At GMAC ProcessArc trained Black Belts continue to deliver quantifiable benefits.
Milwaukee. JAN 22, 2010 . Seeking to strengthen the relationship between the regional Commercial Lending Center (CLC) and local operations, the Wholesale Department in Venezuela has been applying Lean Six Sigma principles to risk management efforts, a move that has helped improve the dealer review delivery time by 78 percent over the last three years.
After successfully applying Lean Six Sigma to Customer Service and Acquisitions in 2006, Venezuela focused the approach on improving the dealer review process. According to Luis Guerra, internal control supervisor and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, the accurate and timely review of dealer credit lines had been identified as key to effective wholesale decision making.
The new approach allowed the Wholesale Department to more efficiently provide the CLC with the information necessary for credit analysis by improving the process of requesting and following up on information. “There was a remarkable increase in meeting deadlines,” says Guerra.
In applying Lean Six Sigma principles, Venezuela was also looking to establish greater common ground for the CLC, operations and dealers. “There was a need for standard processes, terms and conditions understood by all parties,” says Anthony de Blois, credit manager. “It was crucial to strengthen and optimize the alignment between the three parties.”
Based on the Six Sigma principle “listening to the voice of the customer,” a range of stakeholders contributed to analyzing the concerns, says Guerra. “For our credit review, our team knew that the people who could best tell us what value meant were not inside GMAC, but at dealerships. The data provided by dealers helped us understand how the process could be improved with a favorable impact on customer satisfaction” he says.
Guerra cites other benefits as well, too. “There was also a significant drop in rework and an easier analysis process that fostered greater dealer understanding of what our requirements are,” he says. Through its work, the team was able to improve timing, analysis and the presentation of information.
