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Six Sigma Vs ISO 9000

Six Sigma A Critical View
Six Sigma utilizes a multi-faceted approach to
doing business with total improvement of the end
product being the goal. In doing so, Six Sigma
denes and analyzes the processes critically
almost always focusing on process improvements.
The statistical tools used in Six Sigma help not
just in the adoption of processes but are also
critical tools of Six Sigma implementation.
Process Development Stages
Let us examine the above statement as applicable
to a process for easier understanding. While
working on process improvement, the Black Belts
break up the original sequence of dierent events
that comprise the entire process and each event is
further subdivided internally. This enables the
belts to take an entirely dierent view of the
process via the entire process as a whole. The
powerful statistical tools employed at this stage
of evaluation make the picture clearer and help
the belts to arrive at decisions about the value
additions those made to the process by dierent
events.

This principle obviously goes beyond

standardizing the processes and setting the
pathway for being vigilant about adherence to
the Six Sigma Certication. Useless values which
have lost meaning make way for more
meaningful events and eventually more robust
and comprehensive processes. In a Six Sigma
environment, customer demands will assume a
key role in driving the processes towards aligning
all activities with the vision of the leader of the
company. The approach is how to rather than
what to deliver.
The ISO 9000 Approach
The ISO approach towards quality management
concentrates on standardization of the activities
of production. The eight quality principles of ISO
9000, along with its twenty-four requirements
outline business processes. The emphasis here is
on the control of events in each aspect of doing
business by documenting evidence and reports.
The eight principles of ISO 9000 include
prioritizing customer data, purchasing and
quality systems, among other critical aspects. ISO
9000 recognizes each process, whose end goals
are the same, as an independent entity.
Documented quality requirements typically
decide, based on set rules, whether or not a
particular process adhered to that standard.
Document and Process Control

Maintenance of quality is achieved by adhering to

key process and document control. Operating
procedures and process control documents
restrict deviations outside the concepts of what
you should be doing in every process. What-youshould-be-doing is given emphasis under standard
conditions rather than dealing with process
improvement.
Stalwarts in industry are examining the
possibility of merging the best practices of the
two. Several industry leaders have already
acknowledged the benets of using both
methodologies to compliment each other.
Another view is that, as Six Sigma
implementation is what you do within your
company (unlike the certication in ISO) the
company does not get recognition for achieving
successful Six Sigma implementation. However,
as long as the culmination of a business activity is
dened by both methodologies as retaining and
improving the customer base along with
maximizing the bottom line, rejection of one in
favor of other will be hard to justify.