Original Date: 02/19/2007
Revision Date: / /

The Raytheon Six Sigma approach to streamlining fundraising activities at Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems Manufacturing Center in Largo, Florida, has resulted in tripling annual donations without increasing man-hour efforts.

Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems (NCS) Manufacturing Center in Largo, Florida, focuses its community involvement on the Junior Achievement (JA) program. The process previously included the work of two Human Resources (HR) employees who organized an annual company-sponsored bowl-a-thon fundraiser. HR was responsible for facilitating the event and manually kept track of monetary pledges, teams, and shirt orders. Miscellaneous sponsorships in other community involvement activities were approved by site executives.

In 2004 Raytheon Largo’s HR group used a Six Sigma approach to streamline its process. The number of fundraising activities increased from 2 to 8 events. The events are now run by different committees, which provides more innovative ideas such as raffling a “by-the-entrance parking spot.” The donations mechanism is now Internet- based, with a link on the Raytheon Largo homepage. Bowl-a-thon planning tools are also Internet-based, with bowling team captains now entering teams, shirt information, and donating money online.

Internet-based activities allow for more effective use of time, eliminating manual input and providing a more accurate accounting system for donations. While the total number of man-hours spent on JA activities has not changed, donations have more than tripled to $33.5 thousand, making the Raytheon Largo facility the leading JA contributor in Pinellas County, Florida, two consecutive years.

Miscellaneous sponsorship activities have been combined with Raytheon corporate, allowing employees to participate in other corporate-endorsed activities. Raytheon Largo leaders believe community involvement has multiple benefits that include community awareness of Raytheon, publicity, employee awareness of issues in the community, and the potential to attract future Raytheon Largo employees.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.