Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt

Project Details

I have successfully guided following Five six sigma

projects.

1. Reduction of Non-Performing Asset (NPA) in an

NBFC
2. Hotel Sangeetha Restaurant – Waiting Line
reduction using Six Sigma methodology
3. Improvement of account opening process in a
private sector bank.
4. Rejects Reduction in a Retail bank using six sigma
methodology
5. Improvement of Personal Credit Response Times
and therefore customer satisfaction in a private
sector bank by Applying Lean Six Sigma
Methodology
Let me explain each one of the above projects in little
bit detail.
1. Reduction of Non-Performing Asset (NPA) in an
NBFC
I was working for a consulting company which
consulted NBFCs and retail bank on issues like capital
adequacy, reduction of non-performing assets, assets
securitization etc. In this process I was associated with
a team in my company which was handling reduction
of NPA for a NBFC. NPA arise in three different
circumstances. 1. Deficiencies in loan processing, 2.
Deficiencies in post sanction implementations, and 3.
Post sickness management of the account. An NPA
ultimately is the sum total of deficiencies in all three
phases mentioned above. A solution to reduction
should therefore deal with the processes and control in
all three phases. In the project we went about studying
the loan sanction process in the company and the post
sanction monitoring processes. The NBFC was normally
providing loans to MSME and individuals who probably
may not be able to get loans from the bank due to
insufficiency of financial and other information, and or
those who wanted loans very quickly. Thus, at the loan
sanctioning point itself there were inadequate
information and hurried work. This contributed largely
to NPAs. We worked on the available information and
developed statistical models of how to use proxy
information as lean information for non-performance.
Similar exercises were done in the post sanction stage
and post sickness identification stage. Here again
statistical models to study “loss given default” were
analysed and working methods were changed which
view to reducing eventual loss. At the end of the year
NPAs came down by 5.9% point from the earlier 15%.
NBFC continued to work with largely incomplete
information but had learnt how to use proxy
information effectively using six sigma methodologies.

2. Hotel Sangeetha Restaurant – Waiting Line

reduction
Project relates to Sangeetha restaurant, T Nagar
Chennai where the waiting time for people coming for
dining to be received and seated was very long. Visitors
were made to wait in front of hotel in an open space
and register their names along with no of people. The
hotel seating was arranged largely in multiples of 4
seaters. Depending on the availability of space, the
hotel employee will call out the names of the visitors
who are permitted to enter the hotel to be seated. In
this process many frustrated visitors started leaving in
search of alternatives.
The six-sigma project identified the gaps in a) receiving
customers and making their waiting comfortable and
rearranging the seating in a flexible manner, that the
utilization of seats is maximum at any point in time.
This also permitted larger groups of people to enter
and serviced quickly rather than endless waiting
outside. Post the project the restaurants revenue went
up significantly and customer going back was
minimised.

3.Improving of Account Opening process of a private

Sector Bank:
I was working for a consulting company which
consulted NBFCs and retail bank on issues like capital
adequacy, reduction of non-performing assets, assets
securitization etc. In this process I was associated with
a team in my company which was handling
Improvement of account opening process for a private
sector bank and save the time of opening a new bank
account by at least 20%, using Lean Six Sigma (LSS)
methodology in addition to lessening the requirements
and documents needed for opening the account, taking
into consideration the protective actions that the bank
does to prevent the potential risks to the least extent.
To achieve this, we used value tools of the LSS to
gather data on the key measures for the account
opening process in accordance with the DMAIC
Methodology (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and
Control), and the root causes for the extra-long time
required to open a new bank account.
This project substantially used DMAIC model (Define,
Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) as a
framework for the improvement:
 The Define phase was the first step in the DMAIC
model. It was aimed to determine the problem and the
objectives, to recognize the existing resources, scope
and duration of the project. Moreover, the potential
improvement was defined from business and customer
perspectives. Main tools used in this phase were
Project Charter, SIPOC, Team Contract, Problem
Context Diagram and the RACI Chart have been used in
the Define phase of the improvement work
 Measure phase has been demonstrated to learn
more about the process and the current performance
to determine the current problem and We used it as a
ground for improvement. Main tools used in this phase
were Flow Chart, Value Stream Map, 8 Wastes, Quick
Wins, Voice of Customer (internal & external
customers), Voice of Process, Key Measures, Data
Collection and Control.
 Analyse phase aimed at determining the key factors
or input variables affecting the process outputs as well
as defining the root causes of the problem. The Main
tools used in the Analyse phase are: Cause and Effect
Diagram, 5 Whys and Brainstorming.
 Improve phase was covered in the project with
special focus on the following activities: testing
theories, results of testing, prepare the improvement
plan and implementing solutions.
 Control phase was the final phase of the DMAIC
methodology, which displays the need to maintain the
achieved improvements by monitoring them to
minimize the defects and standardize any process
changes with the most appropriate procedure.
The results showed that it has reduced the average
time of opening a new bank account by 61.4%, i.e.,
from 38 minutes to 14.7 minutes, alongside reducing
the customer’s waiting time at the Bank through
eliminating some steps thus achieving more customers’
satisfaction with fewer complaints and higher
productivity.
In parallel we also developed a new standard for the
bank account opening process with control charts to
monitor the prospective key performance indicators. It
is crucial to state that LSS methodology is a
comprehensive framework, which includes specific
improvement tools for achieving sustainable results in
reducing the time rate in bank account opening
process.
In order to do so, we recommended that the Bank
should continue with the improvement actions,
particularly by focusing on internal and external
communication, practical trainings, periodic feedback
and control activities.

This paves the way to make changes in other processes

at the bank by adopting LSS to guarantee progressive
improvement approach.

4.Rejects reduction in a retail bank using Lean Six

Sigma
I was working for a consulting company which
consulted NBFCs and retail bank on issues like capital
adequacy, reduction of non-performing assets, assets
securitization etc.
We were approached by a large retail bank which had
its centralised back-office operations in India. The
operations were responsible for processing the
account opening forms which are submitted by the
customers at different branches across the country.
The output expected at the end of every transaction
was a successfully opened customer account. The bank
had three regional offices (at Bangalore, Delhi and
Mumbai) to facilitate the accumulation of the
documents collected at different branches of the bank.
The input documents came from the three regional
offices to the back office on daily basis, for them to
process the files and open the accounts.
Account opening is a critical process for the bank
because of increasing security and to avoid any fraud
by blacklisted people. At the same time account
opening process is a key process to bank from
customer perspective, as account opening is the initial
step or interaction which customer associates with the
bank, and hence plays a vital role to create an
impression about the bank to the customer.
It was observed that approximately 10% of the account
opening requests were rejected by the bank in last one
year. The bank’s management team was concerned
about this, realising that they are missing 10 out of
every 100 customers approaching them to have
association with the bank.
The improvement on the reject’s percentage metric
would also impact the customer experience and also
improves the customer base for the bank, alongside
providing direct bottom-line benefits.
Thus, Management after looking at the problem from a
strategic perspective strongly felt that the root cause
of the problem needs to be understood in order to find
a robust fix.
My management team decided to reduce the account
opening rejects percentage from the current ~10% to
4.5% (striving towards 0%) in a time frame of six
months and thus the target of the project has been
arrived.
For the identification of the main problem in the define
phase, a Problem Prioritization Matrix, Quality
Function Deployment Matrix and the process diagram
were used.
The project followed LSS methodology in DMAIC
approach for process improvement. A project charter
was framed by the project leader which included a
more precise background of the problem.
The project charter was submitted to the bank’s senior
management team for their consensus to kick-start the
project and was approved. A cross function project
team was formed with assigned roles and
responsibilities to execute the project as per the Define
Phase of the DMAIC methodology.
The project team then looked at the process in great
detail. Process mapping exercise was performed using
swim lane method.
In the Measure phase, the process performance was
quantified using value stream mapping, Cause-Effect
and Pareto Diagrams to identify input variables and the
repeatability and reproducibility test for the
measurement system.
Measurement system analysis (MSA) was performed
using Gauge R-R tool. This was performed as part of
the Measure phase to check whether the
measurement system of the data is in-tact for further
data collection and analysis or not.
In the Analyse phase, root causes were identified by
process analysis through Waste Identification and Data
Analysis through Variance Analysis.
Waste analysis was performed on the process. This
helped the project manager to understand the process
from the Lean perspective. Overprocessing and
transportation waste were identified to be
predominant in the process. Multiple levels of
inspection leading to overprocessing were identified as
opportunity for improvement. Moving the physical
account opening forms from different locations to
central back office was another prospect for process
improvement.
Hypothesis testing and other analysis techniques from
LSS tool kit were applied on the causes identified in the
brainstorming session during the analysis phase.
In the Improve and Control phases, the Lean and Six
Sigma tools for process analysis and data analysis were
developed and used.

Post improvement the reject percentage was reduced

to 3.4%. Management team comprising of senior
colleagues in the bank evaluated the project and found
to be delightful.
The project savings were documented as 1.6 million
INR per year
Thus, the project successfully reduced the rejects
percentage from ~10 to 3.4%. The project closure and
success were communicated to all the stakeholders in
the board meeting and the project learning and the
DMAIC approach were documented and circulated to
the concerned parties via email.

5.Improvement of Personal Credit Response Times

and thus customer satisfaction in a private sector
bank by Applying Lean Six Sigma Methodology
I was working for a consulting company which
consulted NBFCs and retail bank on issues like capital
adequacy, reduction of non-performing assets, assets
securitization etc. In this process I was associated with
a team in my company which was handling
improvement of personal credit Response time for a
private sector bank.

My management team for the identification of the

main problem in the define phase of the project, used
a Problem Prioritization Matrix, Quality Function
Deployment Matrix and the process diagram were
used.
In the Measure phase, the process performance was
quantified using value stream mapping, Cause-Effect
and Pareto Diagrams to identify input variables and the
repeatability and reproducibility test for the
measurement system.
In the Analyse phase, root causes were identified by
process analysis through Waste Identification and Data
Analysis through Variance Analysis.
In the Improve and Control phases, the Lean and Six
Sigma tools for process analysis and data analysis were
developed.
By applying the Six Sigma methodology, the personal
credit evaluation process was simplified from 14 to 12
activities by identifying activities that do not add value
to the process as well as, for example, duplication by
waste type. Likewise, the application of the time study
through the value stream mapping methodology
reduced the personal credit application response time
from 2393 minutes to 1049 minutes.
With the implementation of the proposed
methodology, the following results improvements
were obtained reflected in reductions of: response
times in 56.16%, reductions of process activities in
14.29%, reductions of times in material supply routes
in 83.33%, reductions of waiting time to be evaluated
an application in 99.56% and reductions of the annual
cost to execute the centralized evaluation process in
61.21%.
The case is an example of how the Lean Six Sigma
methodology takes advantage of technology by
applying Six Sigma tools for data analysis, helping to
improve results in times and number of credit servicing
in banking products, as well as easy the generation of a
culture of continuous improvement in a banking
institution.