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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
| Sigma Level | Number of defects per Million |
| 2 Sigma | 308537 |
| 3 Sigma | 66807 |
| 4 Sigma | 6210 |
| 5 Sigma | 233 |
| 6 Sigma | 3.4 |
The need for process improvements and a continuous improvement methodology like Six Sigma came into existence only due to
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.
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The Cost of Poorly Performing Processes – Need for Six Sigma
February 12, 2025
