Case Studies

Some real-world examples of service providers who are using quality tools and processes to improve what they do.

On the Right Track: Rail Company Reduces Expenses with Six Sigma (PDF, 182 KB)
An improvement team at rail company CSX Transportation qualified as a finalist for ASQ’s 2008 International Team Excellence Award with a project focusing on train and engine expenses and accuracy in employee pay. The Six Sigma project led to annual savings of $1.4 million, with further reductions in waste resulting in $5.1 million in savings in 2007.  
September 2008.

Simplify and Unleash: One Bank’s Strategy for Growth Through Six Sigma (PDF, 187 KB)
A large retail bank used a Six Sigma strategy to simplify its retail division and remove incremental costs. Improving core business processes through process and product elimination and through process simplification resulted in $2.1 million in savings in just eight months.  
September 2008.

Certifying the Certifier (PDF, 115 KB)
Over a three-year period, Quality Management Company (QMC) improved itself from the inside out—and became ISO certified in the process. ISO 9001 provided QMC with a logical framework for developing a quality management system.
July 2008.

Improved Response Time Increases Revenue for Global Lender (PDF, 154 KB)
A global lender was losing 40% of its applications for auto loans in Latin America, mainly due to slow response times. Through the use of basic lean and Six Sigma tools, response times improved by as much as 98%, and contract volume increased by up to 120%.
June 2008.

An Alternative Approach in Service Quality: An e-Banking Case Study (PDF, 238 KB)
Data from the National Bank of Spain show how the customer’s voice can be designed into its e-banking system.
January 2008.

Agency Files Away Inefficiency, Saves Taxpayers a Bundle (PDF, 228 KB)
One of the three silver medal winners in the 2007 International Team Excellence Competition created a solution that has the potential to save Florida taxpayers more than $18 million over time.
October 2007.

Child Protective Services Agencies Turn Data Into Action Using Quality Tools (PDF, 207 KB)
The Children’s Research Center’s SafeMeasures® service uses quality tools to help navigate data fog and provide meaningful analysis. Results from agencies using the service demonstrate how the availability of timely and useful data has dramatically improved the documentation, delivery and monitoring of child protective services.
September 2007.

Improving Child Protective Services Using Quality Tools (PDF, 95 KB)
With the help of an ASQ Community Good Works grant, the Children’s Research Center is piloting a training curriculum to teach data-driven improvement techniques to social service agency workers in Santa Cruz County, California. By teaching a basic 10-step process for improvement, the center equips social workers to overcome barriers created by complex state and federal regulations and inefficient case management systems.
September 2007.

Maryland Not-for-Profit’s Process Improvements Lead to Award-Winning Success (PDF, 403 KB)
Since entering its first state quality award program in 2002, Chimes has received five awards in Maryland and Delaware.
June 2007.

Quality Strategies Help Eliminate Likelihood of Serious and Deadly Injuries (PDF 5 MB)
An energy company was dismayed to learn that its fire-safety clothing wasn't adequate for workers dealing with potentially deadly gas-line fires. The company used quality tools and methods to quantify the dangers employees faced and the best ways to protect them. The result: A dramatically safer work environment. NOTE: This PDF includes video clips of the burn tests conducted as part of the company's research. The link above will give you access to a version that includes Quicktime videos. If you have trouble viewing the clips, try viewing an alternate version of the PDF embedded with Windows Media (2 MB) videos.
May 2007.

Employees Fuel Productivity Gains, Enhanced Service at U.S.-Japan Shipyards
This collection of case studies highlights several successful quality-improvement initiatives at the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center (SRF-JRMC) Yokosuka and its Sasebo detachment. Using quality tools and techniques, workers have made significant improvements to many key processes and facilities.
April 2007.

Getting Credit for Service
Experian Marketing Services (EMS) considers quality management a critical part of its commitment to its clients. Last year EMS looked to ISO 9001 certification as a way to extend its established project management program.
November 2006.

U.S. Air Force Earns High-Flying Results with Quality Management Specifications for Suppliers (PDF, 181 KB)
Adopting ISO 9001 compliance as a sourcing criterion in its supplier selection process and requiring suppliers' quality management representatives to become ASQ Certified Quality Auditors saved the Air Force millions of dollars and nearly eliminated critical defects in supplier products and services.
November 2006.

Shifting Quality Into High Gear (PDF, 201 KB)
Dallas area Lexus dealership’s close attention to small details keeps customers and employees happy. The results have been so great, they plan to reapply for a Baldrige in five years.
Quality Progress, September 2006.

Regional Team Approach Helps Energy Company Enhance Safety, Avoid Costs (PDF, 165 KB)
Xcel Energy's Denver operation reduced accidents by 48% in one year and saved the company an estimated $714,000 over a 24-month period.
August 2006.

IT Department Improves Processes to Detect More Defects Sooner (PDF, 79 KB)
Tufts Health Plan IT process improvements resulted in a 16% decline in defects identified in testing, a 68% increase in peer reviews conducted as a quality check before production, and a 59% increase in the number of issues identified in those peer reviews. (This case study appears as a section of the Software Engineering Institute technical report "Performance Results of CMMI®-Based Process Improvement.")
August 2006.

Help Desk Improves Service and Saves Money With Six Sigma (PDF, 171 KB)
The help desk service for a telecom company launched a Six Sigma project to improve the quality of its processes, reducing the average solution time for customers from 9.75 hours to 1 hour and decreasing operating costs by 69%. August 2006.

Xcel Energy’s Natural Gas Services Risk Management Team Uses Quality Tools to Recover Millions (PDF, 244 KB)
A risk management team reduced a potential $12.7 million payment default down to $114,000 while improving process performance.
News for a Change, February 2006.

At Your Service (PDF, 200 KB)
Boeing Aerospace Support and Caterpillar Financial Services each received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the service category in 2003 while improving processes, quality, performance results and customer satisfaction.
Quality Progress magazine, June 2004.

Get Staff Involved in Quality Initiatives (PDF, 105 KB)
By challenging employees to solve quality problems, a transportation services company saved more than $3.5 million the first year.
Quality Progress magazine, February 2004.

Six Sigma… at a Bank? (PDF, 163 KB)
Bank of America's Six Sigma initiatives have created benefits of more than $2 billion and increased customer delight by more than 25%.
Six Sigma Forum Magazine, February 2004.

Significance of Quality Certification: The Case of the Software Industry in India (PDF, 254 KB)
Results of an empirical study conducted in the software industry in India show that quality certification helps in the implementation of TQM-based quality management programs and has an impact on operational performance.
Quality Management Journal, January 2004.

Interview: Fish Philosophy and Teamwork (PDF, 131 KB)
John Yokoyama attributes the success of his Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle to a working environment that is fun for employees while maximizing customer satisfaction.
News For A Change, January 2002.

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