Six Sigma
by Ron Pereira
Welcome to LSS Academy!
If you found this website via Google or some other method you may be wondering what this lean and six sigma stuff is all about. On this page we will discuss all things related to six sigma.
What is Six Sigma?
There are a plethora of books, websites, and even a few blogs that offer excellent definitions of six sigma. I could simply copy and paste them here but I want to offer my two cents. If I were forced to give a “canned” definition of six sigma it would go something like this, “Six Sigma is the relentless pursuit of variation.” Immediately after this statement I would follow-up with the fact that six sigma is not a “program” or “initiative.” Instead, it is a way of working and thinking. Another way of looking at it we use six sigma to solve problems we don’t have the answer to.
History of Six Sigma
Motorola gets credit for developing six sigma. A fellow by the name of Bill Smith pioneered the methodology in the mid 1980s. Motorola’s focus was on quality and how to achieve “3.4 defects per million.” This essentially means having a defect free process. A daunting task indeed.
After Motorola companies like GE and Allied Signal took six sigma to the next level by focusing on the customer and bottom line results. Jack Welch, former GE CEO, is a huge believer in six sigma and really worked to push six sigma forward.
What is DMAIC?
Traditional six sigma follows the DMAIC process. First we define the problem, then we measure the performance, next we analyze the situation, and finally we improve and control the process.
Many think of six sigma as a big funnel. When we start off we have all kinds of potential issues (inputs) at the top of the funnel. By following the DMAIC process we are able to narrow this list of issues into the most important issues. We then take action on these issues by improving them and placing a plan in place to control them.
Related Six Sigma Posts
- Process Mapping - Lean or Six Sigma Tool?
- Explaining the Central Limit Theorem
- 5 Steps to Data Collection
- How beer influenced statistics
- How to apply the one sample t-test
- Narrowing the list with n/3
- The Heated Law of Dispersion
- Span – GE’s Variation Weapon
- Hypothesis Testing
- Demystifying Design of Experiments
- Repetitions versus Replications
- Taguchi Loss Function
- Taguchi L18 DOE
- Taguchi Index – Cpm
- Explaining Cp and Cpk
- Regression - Part 1
- Regression - Part 2
- Regression - Part 3
- Control Charts - Part 1
- Control Charts - Part 2
- Control Charts - Part 3
