Dr. Jiju Antony, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was presented with the prestigious Crosby Medal by the American Society for Quality (ASQ). The Crosby Medal is awarded to individuals who have published renowned books that significantly contribute to the promotion of the philosophy and application of quality management principles, methods, and techniques. 

ASQ is an international community of individuals committed to quality who share the ideas and tools that make our world work better. With individual and organizational members around the world, ASQ has the reputation and reach to bring together the diverse quality champions  and leaders who are transforming the world’s corporations, organizations and communities to meet the critical quality challenges of tomorrow.

Dr. Antony received the award for the book The Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma: A Guide for Practitioners. The book presents the perspectives of practitioners, researchers, and academics offering their expertise on various topics of quality and continuous improvement such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma. This book is an essential and practical guide for senior managers and executives who want to achieve operational excellence in all organizations of any type and size. His book ha already won the prestigious Walter E. Masing Book Prize by the International Academy for Quality (IAQ) in April 2021. The Walter E. Masing Award is offered to Thought Leaders in the Global Quality Community. 

“I am delighted and truly honored to be recognized among several other scholars, leading academics and practitioners in the quality management community on the global stage. I would like to thank all the nominees who have chosen my book for this special recognition and many thanks to my co-authors who worked with me on this remarkable book. Finally, I am ever grateful to Emerald Publishers in the UK for encouraging me in developing this book further to my publication of an article entitled “Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma: A practitioner’s perspective published in the International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management in 2018,” Dr. Antony commented. 

Ara Maj Cruz
Creative Writer
25 March 2022

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Dr. Jiju Antony, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, won the Institute of Six Sigma Professionals (ISSP) Best Project Awards 2021 in the category “Significant Contribution to the field of Lean Six Sigma.”  

Upon winning the award, Steve Anthony, CEO of the Institute of Six Sigma Professionals, UK, said: “Dr. Antony has for many years been the go-to person for robust research and opinion in the world of Lean Six Sigma, and his international conferences, publications, students and research are world class. The ISSP wishes to recognize Dr. Antony’s contribution to the world of Lean Six Sigma by honoring him with the ISSP 2021 Significant Contribution award.”

 Professor Antony’s contribution to the body of Lean Six Sigma include:

• Highest number of citations for his research outputs on Lean Six Sigma according to Scopus and Google Scholar
• Highest number of academic journal papers and practitioner-oriented papers published on various Lean Six Sigma topics
• Founder of the International Conference on Lean Six Sigma since 2004
• Founder of the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma published by Emerald since 2010
• Trained over 1000 professionals from 185 plus companies across over 20 countries
• Winner of the Walter Mazing Book prize in 2020 for his book entitled “Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma”
• Outstanding Contribution to Quality Management practice award from the Chartered Quality Institute (UK) in 2020
• “Lifetime Outstanding Contribution to Lean Six Sigma” award from the International Lean Six Sigma Institute in summer 2021

Dr. Antony is recognized worldwide as a leader in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology for improving processes and achieving operational excellence. He has put his passion for process improvement to use. As a certified LSS Master Black Belt (the pinnacle of Six Sigma expertise), Dr. Antony has a proven track record for conducting internationally leading research in the field of Quality Management, Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence.

For example, Dr. Antony was instrumental in introducing Lean Six Sigma to a public sector organization with over 400 employees in Scotland, UK in 2012. He was responsible for training, coaching and mentoring over 60 Lean Six Sigma projects in this organization and demonstrated savings of more than 1.5 million sterling pounds over a three-year period. 

He was also responsible for introducing Lean Six Sigma at a Scottish Utility company, where he trained, coached and mentored over 30 people, which resulted in hard cash savings of more than 2 million sterling pounds over a period of less than 18 months. 

He has also helped a Scottish university develop an LSS program and delivered over 50 business process improvement projects with varied complexity.

Dr. Antony teaches quality and reliability engineering and advanced quality management practices in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. He aspires to set up an Operational Excellence Research Center integrated with Industry 4.0 at KU so that many local businesses can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their processes. 

The Institute of Six Sigma Professionals was established in 2011 in order to link like-minded people with an interest in Six Sigma around the UK. They support and develop Six Sigma professionals through various networking events, access to training materials, accreditation services and more.

Erica Solomon
Senior Publication Specialist
12 December 2021

The post Dr. Jiju Antony Honored with the UK Institute of Six Sigma Professionals’ Significant Contribution Award 2021 appeared first on Khalifa University.

Maha AlDhaheri and Mariam Ramadan, both BSc in Industrial and Systems Engineering students, successfully optimized the service delivery at Bab Al Qasr hotel, a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, in Spring 2019, as part of their Six Sigma Methodology and Applications course.

The course, delivered by Dr. Maher Maalouf, Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, engages the students through an experiential learning approach with real-life projects and activities. The students learn-by-doing the Six Sigma set of tools and methodologies, these include powerful techniques used by major companies worldwide to help improve production processes, eliminate defects, and guarantee quality. 

Mahriam and Maha put their retained skills from the Six Sigma course into work to help identify optimal ways to streamline the beverage delivery at Bab Al Qasr hotel. Using DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) tools, the students streamlined the chain of activities at the hotel, resulting in an improved workers’ efficiency by 16.5%, with a 1000% return on investment (ROI) as judged by the Hotel management.

“This project has opened our eyes to the importance of Six Sigma and process improvement in hospitality to enhance organizations’ operational and financial performance,” the students shared. 

They credit the experience for improving their communication and technical skills, as they had to collect information from several different stations, machines and people across many departments.

“Working on this project also helped us identify non-value-added activities and inefficiencies in the hospitality sector, a field in which Six Sigma application is limited in the existing literature,” they said.

“In terms of technical skills, the project boosted our data collection and analyses skills. These are vital to being able to better identify the problem, validate its existence, understand where opportunities exist, and make significant and sustained improvements that help the organization.”

Several courses in the Industrial and Systems Engineering department, including Six Sigma, involve hands-on projects like this one, to help emphasize the experiential learning and learn-by-doing approach.

Erica Solomon
Senior Publication Specialist
14 November 2021

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The International Lean Six Sigma Institute (ILSSI) presented Dr. Jiju Antony, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, with the prestigious “Lifetime Outstanding Contribution to Lean Six Sigma” award in recognition for Dr. Antony’s work and contributions to the understanding and standardization of Lean Six Sigma, a team-focused managerial approach that seeks to improve performance by eliminating waste and defects.

John Dennis, Chairman of the ILSSI (UK), presented Dr. Antony with the award on 19 July 2021 at the Edinburgh Business School, where Dr. Antony was also celebrated by colleagues and other ILSSI members. He commented: “Professor Antony has made a remarkable contribution to the field of quality management, quality engineering and now an advancement to the field of Lean Six Sigma. The ILSSI would like to thank him for his lifetime of service to the advancement of Lean Six Sigma.” 

Dr. Antony has been a pillar in the field of Six Sigma. In 2004, he founded the Centre for Research in Six Sigma and Process Excellence (CRISSPE), the first Six Sigma research center in Europe. The center aims to further promote Six Sigma, Lean Strategy, Quality Management and Business Process Improvement Methods in the UK and Europe. 

Dr. Antony is also a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (UK), Fellow of the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI), Fellow of the Institute of Operations Management (FIOM), Fellow of the American Society of Quality (FASQ), Fellow of the International Lean Six Sigma Institute (ILSSi) and a Fellow of the Institute of the Six Sigma Professionals (ISSP).

“I am truly honored to receive this Lifetime Achievement award from the International Lean Six Sigma Institute and will be delighted to work closely with the chairman and other colleagues for further advancement of Lean Six Sigma,” Dr. Antony said. 

The ILSSI is based in Cambridge, England and was established as a partnership of Lean Six Sigma professionals in the UK, EU, USA, Asia and the Middle-East that focuses on providing International collaboration, common understanding and standards for both Lean and Six Sigma principles, tools and techniques. The ILSSI offers training, certification, coaching, and consulting services directly and through the network. It also hosts an annual conference for Lean Six Sigma practitioners. 

Ara Maj Cruz
Creative Writer
20 September 2021

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