SIX SIGMA

Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1981.
As of 2010, it enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry, although its
application is not without controversy.

Six Sigma means maintenance of the desired quality in process and end products by taking
systematic and integrated efforts in that direction.

Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the
causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability inmanufacturing and business
processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and
creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green
Belts", etc.) 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 targets
(cost reduction or profit increase).

The term six sigma originated from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically
terms associated with statistical modelling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a
manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its yield, or the
percentage of defect-free products it creates. A six-sigma process is one in which
99.9997% of the products manufactured are statistically expected to be free of
defects(3.4 defects per 1 million). Motorola set a goal of "six sigmas" for all of its
manufacturing operations, and this goal became a byword for the management and
engineering practices used to achieve it.

Features:
1. Highly disciplined process that helps in developing and delivering near-
perfect products and services.
2. Strives to meet & improve the Firm’s goals on quality, cost, scheduling,
manpower, new products, etc.
3. Based on the concept of probability and normal distribution in statistics.
4. Seeks to ensure that 99.99966% of products manufactured are defect-
free.
5. Puts the Customer first and uses facts and data to drive better solutions.
6. Full or Total Business Initiative, not merely a quality initiative.
7. Seeks to achieve breakthroughs in every area of operation, not merely small
marginal improvements.
8. Philosophy of management commitment, customer focus, process
improvement and rule of measurement.
 9. Makes every area of the Firm ready to meet the changing needs of
customers, markets & technologies.

Central themes of Six Sigma Philosophy?

1. Theme 1 – Genuine Customer Focus: Customer Focus is the top priority, Six Sigma
improvements are defined by their impact on customer satisfaction and value.
2. Theme 2 – Data and Fact – driven management:

• Six Sigma discipline begins by clarifying what measures are key to gauging
business performance and then gathers data and analyzes key variables.
Such concept of “management by fact” drives out opinions and assumptions.
Such, problems can be much more effectively defined, analyzed, and
resolved permanently.
• Six Sigma helps Managers to answer to essential questions to support data-
driven decisions and solutions – (i) What data / information is really required
for decision-making?, and (ii) How to use that data / information to obtain
maximum benefit?
3. Theme 3 – Process Orientation: Six Sigma identifies the “process” as the key vehicle
of success. Mastering processes is the way to build competitive advantage in
delivering value to customers.

4. Theme 4 – Pro-active Management:

• Being pro-active means acting in advance of events rather than reacting to

them. This process involves – (i) defining ambitious goals and reviewing them
frequently, (ii) setting clear priorities, (iii)focusing on problem prevention
rather than fire-fighting, and (iv) questioning why we do things instead of
blindly defending them.
• Being pro-active is a starting point for creativity and effective change. Six
Sigma, encompasses tools and practices that replace reactive habits with a
dynamic, responsive, pro-active style of management.

5. Theme 5 – Boundaryless Collaborations: “Boundarylessness” is one of the key factors

for business success. This refers to the fact that the opportunities available
through improved collaboration between and within Companies and with Vendors and
Customers are substantial.
6. Theme 6 – Drive for perfection. A company can get closer to Six Sigma only by
launching new ideas and approaches, which always involve some risk. Hence, the drive
for perfection is to be viewed with a tendency to tolerate failure.

Methods
Six Sigma projects follow two project methodologies inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-Check-
Act Cycle. These methodologies, composed of five phases each, bear the acronyms DMAIC
and DMADV.

 DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving an existing business process. DMAIC
is pronounced as "duh-may-ick".
 DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating new product or process
designs. DMADV is pronounced as "duh-mad-vee".

DMAIC

The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:

 Define the problem, the voice of the customer, and the project goals, specifically.
 Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
 Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships.
Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been
considered. Seek out root cause of the defect under investigation.
 Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques
such as design of experiments, poka yoke or mistake proofing, and standard work to
create a new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.
 Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are
corrected before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical
process control,production boards, and visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the
process.

DMADV

The DMADV project methodology, also known as DFSS ("Design For Six Sigma"), features
five phases:

 Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise
strategy.
 Measure and identify CTQs (characteristics that are Critical To Quality), product
capabilities, production process capability, and risks.
  Analyze to develop and design alternatives, create a high-level design and evaluate
design capability to select the best design.
 Design details, optimize the design, and plan for design verification. This phase may
require simulations.
 Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it
over to the process owner(s).

Conclusion:

When applied correctly, six sigma will produce better results than most other methods
through new culture. It is proven to be very marketable in all aspects.