Six Sigma and Project Management
Project Management in Business and Technology, Section 02
Introduction
“Sigma” is a symbol for a unit of measure which measures how much a process deviates from perfection. With the increase in demand for quality products/services, several organizations look for ways to improve their performance to meet customer’s expectations. Six Sigma is considered to be an approach which blends the components of quality management and business process re-engineering. Six Sigma’s aim is to increase the efficiency and remove waste, thereby increasing the customer satisfaction. There are many myths about Six Sigma:
a) It’s only concerned with reducing defects
b) It is a process for production
c) It can’t be applied to engineering activities
d) It is just a training process
e) It is a new concept
History of Six Sigma
Since 1920’s the term ‘sigma’ is used by mathematician’s measurement unit in product quality measurement. In mid-1980’s, engineers at Motorola Inc. coined the term Six Sigma which they used it informally as an in-house initiative to increase the quality for reducing the defects in the production process. Initially the engineers measured the defects in terms of thousands which gradually increased to ‘defects per million’. This prompted the use of ‘Six Sigma’ technology and idea of branding Six Sigma. A company is Six Sigma certified if it could limit its flaws up to 3.4 defects per million.
In 1991, Motorola introduced his first
1. Six Sigma is a management philosophy that sets objectives, collects data and analyzes results as a way to remove wasted expenses from its processes and help reduce the number of defective products produced. Six Sigma uses quality measures to strive for near perfection by eliminating errors and variables.
Six Sigma 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. In another meaning Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services.
Six sigma is a quality management approach that places heightenedmanagerial attention on customer satisfaction and on seeking businessprocess improvements.
Sigma is the standard deviation (reasonable, institutionalized figure from the mean acknowledgment level), and when the deliberate number of deviations past the mean resilience breaking point is six, you are scarcely creating quality items. Basically, this implies that in the event that you discovered six imperfections in your items, you are near to low quality creation. Regardless of its exploratory methodology towards quality change, there are reactions against Six Sigma. The most vocal one is the perspective that there is nothing but the same old thing new around Six Sigma as it impersonates effectively existing and demonstrated strategies. To a certain degree, this contention has some validity. In any case, advocates of Six Sigma accept that the length of 6 sigma accomplishes more unsurprising results with far lower exertion; there is no damage in tolerating and actualizing it. Reactions in any case, what Six Sigma does is apply deliberate endeavors at using existing strategies with new methodologies Information Retrieved from:
Now a day's global market in the world and all companies are looking up making new improvements that drive bottom line results. In that process all originations and companies are turning to process improvement methodologies such as lean six sigma. Continual improvement, as one of the objectives of a quality management system is achieved by the improvement of all processes and activities at a particular stage of the production cycle. Continual process improvement is also the only way how to survive and succeed among competitors. The management of the company will always be looking for opportunities that will enhance the effectiveness of the company’s processes. Lean Six Sigma is one of the significant methodologies of quality management, this seeks to increase productivity and improve quality of process outputs. As a customer oriented managerial strategy, it emphasizes that imperfection is an opportunity for improvement. The Lean Six Sigma system helps to effectively reduce any defective process; it improves the quality of the provided services and makes the
Six Sigma is a business metrics that seeks to identify and eliminate causes of errors or defects as well as failures in business processes by focusing on output that are critical to customers (De Feo, Barnard 2004). It is also a measure of quality that strives to eliminate defects using the application of statistical methods. In this case, a defect is defined as anything that could lead to customer dissatisfaction. Six Sigma’s statistical quality control is the method used to measure variability in a product for evaluation and corrective actions. When the product metrics exceeds the bounds of acceptability, based on statistical inference, the product can be rejected with reasonable assurance that does not meet requirement. It aims to identify and eliminate waste in order to increase speed and flow from start to finish. It also identifies the critical steps, and deleting those not required or nonessential. There are so many metrics process in today’s business industries but the metrics that Six Sigma’s statistical thinking can also be defined as a thought process. In which it recognize the variation is all around us and present in everything we do. The Six Sigma’s interconnected processes and identifying, characterizing, quantifying, controlling and reducing variation provide opportunities for improvement within any organizations or firms. That is to say,
Six Sigma is a quality improvement philosophy and a methodology and collection of statistical techniques used to implement that philosophy. Six Sigma’s focuses on reducing or removing identifiable sources of changes in order to decrease the number of defects in a product. Six Sigma was developed by Bill Smith and was used to standardize the way in which defects are tallied (Meredith, 2013). As a new way of doing business, six sigma can have a significant impact on the end result of business. There are many way six sigma can be applied. For example, the scientific component of methodology is a structure approach that takes
Six Sigma is a measurement based strategy for process improvement and problem reduction. It is completed through the application of the Quality Improvement project and accomplished with the use of two Six Sigma models. One model is DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control), which is designed to examine
Six Sigma was first introduced in the 1980’s by none other than Motorola. It was not however necessarily a novel concept at the time so much as it drew from a conglomerate of proven manufacturing principles. It is strikingly similar to the scientific method in design. Six Sigma approaches areas that may not necessarily be viewed as problematic with an open mind. It seeks to analyze problems or questions with a stepwise, statistical, and quantitative focus in order to discover, fix, or disprove problems that may or may not exist within a process. By doing this Six Sigma can improve efficiency and therefore improve positive outcomes for whatever the endpoint may be (Mast, Bisgaard, & others, 2007).
Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focuses on Problem solving 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. The Six Sigma methodologies are a business philosophy and initiative that enables world-class quality and continuous improvement to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction. Metrics established that align an organisation’s strategic goals and values to that of their customer’s needs and
Six Sigma aims to establish the causes of errors, measures those errors, and assess them so that they can be minimized. It has five types of examination that aids to solve problems when utilized. These analysis steps include define, measure, analyze, improve and control. The sigma letter is a character that is occasionally used by statisticians to define the variability of any method, particularly the extent of uncertainty with the outcome. There is a big evidence of proof that the use of this process might lead to an enormous minimization of errors in manufacturing, healthcare or any service that is related to the customer. Moreover, the bigger the sigma the fewer the errors permitted. The goal of sigma converts into a maximum of 3.4 defects per every million opportunities, methods, events, proving that it can be used to solve any problem that any product or service fails to meet client’s needs and requirements (Arthur, 2011).
First, The Six Sigma, usually intended as a professional plan, includes refining, scheming, and monitoring procedure to minimalize or remove excess while enhancing gratification and increasing financial steadiness. The performance of a procedure—or the process competence—is used to ration enhancement by associating the baseline process competence (before development) with the process competence after directing possible solutions for quality development.
The concept of Six Sigma was developed in the early 1980’s at Motorola Corporation (Harry and Schroeder, 2000). Six Sigma can be defined as a statistical measure of the performance of a process or product (Kumi et. al., 2006). It is used as a quality control mechanism, which seeks to reduce defects or variations in a process to 3.4 per million opportunities thereby optimizing output and increasing customer satisfaction (Sambhe, 2012). Sigma is representing the standard deviation, a unit of measurement that designates the distribution or spread about the mean of a process (Six Sigma Academy, 2002). In addition, the Six Sigma uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of fact, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing improving, and reinventing business processes (Pande, P., et. al. 2000). The Six Sigma methodology uses statistical tools to identify the factors that matter most for improving the quality of processes and generating bottom-line results. The Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure,
Six Sigma is a methodology used to improve business processes by utilizing statistical analysis rather than guesswork. This proven approach has been implemented within a myriad of industries to achieve hard and soft money savings, while increasing customer satisfaction. 6Sigma.us is at the forefront of Six Sigma certification and consulting services.
Definition of Six SigmaSix Sigma is not a mere methodology or a quality tool. It is a philosophy i.e. a systematic way of thinking to solve quality problems. Six sigma involves