Client News
Global Steel Philippines aims high, introduces world class Six-Sigma processes
Jul 20, 2006
(Manila, Philippines, July 20, 2006) — Global Steel Philippines, the country’s biggest “new generation” steel mill embracing the Six Sigma initiative, joins the ranks of FORTUNE 500 companies like Motorola, Ford, Sony, ABB, GE, Kodak and others that have leveraged the quality methodology.
Global Steel Group has operations in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Libya, India and the Philippines, and has a solid history of successfully competing in the global steel market. As a global player in the tough steel industry, the company realized that to attain industry leadership it must be driven by Six Sigma concepts and philosophies to improve business performance, according to company executives.
“Six Sigma is a disciplined methodology which is systematic, so that processes are predictable, repeatable and measurable which will improve business performance. The Six Sigma’s quality movement focuses on every process, product and service with the goal of near perfect quality and creates a focus on the bottom line. It reduces mistakes in every aspect of the company ranging from product defects, incorrect billing, wasted materials and inefficient production processes, and above all, the mindset of the employees and ‘the way they work,’ said Sangram Mohanty, head of corporate communications.
“The Sigma value indicates how well any process is performing. As Sigma level increases, customer satisfaction goes up while at the same time cycle time goes down and costs plummet. The higher the value, the fewer defects per million opportunities,” he added.
“The Six Sigma initiative will be the strategic core for Global Steel’s business in Philippines. Injecting Six Sigma methodologies in a progressive, planned manner and nurturing it in the mindset of employees through education, training opportunities, program participation we aim to create a deep rooted commitment to excellence in whatever we do. The quest for excellence demands that we marshal our resources extremely well through team work, sharing knowledge and resources, and benchmarking ourselves against the best in the world,” said B.S.Mohnani, president for operations.
As a result of the active implementation of the Six Sigma process initiative, Global Steel has already implemented a total of 16 projects, including 16 Black Belts, certified and trained 454 Green Belts and provided exposure and championship training to over 620 employees, according to Mohanty.
“Presently we are focusing on cost control, productivity and quality improvement projects, however this will be extended progressively to other divisions shortly,” said Anurag Sangal, head for Six Sigma. The Six Sigma methodologies being applied enables analyses of specific problems in manufacturing and other aspects of operations, identifies the best solutions and incorporates the philosophy of continuous improvements using a feedback loop. This has resulted in the reduction of strip breakage and kink formation,” he said.