Six Sigma

maDiscuss the DMAIC methodology used in Six Sigma and give an example of a company’s success in embracing Six Sigma.

Definition

Six Sigma is a business management strategy, initially implemented by Motorola, that today enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry.

Six Sigma seeks to improve quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and variation 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 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 target.

Evolution of Six Sigma

Prior to Six Sigma, improvement was brought about by quality programs, such as Total Quality Management (TQM), which had no visible impact on a company’s net income. While it progress, it has extended and evolved from a problem-solving technique to a quality strategy and ultimately into a sophisticated quality philosophy.

Before January 15, 1987, Six Sigma was solely a statistical term. Like its predecessor, Six Sigma asserts that:

* Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process result 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”, etc to lead and...