Six Sigma

• Sigma is a measure of “goodness: the capability of a

process to produce perfect work.

• A “defect” is any mistake that results in customer

dissatisfaction.

• Sigma indicates how often defects are likely to occur.

• The higher the sigma level, the lower the defect rate.

• The lower the defect rate, the higher the quality.

 Six Sigma is a systematical process of “quality
improvement through the disciplined data-analyzing
approach, and by improving the organizational
process by eliminating the defects or the obstacles
which prevents the organizations to reach the
perfection”.
 Historical Overview

 Bill Smith first formulated the particulars of

the methodology at Motorola in 1986.

 Six Sigma was heavily inspired by six

preceding decades of quality improvement
methodologies such as Quality control, TQM,
and Zero Defects, based on the work of
pioneers such
as Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguc
hi and others.
 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, improved and controlled.

 Achieving sustained quality improvement requires

commitment from the entire organization, particularly
from top-level management.
 Why Six Sigma?
• Sigma allows comparison of products and services of varying
complexity

• Also, it provides a common basis for benchmarking

(competitors and non-competitors).

• The higher the sigma level, the better your operation is

performing.

• Sigma measures how well you’re doing in getting to zero

defects.
 Features that set Six Sigma apart from
previous quality improvement initiatives
include:
 A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable
financial returns.

 An increased emphasis on strong and passionate

management leadership and support.

 A special infrastructure of "Champions," "Master Black

Belts," "Black Belts," "Green Belts", etc. to lead and
implement the Six Sigma approach.

 A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of

verifiable data, rather than assumptions and guesswork.
 Methods

 Six Sigma projects follow two project

methodologies inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-
Check-Act Cycle.

1. DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving

an existing business process.

2. DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating

new product or process designs.
 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.

 Control the future state process to ensure that any

deviations from target are corrected before they result
in defects.
 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).
 DMAIC DMADV
 1.Defines a business  1.Define customer needs
process  2.Measure customer
 2.Measuring current needs & specifications
process  3.Analyze options to
 3.Identify root cause of meet customer
the recurring problem satisfaction

 4.Improvements made  4.Model is designed to

to reduce defects meet customer needs

 5. Keep check on future  5.Model put through

performance simulation tests for
verification
Quality management tools and
methods used in Six Sigma.
 5 whys
 Analysis of variance
 Histograms
 Regression analysis
 Process capability
 Pareto chart etc.
 Implementation roles
 Six Sigma identifies several key roles for its
successful implementation:

 Champions
 Master Black Belts
 Black Belts
 Green Belts
 Yellow Belts
 Six Sigma Organization
 The six sigma team has five levels of hierarchy
 What is a belt?
 Belt refers to the level or the position, of a
person in an organization at the time of
performing a work or at the time of
implementation of a project.

 There are four “Belt” levels :-

 Champion
 Master black belt(MBB)
 Black belt(BB)
 Green belt(GB)
 Yellow belt(YB)
 Champion
• Lay down policies and guidelines regarding
functioning of six sigma teams.
• Approves six sigma projects.
• Removes road blocks in the path of six sigma
implementation
• Receives presentations
• Monitors project
• Make available necessary resources
• Sort out conflicts
 Master Black Belt
 The highest level of Six Sigma expertise;

 All duties involve implementation of Six Sigma,

including statistical analysis, strategic and policy
planning and implementation, and training and
mentoring of Black Belts.
 Black Belt
 A Six Sigma-trained professional who has usually completed an
examination and been certified in its methods.

 All job duties include implementation of Six Sigma

methodology throughout all levels of the business,

 Leading teams and projects, and providing Six Sigma training

and mentoring to Green and Yellow Belts.
 Green Belt

 In many organizations, Six Sigma's "entry level";

 A Six Sigma-trained professional who does not

work on Six Sigma projects exclusively, but
whose duties include leading projects and teams
and implementing Six Sigma methodology at the
project level
 Yellow Belt
 The lowest level of Six Sigma expertise;

 Applies to a professional who has a basic working

knowledge and who may manage smaller process
improvement projects,

 But who does not function as a project or team leader.

 Certification

 In the United States, Six Sigma certification

for both Green and Black Belts is offered by
the Institute of Industrial Engineers and by
the American Society for Quality.

 In addition to these examples, there are many

other organizations and companies that offer
certification. There currently is no central
certification body, neither in the United
States nor anywhere else in the world.
Origin and meaning of the term
"six sigma process"
Software used for Six Sigma
List of Six Sigma companies

 Motorola
 Mumbai dabbawallas
 GE
 PepsiCo
 Whirlpool
 Criticism

 Lack of originality
 Role of consultants
 Potential negative effects
 Based on arbitrary standards
 Criticism of the 1.5 Sigma shift