Six Sigma

Perform Better in Virtually Every Business Category

Six Sigma is a rigorous, well-structured methodology and tools to eliminate defects and financial waste and achieve virtually error-free business performance in all types of manufacturing, service, and professional industries.

Six Sigma methodology is based on a combination of well-established statistical quality control techniques, simple and advanced data analysis methods, and the systematic training of all personnel at every level in the organization involved in the activity or process targeted by Six Sigma.

Sigma is a letter in the Greek alphabet used by statisticians to measure the variability in any process. A company measures its performance by the sigma level of their business processes.

Traditionally companies accepted three or four sigma performance levels as the norm, despite the fact that these processes created between 6,200 and 67,000 problems per million opportunities! The Six Sigma standard of 3.4 problems per million opportunities is a response to the increasing expectations of customers and the increased complexity of modern products, services and processes.

Six Sigma Infrastructure

A very powerful feature of Six Sigma is the creation of an infrastructure to ensure that performance improvement activities have the necessary resources. Recent surveys indicate that 60% of Six Sigma practitioners site lack of sustained executive sponsorship and commitment as the top reason for poor project results.

After more than two decades of experience with Organizational Change, there is now a solid body of scientific research regarding the experience of thousands of companies implementing major change programs that assist and support in detailing the implementation of a company-wide Six Sigma effort. Researchers have found that successful deployment of Six Sigma involves focusing on a small number of high-leverage items. The steps required to successfully implement Six Sigma are well documented.

1. Successful Organizational Change and Performance Improvement begin with senior leadership.
2. Systems are developed for establishing close communication with clients/customers, employees, and suppliers.
3. A rigorous audit of the organization’s existing internal capabilities is conducted to determine its current training needs.
4. A framework for continuous process improvement is developed, along with a system of indicators for monitoring progress and success.
5. As a result of the organization’s strategic goals, management selects those Business Processes requiring improvement.
6. Six Sigma projects are conducted by Black Belts with the assistance of Green Belts.