Six Sigma Training 101 – Better Management Basics

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a quality management program that is designed to achieve a six sigma level of quality for products. In the mid 1980s, Motorola pioneered Six Sigma and it has since been adopted by many other companies and manufacturers. Service companies also implement Six Sigma strategies to improve customer service and relations. The idea behind Six Sigma is that failures in quality and customer satisfaction occur after the sixth sigma of likelihood in a normal distribution curve. Hence, the idea is that there are less defects per product or customer service. Motorola defines the success of six-sigma quality in terms of the number of Defects Per Million Opportunities.

Why Use Six Sigma?

Many companies and critics of Six Sigma believed that achieving six levels of quality was impossible, but many companies have proved the critics wrong. Some companies even go beyond six-sigma. An example of this is GE Aircraft Engines, which operate at Nine Sigma levels of quality. Six sigma is practical because it reduces the amount of errors in customer service and products. This leads to increased customer satisfaction, increased revenue, more returning customers, and the acquisition of new customers. Companies that can implement six-sigma successfully have higher standards of quality and usually produce better products and services.

Why is it only Six Sigma?

Many people do not know how six-sigma relates to 3.4 defects per million. Essentially, people do not know how having six levels of sigma improves quality significantly. Many companies used to have less sigma, usually about three or four. However, Motorola was the first to use six levels. Six is the perfect number because whereas four sigma makes sure that there are only about 2.6 problems in a thousand. However, the problem arises with deviation. Imagine a manufacturing process in which a drill makes a hole that is supposed to be 100 micrometers. With four levels of Sigma, only about 1 in 400 will be defective. This unfortunately does not take into account the average value of measurement, which will shift over time. So, if the measurement gradually drifts as each new hole is drilled, about 6.6% of the output will be off by 1.5 sigma in each direction at anytime. If the process has drifted by 150 micrometers, then the hole will be off by 300 micrometers, which is an extremely large defective rate. Using 6 sigma, with a 1.5 sigma shift to make up for average deviation, the ratios are much lower and therefore the defective rates are much more sensible. The same drift in a six-sigma process will still only produce a defect for products or services that are more than 4.5 sigma away from the average in the same direction. Using the mathematics of a normal curve, this works out to 3.4 defects per million which is much more acceptable.

Conclusion

Customers value quality above all other things in a business. If a business produces a high quality product or service, more customers will return, and that business will gain new customers. Six-sigma helps to ensure the quality of goods and services is only the best. Six-sigma, when implemented correctly, is very effective and that is why many companies today use Six-sigma. This process was pioneered more than 20 years ago by Motorola, and has proven its lasting qualities through its continued use in the business world. Any company that wants to gain and retain customers while producing a high-quality product should consider the use of Six-sigma.

Author: Dana Schorden
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty

• Hosted PBX System For Business Needs Every organization requires a sophisticated solution to stimulate simple and quick transmission of business information. Today's emerging technology - hosted PBX system -- is the ideal option for all internal and external communication needs. The hosted PBX system is an effective phone system for business needs, and has been......
• Franchises and Basic Concepts of Business In order to truly understand the concept of Franchising, an exploration of the basic concepts of business is required. There is no magic in that. It just makes sense in order to provide clarity about the Franchising strategy.Franchising is not a business in itself. It is a business strategy.......
• A-Z Call Termination - Enjoy Hassle-Free Communication All the Time With the introduction of A-Z call termination services, the communication structures have become better and more organized. The big or not-so-big business entities or corporate houses are opting for these services to experience the joy of making local, national and international calls at reasonable rates. The high speed internet......
• Successful Telephony - A Best Practice Guide Start with what you haveA spot check on your existing telecoms strategy and current infrastructure will focus you on what you have now, and lead you onto what you need to do next. Design a simple scale (for example poor, average, good and excellent) and use it mark the......
• Hosted PBX Virtual Phone Service In order to be successful in the competitive world of business, it is very important to have an efficient communication system. Hosted PBX virtual phone service is the right choice for small business firms to effortlessly meet their business communication requirements.Competent Call Management FeaturesA hosted PBX virtual phone service......

• Walmart sets the record straight on its $298 laptop I received a comment from Ryan Halford, a Senior Buyer for Walmart, and specifically for computers.  He was commenting on my $298 laptop post.  I'm including his comments and responding to them here. Mr. Halford said: I am the buyer for computers at Walmart.  Thanks for the comments and feedback.......
• Weaky #19: What You Lose In Vegas, Stays In Vegas Go to Vegas and drop some money.  As soon as you're losing money the casino will start treating you like a valued customer.  This is because, by losing money on gambling, you're basically paying the casino to entertain you.  As a thank-you for your business you may be offered "comps,"......
• Custom Writing Service on Dissertation Taking the PhD degree means learning to be the expert on our major. If in our high school, college, or master study we can still play around and hang out with our friends, now we have so many tasks and responsibilities. On taking the level of PhD, we are required......
• H&R Block Opening Accounts for Refund Anticipation Loans KANSAS CITY, Mo. - H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) announced plans Thursday to open low-cost bank accounts for free for 1 million of its tax clients and significantly reduce the cost of refund anticipation loans for tax season 2007.At its annual meeting of shareholders, H&R Block Chairman and CEO Mark......
• Benefit Your Business with Twitter Marketing Are you an online business owner? Whether you sell a product, a service, or generate income through affiliate links, internet marketing is a must. To generate a sale, you must first drive traffic to your website or blog. There are many ways for you to do so, including the social......

Related posts:

1. Time Management Basics – How is it Done?
2. Asterisk VoIP Hosted PBX – A Cisco Training Course
3. Drinking Water Filter System – Making Sure Every Sip is As Clean As Possible
4. How-To Design a VOIP Training Course
5. What is in Our Drinking Water? – An Inside Look at What’s Lurking in Every Sip