SixSigma Guide

SixSigma :

Introduction:

Six Sigma was the expression given as a synonym by Motorola in 1986 for their quality program. Since then, a general defenition has developed, and it has become a useful technique for measuring quality. It has become a tool used particularly among technology driven companies such as Allied Signal, General Electric, Kodak, and Texas Instruments. What does it mean to be “Six Sigma” anyway? Its goal is to reduce output varibability through process improvement. Six Sigma refers to an organizations measure of quality that strives for near perfection. What can it do for your organization? If your organization is focused on customer satisfaction, then Six Sigma will offer you a method and some tools for identification and improvement of both internal and external process problems to better meet customers’ needs by identifying the variations in your organization’s processes that might influence the customer’s point of view negatively.

How Does Six Sigma Work, and How To:

How to:

Okay, okay, how do you use Six Sigma then? Six Sigma is based on the normal distribution theorem by Carl-Friedrich Gauss with this formula:

This formula describes a curve whose form is defined by two parameters, the mean average value, and the standard deviation “sigma.” Six Sigma is the tool used to help design highly capable parts that meet set specifications, namley customer specifications. These specifications are +/- six standard deviations from the process mean, which is the center line.

As you can see from the picture, +/-6 deviations (6 sigma) contains 99.9999% of all values. It can never reach 100% though. This means that there will always be room for improvement. Requirements and environmental boundaries must be considered when calculating a six sigma value as well.

The idea is to identify all of the opportunities for defects and then count the actual number of them that occur, and then normalize this value to one million opportunities to find the Defects per Million Opportunities. Now you can determine the corresponding sigma value. You must locate a table of values for the one-sided normal distribution.

Ideally, defects should be below 3.4 defects (standard deviations) per million opportunities for a defect. This means that ideally, the implementation of six sigma will result in an average of only about 3.4 defects per million units produced.

Other Helpful Sources for Six Sigma Information:

1.) General Electric created a Six Sigma Academy in 1994. The Web Site may be helpful for more information and training.

2.) SixSigma, Six Sigma Quality Resources for Achieving Six Sigma Results. The web site has plenty of information, discussion forums, and updated news on the subject.

3.) The site is also a good source of information and offers definitions and step by step instruction on the how to’s of Six Sigma.

4.) General Electric is considered one of the Benchmarks in this area. The web site is very helpful, not only for information, but for some real life uses.

5.) Motorola is the company who introduced this method. It is also considered a major benchmark for Six Sigma Method.

Conclusion:

Six Sigma is far more in depth than this document has illustrated. It is a tool that if used correctly, can identify key areas of business processes that need attention to lower defect rates. One of the greatest advantages is that all the measured improvements achieved through this techneque can be directly converted into financial results. In fact, more and more shareholders even require that Six Sigma method be implemented.