Six Sigma

Learn all about Six Sigma from expert. 

Widen your Horizons and Empower yourself by registering your name for FREE seminar at Dubai, UAE., on SIX SIGMA.  

Date: Friday, 20 Jan 2012.  Time: 6.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

Speaker: Dr. Farukh Kidwai. 

Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1986.  As of 2010, it is widely used in many sectors of industry.

Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes.  It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc.) who are experts in these methods.  Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction and / or profit increase).

The term Six Sigma originated from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically terms associated with statistical modeling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its yield, or the percentage of defect-free products it creates. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects = 3.4 defects per million. Motorola set a goal of "six sigma" for all of its manufacturing operations, and this goal became a byword for the management and engineering practices used to achieve it.

For Further Info call Mr. Parin Narain on 0 5085 14836.  or +971 4396 3968. 

Another Laudable Target for Freight and Logistics Companies to Aim For - Latest industry shipping news from the Handy Shipping Guide

From the Handy Shipping Guide:

"..These days it is essential for large transport companies to demonstrate their ability to minimize damage to the environment but equally nothing deters consumers at the end of the supply chain more than knowing the search for economy is causing pain and suffering, be it to human or animal. Some years ago we saw mass demonstrations against the live export of domesticated animals being sent elsewhere for slaughter but, as so often happens, yesterdays newspapers became today’s chip wrappers and the issue, having gained some ground with some ferry companies suspending the export of live animals, fell from the collective notice of the public.."

Another Laudable Target for Freight and Logistics Companies to Aim For - Latest industry shipping news from the Handy Shipping Guide

M2M - Machine-to-Machine devices can help Logistics

Using Machine-to-Machine, or M2M, communications devices can capture and transmit all kinds of “events”. It may be a change in temperature, the activation of a driver’s airbag, or movement of a goods pallet off a truck. This is then relayed through the telco network to an application, such as a software programme, which will translate the captured event into meaningful information — such as a weather warning, a road traffic incident notification, or a delayed delivery note.

As the truck leaves the Abu Dhabi logistics depot fully laden with AC and refrigeration units destined for a Doha white goods retailer, unbeknownst to the driver his lorry is also packed with around 25 computers. These are not normal desktop PCs or familiar laptops, but tiny computer chips each tasked with monitoring a specific aspect of the heavy goods vehicle’s journey.
One chip logs the truck’s precise location, another one monitors the onboard fuel and temperature sensors, while others are used to tag the progress of the onboard goods pallets, and to track the driver’s speed and the number of hours spent at the wheel.

Hundreds of miles away, another computer at the logistics’ firms headquarters will quietly and automatically capture all of this data as it is beamed from the truck over the wireless telco network.

Come the 2012 Olympic Games in London, M2M deployments will mean visitors will be able to receive real-time bus arrival information at all 19,000 bus stops across the city sent via the Web and SMS.

It’s in transportation where the early successes are been seen. Haulage trucks and passenger taxis, freight planes and intercity trains can now be set up to use M2M to communicate directly and automatically with warehouses, control centers, maintenance units or depots. There is absolutely no reliance or intervention needed by human operators, dispatchers or goods handlers.

The tracking of vehicles or assets, automated toll collection and fleet management are among the best examples of M2M transportation applications, but Teleccomm companies and specialist suppliers have started to launch broad portfolios of machine-to-machine services. Forecasts of anything up to one trillion potential M2M connections globally are widely cited.

Applications involve the automated text-messaging of mobile transport workers, constantly updated driver logs, machine-based vehicle recognition and the remote management and control of vehicle maintenance. Mobile embedded M2M systems can also be used to manage traffic light working patterns, so fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles reach people caught in accidents as quickly as possible.

Interestingly, M2M has been around for many years and to date has been one of the slowest-burning markets in the industry. It is hot again today because of the confluence of three key drivers. The impact of scale has finally made the economics of M2M practicable. There is a rising importance given to connectivity across a full spectrum of consumer electronics devices. And finally, we have seen the advent of the device management software, which makes it possible for solutions to be deployed on an industrial scale.

This is particularly true in the transportation and distribution sectors, with the vertical already responsible for over 30 per cent of all M2M systems usage. The business case is easy to make, with obvious and easy-to-calculate gains in route planning and fuel efficiency, more effective fleet management through preventative maintenance, more on-time deliveries and better customer service.

What do you say, do you think M2M can help logistics ?