Six figure savings through Six Sigma at Caterpillar

Caterpillar’s 179-lawyer department follows the problem-solving approach of Six Sigma (See my post of Feb. 13, 2008: Six Sigma and 18 references cited.). “They identify and solve problems by analyzing statistics, and measure the results to track their progress.”

An application of that discipline at Caterpillar is set forth in Corp. Counsel, Vol. 15, June 2008 at 102. The department spent several months using Six Sigma to understand their toxic tort load. They cut the number of law firms hired for those cases from 250 to about 10 and worked out a method to decide which cases can be resolved quickly and easily. The restructuring of this litigation “saves the company up to $250,000 a month.”