Six Sigma

Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in

1986.As of 2010, it is widely used in many sectors of industry, although its use is not without
controversy. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and
removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business
processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates
a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc.) who
are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a
defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).
The term Six Sigma originated

from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically terms associated with statistical
modeling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a manufacturing process can be described
by a sigma rating indicating its yield, or the percentage of defect-free products it creates. A six
sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured are statistically expected
to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million). Motorola set a goal of "six sigma" for all of its
manufacturing operations, and this goal became a byword for the management and engineering
practices used to achieve it.
Historical overview
Six Sigma originated as a set of practices designed to improve manufacturing processes and
eliminate defects, but its application was subsequently extended to other types of business
processes as well. In Six Sigma, a defect is defined as any process output that does not meet
customer specifications, or that could lead to creating an output that does not meet customer
specifications.Bill Smith first formulated the particulars of the methodology at Motorola in 1986.
Six Sigma was heavily inspired by six preceding decades of quality improvement methodologies
such as quality control, TQM, and Zero Defects based on the work of pioneers such as Shewhart,
Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi and others.
Like its predecessors, Six Sigma doctrine asserts that:
 Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e., reduce process
variation) are of vital importance to business success.
 Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured,
analyzed, improved and controlled.
 Achieving sustained quality improvement requires commitment from the entire
organization, particularly from top-level management.
Features that set Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include:
 A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six
Sigma project.
 An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.
 A special infrastructure of "Champions," "Master Black Belts," "Black Belts," "Green
Belts", etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.
 A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data, rather than
assumptions and guesswork.
The term "Six Sigma" comes from a field of statistics known as process capability studies.
Originally, it referred to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion
of output within specification. Processes that operate with "six sigma quality" over the short term
are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities
(DPMO). Six Sigma's implicit goal is to improve all processes to that level of quality or
better.Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola Inc. As of 2006
Motorola reported over US$17 billion in savings from Six Sigma.
Methods
Six Sigma projects follow two project methodologies inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-Check-Act
Cycle. These methodologies, composed of five phases each, bear the acronyms DMAIC and
DMADV.
 DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving an existing business process. DMAIC is
pronounced as "duh-may-ick".
 DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating new product or process designs. DMADV
is pronounced as "duh-mad-vee".
DMAIC
The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:
 Define the problem, the voice of the customer, and the project goals, specifically.
 Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
 Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what
the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out
root cause of the defect under investigation.
 Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such
as design of experiments, poka yoke or mistake proofing, and standard work to create a
new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.
 Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected
before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process
control, production boards, and visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.
Implementation roles
One key innovation of Six Sigma involves the "professionalizing" of quality management
functions. Prior to Six Sigma, quality management in practice was largely relegated to the
production floor and to statisticians in a separate quality department. Formal Six Sigma programs
borrow martial arts ranking terminology to define a hierarchy (and career path) that cuts across
all business functions.
Six Sigma identifies several key roles for its successful implementation:-
 Executive Leadership includes the CEO and other members of top management. They are
responsible for setting up a vision for Six Sigma implementation. They also empower the
other role holders with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough
improvements.
 Champions take responsibility for Six Sigma implementation across the organization in
an integrated manner. The Executive Leadership draws them from upper management.
Champions also act as mentors to Black Belts.
 Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in-house coaches on Six Sigma. They
devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They assist champions and guide Black Belts
and Green Belts. Apart from statistical tasks, they spend their time on ensuring consistent
application of Six Sigma across various functions and departments.
 Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six Sigma methodology to
specific projects. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They primarily focus on
Six Sigma project execution, whereas Champions and Master Black Belts focus on
identifying projects/functions for Six Sigma.
 Green Belts are the employees who take up Six Sigma implementation along with their
other job responsibilities, operating under the guidance of Black Belts.
Some organizations use additional belt colours, such as Yellow Belts, for employees that have
basic training in Six Sigma tools.

Six Sigma

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Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in

The term Six Sigma originated

Like its predecessors, Six Sigma doctrine asserts that:

The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:

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