In the first week of our Green Belt Six Sigma class sponsored by the American Society for Quality, our instructor gave us an overview of what Six Sigma is. I thought I would use this post to present his one-paragraph overview, and flesh out each of the elements in it with a little further explanation.
Six Sigma is a structured process and management strategy which utilizes statistical tools and project work to address and resolve process issues, thereby achieving breakthroughs in profitability, improvements in quality and customer satisfication.
Here’s a little more detail on the elements of this admittedly brief overview statement.
| Six Sigma element |
Explanation |
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| 1. | Structured Process | This is the problem-solving process of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control or DMAIC.
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| 2. | Management Strategy | The management strategy involves all levels in the company in the process so the internal politics works for, and not against, the improvement of quality. Specifically roles are assigned to the upper management (executive sponsors, champions), management (process owners), and team members (black belts & green belts) to coordinate the DMAIC process.
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| 3. | Statistical Tools | The M and A of DMAIC are measure and analyze, and statistical tools are used to do these parts of the process.
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| 4. | Project Work | The project of applying the DMAIC to a particular project is treated as a project to be run using project management.
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| 5. | Process Issues | The deliverables of the project work are in the form of improved quality.
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| 6. | ↑ Profits, Quality, and Customer Satisfaction | The results of the deliverables are summed up in the three generations of Six Sigma objectives: Generation 1: Improved quality from focus on defect reduction Generation 2: Greater profits from focus on cost reduction Generation 3: Greater customer satisfaction from focus on incorporating the external perspectives of the Voice of the Customer (VOC) and Voice of the Market (VOM). |
These are the elements that our class will be exploring during our exploration of the ASQ’s Six Sigma Green Belt Body of Knowledge. I am looking forward to exploring it together with you!
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