SIX SIGMA - P1

Six Sigma has evolved over time. The concepts behind Six Sigma can be traced through the centuries as the method took shape into what it is today.

The roots of Six Sigma as a measurement standard can be traced back to Carl Frederick Gauss (1777-1855) who introduced the concept of the normal curve. Six Sigma as a measurement standard in product variation can be traced back to the 1920's when Walter Shewhart showed that three sigma from the mean is the point where a process requires correction. Many measurement standards (Cpk, Zero Defects, etc.) later came on the scene but credit for coining the term "Six Sigma" goes to a Motorola engineer named Bill Smith. (Incidentally, "Six Sigma" is a federally registered trademark of Motorola).

In the early and mid-1980s with Chairman Bob Galvin at the helm, Motorola engineers decided that the traditional quality levels -- measuring defects in thousands of opportunities -- didn't provide enough granularity. Instead, they wanted to measure the defects per million opportunities. Motorola developed this new standard and created the methodology and needed cultural change associated with it. Six Sigma helped Motorola realize powerful bottom-line results in their organization - in fact, they documented more than $16 Billion in savings as a result of our Six Sigma efforts.

Since then, hundreds of companies around the world have adopted Six Sigma as a way of doing business. This is a direct result of many of America's leaders openly praising the benefits of Six Sigma. Leaders such as Larry Bossidy of Allied Signal (now Honeywell), and Jack Welch of General Electric Company. Rumor has it that Larry and Jack were playing golf one day and Jack bet Larry that he could implement Six Sigma faster and with greater results at GE than Larry did at Allied Signal. The results speak for themselves.

Six Sigma has evolved over time. It's more than just a quality system like TQM or ISO. It's a way of doing business. As Geoff Tennant describes in his book Six Sigma: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services: "Six Sigma is many things, and it would perhaps be easier to list all the things that Six Sigma quality is not. Six Sigma can be seen as: a vision; a philosophy; a symbol; a metric; a goal; a methodology." We couldn't agree more

When learning about Six Sigma, it may help to consider these charts, which detail how sigma level relates to defects per million opportunities (DPMO), and some real-world examples.

Sigma Performance Levels - One to Six Sigma
Sigma Level	Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
1	690,000
2	308,537
3	66,807
4	6,210
5	233
6	3.4

What Would This Look Like In The Real World?

It's one thing to see the numbers and it's a whole other thing to see how it would apply to your daily life.

Real-world Performance Levels
Situation/Example	In 1 Sigma World	In 3 Sigma World	In 6 Sigma World
Pieces of your mail lost per year [1,600 opportunities per year]	1,106	107	Less than 1
Number of empty coffee pots at work (who didn't fill the coffee pot again?) [680 opportunities per year]	470	45	Less than 1
Number of telephone disconnections [7,000 talk minutes]	4,839	467	0.02
Erroneous business orders [250,000 opportunities per year]	172,924	16,694	0.9

DMAIC

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. Incremental process improvement using Six Sigma methodology.

DMAIC refers to a data-driven quality strategy for improving processes, and is an integral part of the company's Six Sigma Quality Initiative. DMAIC is an acronym for five interconnected phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

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Each step in the cyclical DMAIC Process is required to ensure the best possible results. The process steps:

Define the Customer, their Critical to Quality (CTQ) issues, and the Core Business Process involved.

  Define who customers are, what their requirements are for products and services, and what their expectations are

  Define project boundaries ­ the stop and start of the process

  Define the process to be improved by mapping the process flow

Measure the performance of the Core Business Process involved.

  Develop a data collection plan for the process

  Collect data from many sources to determine types of defects and metrics

  Compare to customer survey results to determine shortfall

Analyze the data collected and process map to determine root causes of defects and opportunities for improvement.

  Identify gaps between current performance and goal performance

  Prioritize opportunities to improve

  Identify sources of variation

Improve the target process by designing creative solutions to fix and prevent problems.

  Create innovate solutions using technology and discipline

  Develop and deploy implementation plan

Control the improvements to keep the process on the new course.

  Prevent reverting back to the "old way"

  Require the development, documentation and implementation of an ongoing monitoring plan

  Institutionalize the improvements through the modification of systems and structures (staffing, training, incentives)

 LEAN

"Lean" as defined by the MEP Network ...
"A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating the Eight Wastes (which are considered non-(customer) value adding activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the 100% pull of the customer"

The Eight Wastes of Lean...

Waiting:

• Definition: The item/work in the process has stopped.
• Manufacturing examples: Machine downtime, bottlenecked operations, equipment changeover
• Service/Office examples: System downtime, system response time, approvals from others, information from customers

Defects:

• Definition: Any form of scrap, mistakes, errors or correction resulting from the work not being done correctly the first time.
• Manufacturing Examples: Production of defective parts, scrap or waste.
• Service/Office examples: Data input errors, design errors, engineering change orders and invoice errors.

Extra Processing:

• Definition: Having to do anything more than needed.
• Manufacturing examples: Taking unneeded steps to process the parts, inefficient processing due to poor tool and product design.
• Service/Office examples: Re-entering data, extra copies, unnecessary or excessive reports

Inventory:

• Definition: Any supply that is in excess, any form of batch processing. Producing more than customer demand.
• Manufacturing examples: Any excess inventory, batch processing.
• Service/Office examples: Office supplies, sales literature, batch processing transactions.

Excessive Motion:

• Definition: Movement of people.
• Manufacturing examples: Reaching for, looking for, or stacking parts, tools, etc.
• Service/Office examples: Walking to/from copier, central filing, fax machine or other offices.

Transportation:

• Definition: Movement of work or paperwork from one step to the next step in the process.
• Manufacturing examples: Move materials, parts, or finished goods into and out of storage.
• Service/Office examples: Movement of documents from site to site, office to office or in-basket to in-basket.

Overproduction:

• Definition: Producing more, sooner, or faster than is required by the next person.
• Manufacturing examples: Inventory piling up at a slower downstream step.
• Service/Office examples: Printing paperwork before it is really needed, purchasing items before they are needed, processing paperwork sooner than needed by the next person.

Underutilized Employees:

• Definition: People's creativity, ideas, and abilities are not fully utilized.
• Manufacturing examples: Losing ideas, skills, and improvements by not listening to employees.
• Service/Office examples: Limited employee authority and responsibility for basic tasks, management command and control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma