What is Six Sigma ?

Understanding Variation

When the Lord created the world and people to live in it - an enterprise which,
according to modern science, took a very long time – I could well imagine that
he reasoned with himself as follows:

“If I make everything predictable, these human beings, whom I have endowed
with pretty good brains, will undoubtedly learn to predict everything,

and they will thereupon have no motive to do anything at all,

because they will recognize that the future is totally determined and cannot be
influenced by any human action.
 Understanding Variation

On the other hand, if I make everything unpredictable,

they will gradually discover that there is no rational basis for any decision
whatsoever and, as in the first case, they will thereupon have no motive to do
anything at all.

Neither scheme would make sense.

I must therefore create a mixture of the two.

Let some things be predictable and let others be unpredictable.

They will then, amongst many other things, have the very important task of
finding out which is which.
 Understanding Variation

Variation is inherent to a process……

 Understanding Variation
2
X X–X (X-X)
1 130 –20 400
2 166 16 256
3 178 28 784
4 131 –19 361
n
5 140 –10 100
X
6 125 –25 625 Sample Mean i
X= i =1

7 127 –23 529

n
8 145 –5 25
9 110 –40 1600
n
10 184 34 1156
Sample
 (X - X ) i
2

11 161 11 121 i- 1
s=
12 194 44 1936 Standard Deviation
n- 1
13 171 21 441
14 125 –25 625
15 163 13 169 n

 (X - X )
2

i
Sum 2250 9128
n

 (X - X )
2
Mean 150
i
i- 1

n- 1
S2 652
S1 25.53
n

 (X - X )
2

i
i- 1

n- 1
 Understanding Variation

If we take the height of all the people of India and draw a distribution
Of frequencies it will tend to follow a normal distribution
 Understanding Variation

Mean
X-bar
 Understanding Variation

Mean
X-bar LSL
USL

LSL and USL are those specification limits beyond which your product
doesn’t have a salable value in the market
 Understanding Variation

Mean
X-bar USL
LSL

T
Cp = T/6σ
Cpk = {(Mean - LSL)/3σ ,(USL - Mean)/3σ }
 Understanding Variation

34.13% 34.13%

13.60% 13.60%
2.14% 2.14%

0.13% 0.13%

-3s -2s -1s X +1s +2s +3s

68.26%

95.46%

99.73%

SIGMA
68.26% Fall Within +\- 1 Sigma
95.46% Fall Within +\- 2 Sigma
99.73% Fall Within +\- 3 Sigma
 Understanding Variation

y
1SD= 68% DATA

2SD = 95% DATA

3SD = 99%DATA

0
x
 Understanding Variation

Common vs. Special Cause

Type of Variation Characteristics

Characteristics

Always Present
Common Cause Expected
Predictable
Normal

Not Always Present

Special Cause Unexpected
Unpredictable
Not Normal
Has a surprise element
 Understanding Variation
• 2 short or long landings at almost all major airports each day

• Unsafe drinking water almost 15 minutes each day

• No electricity for almost 7 hours each month

• 20000 lost articles of mail per hour

• 5000 incorrect surgical operations per week

• 50 Newborn Babies Dropped At Birth By Doctors Each Day

• 200000 wrong drug prescriptions each year

Can you believe, all above correspond to a

performance level of 99%!
 Understanding Variation
If We Accepted The Goal Of 99.9% Quality

• Then We Would Have…

• One Hour Of Unsafe Drinking Water Every Month
• Two Unsafe Plane Landings Per Day At O’Hare International
Airport
In Chicago
• 16,000 Pieces Of Mail Lost By The U.S. Postal Service Every
Hour
• 500 Incorrect Surgical Operations Each Week
• 50 Newborn Babies Dropped At Birth By Doctors Each Day
• 22,000 Checks Deducted From The Wrong Bank Accounts Each
Hour
• 32,000 Missed Heartbeats Per Person, Per Year
 Understanding Variation

Sigma Rating PPM

2 308,537
3 66,807
4 6,210
5 233
6 3.4
Process Defects per
Capability Million Opportunities
 The Sigma scale of measure is perfectly correlated to such
characteristics as defects-per-unit, parts-per-million
defective, and the probability of a failure/error.
 Understanding Variation

Higher σ = less variation

= fewer defects
= better performance

6 σ process

Lower Upper Specification Limit

Specification (USL)
Limit
(LSL)
 Understanding Variation

Process Width

Cp = Specification width
Process Width

Process variability
SPECIFICATION WIDTH
If the variability is well within the specified width then the process is capable
 3-Sigma VS 6-Sigma Process
In every process it is observed that 1.5 Sigma long term drift takes place

LSL USL LSL 1.5 USL

1.5
3- 6-
= 99.73% = 99.99966%

-6 -5 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 -6 -5 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Z- Scale 66,807 DPMO 3.4 DPMO
Z- Scale
3-Sigma Process 6-Sigma Process
 What is Six Sigma ?

A Measurement Scale Which

Compares The Output
Of A Process To
Customer Requirements
 What is Six Sigma ?

Percent DPMO 
93% 66,807 3.0
98% 22,750 3.5
99% 6,210 4.0
99.87% 1,350 4.5
99.9997% 3.4 6.0
 Understanding Variation
Benchmarking
IRS - Tax Advice (phone-in)
100K
(66810 ppm)
Restaurant Bills
Doctor Prescription Writing
10K Payroll Processing
Order Write-up
Average Journal Vouchers
Wire Transfers
Company(6210 ppm)
1K
Purchased Material
Lot Reject Rate Air Line Baggage
Handling
(233 ppm)
100

10

Best in Class
Domestic Airline
(3.4 ppm)
Flight Fatality Rate
1
2 3 4 5 6 (0.43 ppm)
7
SIGMA (with ±1.5 Sigma Shift)
 Understanding Variation

Sweet Fruit – 6
Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) DFSS
Process Entitlement

Bulk of Fruit – 4 to 5
Process Improvement Six
Sigma Tools
DMAIC

Low Hanging Fruit – 3 to 4

Ground Fruit – Up to 2
Logic and Intuition +
Basic Quality Tools
 Kano Model
Satisfaction
+
Delighters
Innovation One-Dimensional
Competitive Priority

Dysfunctional Functional

Must Be
Critical Priority

–
Dissatisfaction
 Taguchi Model
Cost

Performance
 Six Sigma

Customer Happy

Six sigma is about reducing variations in a process

 Methodology

The methodology:
DMAIC
(define, measure, analyse, improve, control)
methodology to root out and eliminate the causes of defects
 Methodology

Charter Data Collection Plan Stratification Map Analysis C&E

Business Project Definitions:

Case Scope
– Units
Problem
Statement Milestones – Defects
– Opportunity
Goal Roles
Statement – Process Sigma Root Cause
Analysis
Data Display Tools
S S I P O C
CPM Tree

Process 
Scatter Plots Regression DOE

Solution Cost/Benefit Analysis Monitoring Standardizing

Summary

Pilot
Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I Documenting Response Plan
J
 Induce Statistical thinking

Practical problem

Statistical problem

Statistical solution

Practical solution
 DMAIC Methodology
Charter A Team

Clarify Customer Requirements

Define
Define Process (SIPOC)
Measure
Output Measurement

Process Variation

Analyze Stratification Charter A TeamC & E

Map Analysis

Define
Clarify Customer Requirements
Root Cause
Analysis

Define Process (SIPOC)

Scatter Plots Regression DOE

Measure

$ Identify And Quantify The Opportunity $

 DMAIC Methodology

Generate
Improve
Solutions

Select

Pilot

Implement

Control

Monitoring Standardizing Documenting Response

Plan
 Different Faces
The Different Faces

PDCA 7 STEPS “DMAIC”

Plan 1 Charter/Theme Define

2 Data Collection Measure

3 Root Cause Analyze

Do 4 Solution Improve
Planning And
Implementation

Check 5 Confirming
Solution Works

6 Standardization Control

Act 7 Reflect Next

Steps
 Define

Deliverables

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Define The Customer, Their Requirements, The

Team Charter And The Core Business Process
• Team Charter Documented And Reviewed With
Champion
• Customer Requirements Derived And Documented
• Validated High Level Process Map Completed
 Measure

Deliverables

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Measure The Core Business Process Performance

• Identified Key Measures
• Developed A Data Collection Plan For The Process
• Executed The Plan And Document Results
• Process Variation Displayed With Appropriate Charts
And Graphs
• Calculated Baseline Sigma Performance
 Analyse

Deliverables

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Analyze (The Data And Map) To Determine Root

Causes/Opportunities
• Complete Detailed Process Map For At Least
One Subprocess
• Identify Process Streamlining Opportunities
• Identify, Verify And Quantify Root Causes
• Establish Improvement Targets
• Quantify Opportunity
 Improve

Deliverables

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Generate, Select, Design And Implement Improvements

• Solution Design Developed And Documented
• Solution Validated And Cost/Benefit Proposal Presented
To Champion
• Solutions Tested On A Small Scale Or Pilot Program
• Implementation Plan Developed And Executed
 Control

Deliverables

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

Institutionalize The Improvement And Implement

Ongoing Monitoring
• Developed, Documented And Implemented An Ongoing
Process/Monitoring Plan
• Standardized The Process
• Procedures Documented
• Response Plan Developed And Displayed
 Six Sigma Organisation
Site Leader

Quality Leader/Six
Champion/Sponsor Sigma Coordinator

External
Master Black Belt Consultant

Black Belt Black Belt

Green Belt Green Belt

Team Members Team Members
Yellow Belt Team Members Team Members Yellow Belt
Yellow Belt Yellow Belt
 Six Sigma Project Example

Yield Improvement in PSF Plant