Six Sigma

A Data-Driven Approach to Improve Business Processes

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What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology that uses statistical analysis to measure and improve performance in a company's processes, products, and services. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation leads to defect reductions, enhanced product quality and increased profitability. Six Sigma began in earnest in the mid-1980s when Motorola developed a methodology to provide more granularity than traditional quality processes. Since then, Six Sigma has been used by hundreds of organizations to improve their businesses. Six Sigma aims at reducing variability in how an organization creates and delivers products and services. Reducing process variation is a key component of Six Sigma. For example, if a business is expecting a delivery on a certain day, they put processes in place to be ready on that day. Getting the delivery the day before or the day after might not be acceptable. The statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is performing. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications the level of variation that they are able to accept. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Six Sigma makes use of well-defined roles, such as Master Black Belts, Green Belts, and Process Owners, to achieve project successes and improve the effectiveness of the overall organization.

Statistical Overview
Six Sigma focuses on controlling a process so that it performs within 6 sigmas (or standard deviations) from a centerline (or target performance). Customers specify, through Voice of the Customer, their target performance level, including the upper and lower specification limits. These specifications define the outside limits of what is acceptable for them. The objective of Six Sigma is to reduce process output variation so that (on a long-term basis) it will result in no more than 3.4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). As the process sigma value increases from zero to six, the variation of the process around the mean value decreases. The end result is greater customer satisfaction and lower costs.

The Methodology
The Six Sigma methodology accomplishes process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. Projects typically are considered as one of two types of Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADOV.

DMAIC Methodology
The Six Sigma DMAIC process is used for existing processes that currently perform below specification levels and need incremental improvement. DMAIC is an acronym for five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. The process steps for a DMAIC project include: Define the Problem: Who is the Customer, what are their Critical to Quality (CTQ) issues, what are their expectations, and what is the Core Business Process involved? Define project boundaries use process mapping to define the stop and start of the process, and to further define the process. Measure the performance: Determine an appropriate way to measure the process performance and collect the data, develop a data collection plan for the process and collect the data. Compare to customer survey results to determine shortfall.

7467 Ridge Road, Suite 330 Hanover, MD 21076 Phone (410) 993-1699 http://www.ProObject.com/

Analyze the data: Determine root causes of defects and opportunities for improvement: Identify gaps between current performance and goal performance and prioritize opportunities to improve Improve the target process: Design and test creative solutions to fix and prevent problems Develop implementation plan Control the improvements: Make sure the improvement is sustainable and create monitoring plan to verify that a process stays within defined limits Deploy solutions and institutionalize the improvements.

DMADOV Methodology
The Six Sigma DMADOV process is used to develop new processes or products at high quality levels, or if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement. DMADOV is an acronym for five interconnected phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Optimize, and Verify. The process steps for a DMADOV project include: Define the project: What are the projects goals? Who is the customer and what are their internal and external requirements? Measure the opportunity: Determine customer needs and specifications Benchmark competitors and industry Analyze the process options: What option will meet the customer needs? Determine creative solutions Design the process: Develop a detailed process Design experiments that prove the design meets customer needs Optimize the process: Test the new process to evaluate performance levels and impacts. Re-design the process as necessary to meet customer specifications Verify the performance: Verify the design performance and ability to meet customer needs: Deploy the new process

Benefits
Six Sigma provides both a methodology and a toolkit for reducing variability in organization processes. Organizations benefit from defining a Project Funnel, which analyzes each aspect of the organization. The Project Funnel identifies and prioritizes potential projects that will help address those needs. Benefits are calculated as the savings from a project are quantified in the Define phase. Ultimately, the benefits of a Six Sigma project will be realized after implementation of the new process.

7467 Ridge Road, Suite 330 Hanover, MD 21076 Phone (410) 993-1699 http://www.ProObject.com/