Six Sigma Methodology | Six Sigma Model | Six Sigma Approach

Focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. Explanation of Six Sigma.

What is Six Sigma? Description

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology that provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of product. It is a quality measure and improvement program that was pioneered by Mikel Harry and Motorola. It focuses on the control of a process until the point of six sigma (standard deviations) from a centerline, or 3.4 defects per million items. It includes identifying factors which are critical for the quality as determined by the customer. It reduces process variation and improvement capabilities, increases stability and designs systems to support the six sigma goal.

The Six Sigma model is a highly disciplined approach that can help companies to focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. It is based on the statistical work of Joseph Juran, a Rumanian-born US pioneer of quality management. The word "Sigma" is a Greek sign used for a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection (standards deviation). If the sigma number is higher, you are closer to perfection. One sigma is not very good; six sigma is defined as only 3.4 defects per million. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how you can eliminate them. Thus you can almost come to "zero defects".

The Japanese origin of Six Sigma can still be seen by the system of "belts" which it uses. If you are new to Six Sigma and you go on a basic training, you get a green belt. Anyone who has the responsibility for leading a Six Sigma team is called a black belt. Finally there is a special elite group called Master Black Belts who supervise the Black Belts.

Five Steps in Six Sigma. Process

Typically, a Six Sigma process has the following five stages:

Definition. The first step in any Six Sigma project is to clarify the problem and narrow its scope in such a way that measurable goals can be achieved within a few months. Then a team is assembled to examine the process in detail, suggest improvements, and implement those recommendations. In the manufacturing world, project managers and their sponsors typically begin by defining what constitutes a defect and then establish a set of objectives designed to reduce the occurrence of such defects.
Measurement. In the second step of a Six Sigma project, the team gathers data and prepares it for high-level analysis.
Analysis. Once a process has been mapped and documented, and the quality of the hard supporting data has been verified, the Six Sigma team can begin the analysis. The team members usually start by identifying the ways in which people fail to act as needed, or by identifying the ways in which people fail to ensure effective control at each stage.
Improvement. Recommend, decide and implement improvements.
Control. In the final stage of a Six Sigma project, the team creates controls. These are enabling the company to sustain and extend the improvements.

Six Sigma Methodology | Six Sigma Model | Six Sigma Approach Forum (38)

Best Practices Lean Six Sigma in Social Care
"I have been using Lean Six Sigma (I'm a Black belt) in Adult Social Care in the UK and to my knowledge I am the only person in the UK using this in this business area. It is proving to be extremely useful.
The hardest thing is MSA, since a classical Gauge R&R cannot be done. I would be interested to hear from others if they have used Lean Six Sigma in this business, so we can trade experiences."

Quality Lessons in Dealing with Contractors
"In the last 2 years I learned the following lessons working with Home Remodeling contractors.
Lesson One: Be careful who you hire. Top contractors find and keep top craftsmen while contractors that delivered poor quality results hire day labor knowing little about the skill level or character of the employee. Day laborers do not have their own tools or safety gear and the contractors do not provide tools or training for them. The inferior contractor just wants someone available and willing to work. Those characteristics are necessary but not sufficient to make sure customer requirements can be met.
Lesson Two: Effective Supervision: The best contractors worked alongside their workers and supervised every aspect of the job. They had less scrap and were able to complete their work on time because problems were resolved quickly. The worst contractors did not stay on the job site very long, so supervision was weak. Since many workers did not speak English, the person left behind to supervise was the person who could speak English and whatever language the workers speak. Technical competence was low priority,
Lesson Three: Use good materials. The best contractors use top quality tools and materials. They avoid problems caused by cheap inferior quality products which cause scrap, rework, and dissatisfied customers. Is your business chasing the lowest material cost at the expense of quality, your own efficiency and customer satisfaction?
Lesson Four: Constant Customer Engagement. Contractors with high customer satisfaction interact constantly with the customer to understand the customer’s expectations. They engage the customer at critical points to reach a decision on the best course of action. The best contractors view handling customer concerns as an opportunity to build a lasting relationship and repeat business.
Lesson Five: Detailed Follow up. Good contractors conduct detailed post job follow up to make sure everything was completed to the customer’s satisfaction and rectify problems quickly."

Applying Six Sigma to Landscape Architecture
"How can Six Sigma be applied in Architecture practice? The deliverables being the project plan, the drawings and supervision. The accuracy of processes and thus the defects can not be precisely defined. Does it mean that Six Sigma is not applicable to certain business practices?"

The Cost of Poor Quality: Tools for Effective Control & Reduction
"Which Six Sigma tools are effective to determine and reduce the cost of poor quality (in the manufacturing sector)?
Since there are lot of quality tools used in industries, selecting correct, effective tools would lead to reduce time of problem solving. Hence it is essential to identify appropriate tools."

Is Six Sigma Enough? (To Improve the Quality Level of an Organization...)
"In order to improve a process, or to get a new standard or higher quality level in an organization, is 6 Sigma a good approach?
My partners say that 6 Sigma is just for solving actual problems (d=define a problem), but it's not the best way to improve.
What do you think?"

Six Sigma in Passengers Handling
"How can Six Sigma be applied to passengers handling services in air transportation at an airport?"

Six Sigma in Textile / Confection Industry
"Any information or experiences about Six Sigma implementation in textile, confection industries? Thank you..."

Add Standardization to DMAIC Phases in Six Sigma (DMAICS)
"In my experience I implemented the Six Sigma process following 6 instead of just 5 phases. The first five are the classical phases (DMAIC) for the analysis, solution implementation and solution effectiveness confirmation...
And in the last phase we freeze the improvement. We call this extra phase Standardization. In this phase we establish and approve the procedures / work instructions and perform the training session in order to include the improvement in the process best practices."

Six Sigma Requirements
"In order for Six Sigma to be successful in an organisation, the concept should be embraced from the grass roots to top management.
Involvement of all stakeholders should be emphasised, as data is generated by the grass roots and if they are not involved, distorted data may be generated. This will cause the whole concept to fail to achieve its intended benefits."

Six Sigma in Medical Transcription
"How can Six Sigma be used in the field of medical transcription? What are all the gradients that need to be worked on in medical transcription with Six Sigma?"

Hypothesis Testing in DMAIC Projects
"Is hypothesis testing a must in DMAIC projects? Why (not)?"

Evaluating Six Sigma Project Leaders
"How can I evaluate the talent of Six Sigma project leaders (presentation skill, answering, strategic thinking, and so on)?
What grading and evaluation of the factors do you recommend?"

Evaluating Six Sigma Projects
"How can I evaluate the quality of 6 Sigma projects (logical think, creative, right tools, effectiveness and so on).
What grading and evaluation of the factors you recommend?"

Focus of Six Sigma: The 6 Rights
"Six Sigma management can focus on following 6 Right (Rights):
- Right Support
- Right Project
- Right Road Map (DMAIC)
- Right People (training)
- Right Tools
- Right Result (high performance, high benefit, and high efficiency)"

Tools for Finding Root Cause?
"Which tool is preferable in Six Sigma methodology to detect or find the root cause from special cause variation and then solve accordingly? And how to differentiate if the tool is suitable to use for common cause variation or special cause variation? Thanks for your help..."

6 Sigma in Construction Industry
"Can 6 sigma method be applied in construction industry? If yes, how?"

Six Sigma Manufacturing Example
"Businesses who are not very active in quality management most of the time have a process quality from 2 or 3 sigma. This means a failure of about 66.700 products per million opportunities. At first sight, this looks really nice.
But let's look at a product that is built in 10 production steps. In every phase the amount of good products decreases:
- After 2 production phases: 870.862.
- After 4 production phases: 758.401.
- After 10 production phases, there are only 500.895 good products left. Surely this is normally unacceptable...
If you can achieve a sigma of 5, after the 10 production phases the amount of good products would still be 997.702.
The rejected products went down from 49,9% to 0,23% per one million opportunities. This example shows that such businesses should aim at a sigma from 5 or six... And also that the more production steps you have, the more this demands from your sigma level."

Differentiating Six Sigma from TQM
"Although invented at Motorola, Six Sigma has been perfected at General Electric. GE is truly the home of Six Sigma. The factors differentiating Six Sigma from Total Quality Management are Six Sigma's:
- Emphasis on measurement and statistical science
- Rigorous and structured training deployment plan (champion, master black belt, black belt and green belt)
- Project focused approach with a single set of problem solving techniques such as DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control)
- Reinforcement of Juran tenets (top management leadership, continuous education and annual savings plan)."

Six Sigma is a Story!
"Six Sigma is a story of X, Y and Z.
When all X's and Y's are controlled, Z's improve.
X's are causes, Y's are problems and Z's are consequences."

Good Practitioner Books on Lean - Six Sigma, S&OP?
"Hi all, short question, currently I am working in a pure logistics field but would like to develop my supply chain knowledge further. Especially looking at job adverts the topic lean and Six Sigma are becoming more common as an entry level as and also S&OP optimization experience. Who knows books he can recommend covering these topics on a detailed practitioner level, so that a copy-paste approach is not too far away, knowing all companies are different?"

Identifying Critical Characteristics
"It is excellent to use Six Sigma in practice. But critical to its success is the right identification of critical characteristics as applicable for measurement and control. This calls for the total involvement of all functional groups including the support of top management."

Quality Critical Factors
"How can the quality critical factors for a product be effectively identified like a pig lung, a pharmaceutical raw material. I think there is the success of the implementation of Six Sigma."

Six Sigma Effectiveness
"Please, can someone evaluate the effectiveness of Six Sigma process improvement methodology."

Six Sigma Implementation Process
"I am looking for the Six Sigma implementation process."

Six Sigma In Inbound Call Center
"How can Six Sigma be used in an inbound call center? What are the basic parameters to be defined?"

Six Sigma for Retail
"What is best way to measure defects in a retail business in order to improve efficiency?"

Six Sigma Dictionary - Six Sigma Terms
"LEAN components: Inventory reduced by kanban management.
Plant layout with D-cells provides minimal handling, transportation, materials, space and people.
Line layout means that the machinery and processes of the same type are located in the same area.
U-layout gives longer lead times It is important to have defined and measurable objectives for values, success factors, business processes, resources and organization.
TPM is a comprehensive repair and maintenance system. TPM is common sense put into system. If you are busy, you are also doing something rationel.
Kaizen is based on the continual improvements of all functions of a business.
Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) is one of the many lean production methods for reducing waste in a manufacturing process by e.g. change of die/tools/moulds in less than e.g. 10 minutes.
5(+1)S ensures order and the system at work Improvement and systematization of working routines with minimal investment.
Know another term? Please add a reaction!!!"

Organizational Development + Six Sigma or Lean
"Have any of you integrated tools from Organizational Development with the use of Lean and Six Sigma. I would be interested to hear your reactions and experiences."

Should Six Sigma start after Lean Implementation?
"My perception to Six Sigma is that it should start after Lean Implementation, at least basic (Stability Phase and Continuous Flow), then can go in parallel, since Lean helps set the standards and Six Sigma controls deviation from standards.
But the DMAIC problem solving methodology can be simplified as the PDCA from the start of Lean Implementation. The certification process of Black / Green Belts is a rigorous part of the subject that I hope to be spread to all operations management consultancy fields."

Six Sigma Implementation Roles
"The following names (some are from martial arts) are used for Six Sigma professional roles:
Sponsor - Senior executive who sponsors the overall Six Sigma Initiative.
Leader - Senior-level executive who is responsible for implementing Six Sigma within the business.
Champion - Middle- or senior-level executive who sponsors a specific Six Sigma project, ensuring that resources are available and cross-functional issues are resolved.
Master Black Belt - Highly experienced and successful Black Belt who has managed several projects and is an expert in Six Sigma methods/tools. Responsible for coaching/mentoring/training Black Belts and for helping the Six Sigma leader and Champions keep the initiative on track.
Black Belt - Full-time professional who acts as a team leader on Six Sigma projects. Typically has four to five weeks of classroom training in methods, statistical tools, and (sometimes) team skills.
Green Belt - Part-time professional who participates on a Black Belt project team or leads smaller projects. Typically has two weeks of classroom training in methods and basic statistical tools.
Team Member - Professional who has general awareness of Six Sigma (through no formal training) and who brings relevant experience or expertise to a particular project.
Process Owner - Professional responsible for the business process that is the target of a Six Sigma project."

6 Sigma....Frame period
"Hi..., I have a concern regarding the execution of 6 sigma... When a business has to move from one sigma level to another, for how long we have to measure and analyse and how long (approximately) does the total process last ?"

Six Sigma for Marketing
"Six Sigma for Marketing (SSFM) is newest Six Sigma variant – drives growth. SSFM links interdependencies of strategic marketing, tactical & operational processes. It proactively drives growth (e.g. new offerings) in a balanced way, versus simply cutting costs. It includes "leading indicators" to identify potential issues and build-in prevention. If a marketing process is broken, incapable or out of control, then use one of the traditional Six Sigma approaches to improve or re-design it. Applicable beyond marketing to sales, strategic planning, customer operations & services, and finance. References: * Six Sigma in Marketing Processes - An Overview for Executives, Leaders and Marketing Managers; by CM Creveling, L. Hambleton, and B. McCarthy; Prentice-Hall, March 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0131990081. [Selected as a top 2006 business book by Booz-Allen.] * Treasure Chest of Six Sigma Growth Methods, Tools & Best Practice; by L. Hambleton; Prentice-Hall, July 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0132300216."

Six Sigma Organization Structure
"Usually, Six Sigma organizations are composed of the following:
Champions - these are members of the Senior Management Team with responsibility for the success of the quality initiative;
Master Black Belts - these are the teachers, trainers, reviewers, and the mentors of the Black Belts (full-time);
Black Belts - these are the leaders of the teams that employ the DMAIIC or DMADV (full-time);
Green Belts - are the owners of projects that improve a process or product (part-time); and the
Deployment Team - which are composed of key stakeholders, firm, or supplier resources assigned to a Six Sigma Project (part/full-time)"

3 Additional Six Sigma Levels
"Besides the Sigma levels 1 to 6, we can actually also distinguish between 3 other levels of using Six SIgma:
A. Use Six Sigma as a statistical measurement unit (comparable to degrees or dollars)
B. Use it as as a structured, measurement-centered improvement system (this is where the DMAIC and DMADV methods come into play)
C. Use 6 Sigma as a management philosophy, in which the other 2 levels are used to establish a fact-based company culture which is aimed at continuous improvement of business and/or manufacturing processes."

Six Sigma in an R&D context
"Is it possible to use Six Sigma to improve the quality of R&D processes? Or do R&D activities naturally defy systematic improvement efforts?"

Statistical Process Control (SPC)
"According to many, Six Sigma is based on Statistical Process Control (SPC), a method of visually monitoring production processes. In Six Sigma, each business process must be measured and for this often the SPC methodology is used. Aims of SPC are: 1. Adjustment: To detect quickly when a process needs readjustment or repair. 2. Improvement: To find the most urgently needed improvement in the system itself."

Six Sigma DMAIC DMADV
"Two Six Sigma sub-methodologies are called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control), and
DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify).
DMAIC is an improvement system for EXISTING processes which fall below specifications and need to be improved incrementally.
DMADV is also an improvement system which is designed to develop NEW processes and/ or products at Six Sigma quality levels."

The Basis of Six Sigma? Statistics and Discipline
"Many of the tools of Six Sigma (and the concept of lean manufacturing with which Six Sigma is most closely identified) can be found in statistical process control, total quality management, statistics, process improvement, inventory control and operations management textbooks.
However, it is not just the tools that deliver Six Sigma performance - it is the logic, discipline and practical application that drive the search for perfection."

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