General Electric's Six Sigma Revolution: How General Electric and Others Turned Process Into Profits (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eckes has turned this cutting edge management approach into easy-to-understand language..." -- The TQM Magazine, Vol.14, No.1, 2002

"Eckes has turned this cutting edge management approach into easy-to-understand language..." (The TQM Magazine, Vol.14, No.1, 2002)

Product Description

"In The Six Sigma Revolution, George communicates the principles of Six Sigma to audiences at every level and enables an immediate understanding of what is for many an intimidating field."–Ross Leher, Chairman and CEO RWI Interactive Information Services

"The Six Sigma Revolution is a powerful profit-building tool and an indispensable resource for leaders wanting to drive lasting improvement."–Mike Delaney, Senior Vice President Marketing and Strategic Planning Unifi, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047138822X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471388227
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #360,646 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Insider's Look at the Six Sigma Revolution, January 20, 2001

By	Jeffrey A. Veyera "Jeff Veyera" (Matthews, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having graduated from Jack Welch's School for Wayward Boys, I found George Eckes' "The Six Sigma Revolution" to be a revelation.

I left GE some months ago quite frustrated with the company's application of Six Sigma. Even though all salaried employees were trained as Green Belts, even though all managers took great care to spout the proper nostrums at the proper times, nothing really changed much in how we operated.

I worked on a new product program which served more as salve to the egos of engineers than to improve our product for our customer. I and a few others fought valiantly to ensure that the voice of the customer was injected into the process, and that the design capability was measured and reported through Six Sigma scorecards. This was all deemed to be unimportant in the rush to get the product to market.

Eckes' book reveals why this was so.

Early on, he had counseled Jack Welch that Six Sigma rests on two pillars: customer satisfaction and process capability. It's quite simple: ask the customer what he wants and fine tune your process to efficiently deliver it. Thus you both increase revenue (through customer loyalty and product quality) and decrease costs (by eliminating the hidden factory and focusing only on customer CTQs). Welch being Welch, he completely ignored the former and focused on the latter, to great effect.

In 1999, Welch realized that this was a mistake, as customer after customer inquired why they didn't notice a change in GE's products and services after the Six Sigma introduction. While shareholders realized double-digit growth year after year, customers saw the same old mixed bag of products and services. Welch immediately launched a major initiative to reduce customer span and inject the voice of the customer into GE processes.

Eckes, to his credit, indulges in a bit of well-deserved "I told you so." After all, it's not often one proves the most admired CEO in the world to be wrong.

This is an excellent book covering the whys and wherefores of a Six Sigma introduction. For those of us in the trenches trying to effect lasting change in our companies, this is an indispensable resource. If you're looking for an in-depth guide to the tools employed in Six Sigma project execution, grab "Implementing Six Sigma" by Forrest Breyfogle instead.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriquing Application for Business & Beyond!, April 19, 2001

By	Roderick Smith, Ph.D "vipeme" (Davison, MI United States) - See all my reviews

I read the Six Sigma Revolution because of my facination with exploring ways to improve the quality of life, both as it relates to business as well as to relationships and life generally. Every now and then an author comes along who not only has technical expertise but also has both feet on the ground. George Eckes has painted a picture that illustrates not only mastery of Six Sigma content, he also exemplifies giftedness by communicating profoundly detailed concepts and principles with clarity and simplicity. And he paints his picture with splashes of fun and humor.

I believe that anyone who is committed to improving effectiveness and efficiency in their world, whether in their business or in their personal lives, can benefit significantly by reading the Six Sigma Revolution. I'm looking forward to getting a copy of his next book, Making Six Sigma Last.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balance at last!, January 2, 2001

By A Customer

As a newbie to the world of Six Sigma, the first thing I did was to order every book I could off a Amazon to get a broad view of what is out there, and to (hopefully) garner enough understanding to help navigate our company through our Six Sigma initiative.

I've looked through 8 books, and Six Sigma Revolution has finally found it's way into my #1 spot. I'm ordering a copy for all of our Black Belt candidates, as I found it much more useful than the Mikel Harry book (the one that our Executive Team had us all read) and for sure, better for the typical uninitiated person than one of the $100 Six Sigma resource "Bibles" (though once I have completed the Black Belt training, I'm guessing a book like Bryfogles' will come in handy).

So if you are looking for a book that clearly explains how to set up a Six Sigma initiative (something most of the books do), while also introducing many of the Six Sigma tools (which most of the books do not) this is your book.

The other book that has impressed me is "The Six Sigma Way."

Regardless of which book you read, your still going to need to find a consultant to run the trainings and work with the executive team...but this book will help give you the big picture overview, with enough of the details to be able to deal with the consultants with more confidence (at least that has been my role in the Six Sigma initiative).

Enjoy.