Six Sigma Definition - What Is Six Sigma ?  

Six Sigma stands for Six Standard Deviations (Sigma is the Greek letter used to represent standard deviation in statistics) from mean. Six Sigma methodology provides the techniques and tools to improve the capability and reduce the defects in any process.

  
  It was started in Motorola, in its manufacturing division,  where millions of parts are made using the same process repeatedly. Eventually Six Sigma evolved and applied to other non manufacturing processes. Today you can apply Six Sigma to many fields such as Services, Medical and Insurance Procedures, Call Centers.

Six Sigma methodology improves any existing business process by constantly reviewing and re-tuning the process.  To achieve this, Six Sigma uses a methodology known as DMAIC (Define opportunities, Measure performance, Analyze opportunity, Improve performance, Control performance).

Six Sigma methodology can also be used to create a brand new business process from ground up using DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) principles. Six Sigma Strives for perfection. It allows for only 3.4 defects per million opportunities for each product or service transaction. Six Sigma relies heavily on statistical techniques to reduce defects and measure quality.

Six Sigma experts (Green Belts and Black Belts) evaluate a business process and determine ways to improve upon the existing process. Six Sigma experts can also design a brand new business process using DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) principles. Typically its easier to define a new process with DFSS principles than refining an existing process to reduce the defects.

Six Sigma incorporates the  basic principles and techniques used in Business, Statistics, and Engineering. These three form the core elements of Six Sigma. Six Sigma improves the process performance, decreases variation and maintains consistent quality of the process output. This leads to defect reduction and improvement in profits, product quality and customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma methodology is also used in many Business Process Management initiatives these days. These Business Process Management initiatives are not necessarily related to manufacturing. Many of the BPM's that use Six Sigma in today's world include call centers, customer support, supply chain management and project management.
  

Benefits of SIXSIGMA
  

There are numerous benefits of six sigma as a way to address  issues and problems.  Among the benefits of six sigma is the decrease in defects that are allowed to reach the customer.  You can get some sense of the benefits of six sigma by reviewing some six sigma projects. Other benefits of six sigma  include:

  
 
 

  • Focus on customers.

  • Improved customer loyalty.

  • Reduced cycle time.

  • Less waste.

  • Data based decisions.

  • Time management.

  • Sustained gains and improvements.

  • Systematic problem solving.

  • Employee motivation.

  • Data analysis before decision making.

  • Faster to market.

  • Team building.

  • Improved customer relations.

  • Assure strategic planning..

  • Reductions of incidents.

  • Measure value according to the customer.

  • Better safety performance.

  • Understanding of processes.

  • Effective supply chain management.

  • Design and redesign products/services.

  • Knowledge of competition, competitors .

  • Develop leadership skills.

  • Breakdown barriers between departments and functions.

  • Management training.

  • Improve presentation skills.

  • Integration of products, services and distribution.

  • Use of standard operating procedures.

  • Better decision making.

  • Improving project management skills.

  • Sustained improvements.

  • Alignment with strategy vision, and values.

  • Increased margins.

  • Greater market share.

  • Supervisor training.

  • Lower costs to provide goods and services.

  • Fewer customer complaints.

 
 

These are only some of the benefits of six sigma. We continue to discover additional benefits of six sigma every time a  project is completed.

  
 

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