The basics of Six Sigma are actually designed to improve the

performance of manufacturing industry. It was originally developed as

a kind of quality control especially for large scale manufacturing
companies. The main purpose of this quality control system was to
improve the manufacturing processes along with eliminating the
number of defects found in them. Later on the methodology of Six
Sigma was extended to various other types of industries irrespective
of their size all over the world. In order to understand the role of Six
Sigma in manufacturing industry you must be familiar with this
concept.

Introduction to Six Sigma

The concept of Six Sigma was developed in 1986 by Motorola as a set
of tools and techniques to improve the processes. In 1995 this
concept was used by Jack Welch as the main concept of the business
strategy of General Electric which is used by a number of industrial
sectors these days.
Six Sigma identifies and removes the defect causing elements along
with reducing the changeability of the business and manufacturing
processes to improve the quality of outputs of a manufacturing
process. In this methodology, a set of quality management methods is
used to create within the organization for a special infrastructure of the
people who can use these methods like experts. An organization
follows a defined set of steps to quantify the targeted value of the
project while using each project of Six Sigma. For instance the
organization can reduce pollution, reduce time cycle of a process and
reduce cost of production for increasing profits and satisfaction level of
its customers.

Working of Six Sigma

The terminologies linked with manufacturing industry like the terms
linked with statistical modeling of manufacturing processes originated
the term Six Sigma. A sigma rating can describe the maturity of a
manufacturing process by indicating its percentage of defect free
products created or its yield. Almost 100% products manufactured
through Six Sigma process are statistically expected to be defect free
even of the level of their defect is equal to 4.5. A goal of Six Sigma
was set by Motorola for all of its manufacturing processes and all of its
engineering and management practices take this goal by-word for its
achievement.
In 1980s when the methodology of Six Sigma was originated by
Motorola an association between decrease in cost of production and
increase in quality of products was recognized by the company.
Earlier it was believed by the management of various manufacturing
industries that higher quality can increase the cost of production which
in fact was not true.
According to the basics of the doctrine of Six Sigma the success of a
company vitally depends upon continuous efforts for achieving stable
manufacturing processes. The factors of these processes are also
important to be measured statistically so that they can be improved by
analyzing them. In fact all the members of an organization, especially
managers of top level, have to be committed for any kind of
improvement in the organization as the methodology of Six Sigma is
highly based on team efforts.

Features of Six Sigma

The main features of Six Sigma for improvement in manufacturing
industry
include:
A clear focus on quantifying and measuring the financial returns of any
project. The passionate commitment and support of the managers of
an organization about their leadership Creation of infrastructure of
professionals similar to the levels of martial arts. All these features
allow clearly define the responsibilities and role of every individual
within the team for improving the manufacturing process of the
organization.

Goals of Six Sigma

The prime goal of Six Sigma methodology is to make sure that the
manufacturing process has minimum defects. The occurrence of 3.4
defects per million chances is the ultimate goal of this system. Though
it seems to be an unachievable task but most of the manufacturing
companies achieve this final goal by adopting this technique of
producing quality products.

Consequential Results of Six Sigma

Motorola had reported some astonishing facts about the benefits Six
Sigma has offered to its organization after registering it as the mark of
their service. Company has disclosed to have saved over $17 billion
by the end of 2006 with the help of quality improvement processes
offered by this unique system. Almost half of the Fortune 500
companies have adopted this process for their organizations by the
end of twentieth century.

Availability of various levels of training and certification is another

hallmark of the process of Six Sigma. As martial arts practitioners are
labeled the managements adapting this system are also certified. The
different levels of training and certification offered by Six Sigma are
organized into different levels of belt like green belt, yellow belt, black
belt and master black belt etc. The employees are enrolled in the
training programs held by Six Sigma so that they can be certified
employees after completing the necessary training and use the
methodology for saving money of their organization.
While practicing the goals of Six Sigma in an organization then it is
almost impossible to find any defect in the production of their products
and services. In fact it is designed for the improvement in the quality of
production of the organizations by improving their manufacturing
processes.
In large organizations where clear communication channels and
extensive management infrastructure is available most effective
results are shown by this type of programs. Most of the companies
which have adopted this quality control system for improving their
products and services are among the most successful ventures of the
world. The comments of these companies reveal the fact that by
embracing Six Sigma they have saved lots of money than earlier. But
before adopting this system for you manufacturing company it is
recommended that you should spend some time for researching about
Six Sigma as the success of this process is questioned by some of the
experts of manufacturing industry.