MSG Team's other articles

12188 Six Sigma Project Team Members

The actual work done in a Six Sigma project is done by the members involved. The Project Lead, Finance Certifier, Project Coach are all planning and enabling the team members to work in some way. Since the Project Team is usually a heterogeneous mix of people from different departments, there is no uniformity in the […]

12582 Effect of Domestic Politics on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

In previous articles, we talked about how the ongoing global economic crisis coupled with domestic pressures affect the outsourcing of back office operations. In this article, we look at a hot topic and a burning issue in the West i.e. the hue and cry over outsourcing and shipping jobs overseas especially at a time when […]

11601 The Trade Deal between America and Mexico

American President Donald Trump had been holding his guns against the Mexican government for a very long time. In fact ever since Trump was a Presidential candidate, he has accused Mexico of being a parasite and has threatened aggressive measures against the southern neighbours. These threats issued by America were met with an equally rude […]

9196 ERP – Accounts Payable and Receivable

Accounts payable and Accounts receivable modules are two important execution modules under finance segment of an ERP system. Financial relationship with vendors who are providing input to the organization in the form of goods and services are maintained in Accounts Payable (AP) module. On the flip side, the financial connection with customers who use output […]

9897 India’s Demonetization Policy: Will it Work ?

Imagine one fine evening your nation’s top leader suddenly appeared on television to make an address. In this speech, he stated that the money which currently accounts for over 80% by value and 20% by volume of the entire money supply are suddenly going to be invalid i.e. worthless. They would cease to be legal […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

Six Sigma is a data-based methodology to improve performance by reducing variability. It requires thorough understanding of product and process knowledge and is completely driven by customer expectations.

In other words, it is a methodology to achieve 3.4 defects per million opportunities. It can also be used to bring breakthrough improvements in the process. It focuses on the bottom-line and is a proven methodology for problem solving.

Goals of Six Sigma

  • To reduce variation
  • To reduce defects /rework
  • To improve yield /productivity
  • To enhance customer satisfaction
  • To improve the bottom-line
  • To improve top-line
  • Shortening cycle-time

Sigma Level Vs Number of Defects

Sigma LevelNumber of defects per Million
2 Sigma308537
3 Sigma66807
4 Sigma6210
5 Sigma233
6 Sigma3.4

Evolution of Six Sigma

The need for process improvements and a continuous improvement methodology like Six Sigma came into existence only due to

  • rising customer expectations in terms of quality, delivery and cost,
  • global competition - Japanese and Chinese threats,
  • proven technique for quantum jumps in business results.

In the year 1980, Motorola started facing survival problems due fierce competition from Japanese companies. The CEO of Motorola - Bob Galvin was determined to overcome the competition. He challenged his organization to achieve a ten-fold improvement in performance over a period of five years. To achieve the same, strong emphasis was given to training of employees and also performing global benchmarking.

Bill Smith was a veteran engineer in Motorola and he wrote a research paper on product quality and its performance after delivery to customer. In his report he discovered that the products with fewer non-conformities (high quality) were the ones that performed well after delivery to the customer. It was accepted by everyone but the challenge that came in front of Motorola executives was to develop a solution to tackle this problem.

Mikel Harry having a doctorate from Arizona University worked with Bill Smith in developing a four-phase problem solving approach - Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. A few years later Bob Galvin launched a long-term quality program called “The Six Sigma Quality Program” in Motorola.

Looking at the success of Motorola, many companies like Texas Instruments, Allied Signal etc started using Six Sigma methodology to bring organization-wide improvements.

In 1990’s Jack Welch launched Six Sigma in GE in a big way. He implemented Six Sigma in all areas and ensured that the entire organization participates in the initiative. He changed the performance incentives and made them based on individual’s ability and enthusiasm to take part in Six Sigma initiatives. He transformed GE to a state where Six Sigma had become the culture of the organization and not just a methodology for brining organization-wide improvements.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

The Cost of Poorly Performing Processes – Need for Six Sigma

MSG Team

What is Six Sigma ? – A Tool to Conquer Variability

MSG Team

What Six Sigma is Not ? – Fallacies about Six Sigma

MSG Team