Recently, while waiting for my car to have service performed, I read an article about the origins and the function of the bilge pump.  At first, it was to kill time, but as I continued reading the article I was struck by the fact that what I was reading was very analogous to the way companies may think about process improvement.  The term “bilge” not only refers to the lowest compartment in the hull of a ship, it refers to the substance that collects in that compartment.  The substance consists of water that is typically brackish in nature and foul smelling.  There are reasons beyond the normal overflow of water on a deck why a ship might take on water internally and most of those reasons occur when a ship is experiencing trouble.  The difference between a properly operating bilge pump and an inoperative one might be the difference between a ship safely coming home and a ship sinking at sea. 

So let me carry on with the analogy.  The ship is the company.  The “bilge substance” is poor quality, waste, non-value added activity, variation, inefficiencies, etc.  The bilge pump is the company’s business enhancement methodology or operating system that is designed to eliminate the “bilge substance.”  During a storm or while experiencing a serious emergency is no time for the crew of the ship to abandon using the bilge bump.   It’s during difficult times that it is even more vital that the crew ensure that the operation of the bilge pump is being maintained and safeguarded.  So it is in the business world.  During times of economic downturn is no time to abandon those principles and methodologies which produced successful products and services for customers.  The same cost of poor quality (COPQ) would still exist and does not disappear in times of trouble.  The products and services that a company provides will still need the same level of attention they did before the “crisis” in order to provide continued customer satisfaction.   

Over the past two decades our company has witnessed downturns in the country’s economy.  And today, as with past downturns, we see companies “tightening their belts.” Because outsourced expenses such as training, coaching, etc., can be immediately cut to reduce expenses, companies sometimes take that approach.  If a company wants to immediately reduce the expense side of the ledger, that might be one plausible step for leadership to take.  If, on the other hand, leadership wants the business to remain viable to compete in a global economy, the approach of “slash and burn” does not make sense.  Companies that make that decision are sending a signal that Voice of the Customer (VOC) is only worth listening to in times of a strong economy.  Does that imply that when the economy shrinks and the market gets tough it’s not the time to pay attention to VOC?  That kind of attitude and action might achieve an immediate short-term goal only at the peril of long-term strategic goals.   Although the customer may change the types of purchases or services required or scale back on the quantity ordered, the customer still expects to receive the same level of “desired” accuracy, timeliness, and cost.  In today’s global economy, if those measures of performance deteriorate, the customer will find a different supplier.

Many companies have benefitted from Lean Six Sigma since the inception of the methodology.  The principles, tools, and methodology are sound and tested.  A true indicator of a company’s commitment to not only their success but the success of their customers is if they start a Lean Six Sigma deployment when they themselves are having financial difficulties or if they continue to deploy when there is a downturn in the economy. 

Apogee, a provider of glass solutions for enclosing buildings and framing art, is an example of a company that embarked upon Lean Six Sigma at a time when the company was in trouble.  According to the CEO, Russ Huffer, “Everybody understood that if we didn’t make changes, our future was in jeopardy.”  In 1999, they had more debt than they wanted, their processes were not performing up to expectation, and the stock price had fallen 84 percent over a three year period.  The decision was made to commit to an excellence program in 2001, and the company stayed the course through the  post-September 11 business cycle and continues through today:  Lean Six Sigma is part of Apogee's culture.  The goal of the Apogee employees is to reduce variation, improve their processes, and add value to their customer.  “Lean Six Sigma, in conjunction with some other decisions on strategic focus, gave Apogee a new lease on business.”  Russ Huffer saw the need, created the vision, and fostered the plan because they were in financial trouble.  Today, they are financially sound.  

At the WCBF 4th Annual Lean & Six Sigma Summit, Russell W. Ford, President and CEO, Prestolite Electric, Inc.(manufacturer of heavy duty alternators and starter motors), stated the challenge facing the company was to “reinvent a mature company with 100 years of embedded practice into a nimble, change-oriented machine with sustainable differentiation in a global market.”  Despite the downturn in the global economy Prestolite embarked upon their LSS/DFSS journey.  To date, their results have been impressive.  Not only have several waves of LSS and DFSS training taken place, the project and study completion and success rate is very high.  One of the significant successes was getting their first major new product platform to market 6 months earlier than anticipated with greater than 99% yield rate.  The CEO now has a goal of expanding the LSS/DFSS deployment to their international units in the U.K., Argentina, and China. 

As is always the case, leadership is responsible for determining when and on what to spend the company’s money.  Although leadership’s initial response might be to dramatically reduce all expenses in times of economic difficulties, there might be a more optimum solution.  Maybe the solution includes using the “bilge pump” to cut out COPQ to make the business more efficient, effective, and more profitable -- that’s a decision leaders get paid to make.