How are Six Sigma projects performed within Daf Trucks N.V.

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Author: Sofie Veeger Student number: 10683062

Date of submission: 30 June, 2014

MSc. in Business Studies – Leadership and Management Track University of Amsterdam

Supervisor: Marja Flory

Master Thesis

How are Six Sigma projects performed

within DAF Trucks N.V.

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Abstract

This study aims to give insight in alternatives of external management consulting within an organization, during organizing a management innovation. This is investigated through a case study. The Six Sigma method is the management innovation on which this study focuses. DAF Trucks N.V. (DAF) is studied as organization because they did not use external management consulting during the performance of Six Sigma projects. The study draws on qualitative data using, exploratory conversations, semi-structured interviews and existing documentation within DAF. The findings give practical implications for organizations which will perform Six Sigma projects or already apply this method. Furthermore, it contributes to the theoretical field by an understanding of alternatives for external management consulting.

The findings present different success factors of Six Sigma within DAF. These success factors are; structure through fixed steps, supplier involvement, team work,

documentation, decision-making by figures and routine in thinking. Furthermore the study suggests that performing Six Sigma or any other problem solving method can be seen as an alternative for external management consulting, which requires employees who possess specialized knowledge. In addition employees have to obtain the right mindset that fits the method.

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List of abbreviations

DFSS Design For Six Sigma

DMAIC Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control

DBB Dedicated Black Belt

DAF DAF Trucks N.V.

IDDOVC Identify, Define, Design, Optimize, Validate and Control

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1. Introduction

In the last decades there is a lot written about the use of external management consulting by introducing management innovation. Surprisingly, there is a deficiency of research which investigates situations in organizations where external management consulting is not used (Sturdy, 2011).

Birkinshaw, Hamel and Mol (2008) argue that you can make a distinction between internal and external change agents during a change process of management innovation. Unlike external change agents internal change agents belong to employees of the focal organization.. This distinction is not always clear because some external actors become temporary employees of the focal organization, for example seconded consultants. For this reason they argue that the involvement of different key change agents in management innovation should be investigated further. Sturdy, Werr and Buono (2009) implicate further research about factors that influence decisions of managers and organizations who not use consulting.

This study will investigate the introduction of a management innovation without the use of external management consulting through a case study within the organization DAF Trucks N.V. (DAF). The data is collected by four exploratory conversations, six interviews and by studying existing documentation within DAF.

DAF is a large organization which core activities are focused on the development, production, marketing and sale of medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles

(http://www.daf.com/EN/About-DAF/Pages/The-Company.aspx). Annually DAF introduces many Six Sigma projects. These are management projects that aims to improve products, services and processes in the organization (Kwak and Anbari, 2006). Six Sigma will be the management innovation this study focuses on. How are Six Sigma projects performed within DAF seems to me an interesting case, because Six Sigma attracted my attention during my

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5 study this year. Furthermore, DAF is an organization which using Six Sigma successfully since 1998 (DAF, 2014).

Thus there is a lot of research about management consulting but there is a lack of research on the non-use of external management consulting. There is a need for research on alternative ways of external consulting that organizes management innovation for being competitive (Sturdy & Wright, 2011). In many studies of external management consulting the client has a central role but the perspective of non-clients is missing. Research in this field could give new practical implications for alternatives of external consulting management (Sturdy, 2011). A study of the organization of management innovation within an organization which not uses external management consultants could give great insight in this field. (Sturdy & Wright, 2008). I found organization DAF, which introduces Six Sigma projects without the use of external management consultants and this brought me to the following research question:

How are Six Sigma projects performed within DAF Trucks N.V.?

This research question will be explored within organization DAF, focusing on performed Six Sigma projects. This led to the following sub questions which are investigated:

- What is the meaning of Six Sigma within DAF? - What are the different roles in Six Sigma within DAF? - How organizes DAF Six Sigma projects?

- What are success factors of Six Sigma for DAF?

The remaining part of this thesis is structured as followed. In chapter 2 the relevant literature for this study is discussed. Subsequently, in chapter 3 the research design will be explained

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6 and how the data is collected and analyzed. Furthermore, the case that contains Six Sigma within DAF is described. Chapter 4 presents the results of this study. Finally, in chapter 5, the results of the study will be discussed and chapter 6 includes the conclusion.

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2. Literature review

Literature contains a lot of definitions for ‘management consulting’ and ‘management innovation’. Some of these will be discussed below and subsequently the definitions that will be used in this study will be given. Furthermore, the management innovation ‘Six Sigma’ on which this research focus will be described.

2.1 Management consulting

Still the precise nature of management consulting is not clear. Greiner & Metzer (1983) give for example the definition:

Management consulting is an advisory service contracted for and provided to organizations by specially trained and qualified persons, who assist, in an objective and independent manner, the client organization to identify management problems, analyze such problems, and help, when requested, in the implementation of solutions. ( p.7)

Schein (1973) treats a particular form of consulting, namely ‘process consultation’. He

assumes that client has to obtain insights in the problem by them self. Client has to participate in setting the diagnosis and in searching for a solution. The role of the consultant is focusing on the diagnosis and offering alternative solutions for the client his thoughts. Finally, the consultant encourages the client to make a decision. This approach should ensure that the client learns to diagnose and improve situations in the future. As a result problems will be resolved for a longer time and the client learns to solve new problems (Schein, 1973). This approach could be a reason that clients are able to solve more problems in the future by themselves without external management consulting. This aspect will be taken into account in this research.

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8 The study of Furusten (2009) states that buyers of management consulting services indentify the role of management consulting in different ways. But a common shared definition is that management consultants are actors who offer specialized knowledge that is neglected in the organization. Furthermore, Furusten indentifies, based on interviews of buyers and suppliers of consulting, that consultants have a role of improvers which reduces uncertainty and contributes to stability. Consultants translate uncertain situations into stable and manageable situations using institutionalized role categories for consultants as; external resources, carriers of experience and expertise and supporters of the client.

There are official and unofficial reasons in the literature why organizations hire external consultants. Demand for independent and objective advice from specially qualified and trained experts are official reasons. While political games in organizations and insecurity are unofficial reasons. Consultants can offer an outside view of who is not influenced by practices or political games in the organization (Visscher, 2001). Independency of external consultants is not always the case. There are organizations which uses a consulting firm for years, this is a result of brand loyality (Mitchell, 2004)

Furusten (2009) argues that:

One way to understand management consulting is to see it as so complex a practice that there are no clear-cut roles for practitioners, and that different explanations are therefore needed. The variety of understandings in the literature may therefore reflect the dynamics in the practical use of consultants for organizations. (p.265)

This statement shows the diversity of definitions for ‘management consulting’. In this study ‘external management consulting’ is defined as external consultants who are hired temporally for involving a management innovation process. The definition of management innovation will be discussed in the next paragraph.

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9 In the literature you can find a lot about the impact of management consulting but there are also a lot of other actors that can influence, for example general management.

Furthermore, there is a neglect of attention on detailed activities which ensure that it is difficult to identify the precise impact of consulting and of making conclusions (Sturdy, 2011). Mitchell (1994) also argues that there is not any guarantee for a successful outcome by purchase consulting services. While investments of time, money and personnel could be high. For this reason Baker and Faulkner (1991) state that you have to link the payment and

performance. For example by extra compensation for superior outcomes. Furthermore, they state that costs could be saved by developing internal expertise and management capabilities instead of hiring an external consulting organization.

Beyond management consultants, line managers become more familiar within management innovation caused by growth of education on management and the fact that former external consultants changed their job into line management positions in

organizations. The ‘up or out’ policies of large consulting organizations, for example, caused consultants participating in the management labor market. Many consultants were looking for alternatives for a secure and better work-life balance , which resulted in an increasing number of consultants in management functions. This development ensures enhance of consulting practices in organizations (Sturdy & Wright, 2008).

2.2 Management innovation

Management innovation could be defined as “ the invention and implementation of a

management practice, process, structure or technique that is new to the state of the art and is intended to further organizational goals” (Birkinshaw, Hamel, & Mol, 2008, p.825). In this definition they see management innovation as a complete novel innovation without known precedent. In contrast to other definitions, which see management innovation as something

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10 new within the organization. In these definitions exists a relationship between management innovation and standardization (Birkinshaw et al, 2008). Abrahamson (1996), for example, argues that ‘management fashions’ are often seen as radical innovations in organizations but these are based on existing knowledge. ‘Management fashions’ could be defined as existing management techniques which ensure management progress and are implemented by many followers. In the study of Wright, Sturdy and Wylie (2006) they argue that management innovations executed by consultants involve significant standardization. In this research management innovation defines the implementation of management practices which is new for the organization and intends to increase organizational performance (Mol & Birkinshaw, 2009). A way of implementing these management practices is by using Six Sigma, which is described in the next paragraph.

2.3 Six Sigma

In this research the management innovation Six Sigma will be discussed. In the beginning Six Sigma was intended for manufacturing operations, but expanded later quickly to several other functional areas when organizations realized the benefits of the Six Sigma method. These areas are for example; Servicing, Marketing, Engineering, Purchasing and Administrative support (Kwak & Anbari, 2006). Six Sigma is a metric of process measurement symbolized by the Greek letter σ which means the amount of variation within a normal distribution. The quality level of Six Sigma is 3.4 defects per million opportunities (Aboelmaged, 2010). This means that 99,99966 per cent of the final products have to meet the quality standards.

The objective of the Six Sigma method is implementation of a measurement-based strategy that has process improvement and variation reduction as focus. Six Sigma contains aspects which are not addressed earlier in quality improvement initiatives. Some of these aspect will be addressed. First of all, concentration of the Six Sigma method on achieving

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11 measurable financial returns to the bottom-line of an organization. Second, extraordinary focus on strong and passionate leadership. Third, integration of human and process elements for improvement throughout the problem solving process. Fourth, the use of tools and techniques in a consequent and disciplined way for solving problems in business processes. Fifth, facts and data are used in decision making instead of assumptions and intuitions. Finally, use of concepts of statistical thinking by statistical tools and techniques for defect reduction (Antony, 2004).

In literature there exists many different explanations of Six Sigma. In the study of Kwak and Anbari (2006) they use for example the following definition:

The Six Sigma method is a project-driven management approach to improve the organization’s products, services and processes by continually reducing defects in the organization. It is a business strategy that focuses on improving customer

requirements understanding, business systems, productivity, and financial performance. (p. 708)

In the study of Schroeder, Linderman, Liedtke, and Choo (2008) is the available literature used to propose also an initial definition of Six Sigma. They constructed the following definition that captures different theoretical aspects: “Six Sigma is an organized, parallel-meso structure to reduce variation in organizational processes by using improvement specialists, a structured method, and performance metrics with the aim of achieving strategic objectives” (p. 540). This is a base definition which can be changed depending on the

situation of the organization. Below there is a description of the different elements of this definition:

 Parallel-meso structure; Six sigma operates as a parallel-meso structure to improve the organization. Parallel indicates creations that operates outside of, another way of normal operating (Lawler, 1996, p. 132 as cited in Schroeder et al., 2008). Meso means the

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12 integration of micro- and macro-levels of analysis. Individuals and groups influence the organization and managers and employees have to understand multiple levels equally, which will connect multiple levels of an organization (Daft, 2001, p. 32 as cited in Schroeder et al., 2008).

 Improvement specialists; employees who are trained in the Six Sigma structured method. There are different levels of specialist. Employees who are called Green Belts receive two weeks of training to learn the basics. Black Belts are employees who have four weeks training with a hands-on experience in improving one or more processes. Besides you have Master Black Belts (MBBs) who receive the most extensive training and have as mean-task a role as instructor (Slater, 1999 as cited in Schroeder et al., 2008). Finally, there is the Champion who is part of senior management and knows the basics of Six Sigma. Usually the Black Belt reports to the Champion (Schroeder et al., 2008). They call this role structure the Six Sigma Belt system. Usually, 5 per cent of employees are Black Belts in a Six Sigma organization and the rest are Green Belts. Black Belts are involved mostly full-time in Six Sigma projects and Green Belts approximately 30 per cent of their work time.

 Structured method; Six Sigma uses the DMAIC method which stands for; Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. This is a structured method for process improvement (Schroeder et al., 2008). The Define phase contains definitions of the problem and the critical quality characteristics which are most important to customers. Subsequently, there is the Measure phase which stands for gathering data about the current process performance and capability. Then you have the Analyze phase in which they analyze the root causes of defects or errors. Next, in the Improvement phase they have to reduce these errors by statistical tools and techniques. Finally, in the Control phase they need to sustain the improvement of the previous phase (Antony & Banuelas,

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13 2002). Meanwhile addresses the study of Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2008) weaknesses in the Define and Control phase. In the Define phase the method has to ensure that the project selection criteria fits to organization goals instead of shortsighted financial targets. In addition, they state that in the Control phase, the process control tools mostly are insufficient to sustain the improvement results. Thus, role of management and a good quality control system would be important and improve the method.

Besides they have the DFSS method which means Design For Six Sigma. This is in contrast to the DMAIC method, a method for new processes (Aboelmaged, 2010).  Performance metrics; the Six Sigma metrics can be divided in customer-oriented metrics

and financial metrics. The customer-oriented metrics are focused on present and future needs of customers. Furthermore, Six Sigma projects have financial returns which are measured by financial employees in the organization (Schroeder et al., 2008).

There are different preconditions that are important for an effective implementation of the Six Sigma approach. In the study of Antony and Banuelas (2002) they call these preconditions Critical Success Factors (CSF). They identified these CSF by using literature. These CSF are of great importance, because they are seen as key input variables which influence the output. Below follows a description of these CSF.

Management involvement and commitment; senior managers have to teach the

principles of Six Sigma to their employees within the organization. The attitude of employees has to change and the business organization has to restructure towards Six Sigma. Besides there is a need of constantly support and commitment. (Henderson & Evans, 2000).

Cultural change; as mentioned the attitude of employees has to change. It is important that they are motivated and take responsibilities for quality of their work. Six Sigma requires the right mindset of employees at all levels. A successful change could be achieved by

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14 sustained communication, motivation and education (Antony and Banuelas, 2002).

Organization infrastructure: staff, commitment, time, energy and costs are some examples of resources which are required during the implementation of Six Sigma. It is important that the organization contains these resources when they introduce Six Sigma. The Belt system as mentioned before need to be structured, so employees have to be trained for different roles such as Green Belt and Black Belt (Antony & Banuelas, 2002).

Project management skills: employees requires project management skills for achieving different appointments and deadlines. Six Sigma is a project based approach, so exercise these skills will be useful (Antony & Banuelas, 2001).

Project prioritization and selection, reviews and tracking: to avoid disappointing results it is important to have clearly defined selection and prioritization criteria of projects. Frequently reviews are needed for controlling of employees execute correctly the Six Sigma method. Furthermore, to get insight into which barriers employees experience. A project tracking system is required to get an overview of the status of the different projects (Antony & Banuelas, 2002).

Understanding the Six Sigma methodology, tools and techniques: employees have to understand the DMAIC method as mentioned before. They have to learn three different sets of tools and techniques, namely process improvement tools and techniques, leadership tools, and team tools. Besides there have to be clearly stated metrics for measuring process

performance against customer requirements (Antony & Banuelas, 2002).

Linking Six Sigma to business strategy, the customer, human resources and suppliers: Six Sigma is not an alone standing activity, at the beginning of every project there has to be identified a link between the project objectives and the business strategy as mentioned before. Furthermore, critical-to-quality characteristics (CTQs) have to be selected. This is a

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15 human resources such as a reward system which have to link with Six Sigma and finally suppliers also have to participate in the cultural change (Antony & Banuelas, 2002).

Six Sigma is in many organizations the road to success, but in contrast to these success stories there are also a lot of Six Sigma project which failed. Absence of an implementing model is a reason why many of these Six Sigma projects have failed. The sequence of Six Sigma activities could be a reason of success in Six Sigma projects. In the study of Chakravorty (2009) an implementation model is developed which is described below.

1. Strategic Analysis, Market/Customer driven: there are many organizations that gain operational efficiency but that not enhance customer satisfaction. Therefore, the first step has to perform strategic analysis that need to be market/customer driven.

2. Form High-Level Cross Functional Improvement Teams: this could be effective in Six Sigma and ensures management involvement. About optimal numbers of team members there is no supportive literature, but probably this depends on the situation.

3. Establish Overall Improvement Tools: many organizations have employees who not possess deep problem-solving capabilities before implementing Six Sigma. This could be a cause of not achieving the desired improvement effect. Therefore organizations need to develop these capabilities inside the firm instead of “learning by doing”.

4. Perform a High-Level Process Mapping Prioritize: it is important to identify and prioritize Six Sigma projects which fits process improvement objectives. When this is not the case then Six Sigma projects could fail.

5. Detailed Plan and Form Low-Level Improvement Teams: developing a human infrastructure to set improvement from the bottom up.

6. Implementation, Documentation and Revision: revision could improve Six Sigma projects in the future.

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16 In the first four steps there is a top down approach where particularly management make strategic decisions. This is in contrast to the last two steps which consist of a bottom up approach where for example, engineers or technical’s make tactical decisions.

Besides there are organizations that integrate the Lean management system with Six Sigma, which could be termed as a Lean Six Sigma organization (Arnheiter & Maleyeff, 2005). Lean management could be described as a method, which aims to improve a flow of a system, to apply only value adding time and steps into the organization and to reduce waste. The basic identity of a system needs to be identified, value and waste need to be defined and strategies need to be developed and implemented to achieve the goals of Lean management (Hongyi & Taylor, 2009).

The previously discussed literature combined findings about management consulting, management innovations and Six Sigma. This review provided input for the emerged research question: How are Six Sigma projects performed within DAF Trucks N.V.? The next chapter describes the methodology which is used in order to answer this research question.

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3. Data and method

In this chapter the research design, how the data is collected and analyzed will be described. Besides the case which contains Six Sigma within DAF is described.

3.1 Research Design

This exploratory study aims to get new insight into the performance of Six Sigma projects within DAF. This research used a qualitative approach to get an in-depth understanding of alternatives for external management consulting during the performance of management innovation Six Sigma. A case study is used to gather rich data about the management innovation Six Sigma method within organization DAF (Yin, 2009). In order to establish different views of phenomena, different methods are required to collect qualitative data. Furthermore, this is a inductive research because the purpose is to understand more about the context of the case (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009).

DAF is selected as organization because this is a large organization which introduces many new Six Sigma projects every year since 1998 (DAF, 2014). This research has used a single case study, because DAF applies Six Sigma in all different departments with the non-use of external management consulting. This enables to compare different kind of Six Sigma projects within several departments.

Actors who are closely involved during the implementation of Six Sigma projects within DAF were interviewed, using semi-structured interviews. Besides existing

documentation within DAF was used to get insight in the performance of Six Sigma projects. This research method provides also a description of success factors of Six Sigma within DAF. In addition it will provide a view in the process of an alternative method, where they not use external management consulting, during the organizing of a management innovation

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18 (Gephart, 2004). The study is not intended to generalize a larger population, but to provide a deeper understanding of the process of performing management innovation Six Sigma without the use of external management consulting.

3.2 Data collection and analysis

The data was collected through four exploratory conversations, six interviews and by

studying existing documentation within DAF. The conversations took place with the Master Black Belt (MBB) who is responsible for the whole Six Sigma program within DAF and with three different Dedicated Black Belts (DBBs) who are each responsible for the Six Sigma program in a particular department within DAF. These conversations lasted between 45 and 60 minutes each and were conducted to get a clear picture of how Six Sigma is organized within DAF and to formulate the research question and sub questions. The interviews were conducted with six different Belts who participated each in particular Six Sigma projects. Belts are employees of DAF who are trained in one or more Six Sigma methods. These Belts were selected from different departments to get an overview of the various projects within DAF. Projects of the departments Purchase, Truck Factory, Marketing & Sales of PACCAR Parts, Distribution Centre of PACCAR Parts, and Product Development were selected. Furthermore, I studied different existing documentation within DAF. This documentation contains; presentations, brochures, websites and documents of the particular discussed Six Sigma projects.

The interviews with the six Belts were semi-structured and lasted around 45 minutes. The interviews took place in May and early June 2014. The interviews included open-ended questions about different themes. Each interview started with general questions about the respondent and their function in the organization. Then the process of organizing Six Sigma projects, the different roles from actors who were involved and success factors were

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19 discussed. The interview protocol can be found in Appendix 1 and is partly based on the interview protocol of the study from Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2008). This does not imply that every question was asked. Some questions were already answered during the interview without asking a particular question. The interviews were recorded and fully transcribed, which enhances the reliability of this study (Gibbert, Ruigrok, & Wicki, 2008). The

transcripts of the interviews can be found in Appendix 3. Subsequently, the data was coded to integrate the interview transcripts for analyzing the different themes. The codes are generally based on research question and sub questions and other themes which emerged during analyzing the transcripts. In Appendix 2 the coding list can be found. For transcribing and coding the interviews software NVivo 10 was used. The interview protocol, recordings and transcripts ensure a replication possibility of this study, which contribute to the reliability of this study as mentioned before (Yin, 2009).

The strength of this approach is that you can achieve a deeper understanding about the performance of Six Sigma projects. This qualitative approach gives insights in the entire process and could help other organizations in making decisions in the future, during comparable management innovation processes.

A limitation of this approach is that it is not possible to generalize the findings to a broader population. The findings are only valid for a particular type of organization in a particular setting (Yin, 2009). As mentioned already generalizing is also not the aim of this study. Findings of this study could be used in future research for further exploration in which generalizing could be an aim.

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3.3 Case description

This study focuses on DAF Trucks N.V. (DAF) which is a subsidiary of the American corporation PACCAR Inc. Core activities of DAF are development, production, marketing and sale of medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles (http://www.daf.com/EN/About-DAF/Pages/The-Company.aspx). DAF uses the Six Sigma method already for 15 years, which will be further described in this study.

DAF uses a broad Six Sigma program which was introduced first by their parent company PACCAR Inc. from America around year 2000. DAF started with the traditional Define Measure Analyze Improve Control (DMAIC) Six Sigma method and later they added the Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) method. In year 2006 they implemented the Lean Six Sigma method and PACCAR Production System (PPS), which made a big growth last years. This method requires no statistics in contrast to the DMAIC and DFSS method, therefore it is understandable for almost all employees.

The DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma method focusses on product and process

improvement to solve problems, while DFSS focusses on the development of products and processes to prevent problems. DFSS is used primarily within the department Product Development.

In 2013 DAF implemented around 1600 Six Sigma projects, which contains around 15 per cent DMAIC projects, 80 per cent Lean Six Sigma projects and 5 per cent DFSS projects (R. van der Heijden, personal communication, April 29, 2014).

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4. Results

In this chapter the findings will be presented. This chapter is divided in four sections which are based on the sub questions of this study.

4.1 What does Six Sigma means within DAF

DAF uses the Six Sigma method in combination with the PACCAR Production System (PPS). PPS is used to achieve the highest quality for the lowest cost through standard work, rhythm and regularity of production flows. This will be realized through the flexibility, creativity and drive of their employees, who share the value that their customers come first. DAF describes Six Sigma as follows:

Understanding the robustness of your design and how your processes work is key in producing quality products. With its fact-based decision making Six Sigma improves quality, communication, increases efficiency and reduces costs. It improves

competitiveness ensuring mutual growth of our common business goals. Six Sigma recognizes that quality is much more than a “well-built truck”. It tells us how good our products, processes, and services are in specific terms. Six Sigma provides the tools to see how far ahead or behind we are and offers directions on where we need to go. Six Sigma helps us to define what we must do to get there. It provides a structured approach from problem to solution. It helps u to create the most reliable trucks and services in the European truck market. (DAF Trucks N.V., 2014)

This definition is comparable with other studies which define Six Sigma (Antony, 2004; Kwak & Anbari, 2006; Schroeder et al., 2008). DAF uses Six Sigma in all phases of their product life cycle. This corresponds with the study of Kwak and Anbari (2006) who argue that Six Sigma was intended for manufacturing operations, but expanded later to other

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22 departments like Purchasing and Marketing. DAF uses three different Six Sigma methods, which contains DMAIC projects, Lean Six Sigma projects and DFSS projects. The DMAIC projects are also called variation reduction projects or Green Belt projects. The different methods and their phases will be described below.

Firstly, there are DMAIC projects, which aims the reduction and elimination of variation. These projects use the DMAIC method, which stands for phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. These phases are corresponding with phases of Six Sigma as addressed in the study of Schroeder et al. (2008).

Secondly, DAF uses Lean Six Sigma which DAF defines as “The gradual, unending improvement process - doing little things better and involving everyone” (DAF Trucks N.V., 2014). Lean Six Sigma complements higher complex issues addressed through Six Sigma, but mostly these have a higher impact. The Lean Six Sigma improvement process focuses on producing products first time right, reducing defects and streamlining process flows of people, information and materials. They use a Seven Step method which is an easy to

understand structure. These seven steps are; Problem, Process Before, Quick fix, Root Cause, Implement, Process After, and Sustain. The improvement efforts are visualized on an A3 One Page which contains these seven phases. This Lean Six Sigma method is comparable with Lean management which could be described as a method, which aims to improve a flow of a system, to apply only value adding time and steps into the organization and to reduce waste. (Hongyi & Taylor, 2009).

Finally, DAF uses DFSS “to design robust products and processes meeting DAF’s requirements for performance, reliability and manufacturability” (DAF Trucks N.V., 2014). As argued by Aboelmaged (2010) this is in contrast to the DMAIC method, a method for new processes. The DFSS method of DAF follows the phases of the Production Creation Process. The IDDOVC project phases stand for; Identify, Define, Design, Optimize, Validate and

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23 Control. For each phase tools are available to support DAF and suppliers in making right choices to develop robust products. DAF developed a DFSS checklist for assisting in choosing these tools (DAF Trucks N.V., 2014).

Projects mostly start from a problem. The type of problem determines which type Six Sigma project will be applied. For example a problem in the turnaround in the factory fits more in a Lean project, but a quality problem fits more in a DMAIC project (R. van der Heijden, personal communication, April 29, 2014).

4.2 Different roles of Six Sigma within DAF

DAF uses different roles within the Six Sigma program; Project Team Members, Lean Belts, Green Belts/ DFSS Belts, Black Belts, Dedicated Black Belts (DBBs), Master Black Belts (MBBs), Project Champions and Program Champions. These different roles will be described below.

Project Team Members: are members of a Six Sigma project.

Lean Belts: focus primarily in Six Sigma projects on reduce waste in processes.

Green Belts/ DFSS Belts: are able to handle more complex problems in Six Sigma projects than Lean Belts. These problems requires statistics to recover causes of the problem. Green belts are performing DMAIC projects. DFSS Belts are on the same level as Green Belts and perform DFSS project.

Black Belts: are able to handle and solve the most complex problems in Six Sigma projects. Dedicated Black Belts (DBBs): are Belts who are responsible for a particular department within DAF. There are 15 DBBs within DAF. They have to make sure that there are sufficient employees trained within their department for the different levels of Belts, that projects will be defined, and that projects are being completed. Besides they have to promote the Six Sigma program.

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24 Master Black Belts (MBBs): are responsible for the whole Six Sigma program within DAF. They are with three MBBs.

Project Champions: are direct executives of Belts and every project has one Project

Champion. They are responsible for the progress of the project and when there are roadblocks they have to eliminate these, for example in capacity. Champions also decide which Belts are needed and which type of Six Sigma project fits. They could ask the DBB for advice.

Program Champions: standing behind the Six Sigma program and have to communicate and ensure that their employees using the Six Sigma program. These persons are executives within DAF (R. van der Heijden, personal communication, April 29, 2014).

The study of Schroeder et al. (2008) mentions also roles; Green Belt, Black Belt, MBB and Champion, with a comparable definition. In this study they address that Black Belts are involved mostly full-time in Six Sigma projects, this is in contrast to DAF where only DBBs and MBBs has a full-time job which focuses on Six Sigma within DAF.

DAF has to ensure that in every part of the organization enough employees are trained for different roles in Six Sigma. DAF uses a Mature Organization which means that they determined for every function within DAF which Six Sigma level is required. For example, a Team leader and a Workman in the factory have to be trained on the Lean Belt level, while a Production Engineer have to be trained Green Belt, and a Senior Production Engineer Black Belt. This will be applied also to the supportive departments, for example within the

department Purchase has every Purchaser to be trained Lean Belt and in the desired situation actually Green Belt. In the study of Henderson and Evans (2008), they state that the business organization has to be restructured towards Six Sigma. As well Antony & Banuelas (2002) who argue that a Belt system need to be structured, so employees have to be trained for different roles such as Green Belt and Black Belt. DAF seems to do this by using the Mature

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25 Organization. The trainings in the Netherlands will be given by the three MBBs. They

divided the different Belt trainings, one is responsible for the trainings of Black Belts, one for the Lean and Green Belts and one for the DFSS Belts. There are also trainings in America, where parent company PACCAR Inc. is situated. This corresponds with the study of Schroeder et al. (2008) which describes that MBBs have a mean-task as a role instructor.

After training, they expect that employees also perform “learn” projects in their work environment and then they also could officially be certified as Belt. For example, a Lean Belt need to perform three “learn” Lean projects to be certified, a Green Belt need to perform two DMAIC projects and a final test and a Black Belt two more complex projects DMAIC projects and a final test. This ensures that employees will apply Six Sigma also in their daily work environment. They expect from their Belts that they perform at least two Six Sigma projects every year for guaranteeing continuity. The implementation model of Chakravorty (2009) argues that many organizations have employees who not possess deep problem-solving capabilities before implementing Six Sigma. This could be a cause of not achieving the desired improvement effect. Therefore they argue that organizations need to develop these capabilities inside the firm instead of “learning by doing”. DAF seems to prevent this by oblige that employees have to do two or three “learn” projects after the training before they are officially certified as a Belt.

In addition to Belts who will be trained within DAF, there are also suppliers of DAF who will be trained in Six Sigma. They expect from suppliers that they also can solve or prevent problems by using the Six Sigma method (R. van der Heijden, personal

communication, April 29, 2014). The study of Antony & Banuelas (2002) addresses the link between suppliers and the Six Sigma method as one of the critical success factors by

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4.3 How DAF organizes Six Sigma projects

In this section different themes will be discussed that are emerged from the interviews with Belts and which are related to the organizing of Six Sigma projects.

Project initiation

Champions are responsible for project selection and they have to achieve certain goals each year in the field of Six Sigma. To achieve these goals they have to think about which projects they need to pick up in order to reach the desired level. This does not happen yet in all cases, but it is the way how it should be addressed. Projects will also be initiated by Belts

themselves, because they signalize problems in their work environment (R. van der Heijden, personal communication, April 29, 2014).

Based on interviews with the six Belts, there emerged different reasons why a particular Six Sigma project was initiated. Below an overview of these reasons:

 Two safety signals in the Truck factory.

 Receiving penalty points for errors in the oil level of the truck.  A project proposal from a supplier for cost reduction.

 Price of the supplier is too high, based on cost calculation.

 The manager of the Belt asked to start a project for a problem statement.  A new supervisor who signaled that there possibly work too many inspectors.

 A learning project for making Truck factory operators familiar with Lean Six Sigma.  A profit review which showed a decline in margin from 42 to 39 per cent.

All these Six Sigma projects fits the process improvement objectives and this is of essential importance because otherwise Six Sigma projects could fail (Chakravorty, 2009). Initiators of these projects were Belts, executives or suppliers. Reasons for initiating these projects could

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27 be distinct in; errors which have to solve, efficiency opportunities, and learning project skills. Errors which have to solve could be, for example:

Belt 4: “The problem definition was that we lost packaging material which did not return from dealers, for almost more than 600.000 euro annually”.

Efficiency opportunities where possibilities for cost reduction and margin increasing. For example by reducing manpower:

Belt 5: “A new supervisor started to work and said: we do not need three inspectors. I said to him: we do not have three inspectors for nothing. So, we started to figure this out using Six Sigma”.

Finally, they achieved a reduction in manpower from three to two inspectors, which led to a cost reduction.

Project team composition

All interviewed Belts stated that they formed the Six Sigma project team by themselves. The number of members depended on the project. This corresponds with Chakravorty (2009) who also concluded that there is no supportive literature about the optimal number of team

members and stated that this probably depends on the situation. Most Belts pointed out that most of the required team members are job-related, therefore a team will largely form automatically, as explained by the Belt of Product Development:

Belt 2: “The Champion is my executive by definition. The DBB is standard

responsible for a particular group. Purchasers are also responsible for particular accessories, so that person will be involved also automatically. A Production Engineer is also responsible for a particular part of the factory the same for Supplier Quality Assurance which is divided by supplier. In this case, initiated the

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28 supplier the project so he is also involved. Only by the Quality department of the factory, there you have to ask the Team leader who is available”.

Both Belts who are part of the Truck factory pointed out that they also select members based on the kind of person, as indicated by these examples:

Belt 1: “When he agrees something then the rest of his team will also agree, that is why I involved him in my project team. I looked which people are pleasant to work with and that resulted well”.

Belt 5: “I looked which guys are standing the longest on the control task and whether they have really an adult attitude”.

In case of Six Sigma projects which will be performed by suppliers themselves, the supplier will form the project team within their organization. As described by the Belt of Purchasing:

Belt 3: “I was only the Champion in this project. I was the problem owner and had only an advisory role”.

Project Champion

Almost all Belts describe that the Champion has a role on the background. In all cases of Six Sigma projects within DAF was the Champion an executive of the Belt. This corresponds with the study of Schroeder et al. (2008) which stated that the Champion is part of senior and knows the basic of Six Sigma. Besides this study described that the Black Belt usually reports to the Champion. In the case of DAF, reports the responsible Belt of the Six Sigma project to the Champion, but this could also be a Lean Belt or Green Belt. When there arising problems, then the Champion will support to solve these problems, as illustrated by these example from Belts about their Champion:

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29 Belt 1: “He will solve our problem when we are not getting further. I do not really need him in this project. Sometimes there are management decisions which he has to make and then you need him”.

Belt 6: “On the background he has an advising role. Mostly I give him an update, but usually we perform the project self”.

One Belt explained that the Champion was involved closely, but this could be explained through a double role of the Champion:

Belt 5: “The champion was our Workman who was finally also process owner. He was on top of everything, just like on the charts. He walked in and then he asked to causes, he was constantly involved”.

In case of Six Sigma projects which are performed by suppliers within department Purchasing, the Purchaser had the role as Champion. This role has the same tasks as a Champion from Six Sigma projects which are performed within DAF, as stated by this Belt of department Purchasing:

Belt 3: “If you asks me what has to be the role of a Purchaser by their supplier? Than it is Champion, so the problem owner, the one who eliminates road blocks and takes care or the project will be performed”.

Leader tasks within projects

Another theme that emerged from the interviews with the Belts is that almost all of them had a leadership task within the particular discussed Six Sigma projects. The Belts described this task as ensuring that all tasks will be performed. Besides they also worked a lot for the performance of the content of the projects. One Belt stated that this is actually not the task of the Belt from the project, as illustrated:

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30 Belt 5: “Team leader and Belt are different roles. The Team leader should organize the meetings and reserve a room and other things like this. While the Belt should focus only on the content of the process, that it is why there is as also a Team leader. In smaller projects the Belt will also perform the Team leader tasks, but in larger projects these roles are separated”.

One Belt pointed out that the Champion of the project also had the leadership task. This in contradiction with the other five Belts.

Project duration

All six interviewed Belts showed each a particular project where they had no deadline for finishing the Six Sigma project. An exception is when the project contains, for example a quality or safety topic, as this Belt stated:

Belt 5: “When there emerged a project with a quality problem, other projects will be put aside, because quality come first. This project is about costs and that is the fourth priority, so there is not really a deadline determined. In contrast to the three other topics: quality, delivery reliability and safety”.

Furthermore, three Belts argued that the Six Sigma projects takes a lot of their time and they see this as a disadvantage. Belts execute these projects next to their daily work which also has priority, as described by Belt 6:

Belt 6: “Especially we, need to do everything soon soon soon. We have sales targets and so on. That is the most important and thereafter following the Six Sigma

projects”.

In contrast to this Belt who stated this about Six Sigma projects within the department Product Development:

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31 Belt 2: “Many people see it as extra bother, but when you integrated Six Sigma in your development process, it will cost no extra time. The things you have to do, they already do automatically”.

Targets

Belts differ in their explanation about determining targets in the beginning of a Six Sigma project. Four Belts determined targets in the definition phase, but the other two started without targets, as described below:

Belt 1: “Current level was 0.5 penalty point weekly and I would like to go to half of this, so 0.25. That is 1 penalty point in four weeks and I am now at 0.13”.

Belt 2: “Look, you are started actually blind with a Lean project. You know that you are going to improve the return flow and then during the project you will find out what your goal is going to be”.

Belts established targets by themselves based on figures of the past or in one case the

Champion established a target. Below an example of a Belt about establishing a target within department Purchasing.

Belt 3: “Depends on the project and what is feasible. What I just showed, the pareto and cost calculation, you could reach mostly 10 per cent less costs. A commodity manager knows this from experience, that could be also 5 per cent, but that also depends on outcomes of cost calculations and market study analysis”.

The literature describes that financial returns of Six Sigma projects are measured by financial employees in the organization (Schroeder et al., 2008). DAF calls these returns “savings” which will also be controlled by a financial controller within DAF. The projects which the interviewed Belts showed ranged from 2.000 to 2.000.000 euros.

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32 Closure document

During the Six Sigma projects all steps should be described in a document which called the “closure”. This document is for guaranteeing that all steps are executed and the actions are documented. Besides the project is closed only when the document is signed by all different involved persons who have to sign. Who these persons are depends on the project. In almost all projects of the interviewed Belts were the persons who signed usually; the Belt,

Champion, DBB and Controller. The Champion will focus primarily on the content. The DBB has the task to check whether they used the right Six Sigma method and the controller has to control the financial savings (A.C. van Rijckevorsel, personal communication, May 21, 2014). The study of Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2008) states that in the Control phase the process control tools mostly are insufficient to sustain the improvement results. They argue that a quality control system would be important and improves the method. The closure which DAF used could be seen as a quality control system, because different persons had to sign or they agreed in order to close the Six Sigma project. The DBB will check also whether they used the right tools in the Control phase for sustaining the improvement. This is also in line with the study of Antony & Banuelas (2002) which stated that frequently reviews are needed in order to control whether employees executed the Six Sigma method correctly.

Three Belts called in their interviews that they write there closure mostly at the end instead of during each step of the process. As illustrated in these examples:

Belt 1: “It creates extra work for me, because I am busy one day extra to write the closure, while the installation already is working again”.

Belt 2: “You will try to write the closure of course during the project, but at one point there will be a slop. This because of your other work activities, so in the end you have to work hard for finishing the closure”.

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33 This is not the method, but I can better be honest. Mostly it is because of a shortage of time”.

Furthermore, one of these Belts told a remarkable thing about creating a Sig Sigma project afterwards:

Belt 2: “Sometimes it happens that we have done a project and we think afterwards, that could be a nice Six Sigma project. Then we write a closure around it”.

4.4 Success factors of Six Sigma for DAF

DAF describes “The combination of the PACCAR Production System (PPS) together with Six Sigma as one of the main reasons behind the success of DAF”.

Based on the interviews with six Belts there emerged different success factors which they experienced by using the Six Sigma method. Below the different themes are described.

Structure through fixed steps - is a theme which emerged by most of the Belts, four of the six called that they see the importance of performing the Six Sigma method in a fixed set of steps. For example:

Belt 4: “In the past you never thought what are the goals and are they reached, because you just started to perform something. When you perform something in a Lean Belt way, than you are sure that you performed all steps and involved the team. Instead of performing an one-man action without deeply thinking about it.”

The study of Chakravorty (2009) also stated that the sequence of Six Sigma activities could be contribute to the success of Six Sigma projects. Furthermore, five of the six Belts pointed out that there are particular steps which are of great essential importance, which could be skipped when you are not following the Six Sigma method. There are two Belts who called the risk analysis as a particular important step, as illustrated in this example:

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34 Belt 3: ”Cost reduction is achieved quickly within Purchasing, but what consequences are, like quality reducing and logistics deterioration, are very important things to think about. When people have to report improvements in closure documents, they are forced to think about these risks”.

This corresponds with Chakravorty (2009) who argues that many organizations gain operational efficiency but did not enhance customer satisfaction and therefore are strategic analysis important.

Two other belts mentioned that projects will be secured through the Control phase in the Six Sigma method, because of the appointments you make with your team about a new way of working. Without the fixed steps in the Six Sigma method the sustainability of the new work method will be forgotten. While in the Control phase, the process control tools are mostly insufficient to sustain the improvement results (Nonthaleerak and Hendry, 2008) Finally, one Belt said that the method is good because you are able to study processes deeply and search for factors and sources that could be the cause of the problem.

Supplier involvement - was a central theme in the interview with the Belt from the

department Purchasing. Many Six Sigma projects within this department will be performed by suppliers. When Purchasers are conducted new Long Term Agreements with suppliers, then they have a standard clause. This clause contains that the supplier has to use Six Sigma or a comparable other improvement method. Important is that the supplier recognizes the value added of Six Sigma, for example:

Belt 3: “This machine for example produces nowadays more products than before the Six Sigma project. Then the supplier can decide or they shift on the saving to their other clients or that they keep it for themselves and improve more. The good thing is, that the supplier performed the Six Sigma project by themselves and that they find out

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35 that Six Sigma could help to make their processes more efficient. Besides they fulfilled their contract with us and I finished two Six Sigma projects without performing it. So, the supplier performed the projects by themselves and we earned the savings.

The Belt of the department Product Development also mentioned the advantage of involvement of the supplier. He argues that when it possible that the supplier execute operations of the Six Sigma project, than it is time saving. Furthermore, the Belt showed a project that was initiated by the supplier and explained why they initiated this:

Belt 2: “This was a project started from the supplier, a CMP proposal, that is a Cost Management Partnership and part of the purchase agreement. That is an

appointment, that they have to attempt to achieve annually cost reductions, for a particular percentage of their revenue. That is why they said, why we not produce a plastic tube instead of an air breather line of stainless steel in the radiator, because that is much cheaper. Then the supplier presented a proposal and we judged of it possible to start a DFSS project”.

The study of Antony and Banuelas (2002) mentioned the participation of suppliers also as critical success factor, which influences the output of Six Sigma.

Team work - was mentioned also by three Belts as a success factor of Six Sigma. The Belts mentioned that it is good to work in a team with different people, for example:

Belt 1: “Working with a team works well. I think it is good that everybody can thinking along and that operators of the factory will be involved”.

Belt 6: “I think that it is good that you will think in fixed steps and involving the right people”.

Setting the improvement from the bottom up is a part of the implementation model of Chakravorty (2009) for Six Sigma projects. DAF shows this for example by involving

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36 operators of the factory also in Six Sigma projects. Furthermore, shows this study that the last part of the implementation model should be “implementation, documentation and revision”. Documentation emerged also as theme from the interviews as described below.

Documentation - of the performed work through the Six Sigma method is also pointed out by two Belts as a success factor for two reasons. Firstly, they started, in the past, with an improvement without thinking about the goals and whether they reached these. Secondly, it is difficult to find information when it is not documented in a structured way, as illustrated in this example:

Belt 2: “Another big advantage is that you document everything what you did in the project. You can often retrieve many information separated in the organization, but when that person left the organization, then you cannot resolve the information anymore. I think that is the biggest success of Six Sigma”,

Decision-making by figures - emerged also in a interview as theme. Which means that decisions are made based on data, especially in the DMAIC method, as described by Belt 5:

Belt 5: “A success is also that in Green belt projects in particular, everything is supported by figures. We could all thinking, but when you can prove it with data then you are sure”.

This corresponds with one of the aspect of Six Sigma that facts and data are used for decision making instead of making assumptions and intuitions (Antony, 2004).

Routine in thinking - following the Six Sigma method is mentioned as a success factor. The idea is that employees apply this particular way of thinking also outside Six Sigma projects. Two belts assumes that this could be an advantage, illustrated by these examples:

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Belt 3: “So you want that people automatically think, if we are going to implement

this, what is the problem, what is the root cause and if I then solve the problem, what are still risks, also when it will be a better situation. When everyone in Purchasing use these three things, then you do not need the closure reports anymore, because everything will run much faster and that is a part of the philosophy, the added value of Six Sigma”.

Belt 5: “Every morning we have a start-up meeting in the factory which focuses on quality. We discuss all the mistakes which are made and found. Actually, my goal is, that once people will discuss automatically what are the causes and why”.

This routine in thinking could require a cultural change which Antony and Banuelas (2002) mentioned as a critical success factor in their study. The study argued that Six Sigma requires a right mindset of employees at all levels. Not all employees within DAF possesses this mindset explained a Belt who is trying to motivate his colleagues:

Belt 2: “Most people see it more as a burden, than that they see the power of preventing defects or solving problems”.

A successful change in attitudes of the employees could be achieved by sustained communication, motivation and education (Antony and Banuelas, 2002).

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5. Discussion

The findings of the previous section provide an answer for the research question in this study, “How are Six Sigma projects performed within DAF Trucks N.V.?”. This research question is originated through the gap in literature as discussed in chapter 2. This gap contains the lack of research on organizing a management innovation without using external management consulting. The findings of this study contribute the providing of practical implications for alternatives of external management consulting, because DAF uses no external management consulting in their Six Sigma methods (Sturdy, 2011; Sturdy & Wright, 2011; Sturdy & Wright, 2008). Thus, the aim of this is study is to get more insight in alternatives of external management consulting, using DAF as case.

This case study shows that DAF started in the past with DMAIC and DFSS projects, which are Six Sigma methods for process improvement and new processes (Aboelmaged, 2010). In 2006, DAF started with the Lean Six Sigma method which is described as an easy to

understand improvement process and contains, for example no statistics. This method

corresponds with an integration of Lean Management and Six Sigma (Arnheiter & Maleyeff, 2005). The introduction of this Lean Six Sigma method seems to enhance involvement of more employees with Six Sigma within DAF. This increase is shown by the fact that around 80 per cent of completed Six Sigma projects in 2013 were Lean Six Sigma projects.

Furthermore, in total there were 1598 Six Sigma projects closed in 2013 comparing to 567 in 2007. The Mature Organization, which DAF had introduced in 2008, explains also the growth of Six Sigma within DAF. This Mature Organization means that DAF is determined for every function within the organization that Six Sigma level is required. The Mature Organization could be seen as a method to force involvement of more employees with Six Sigma.

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39 In this case study DAF is chosen as organization, because they use no external management consultants during the performance of Six Sigma projects. When you are studying the literature, as described in Chapter 2, there is a common shared definition for the part of management consultants. It describes that the management consultants are actors who offer specialized knowledge that is neglected in the organization (Furusten, 2009). Based on this statement you may wonder whether DAF possess specialized knowledge in the field of Six Sigma, which could explain the non-use of external management consulting. The findings show that this does indeed seems to be the case. Firstly, at DAF there are three MBBs employed who are responsible for the whole Six Sigma program within the organization. These MBBs have specialized knowledge in order to train employees internal in the different Six Sigma methods. Secondly, there are DBBs who are also trained to support Six Sigma within a specific department.

The literature shows that organizations also use external management consulting for independent and objective advice from specially qualified and trained experts (Visscher, 2001). DBBs could seen as these advisory experts, because for each department within DAF there is a particular responsible DBB. Project Champions or Belts could ask them advice about the Six Sigma method. Furthermore, DBB has to check every Six Sigma project

whether they have used the Six Sigma method correctly. In contrast to Champions DBBs are not the team leaders of the Belts which ensures for more independent advice. Thus, you could see employees who possess specialized knowledge within an organization, as an alternative for external management consulting.

As discussed in chapter 2 you could remark similarities when comparing the Six Sigma method with ‘process consultation’,. Process consultation is a form of consulting which should ensure that clients learn to diagnose and improve situations and to solve new

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40 problem (Schein, 1973). When a organization possess these skills, external management consulting could be redundant. DAF describes the Six Sigma method as a structured approach from problem to solution, which can be seen as the processes that clients normally learn when ‘process consultation’ is used by external management consultants. Where normally a external management consultant could introduce a problem solving method DAF performs it self. Thus, only the Six Sigma method or another problem solving method could also be seen as an alternative for external management consulting, which organizations could use by themselves.

When organizations perform self particular problem solving methods then it is important they use it in an effective way. In Six Sigma are the process control tools mostly unable to sustain the improved results (Nonthaleerak and Hendry, 2008). DAF tries to prevent a wrong way of performing, by employing DDBs who monitor whether the right Six Sigma method is applied. Furthermore, the Champions and Belts have a minimum number of Six Sigma projects they need to perform each year, which ensures continuity in the Six Sigma method skills.

Working following a problem solving method like Six Sigma could bring a cultural change in achieving success. Employees have to experience advantages of this method instead of seeing the method as a burden. Within DAF there are also employees who do not possess this right mindset. Sustained communication, motivation and education could achieve a change in attitudes of employees (Antony and Banuelas, 2002).

Further research on DAF employees who experience Six Sigma as a burden could be useful. When causes of this mindset can be identified then possibly DAF is able to invent solutions to change this mindset. When more employees possesses the right mindset, Six Sigma can be even more successful.

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41 To answer the research question “How are Six Sigma projects performed within DAF Trucks N.V.?”, it can be said that DAF uses three different Six Sigma methods. The DMAIC, DFSS and Lean Sig Sigma method, which ensure that the Six Sigma method can be performed in all departments and at all different levels. The Mature Organization that DAF applies ensures a high involvement of employees in Six Sigma. Furthermore, the findings indicate different success factors of Six Sigma within DAF, which are mentioned by the Belts who were

surveyed. These success factors are; structure through fixed steps, supplier involvement, team work, documentation, decision-making by figures and routine in thinking. Most of these success factors are also addressed in prior studies (Anthony, 2004; Antony & Banuelas, 2002; Chakravorty, 2009). The findings of this study could also contribute to organizations that would like to introduce Six Sigma or already perform this method.

Finally, the performance of Six Sigma or another problem solving method could be seen as an alternative for external management consulting, which requires employees who possess specialized knowledge, for example in the field of Six Sigma. Furthermore, employees have to obtain the right mindset that fits the method.

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6. Conclusion

This case study has analysed how DAF performs Six Sigma projects. Aim of this qualitative approach was to gain insight in alternatives of management consulting by introducing a management innovation. DAF was chosen as case, because they perform management innovation Six Sigma without using external management consulting.

A case study is used to gather rich data about the performance of Six Sigma within DAF. Different methods for collecting data were executed to establish different views on this subject. First, four exploratory conversations were conducted on MBBs and DBBs. Subsequently, six interviews took place with Belts who performed particular Six Sigma Projects. Furthermore, existing documentation within DAF had been studied.

The results present that DAF uses three different Six Sigma methods; DMAIC project, DFSS projects, and Lean Six Sigma projects. These methods enable that Six Sigma is applied in all phases of their product life cycle. Furthermore, DAF uses a Mature Organization which means that they determine for each function which level of Six Sigma is required. The three MBBs are employees who are responsible for the whole Six Sigma program within DAF. These MBBs also possess the knowledge to train employees internal in the different Six Sigma methods. Furthermore, there are fifteen DBBs who are responsible for a particular department within DAF. DBBs have to ensure that they have trained enough employees in Six Sigma. In addition, they have an advisory role and have to check whether the Six Sigma method is performed correctly.

The findings also show different success factors that were emerged from the interviews with the Belts. These success factors are; structure through fixed steps, supplier