Six Sigma in TQM for Construction Industry

Recently I was given a great opportunity by CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) Malaysia, which is also known as Lembaga Pembangunan Industri Pembinaan Malaysia to present a Lecture entitled Six Sigma in TQM. This seminar was held in Grand Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur on 25th November 2008.




The seminar aimed to promote and encourage TQM to construction players in particular the contractor so as to embrace TQM in their endeavor to excel in delivering quality of construction projects. The objectives of this programme was:

• To introduce and expose fundamental principles of TQM for construction players,
• To incorporate and streamline TQM together with ISO9001 QMS as a tool to improve quality in construction industry,
• To give value added on quality management best practices to construction industry,
• To share knowledge among the contractors on TQM.

This seminar was attended by various contractors, consultants, developers, government agencies, academics and TQM enthusiasts. The seminar was concluded by having a Question and Answer (Q&A) session:




From Left to Right are:
Prof. Dr. Hamzah A. Rahman from University Malaya
Dr Steven Muru from JMC Jireh Management Consultant Sdn Bhd
Ir. Hj. Mukhtar Che Ali from CIDB
En. Mohd Subri Ismail from Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC)
Dr. Satnam Singh, Six Sigma Master Black Belt Consultant

General conclusions can be made in regards to Six Sigma in TQM

• Six Sigma can be used with TQM.
• Six Sigma and TQM have many similarities and are compatible in varied business environments, including manufacturing and service industries.
• While TQM has helped many companies in improving the quality of manufactured goods or services rendered, Six Sigma has the potential of delivering even sharper results.
• Six Sigma utilises many TQM tools, but these tools are applied for breakthrough business improvement and sustainable financial returns.
• The basic difference between Six Sigma and TQM is the approach.
• TQM views quality as conformance to internal requirements, Six Sigma focuses on improving quality by reducing the number of defects.
• The end result is the same in both the concepts (i.e. producing better quality products).
• Six Sigma helps organizations in reducing operational costs by focusing on defect reduction, cycle time reduction, and cost savings.

Lean Six Sigma Clears the 'Cloud'

What do you see in the picture?

The answer is that you may either see a young girl or an old lady and if you look closer you might see both! (concentrate on the eye or ear!)

Just like in any process, each person will perceive the process in their own individual way. A process can seem to be performing well from the outset but there may be an underlying problem that we are not aware of. In recent trends many companies or service industries applied Lean Manufacturing methods in order to quickly 'modify' their processes to reduce wastages and improve costs.

Lean tools are excellent methodologies to be applied but the 'cloud' may still remain in which it may be embedded deep within the process itself. In simple terms we may only have harvested 'low hanging fruits' from the tree. How do we differentiate that our improvement activities made significant improvements to the process? How can we make sure that these improvements can be sustained over a long period of time?

This is where the use of statistical tools comes into play when combined with lean manufacturing techniques and hence, the Lean Six Sigma appears. The use of six sigma principles in conjunction with lean manufacturing clears this 'cloud' through statistical measures. Do you beg to differ?

Six Sigma for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Six Sigma is a structured methodology that utilises statistical tools to improve a process. The process can be in any industry not only restricted to manufacturing. The process can range from building an airplane to serving pizza in a restaurant. It can also range from tendering for a government project to writing a prescription for a patient.

Nevertheless, I often hear complaints that Six Sigma is only suitable for large corporations such as Multi National Corporations (MNCs) and not the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) due to lack of funds and resources. It is fair to say that implementing six sigma can be initially an expensive affair that can tie up resources and usually involves the participation of independent consultants to make the implementation successful.

However, as I mentioned earlier, six sigma is about improving (even streamlining) a process and should not have any boundaries betweeen MNCs or SMEs. The level of Six Sigma may defer in which the MNCs or SMEs may limit the number of Yellow, Green and Black Belts to have in their companies based on available funds and resources. The question is that: are there any other elements than can restrict or limit the level of six sigma implementation between MNCs & SMEs or is it only suitable for MNCs?