Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

Introduction to Six Sigma

Six Sigma was the expression given as a synonym by Motorola in 1986 for their quality program. Since then, a general definition has developed, and it has become a useful technique for measuring quality. It has become a tool used particularly among technology driven companies such as Allied Signal, General Electric, Kodak and Texas Instruments. What is Six Sigma? Six Sigma is a statistical measurement of only 3.4 defects per million Six Sigma is a management philosophy focused on eliminating mistakes, waste and rework. It establishes a measurable status to achieve and embodies a strategic problem-solving method to increase customer satisfaction and dramatically reduce cost and increase profits. Six Sigma gives you discipline, structure, and a foundation for solid decisionmaking based on simple statistics. The real power of Six Sigma is simple because it combines people power with process power.

Introduction to Six Sigma

What can Six Sigma do for your organization? If your organization is focused on customer satisfaction, then Six Sigma will offer you a method and some tools for the identification and improvement of both internal and external process problems to better meet customer needs by identifying the variations in your organizations processes that might influence the customers point of view, negatively. What does it mean to be Six Sigma anyway? Its goal is to reduce output variability through process improvement. Six Sigma refers to an organisations measure of quality that strives for near perfection.

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

There has been a tremendous amount of discussion around defining Six Sigma within businesses and organizations.

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

I start the explanation with..

1
Customer Focus Ensuring all outputs meet customer specifications.

2 Data Driven Data is necessary to identify input, process and output areas for improvement.

3 Robust Methodology Data alone cannot solve all your customer or business issues. A methodology for defect definition, measurement, analysis, improvement and control.

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

Six Sigma is : The symbol for a statistical measure called the standard deviation.
This measure helps describe the shape of a bell curve like the one below.

When one knows the average ( X) and standard deviation () of a process, one can improve that process to near perfection

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

A 3- sigma level translates to ; Airline crashes each week. 15,000 dropped newborn babies per year. Banks would lose thousands of cheques daily.

3 quality literally costs businesses between 25-40% of their annual operating income in waste and rework.

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

Six Sigma -- Practical Meaning

99% Good (3.8 Sigma)

20,000 lost articles of mail per hour Unsafe drinking water for almost 15 minutes each day 5,000 incorrect surgical operations per week Two short or long landings at most major airports each day 200,000 wrong drug prescriptions each year No electricity for almost seven hours each month

99.99966% Good (6 Sigma)

Seven articles lost per hour One unsafe minute every seven months 1.7 incorrect operations per week One short or long landing every five years 68 wrong prescriptions per year One hour without electricity every 34 years

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

Six Sigma Road Map;

Define
Define our customer, CTQs and core Business processes What is the Business Case for the Project? Identify The Customer Current state map Future State map Recommendations & benefits

Measure

Analyse
Determine root causes/opportunities Current state analysis Cost benefit Analysis? Who will help make changes? Resource requirements What could cause this change effort to fail? What major obstacles do I face in? completing this project?

Implement
Implement Solutions Generate, design and implement improvements to improve productivity and service levels re-integrate the various subprojects? Reinvest/Or Keep the saves made

Control
Institutionalize improvement & implement ongoing monitoring control risk, quality, cost, schedule, scope, and changes to the plan Monitor and report services Monitor availability against SLAs Monitor Security.

Measure the business Process performance What are the key metrics for this business process? Are metrics valid and reliable? Do we have adequate data on this process? How will I measure progress? How will I measure project success?

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

With Six Sigma companies have seen stunning improvements . Company Allied Signal General Electric Polaroid Lockheed Martin Siebe PLC Crane's ROI $1.2 billion $1.1 billion $100 million $10 million $100 million $10 million Time 2 9 1 9 9 1 Frame Years Months Year Months months Year

Source: Six Sigma Academy

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

So How Do You Make Six Sigma Work? Cleaning company example Who is your customer? Anyone hiring you to perform cleaning services is your customer.

What are their requirements? These should be specified in the request for each customer. (SLA)

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

What are the correct metrics? Remember, you can't improve what you don't measure. What's important to your customer? Ask them. Interview them. Create a written survey and allow them to return the survey to you anonymously. Here are a few ideas about what I require from my cleaning company on a daily basis: All rubbish removed All glass & mugs cleaned All rugs completely dirt free All floors shiny No dust on desk surfaces All movable objects (chairs, wastebaskets, tables, etc.) replaced in proper position

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

How do you measure these requirements? Define a unit, opportunity and defect. Measure your process. Randomly pick a day a week and visit the facility when the cleaning group is done

Then ask yourself Is every wastebasket empty? Is every pane of glass and counter-top clean? Can you flip over a rug and see dirt on the floor? How well a cleaning process is running?

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

How do you improve your processes? 1. Look at what is causing your defects. 2. Create a pareto diagram of your defects. 3. Focus on the major issues using the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology.

Brief Introduction to Six Sigma

With Six Sigma a company can; Measure how many defects it has in a process. It can systematically figure out how to eliminate them. Reduce costs Improve productivity Increase market share, and achieve other positive results..
The best organizations are at about 3 to 4 sigma, which is about 6,200 defects per million opportunities