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Six Sigma - the basics, a
user-friendly guide
The Six
Sigma Survival site is for Everyone, a practical guide that
explains the underpinnings of the revolutionary quality assurance
methodology.
Appropriate for employees and top management alike, this siteand
toolkit is the only one you need if your company is currently
implementing or contemplating Six Sigma. It tells you what Six Sigma
is and is not, what it does and how it does it, and what your role
likely will be in the implementation process.
It uses straightforward definitions and in-depth examples to
outline the processes, impact, and desired end result of
implementation–eliminating the confusion and fear many feel when
first introduced to Six Sigma. If you need to understand the basics,
then this is site for you. Topics include:
- The origins and history of Six Sigma
- Business Process Management: Six Sigma as management
philosophy
- Individual and team tactics
- The ten basic tools each team member needs to succeed
- How you and your organization must change to make Six Sigma
work
This Six Sigma Survival
site explains Six Sigma and shows how it's working at companies such
as General Electric, Polaroid, and Allied Signal. Most
companies today are working at a "sigma" level of between 3.5 and 4,
and that with just a one-sigma shift, companies will experience "a
20 percent margin improvement, a 12 to 18 percent increase in
capacity, a 12 percent reduction in the number of employees," as
well as "a 10 to 30 percent capital reduction." Sigma is a quality
metric that counts the number of defects per million opportunities
(DPMO). For example, a sigma level of 3.5 means that a process has
22,700 DPMO; a sigma level of 4.5, 1,350 DPMO; and a perfect six
sigma, 3 DPMO.
At the heart of Six Sigma is the notion that quality saves
money--lots of money. For most companies "the cost of quality
is roughly 25 to 40 percent of sales revenue ... at six sigma the
cost of quality declines to less than one percent of sales revenue."
The idea is not to create quality-assurance programs but to
eliminate the need for them altogether. When a company is operating
at six sigma, costs that would otherwise go to inspection, rework,
warranties, and customer service drop to the bottom line. Six Sigma
is a compelling concept that many companies have tied their futures
to.
What is Six
Sigma?
First, what it is not. It
is not a secret society, a slogan or a cliché. Six Sigma is a highly
disciplined process that helps organizations focus on developing and
delivering near-perfect products and services. Why "Sigma"? The word
is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates
from perfection. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you
can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can
systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to
"zero defects" as possible. Six Sigma has changed the DNA of many
organizations — it is now the way they work — in everything
they do and in every product they
design.
The Six
Sigma Tool Box is a comprehensive self-help set
of Documents to adapting and using the system under various
conditions. It covers fundamentals and provide specific suggestions
for aligning the process with individual needs and goals. These
include sections on balancing potential costs and benefits,
clarifying objectives, and defining time frames. Plus the Toolbox
focuses on implementation through a detailed yet flexible road
map tied to a company's core processes, key customers, current
performance, "high-potential improvement opportunities," and future
practices. Diligent managers will be able to bring at least
basic components to their organization with the tools and techniques
provided.
Ready to buy? Order the Six Sigma Tool Box
today
To achieve Six Sigma quality, a process
must produce no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. An
"opportunity" is defined as a chance for nonconformance, or not
meeting the required specifications. This means organizations need
to be nearly flawless in executing their key processes. Six Sigma is
a vision many organizations strive toward and a philosophy that is
part of their business culture.
Key Concepts of Six
Sigma
At its core, Six Sigma revolves around a
few key concepts.
| Critical to Quality: |
Attributes most important to the
customer |
| Defect: |
Failing to deliver what the customer
wants |
| Process Capability: |
What your process can deliver |
| Variation: |
What the customer sees and
feels |
| Stable Operations: |
Ensuring consistent, predictable processes
to improve what the customer sees and feels |
| Design for Six Sigma: |
Designing to meet customer needs and process
capability |
THE SIX SIGMA TOOLBOX - A
COMPLETE PACKAGE
The 'how to' of Six Sigma, filled
with practical examples.
One thing's for sure: The Six Sigma
Toolbox makes Six Sigma initiatives far more straight forward.
No doubt about it: it de-mystifies Six Sigma, is fast and easy to
use and your number-one source, designed to suit your Six Sigma
needs.
To show you what we mean, have a
look at the supreme content of the documents in the Six Sigma
Toolbox:
- Fact
Sheet – Six Sigma in a
nutshell. This is a simple, concise overview of Six Sigma. Key phrases, concepts and
basic activities are summarized.
-
Six Sigma
Presentation. An
introductory PowerPoint presentation on Six Sigma. Use this
document to generate discussion in your own organization or as
part of an awareness building campaign. Cut down the size of what
we’ve given you for a concise management
presentation.
-
Overview
Document. This document can be used to start discussion about Six
Sigma. It explains key concepts and touches on training elements
required. It is more in depth than the Fact Sheet, but still easy
and quick to take in.
-
Workshop
Presentation.
This is a workshop presentation. This presentation
can be the basis for a half day-long workshop with colleagues
involved in discussing a Six Sigma project. It includes speaker
notes and exercises to help embed the concept of Six
Sigma.
-
-
Six Sigma
Calculator. This
simple to use and basic calculator allows you to enter some values
into cells and see the equivalent Six Sigma
result.
-
Six Sigma Starters
Document.
Extensive Explanations on Six Sigma, that can be taken as a work
through tutorial on Six Sigma. Covers the history of Six Sigma,
Six Sigma costs and savings, what is Six Sigma, Critical to
Quality—CTQ, Why DMAIC is significant in Six Sigma?, Benefits of
Implementing Six Sigma, Who Are the Six Sigma Practitioners,
Design for Six Sigma Roadmap
-
Defining
Requirements.
One of the most important aspects in undertaking any major
initiative is to understand what the requirements for the
initiative are. This template document helps the organization to
define its service requirements for any improvement initiative.
Not only can this document be used to collect thoughts on what is
required for a Six Sigma project, it can similarly be used for
other initiatives in HR, IT and other business process
areas.
-
Process
Definition Defining
just what a process is can often be a matter of confusion and
debate. In the Information Technology environment, there is
growing acceptance that the Information Technology Infrastructure
Library (ITIL) defines world’s best practice through a common
sense set of processes. While this Management kit focuses on Six
Sigma, it is appropriate for us to make available some valuable
information that helps to define processes. This one key document
does that.
-
ITIL Process
Assessment. An
Excel spreadsheet that is used to gather responses to the
questions regarding ITIL. The questions help you determine what
areas are working well and which areas are in need of some
attention. This spreadsheet assesses how your
organization measures up against ITIL. Questions are posed for
each process area. Multiple participants can take part in the
assessment.
-
Maturity
score A short
review of the scoring system used in the
assessment.
- Many pages with
easy-to-follow sections
- An extensive must-do
checklist based on our experience implementing Six Sigma in over
40 industries
- New practical advice on
awareness, planning, implementation, and review
- New commentary on
delivering upon business value
- All-new "tuneup"
section tailored to improve the performance of
existing initiatives
- Fully updated throughout
to take account of current Best Practices and policies, and
the state of their use
The SIG SIGMA TOOLBOX takes the
guesswork out of SIX SIGMA
Download now: Ready to buy? Order the Six Sigma
Tool Box
today
Learn about Six Sigma and
achieve Green Belt or Yellow Belt certification through our
On-Line Courses - offered at a fraction of the cost of old
economy education programs, with complete scheduling
flexibility. |
