Key accomplishments of Sun's Customer Advocacy (CA) organization over the last two years include company-wide deployment of Sun Sigma programs, Sun's first company-wide Product Life Cycle management system (PLC); and a number of product- and process-oriented Availability and Quality initiatives. The new executive vice president of Operations and Chief Customer Advocate will be Marissa Peterson. She plans to "amplify the voice of the customer across the company while driving sustained processes that add a strong customer-first ethic to Sun's leadership in entrepreneurship and networked computing technology innovation. I believe this mix of traditional and new skill sets will be the recipe that leads Sun to its next phases of growth and industry influence."

Sun adapted the Six Sigma-based process and product improvement techniques to meet the needs of Sun's fast-paced, entrepreneurial corporate culture. Sigma methodologies rely on quantitative techniques to identify and profitably satisfy customer requirements.

Since July 2000, Sun has trained over 23,000 of its employees in Sun Sigma concepts. In FY 2002, the company handily exceeded its Return on Sun Sigma (ROSS) cost saving goals, with even more ambitious targets set for FY2003.

Sun has developed and executed hundreds of projects called "Sun Shot" that apply Sigma-based methods for quick payback process and product improvement efforts. The company has also developed internally distributed "StarSigma" software plug-ins, a set of Sigma analysis tools that run in the StarOfficeTM software suite. In FY 2002, the company began rolling out the Design For Sun Sigma (DFSS) initiative, aimed at applying Sun Sigma-based methods to solution design and engineering decision making.

In its first year, most of Sun Sigma and Customer Advocacy efforts were internal at Sun. In FY 2002, Sun Sigma expanded externally to directly engage customers, business partners and suppliers. A joint Sun Sigma project with a major auto manufacturer improved system efficiency experienced by the customer's engineering teams. Sun also engaged a large financial services company and a major industrial products company in projects to improve the efficiency of order processing. Sun also worked with one of its suppliers to achieve cost reductions and quality improvements in subsystems integrated into Sun server products. Sun has received positive feedback and deeper loyalty among these customers. [...read more...]

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