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More Case Examples

11.1 INTRODUCTION

The first wave of Six Sigma, following the impressive groundwork carried out by Motorola, included Allied Signal, Texas Instruments, Ratheon and Polaroid (to name a few). GE entered the arena in the mid-1990s and in turn was followed by numerous powerful corporations including SONY, DuPont, Dow, Bombadier, Ford and GSK. The success of GE Capital attracted many companies in the service sector, such as American Express, Lloyds TSB, Egg.com and Vodafone, to apply Six Sigma as a major business initiative. Some established companies like Unilever, ICI and BT have also applied Six Sigma tools and techniques but attempted to align them to existing strategic and continuous improvement programmes.

The ability to leverage the experience of successful Six Sigma players proved highly attractive, both as a competitive issue and also to improve profit margins. The following case examples provide insights for organisations that are achieving success in their business performance through the use of Six Sigma or related operational excellence programmes. The objective of including these case examples is to offer a set of good proven practices through which a student or practitioner can obtain a better insight into the application of tools and techniques and appreciate how the organisations have adopted their approach.

These case examples are taken from the real-life experiences of many organisations around the world. The examples reflect projects within ...

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