Six Sigma
Like its predecessors, Six Sigma doctrine asserts that:
Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e., reduce process variation) are of vital importance to business success.
Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed, controlled and improved.
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.[5]
An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.[5]
A special infrastructure of "Champions", "Master Black Belts", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.[5]
A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data and statistical methods, rather than assumptions and guesswork.[5]
The term "Six Sigma" comes from a field of statistics known as process capability studies. Originally, it referred to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification. Processes that operate with "six sigma quality" over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO).[6][7] Six Sigma's implicit goal is to improve all processes, but not to the 3.4 DPMO level necessarily. Organizations need to determine an appropriate sigma level for each of their most important processes and strive to achieve these. As a result of this goal, it is incumbent on management of the organisation to prioritize areas of improvement.
Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola Inc.[8] As of 2006 Motorola reported over US$17 billion in savings[9] from Six Sigma. Other early adopters of Six Sigma who achieved well-publicized success include Honeywell
Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e., reduce process variation) are of vital importance to business success.
Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed, controlled and improved.
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.[5]
An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.[5]
A special infrastructure of "Champions", "Master Black Belts", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.[5]
A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data and statistical methods, rather than assumptions and guesswork.[5]
The term "Six Sigma" comes from a field of statistics known as process capability studies. Originally, it referred to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification. Processes that operate with "six sigma quality" over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO).[6][7] Six Sigma's implicit goal is to improve all processes, but not to the 3.4 DPMO level necessarily. Organizations need to determine an appropriate sigma level for each of their most important processes and strive to achieve these. As a result of this goal, it is incumbent on management of the organisation to prioritize areas of improvement.
Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola Inc.[8] As of 2006 Motorola reported over US$17 billion in savings[9] from Six Sigma. Other early adopters of Six Sigma who achieved well-publicized success include Honeywell