The power of Six Sigma. (Novel Solutions).

Few customers today will allow a foundry to enjoy an undeserving profit. "If it's a profit you want," they seem to say, "find it yourself." This inference is made clear when you open one of those 8% price reduction letters.

This is why programs like Six Sigma (meaning 3.4 defects per 1 million opportunities) have risen to the forefront. Despite its "new gospel" disciples such as of Allied Signal, Ford and Caterpillar (and most notably GE's Jack Welch), Six Sigma is disregarded by some because its goal is thought to be unattainable in a foundry. But as this month's Novel Solutions (NS) selection indicates, it's the process, not the finish line, that's important.

One of our industry's top foundries admits that it hasn't yet reached Six Sigma on even its most promising projects. In every case, however, it found 50% or more improvements in a short period of time, and it keeps finding savings as long as its eyes are on the Six Sigma ball.

Like the first two NS selections, the message in The Power of Six Sigma (Dearborn Trade) is told through a fictionalized tale. Written by the American Supplier Institute's Subir Chowdhury, the 124-page book (a 60-minute read) focuses on Joe, a just-fired manager. Shocked and bewildered, he phones an old colleague, Larry, to meet for lunch.

The smart-aleck and skeptical Joe receives a plain-language lesson on how Six Sigma propelled Larry and his division to the top. In baseball terms, Larry explains it's easier to win a game with fewer errors and strikeouts than with the home run. In this light, the foul ball and fielding error receives more study than the spectacular play. As Larry says, preventing mistakes and avoiding time and material-wasting errors "can make you just as much money or more, and anyone can do it."

As Joe learns, Six Sigma is a philosophy to improve customer satisfaction and dramatically increase the bottom line. Instead of just "improving quality," the philosophy focuses on working on what matters most to the customer (not the manufacturer) and most significantly impacts profitability. By its nature, Six Sigma requires that technical/quality and beancounters work arm-in-arm.

As Larry explains, most firms measure the number of errors independent of the number of opportunities, so they don't know what's possible or how far they're falling short. In this light, even a few defects can result in tremendously more waste than one might think.

If you've ever wondered what a Black or Green Belt actually does or how to approach a Six Sigma project, The Power of Six Sigma is a good start. Truly a layman's book, it may be a little soft for some, but it's a good introduction and pass-along book.

At the minimum, it's a non-textbook guide for framing and deploying problem-solving initiatives. Understanding how to define a problem, measure where you stand, analyze where the problem starts, improve and control the process are well worth your review, regardless of whether a formal Six Sigma program is in the cards.

Visit www.moderncasting.com/books to comment on this selection as well as to enter your suggestion for the next book in the series.