No Lean Six Sigma at RCCL or Celebrity?

[AZ ParrotHead]

Like most of you, I have experienced many of the frustrating website, customer service, and training issues at Celebrity. Due to a website glitch, we can't check in for our European cruise in a couple of weeks....We were told by the Captains Club "don't worry about it!" We shall see.....

 

So I did some research on the holding company's job board and on linked in and was astonished to find that RCCL does not have a group dedicated to process improvement. Their initiatives are siloed by individual departments which may be why it always seems like the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing!

 

I am a Six Sigma black belt and a Lean consultant. The vast majority of companies RCCLs size, even in the notoriously cheap airline industry, have formalized business process improvement programs. Perhaps this helps to explain why we continue to see so many simple but extremely frustrating customer experiences....No one is driving the ship toward a consolidated, effective, customer facing experience.

Edited May 2, 2014 by AZ ParrotHead

[ghstudio]

Like most of you, I have experienced many of the frustrating website, customer service, and training issues at Celebrity. Due to a website glitch, we can't check in for our European cruise in a couple of weeks....We were told by the Captains Club "don't worry about it!" We shall see.....

 

So I did some research on the holding company's job board and on linked in and was astonished to find that RCCL does not have a group dedicated to process improvement. Their initiatives are siloed by individual departments which may be why it always seems like the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing!

 

I am a Six Sigma black belt and a Lean consultant. The vast majority of companies RCCLs size, even in the notoriously cheap airline industry, have formalized business process improvement programs. Perhaps this helps to explain why we continue to see so many simple but extremely frustrating customer experiences....No one is driving the ship toward a consolidated, effective, customer facing experience.

 

The folks with the green eyeshades are focused on cost cutting now vs efficiency in the future. Focusing on 6 sigma is an investment that costs money now for significantly better return in the future but that's not part of the RCL/Celebrity game plan. I suspect that if they did have such a department at the holding company, it would be one of the first to be disbanded given the current management...to save money and increase quarterly profit.

[AZ ParrotHead]

The folks with the green eyeshades are focused on cost cutting now vs efficiency in the future. Focusing on 6 sigma is an investment that costs money now for significantly better return in the future but that's not part of the RCL/Celebrity game plan. I suspect that if they did have such a department at the holding company, it would be one of the first to be disbanded given the current management...to save money and increase quarterly profit.

 

 

Yes, unfortunately that's the way most people think about it. Every time I've done a business process improvement project we have focused on driving immediate value with metrics to support the win. There is a small upfront training cost or outside consulting help usually needed but the payoff is always flabbergasting. Savings in sugar, canapés, and entertainment staff are short term wins at best.

 

 

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[dwhe]

......So I did some research on the holding company's job board and on linked in and was astonished to find that RCCL does not have a group dedicated to process improvement. Their initiatives are siloed by individual departments which may be why it always seems like the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing!

 

I am a Six Sigma black belt and a Lean consultant. The vast majority of companies RCCLs size, even in the notoriously cheap airline industry, have formalized business process improvement programs. Perhaps this helps to explain why we continue to see so many simple but extremely frustrating customer experiences....No one is driving the ship toward a consolidated, effective, customer facing experience.

 

I even tried Google Translate and I still don't know what any of this means :eek:

[BILLP1]

Well said by both posters. My daughter works for a process management consulting company that deals only with oil and gas line companies who long ago saw the advantages in paying now

for future profits.

 

I worked for thirty five years at GE and very familiar with the six sigma process. A Jack Welsh favorite.

 

You will have a hard time getting cruise lines to invest in any process training.

[dirtymoney]

[AZ ParrotHead]

Wow. Great video. I will use that in my classes going forward. Thanks!

 

 

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[Padraic]

When I was at IBM, ISO 9000 (quality management standard) begun there in probably in the early 1990s. My wife and I were traveling in Ireland and the first advertising by a company touting the standard we saw was on the side of a beer truck.