What is Six Sigma?

What is Six Sigma ?

Six Sigma is a method or set of techniques that has also become a movement focused on business process improvement. It is a quality measurement and improvement program originally developed by Motorola that focuses on the control of a process to the point of ? six sigma (standard deviations) from a centerline, or put another way, 3.4 defects per million items. A Six Sigma systematic quality program provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. It includes identifying factors critical to quality as determined by the customer, reducing process variation and improving capabilities, increasing stability and designing systems to support the six sigma goal.

The objective of Six Sigma is to deliver world-class performance, reliability, and value to the end customer.

Application & Success :

Starting with manufacturing, today Six Sigma is being widely used across a wide range of industries like banking, business process outsourcing (BPO), telecommunications, insurance, construction, healthcare, and software.

Methodology :

Six Sigma has two key methodologies- DMAIC and DMADV. DMAIC is used to improve an existing business process. DMADV is used to create new product designs or process designs in such a way that it results in a more predictable, mature and defect free performance.

Roles Required for Implementation :

Six Sigma identifies five key roles for its successful implementation.

Executive Leadership includes CEO and other key top management team members. 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 are responsible for the Six Sigma implementation across the organization in an integrated manner. The Executive Leadership draws them from the upper management. Champions also act as mentor to Black Belts. At GE this level of certification is now called "Quality Leader".

Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in-house expert coach for the organization on Six Sigma. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They assist champions and guide Black Belts and Green Belts. Apart from the usual rigor of statistics, their time is spent on ensuring integrated deployment 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. They operate under the guidance of Black Belts and support them in achieving the overall results.

Specific training programs are available to train people to take up these roles.

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Six Sigma And Beyond

“Six Sigma has galvanized our company with an intensity the likes of which I have never seen in my 40 years at GE.” Jack Welch admitted this in the year 2000 annual report of GE. As one goes by various comments, it becomes clearer that Six Sigma is not just a fad created by top management but an effective tool to fix gaps in performance which play a role in making improvements to the bottom line and customer satisfaction.

But is it enough for companies to have the ‘gaps’ closed just once? Does it ensure that ‘normalcy’ will not return to the daily scheme of things? Does Six Sigma need to be continued in order that the momentum gained is never lost? What would be the financial impact of continuing Six Sigma beyond complete implementation?

The Robust Nature of Six Sigma

Six Sigma’s intrinsic strength lies in its structured questioning ability which, when rationally executed, bring forth the inherent shortcomings in any process. The implementation methodology allows for comparing the prevailing procedure against what is defined to being the most suitable one at reducing error-producing subroutines. For example, removing errors from the preparation stage will have a positive impact on subsequent processes.

At certain levels, this is called as Customer Value Creation (CVC). CVC is a two stage method which comprises Customer Value Analysis and Operational Excellence or OE. Both of these are driven by a thorough understanding of customer values and the excellence in operation needed to achieve that. OE, as such, is a thorough fact based and analytical approach to removing bottlenecks.

Looking Beyond Six Sigma

Preparing the mindset for looking beyond Six Sigma requires a continuum plan for the road ahead. It is said that Six Sigma brings the objectives of companies to a winning stage; it is sustained for the future when a quality approach is adopted as a culture by the entire organization. Having set the stage, preparing for growth thereafter requires an ‘outside in’ approach and a retrospective view.

The “outside in” approach: The “outside in” approach begins with looking inside from the perspective of the customers. This is different from that of a mere marketing slogan. With a strong footing in science, taking into account behavioral economics across customer demographics, it covers the infrastructure support, after-sales service and supply chain management. In a way, the “outside in” approach paves the way for operational excellence (OE).

Operational Excellence is said to be focused on execution. If the “outside in” perspective works toward dispelling myths and wrongly conceived notions about customer needs, OE on the other hand, by using powerful analytical and measuring tools, prepares the ground for returning what the customer data revealed.

For looking beyond Six Sigma, a long-term vision is expressed and it can be summarized as a ‘growth cube’. The vision seeks to place the customer on top on a continuous basis. It comprises and emphasizes customer profitability and customer share with the number of customers. The growth cube is framed with a view to long lasting growth in terms of the three components instead of growth volumes.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.