Business901 » Lean Six Sigma

Agile Product Development at Xerox

business901 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:38:05 +0000

This is a transcription of the podcast that I had with Helen DeNero and Patrick Waara, both an integral part of the training team at Xerox Corporation on Agile Product development and the Lean Six Sigma Process. A great short read on the basics of Agile, but some key facts are included on just how a large company would go about the implementation of Agile in conjunction with DFSS.

Instead of reading you can choose to download the podcast at the Business901 ITunes store or listen to it in the above player.

Agile Product Development at Xerox –

Copy of a code I am being requested to post to be verified: WMNQM448RZTX

Technorati Tags: agile,agile product development,scrum,lean six sigma,dfss

Xerox drives Agile Processes thru Lean Six Sigma

business901 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:35:00 +0000

Does Agile need Lean Six Sigma type metrics to work? How do you obtain Voice of Customer in Agile processes when you are the size of Xerox? How does pair programming work? In the Business901 podcast, we asked these questions to a couple of the leading experts from Xerox Corporation’s Lean Six Sigma Software team. They did not disappoint me with the answers.

Helen DeNero is the Program Manager for Design for Lean Six Sigma for Software at Xerox Corporation and is responsible for the training of Lean/Agile tools and methods across the corporation. While at Xerox, Helen has held numerous positions within product development, including software development on the DocuTech products, Product Integration Management on FreeFlow Print Server, and Manager of Customer and Service Support for the Production Systems Group products.

Patrick Waara has been with Xerox for nearly 25 years holding a variety of jobs at Xerox, including developing user interface systems for Xerox’s DocuTech and Systems Architect for Xerox’s iGen3, all dealing with software development and systems. He is currently a Software Design for Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Candidate and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Candidate where he is teaching Lean, Six Sigma, and Agile techniques to Xerox’s software development community improving software development capability.

The Kaizen Event, A Critical Component of Xerox’s Customer Experience

Learn more about the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma

E-book on Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Technorati Tags: Technorati Tags: agile,agile product development,scrum,lean six sigma,dfss,six sigma,lean

Learn more about the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma

business901 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:19:23 +0000

I have been intrigued by the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma methodology. In my search for more information about the subject, I ran across this book that I would like to share with you, Lessons Learned from an Unconventional Design for Lean Six Sigma Deployment
(Amazon Link). It is an easy read without out laboring in methodology. The book was focused on how the process was established and implemented. I thought the Amazon comments were an accurate portrayal of the book.

An excerpt from a PRLog.org News Release:

The book outlines the successful development and deployment of Xerox’s Design for Lean Six Sigma initiative within the product development community. Written by Norm Fowler, the book outlines the unconventional approach to the program’s content and certification development as well as overall corporate-wide deployment. Prior to starting Keys Six Sigma, Norm was a member of Xerox’s Corporate Lean Six Sigma Senior Staff and had responsibility for the Design for Lean Six Sigma initiative.

Norm describes in detail the collaborative process use in developing the unconventional program structure built around elements such as a unique competency-based certification process based on a set of standard System Engineering skills, integration of Lean and DMAIC methods and a “push” coaching model. Included were not only the technical and process issues associated with development and deployment, but also those associated with the program’s pervasiveness across the Corporation and sustainability over time.

The book concludes with a series of lessons learned through the development and deployment phases that are equally applicable to other types of corporate-wide initiatives. If you would like to learn more about author Norm Fowler and his company, his link is Keys Six Sigma.com.

Ebook on Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

business901 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Aqua Porter was a guest on my podcast and this e-book is a transcription. Aqua is a Vice President of Corporate Lean Six Sigma Strategy at Xerox Corporation. She is an advocate for Lean Six Sigma at Xerox and has led many Black Belt projects including the nomination of Black Belt candidates and the growth of Xerox Team Accelerator. Lean Six Sigma at Xerox is very Customer-focused. Find out how they do it!

Comment from Transcript: “We are actually on our customer’s sites working with them day in and day out, especially in documenting intensive services where we’re able to work with them to improve their own process proficiency and improve the service that we provide to them. We’re putting our customers first and make sure that we are working on their behalf with the solutions that we can bring to their sites.”

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox –

Related Information:

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Technorati : 6sigma, Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping, Xerox

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

business901 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:25:00 +0000

This week podcast guest was Aqua Porter, a Vice President of the Corporate Lean Six Sigma Strategy at Xerox Corporation. She is an advocate for Lean Six Sigma at Xerox and has led many Black Belt projects including the nomination of Black Belt candidates and the growth of Xerox Team Accelerator. Team Accelerator is a workshop program that utilizes the Belbin Team Role system to help teams draw on the strengths of each team member and work together. I seldom find the enthusiasm that Aqua brings to the Lean Six Sigma world. If you need your Six Sigma team to get pumped up about their next Six Sigma project this might be the podcast for them.

Aqua Porter has been with Xerox since 1984 and has held a variety of positions including Engineering, Marketing, Product Development, Purchasing, and Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management. She is a senior manager with extensive experience in all phases of product development and delivery, and is adept in building strong teams who deliver exceptional business results.

Xerox has made a major commitment to using Lean Six Sigma tools and methodology – both to drive improvements in our own business and to deliver measurable results for customers. Their unique, disciplined approach involves analyzing business processes and identifying ways to eliminate both errors and unnecessary steps. Xerox Global Services looks for ways to deliver improvements quickly and focus on leveraging your existing IT investments. From streamlining paper-choked workflows to automating labor-intensive functions, the results can be remarkable.

Technorati : belbin, lean, lean six sigma, six sigma, team accelerator

P.S. At the Business901 ITunes store you can download this podcast.

Ebook on Integrating Theory of Constraints with Lean Six Sigma

business901 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:55:00 +0000

Bob Sproull, author of The Ultimate Improvement Cycle discusses the recent push from TOC disciples to bring TOC on an equal playing field as Lean and Six Sigma. I find it interesting because bottlenecks and constraints are an integral part of Lean and Six Sigma training but TOC has never seemed to be on an equal platform. Bob, talks about this and how he always starts with a Value Stream Mapping process to find his constraint.

Integration of the Theory of Constraints and LSS –

Business901 » Lean Six Sigma

Agile Product Development at Xerox

Xerox drives Agile Processes thru Lean Six Sigma

Design for Lean Six Sigma, The Xerox Way

The Kaizen Event, A Critical Component of Xerox’s Customer Experience

Learn more about the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma

E-book on Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Learn more about the Xerox Design for Lean Six Sigma

Ebook on Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Lean Six Sigma Advocacy at Xerox

Ebook on Integrating Theory of Constraints with Lean Six Sigma