What Is Six Sigma?

What Is Six Sigma?

Let me tell you directly: Six Sigma is a collection of techniques and tools designed to enhance business processes. It started back in 1986 when engineer Bill Smith introduced it at Motorola. As a practitioner, you would apply statistics, financial analysis, and project management to spot and cut down on defects and errors, reduce variation, and ramp up quality and efficiency.

The method revolves around five key phases called DMAIC: defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling. I'll break these down later.

Key Takeaways

Here's what you need to grasp: Six Sigma serves as a quality-control approach that companies use to drastically cut defects and refine processes. It originated from a Motorola scientist in the 1980s. Businesses frequently adopt it to heighten efficiency and increase profits. Plus, practitioners can get certifications that mirror martial arts belt colors.

Understanding Six Sigma

At its core, Six Sigma assumes every business process can be measured and optimized. The name comes from manufacturing, where it aimed for quality control. You achieve Six Sigma quality when long-term defects drop below 3.4 per million opportunities, or DPMO.

Over time, it has grown into a wider business idea, emphasizing customer requirements, better retention, and sustaining improved products and services. One of its famous advocates was Jack Welch, the longtime CEO of General Electric.

Certification programs in Six Sigma assign belt rankings like in martial arts, from white belt up to black belt.

The 5 Steps of Six Sigma

The Six Sigma method follows a structured DMAIC approach—Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. Followers claim that by sticking to these five steps, a business can tackle any problem that seems impossible.

Define

In this phase, a team led by a Six Sigma expert picks a process to target and clearly defines the problem they aim to fix.

Measure

The team then measures the process's starting performance to set a benchmark and identifies inputs that might be causing issues.

Analyze

Next, they analyze by isolating each input or potential failure cause, testing it to find the root problem.

Improve

From there, the team makes changes to boost the system's performance.

Control

Finally, they add controls to keep the process from slipping back into ineffectiveness.

What Is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is a team-oriented management method that improves performance by cutting waste and defects, while standardizing work. It merges Six Sigma tools with lean manufacturing principles to reduce waste in resources, time, effort, and talent, ensuring quality in processes. If a resource doesn't add value for the customer, it's waste and needs elimination.

Six Sigma Certification and Belt Rankings

You can earn Six Sigma certification to prove your grasp of the process and implementation skills. It uses a belt system like karate. Here's how it breaks down:

White belt: You've had basic instruction but no formal training, enough to join a team.

Yellow belt: After some sessions, you can lead small projects and help higher belts.

Green belt: A fuller course prepares you to lead projects.

Black belt: Building on green, this readies you for leading big, complex projects.

Black belts can advance to masters or champions. A master black belt is an expert leader with top problem-solving. A champion maximizes profits by cutting waste and defects.

Fast Fact

These certifications and courses come from various companies and schools, and they can differ.

Real-World Examples of Six Sigma

Many companies, governments, and institutions use Six Sigma. Let me give you two examples where it boosted efficiency, saved money, and improved satisfaction.

Microsoft

Microsoft, a major software giant, applied Six Sigma to eliminate defects in systems and data centers, reducing IT failures. They set standards for hardware and software to baseline defects, then used root-cause analysis with data from incidents, failures, and inputs from groups and customers to spot issues.

They gathered daily and weekly data, prioritized incidents by business impact, analyzed to identify defects, and set remediation. This led to better server availability, higher productivity, and more satisfied customers, according to Microsoft.

Ventura County, California, Government

Ventura County saved $33 million with Lean Six Sigma starting in 2008, training over 5,000 employees. Savings came from efficient systems and cutting unnecessary steps.

For instance, they saved $51,000 on an appointments system for vehicle maintenance and nearly $400,000 yearly on tracking employee leaves.

How Can You Get Six Sigma Certification?

You can get it from private companies, associations, or colleges, but remember there's no single standard body, so courses vary.

Can You Get Six Sigma Certification Online?

Yes, many universities and organizations offer both classroom and online options.

What Is the Basic Difference Between Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma applies the DMAIC methodology specifically to eliminate waste in processes or materials, making things 'leaner,' drawing from lean manufacturing principles.

The Bottom Line

Six Sigma is a popular quality-improvement method in private and public sectors. If you're interested, take courses for certification at various levels.