What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma at many organizations simply

means a measure of quality that strives for
near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined,
data-driven approach and methodology for
eliminating defects in any process.

The statistical representation of Six Sigma

describes quantitatively how a process is
performing. To achieve Six Sigma, a
process must not produce more than 3.4
defects per million opportunities. A Six
Sigma defect is defined as anything
outside of customer specifications.

Origin and meaning of the term

"six sigma process"

Sigma (the lower-case Greek letter s) is

used to represent the standard deviation of
a statistical population. The term "six sigma
process" comes from the notion that if one
has six standard deviations between the
process mean and the nearest specification
limit, there will be practically no items that
fail to meet

In a capability study, the number of standard

deviations between the process mean and
the nearest specification limit is given in
sigma units. As process standard deviation
goes up, or the mean of the process moves
away from the center of the tolerance,
decreasing the sigma number and increasing
the likelihood of items outside specification.

Six Sigma equates to meeting requirements

99.9997% of the time

Path to Six Sigma

6 Sigma

3.4 Defects

Sigma levels
and Defects
per million
opportunities
(DPMO)

5 Sigma

4 Sigma

3 Sigma
2 Sigma

233 Defects

6,210 Defects

66,807 Defects

308,537 Defects

What it means to be @ Six Sigma

Is 99% (3.8) good enough?

99.99966% Good At 6

20,000 lost mails per hour

7 lost mails per hour

Unsafe drinking water

almost 15 minutes each day

One minute of unsafe

drinking water every seven
months

5,000 incorrect surgical

operations per week

1.7 incorrect surgical

operations per week

2 short or long landings at

most major airports daily

One short or long landing at

major airports every five
years

200,000 wrong drug

prescriptions each year

68 wrong drug prescriptions

each year

Example quoted from GE Book of Knowledge - copyright GE

Benefits
There are numerous benefits of six sigma as a
way to address issues and problems. Among the
benefits of six sigma is the decrease in defects
that are allowed to reach the customer. Other
benefits of six sigma include:
Focus

on customers.
Improved customer loyalty.
Reduced cycle time.
Less waste.
Data based decisions.
Time management.

 Sustained

gains and improvements.

Systematic problem solving.
Employee motivation.
Data analysis before decision making.
Faster to market.
Team building.
Improved customer relations.
Assure strategic planning..
Reductions of incidents.
Measure value according to the customer.

Better safety performance.

Understanding of processes.
Effective supply chain management.
Design and redesign products/services.
Knowledge of competition, competitors .
Develop leadership skills.
Breakdown barriers between departments and functions.
Management training.
Improve presentation skills.
Integration of products, services and distribution.
Use of standard operating procedures.
Better decision making.
Improving project management skills.
Sustained improvements.
Alignment with strategy vision, and values.

 Increased

margins.
Greater market share.
Supervisor training.
Lower costs to provide goods and services.
Fewer customer complaints.

SIX SIGMA
FOCUS:

Variation

GOAL:

Reduce/ Eliminate
Variation

ORIENTATION:

Problem- focused

APPROACH:

DMAIC/DMADV

DETERMINANT TOOL:

Math- Statistics

What is DMAIC ?
A logical and structured approach to problem
solving and process improvement
An iterative process (continuous improvement)
A quality tool with focus on change management

When To Use DMAIC?

The DMAIC methodology should be used

when a product or process is in existence
at your company
but is not meeting customer specification
or is not performing adequately.

Methodology
D
Define
M
Measure
A
Analyze
I
Improve
C
Control

Identify and state the practical problem

Measure the process to determine current

performance
Pinpoint the deep root causes

Lay in a solution that makes the root causes go away

Ensure the new process behaves as intended

Define:
D
Define

What is important to the customer?

Describe the Problem

Team Formation

Map the as-is process

Establish Goal

Budget Allocation

TOOLS used:
Benchmarking
Cost and Benefit Analysis
Gantt Chart

Measure
Collect Data

TOOL used:
Process Flow Diagram

M
Measure
Construct Process Flow

Validate Measurement System

Analyze

TOOLS used:
Analyze Data

Affinity Diagram
Cause & Effect Diagram

A
Analyze
Identify Root Causes

Pareto Chart
Reality Tree
5 Whys

Improve
Prioritize root causes

TOOLS used:
Innovate pilot solutions

I
Improve
Validate the improvement

DOE
Control Chart

Control
Ensure measurement system reliability for
significant factors
- Is tool used to measure the input / process variables flawed ?
- Do all operators interpret the tool reading in the same way ?

Improved process capability

TOOLS used:
Sustenance Plan
C
Control

- Statistical Process Control

- Mistake Proofing
- Control Plan

Control Chart

DMADV

Define

Measure Analyze

Design

Verify

What is DMADV Methodology?

The acronym DMADV sounds pretty much
similar to DMAIC. The similarity ends after
the first three letters DMA.
DMADV is also known as DFSS, an
abbreviation of "Design For Six Sigma

When To Use DMADV?

The DMADV methodology, instead of the DMAIC

methodology, should be used when:
A product or process is not in existence at your
company and one needs to be developed
The existing product or process exists and has
been optimized (using either DMAIC or not) and
still doesn't meet the level of customer
specification or six sigma level

Define
D
Define
M
Measure
A
Analyze
D
Design
V
Verify

Identify and state the practical problem

Define design goals that are consistent with customer
demands and the enterprise strategy.
You will define the goals of the project and that of the
customers (both internal and external)

Measure
D
Define

Validate the practical problem by collecting data

Measure and determine customer needs and specifications

M
Measure
A
Analyze
D
Design
V
Verify

Here you will quantify the customer needs as well as the

goals of the management

Analyze
D
Define
M
Measure
A
Analyze
D
Design
V
Verify

Convert the practical problem to a statistical one,

define statistical goal and identify potential statistical
solution
Analyze the process options to meet the customer needs
Analyze the options, existing process to determine the cause
of error origination and evaluate corrective measures
Analyze to develop and design alternatives, create a highlevel design and evaluate design capability to select the best
design.

Design
D
Define

Design (detailed) the process to meet the customer

needs

M
Measure

Design a new process or a corrective step to the existing one

to eliminate the error origination that meets the target
specification

A
Analyze

Design details, optimize the design, and plan for design

verification. This phase may require simulations.

D
Design
V
Verify

Verify
D
Define

Verify the design performance and ability to meet

customer needs.

M
Measure

Verify, by simulation or otherwise, the performance of thus

developed design and its ability to meet the target needs

A
Analyze

Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production

process and hand it over to the process owners.

D
Design
V
Verify

Methodology
D
Define
M
Measure

Identify and state the practical problem

Validate the practical problem by collecting data

A
Analyze

Convert the practical problem to a statistical one,

define statistical goal and identify potential statistical
solution

D
Design

Design (detailed) the process to meet the customer

needs

V
Verify

Verify the design performance and ability to meet

customer needs.

Difference Between DMAIC And DMADV

The difference, as one can see now, exists only

in the way last two steps are handled. In
DMADV, instead of the Improve and Control
steps which focuses on readjusting and
controlling by one way or other, deals with
redesigning the process to fit customer needs.

Difference Between DMAIC And DMADV

The DMADV methodology can not be better

explained than by comparing it with DMAIC
methodology despite their fundamental
differences.

6 Sigma Training

Executive Leadership
includes the CEO and other members of
top management. They are responsible for
setting up a vision for Six Sigma
implementation. They also empower the
other role holders with the freedom and
resources to explore new ideas for
breakthrough improvements.

CHAMPIONS
Champions are responsible for Six Sigma
implementation across the organization in
an integrated manner. The Executive
Leadership draws them from upper
management. Champions also act as
mentors to Black Belts.

GREEN BELTS
Green Belts are the persons, trained on the
improvement methodology of Six Sigma,
who will lead a process or quality
improvement team as "part" of their job.
Extensive product/process knowledge in
their company is a must in their task of
effecting such improvement.

BLACK BELTS
Black Belts are the persons, usually
selected
from the Green Belts, to spearhead process
improvement projects under the Six Sigma
implementation, on a "full-time" basis. They
act as agents of change, and need to
possess statistical abilities, leadership
qualities and interpersonal skills.

Six Sigma
Organizational
Architecture

Six Sigma - Three Dimensions

Define

Measur
e

Analyze

Improve

Control

Driven
by
custom
er
needs

Process Map Analysis

LSL

Led by
Senior
Mgmt

Methodology

Organization

Tools

US
L

Regression

Upper/Lower
specification
limits

35

100%

30
25

80%
60%

20
15

Enabled by quality
team.

Process variation

40%

10
5

20%

0%
L

Frequency

Cumulative Frequency

Pareto Chart

Roles and
Responsibilities

Quality
Leader/Manager
The
quality leader's
(QL/QM)

responsibility is to
represent the needs of
the customer and to
improve the operational
effectiveness of the
organization

Master Black Belt (MBB)

MBBs work with the

owners of the process to
ensure that quality
objectives and targets
are set, plans are
determined, progress is
tracked, and education
is provided

Process Owners (PO)

they are the

responsible
individuals for a
specific process

B
L
A
C
K

B
E
L
T

Black

Belts are the

heart and soul of the Six
Sigma quality initiative
main purpose is to lead
quality projects and
work full time until they
are complete
can typically complete
four to six projects per
year with savings of
approximately $230,000
per project

G
r
e
e
n

B
e
l
t

Green Belts are

employees trained in
Six Sigma who
spend a portion of
their time completing
projects, but
maintain their regular
work role and
responsibilities.

The Quality Team

Master Black Belt

Black Belt

Green Belt

--Thought
ThoughtLeadership
Leadership
--Expert
Experton
onSix
SixSigma
Sigma
--Mentor
MentorGreen
Greenand
andBlack
BlackBelts
Belts

-- Backbone
Backboneof
ofSix
SixSigma
SigmaOrg
Org
Black Belt - Mentor
MentorGreen
GreenBelts
Belts
--Full
Fulltime
timeresource
resource
--Deployed
Deployedto
tocomplex
complexor
or
high
highrisk
riskprojects
projects
Green Belt

Green Belt

--Part
Parttime
timeor
orfull
fulltime
time
resource
resource
--Deployed
Deployedto
toless
lesscomplex
complex
projects
projectsin
inareas
areasof
offunctional
functional
expertise
expertise