub to the wheel. It was characterized by arrows of interaction from one function and factor to another that acted as an announcement of the information age in manufacturing. The wheel reflected the great importance of computer hardware and software within the manufacturing process. It heralded the breakdown of walls between manufacturing processes. The most widely known integration in the time of the CIM wheel was between design (CAD) and manufacturing (CAM). The CIM wheel, however, was before the Internet and, like the pyramid, concentrated on manufacturing within the confines of the plant or factory. As the world hurtled toward global manufacturing, global standards, and materials procurement on an international scale, the supply chain concept was fully born.

3. The supply chain concept (SCC) supplanted the CIM wheel for many people. It is interesting to note that within the CIM wheel, there was no acknowledgment of the customer, warehousing, procurement, or logistics. The SCC model added a very necessary set of these dimensions. This set contained, on the input side, the supplier and procurement process; on the output side, it added the distribution and customer components. Suddenly we were out of the box—or the building—and dealing with a broadly based process from supplier's supplier to customer's customer. The model also reflected repeated phases of plan, source, make, and deliver. As time went on, it was improved by the tool kit model, which articulated more levels of detail within each zone of activity.

The key shift toward the process of work, coupled with the processing of information relating to critical factors, is easy to recognize. However, this does not come close to creating an image of the actual supply chain process and its core manufacturing function. In the six sigma methodology we talk about the supplier, input, process, output, and customer (SIPOC) model to reflect the importance of this chain.

Once again, six sigma is a methodology that attempts to create harmony between technology, people and business strategy and, at the same time, optimize each of the components with the total organization in mind. To optimize the three, it focuses on the customer and in turn on customer satisfaction. How? By adhering to the following seven principles:

1. Always do right by the customer. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest, including the competition. The value of customer satisfaction has been proven in many studies. Doing right by customers is both beneficial and profitable. To do this, we must understand the functionality that the customer is seeking from our products or services.

2. It is noble to be good, and it is nobler to teach others to be good. It is imperative that we teach the employees of our organization that keeping existing customers is easier and less expensive than finding new customers. Part of the training must be continual support of customer satisfaction initiatives including, but not limited to, customer recognition.

3. When in doubt, tell the truth. Indeed, it is a novel idea. However, unless there is trust in the culture of the organization, there can be no expectation of results. It is of paramount significance that employees should be trained to be truthful, and a simple job aid, for example a procedure guideline, may be all that is needed. This may help to remind us that we are all working to please the customer. Without a customer, we have no reason to work!

4. It is better to listen. We must be cognizant of the old Spartan saying: "To speak less is a true philosophy." Train your employees to listen to their customers and respond appropriately, keeping in mind that body language may be just as acceptable a response as the verbal kind.

5. Always set a good example. Employees and customers both constantly appraise your behavior and performance; the former we hope will emulate it, while the latter will appreciate it and ultimately repay it with more business. Setting standards is always a challenging task; the lack of standards results in failure.

6. Where possible, a compliment should always precede a complaint. A compliment softens resentment and ensures a courteous and gentle reception for the complaint. To be sure, we all know that the customer quite often is wrong, unreasonable and difficult to deal with. However, it is not smart to make that distinction immediately. When appropriate, the customer should be retrained to your corporate values. For any change to be successful, the customer must be on your side first.

7. Do not let schooling interfere with education through experience. In the final analysis all levels of management are responsible for the success of the organization—they are the ones that have to decide what level of customer satisfaction is required, how to train for it and how to nurture it. It usually requires both knowledge learned in formal education and through real world experiences. The balance between the two depends on the occasion and the specific goal. The truly educated know that education alone is not enough—experience is equally important.

In our modern world, one can see that businesses (manufacturing and non-manufacturing alike) are being put to the test. They must pursue customer satisfaction through quality initiatives, yet at the same time these programs must contribute to the organization's bottom line. Six sigma can help in this initiative, because it focuses on real improvement rather than finding scapegoats for the failures. It forces us to look at actual situations with real potential of improvement for the entire organization rather than the following:

Looking for the next sale. Looking for the next sale as a tactic for organizational survival is a sign of serious trouble. The question "Where are our sales going to come from?" is haunting most companies. While just-in-time deliveries make sense in manufacturing, expecting the next sale to come through the door at just the right moment does not. Unfortunately, too many companies insist on short-circuiting the selling process. All they want is the order. A severe disconnect, such as a terrorist attack or an economic downturn, causes sales to hit the wall, and many companies do not bounce back quickly. Before you can own the customer's wallet, you must own the customer's head. Yet many companies think expert marketing or salesmanship is the solution, and they want to make a sale before they actually have a customer. To gain and sustain the customer, an organization must have a good product or service and satisfied customers.

Deliver on false expectations. The moral here is that we must deliver on trust, or the customer will not follow through on the order. Honda Motors has long recognized that winning customer trust is the key to selling cars. Honda vehicles are very good, but they are not great. They are, however, what millions of consumers want—vehicles that are incredibly trustworthy. Once again, many other companies try to do it backward—they push to build sales before they build customer trust. They fail to recognize that trust keeps customers buying—no matter what the economic environment or competition—because they don't want to risk making the wrong purchase. Even though the economy falters and new competitors like Kia and Hyundai have assaulted its market segment, Honda sales continue to be virtually unaffected. General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and Ford are not as fortunate.

Pull the wool over the customer's eyes. Customers are more sophisticated today than they were in the past, due to the volumes of information accessible to them through the media and the Internet. Customers demand the truth from companies. With the Firestone-Ford tire debacle in 2000, we realized that our lives and those of our families were on the line, and we wanted facts, not corporate PR fluff—a lesson Ford learned far faster than Bridgestone/ Firestone. The 9/11 attacks, the ENRON, Worldcom, Merck, Johnson and Johnson, XEROX and other fiascoes, have only escalated customers' demand for the truth.

Baffle the customer with jargon and fluffiness. Customers are emboldened! Every salesperson has noted that customers have become far more aggressive in the last five years, again coinciding with the Internet's emergence. The 9/11 attacks, however, have brought out America's more serious side. We have all noted the signs—less small talk, a more no-nonsense attitude and an even higher value placed on time. This suggests that we need to probe more when dealing with customers, letting them talk more than we have in the past. Furthermore, companies can enhance the sales process by forgoing the usual corporate marketing materials that can obfuscate the facts, avoid competitor qualities and steer the customer in one direction. Customers want objective and comprehensive information that helps them become more productive.

Postpone any future problems or concerns. Take charge of the future. With the future so uncertain, this may seem like a strange suggestion. However, look at what is happening in business. Management's top priority is to address current issues, such as meeting quotas and stock analysts' (and shareholders') expectations, and trying to outdo the competition. Thinking about the future is not even on the radar screen. Yet, it's the future that fuels the present. To ignore what lies ahead spells trouble for the present. To avoid the disruptions caused by economic contractions and other changes, companies must create a constant, long-term flow of new customers by continually identifying and cultivating prospects. The future can never be known for certain, of course, and unforeseen events will surely arise, but creating a framework for the future is very much in our hands. While some company executives and business owners are panicking, the more astute are taking charge of their destiny.

Six sigma is indeed a methodology that will allow suppliers, organizations and customers to work toward robust products and services giving measurable value to the customer. This value is customer satisfaction and ultimately customer loyalty. However, in order for that satisfaction and loyalty to exist and be consistent, organizations must strive to understand customer functionality so that they can deliver to customer requirements.