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Quality Initiatives
GE Americom is striving to reach a goal of Six Sigma Quality to parallel company-wide efforts of improving customer satisfaction through the universal application of Quality methods. Six Sigma corresponds to 99.99966% defect-free - or 3.4 defects per million opportunities. The company's terrestrial services are currently operating at 5.7+ Sigma.
Americom's customer-focused business principles have enabled the company to progress toward the Six Sigma goal. Representatives listen to customers and improve products and services to better satisfy their expectations. Americom applies quality improvement methods to all aspects of its business - from satellite management and new service launches to business development and account support.
Nearly all associates have been trained in quality practices. The Americom senior management team meets monthly with the internal Business Quality Council, as well as with the parent company, GE Capital, to review process management improvement and the development of proprietary services. All Six Sigma projects are linked directly to Americom's overall business objectives - with the universal goal of providing value-added, reliable services to customers.
Putting Quality Initiatives to Work:
Satellite Market Requirements (SMART) Process. Satellite reliability and coverage have become two of the most compelling topics for discussion industry-wide. Limited real estate in the sky and a series of highly visible satellite failures have spotlighted satellite quality and reliability. As a result, Americom's marketing, engineering, and finance organizations united to create a rigorous process that guarantees the superior design, procurement and launch of superior quality satellites.
New Service Introduction Process. Americom developed a detailed process to develop, design and launch new satellite services. The goal of this multi-phase project was to incorporate Quality into the company's line of new products and services - beginning with the initial concepts - and to minimize the time required to introduce these new services to the market. By "getting it right the first time," Americom has reduced product launch cycle-time, decreased development costs and piloted cutting-edge concepts customers demand.
Cable2 Neighborhood Project. The cable industry is one of Americom's most dynamic market segments. Real estate in the sky is limited, yet the demand for additional cable "neighborhoods" has increased significantly. Americom's sales and engineering teams developed a unique way to create a new cable neighborhood for customers by designing a new type of antenna that can "see" two existing satellites simultaneously. The sales team quickly secured an anchor tenant, and Cable2 has rapidly emerged as a premiere cable neighborhood.
e-Business. Everyone is tapping into the Internet game these days. In fact, approximately 70 percent of households worldwide will be connected to the Web within the next decade, and the total number of Internet users around the globe is expected to total 320 million by 2000 and 720 million by 2005. As a satellite communications provider, Americom is uniquely positioned to fuel this Internet growth by providing creative e-business services to customers. The sales, marketing and engineering teams are using Quality tools to develop and launch new e-Business services that meet continually evolving customer demands.
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