SIX SIGMA

Submitted By:

SHRUTI GAIND
IM-2K7-89 MBA(MS) IIPS-DAVV Indore

DEFINITION
Six Sigma stands for Six Standard Deviations (Sigma is the Greek letter used to represent standard deviation in statistics) from mean. Six Sigma methodology provides the techniques and tools to improve the capability and reduce the defects in any process. . Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services.

WHY SIGMA?
The word is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to "zero defects" as possible. To achieve Six Sigma Quality, a process must produce no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. An "opportunity" is defined as a chance for nonconformance, or not meeting the required specifications. This means we need to be nearly flawless in executing our key processes.

MEANING OF SIX SIGMA

Six sigma is a business management strategy, originally developed by Motorola, that today enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry. Six Sigma is a methodology that provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation leads to defect reduction and vast improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of product. Six Sigma is a rigorous and a systematic methodology that utilizes information (management by facts) and statistical analysis to measure and improve a company's operational performance, practices and systems by identifying and preventing 'defects' in manufacturing and service-related processes in order to anticipate and exceed expectations of all stakeholders to accomplish effectiveness.

Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service.

Six sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is performing. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications. A Six Sigma opportunity is then the total quantity of chances for a defect. Process sigma can easily be calculated using a Six Sigma calculator. The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of three Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC

DMADV

LEAN

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW:
Six Sigma was originally developed as a set of practices designed to improve manufacturing processes and eliminate defects, but its application was subsequently extended to other types of business processes as well. In Six Sigma, a defect is defined as anything that could lead to customer dissatisfaction The particulars of the methodology were first formulated by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986 Six Sigma was heavily inspired by six preceding decades of quality improvement methodologies such as quality control, TQM, and Zero Defects, based on the work of pioneers such as Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi and others. Like its predecessors, Six Sigma asserts that Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e. reduce process variation) are of vital importance to business success. Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed, improved and controlled. Achieving sustained quality improvement requires commitment from the entire organization, particularly from top-level management.

Features that set Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma project.

 An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support A special infrastructure of "Champions," "Master Black Belts," "Black Belts," etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach. A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data, rather than assumptions and guesswork. The term "Six Sigma" is derived from a field of statistics known as process capability studies. Originally, it referred to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification. Processes that operate with "six sigma quality" over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola, Inc. Motorola has reported over US$17 billion in savings from Six Sigma as of 2006.Other early adopters of Six Sigma who achieved well-publicized success include Honeywell (previously known as AlliedSignal) and General Electric, where the method was introduced by Jack Welch. By the late 1990s, about two-thirds of the Fortune 500 organizations had begun Six Sigma initiatives with the aim of reducing costs and improving quality.

WHERE DID THE NAME SIX SIGMACOME FROM?

At the onset of six sigma in 1985, a writer was working as an engineer for the Government Electronics Group of Motorola. By chance connection, he linked up with another engineer by the name of Bill Smith (originator of the six sigma concept in 1984). At that time, he suggested Motorola should require 50 percent design margins for all of its key product performance specifications. Statistically speaking, such a "safety margin" is equivalent to a 6 sigma level of capability. When considering the performance tolerance of a critical design feature, he believed a 25 percent cushion was not sufficient for absorbing a sudden shift in process centering. Bill believed the typical shift was on the order of 1.5s (relative to the target value). In other words, a four sigma level of capability would normally be considered sufficient, if centered. However, if the process center was somehow knocked off its central location (on the order of 1.5s), the initial capability of 4s would be degraded to 4.0s 1.5s = 2.5s. Of course, this would have a consequential impact on defects. In turn, a sudden increase in defects would have an adverse effect on reliability. As should be apparent, such a domino effect would continue straight up the value chain. Regardless of the shift magnitude, those working on this issue fully recognized that the initial estimate of capability will often erode over time in a very natural way thereby increasing the expected rate of product defects .Extending beyond this, we concluded that the product defect rate was highly correlated to the long-term process capability, not the short-term capability Thus, we come to understand three things.

 We recognized that the instantaneous reproducibility of a critical-to-quality

characteristic is fully dependent on the goodness of fit between the operating bandwidth of the process and the corresponding bandwidth of the performance specification. Second, the quality of that interface can be substantively and consequentially disturbed by process centering error. Of course, both of these factors profoundly impact long-term capability. Third, we must seek to qualify our critical processes at a 6s level of short-term capability if we are to enjoy a long-term capability of 4s. By further developing these insights through applied research, we were able to greatly extend our understanding of the many statistical connections between such things as design margin, process capability, defects, field reliability, customer satisfaction, and economic success

METHODOLOGIES OF SIX SIGMA:

With in an organization, the objective is the long-term improvement of its processes in order to enhance the performance of the organization and the products, gain the interest of the customers, employees and shareholders, and thus sustain in the world of global marker competitive. Still just improving a process is not a complete business option, but a complete process re-design is required. The purpose and the origin of the process six sigma is the result of need for business improvement through customer satisfaction, reduced costs, production of high quality products with less defects and increased profits. Hence the fundamental aim of the six sigma methodology is the implementation of a systematically based measurement strategy focusing the improvement process. Within this improvement aspects the six sigma methodology includes the responsibilities of the improving the team, helping the team in identifying the process, the defects and the corresponding measurements. It is because of this wide range of flexibility in quality improvement, six sigma methodology toolkit is the best existing software process implementation. Six Sigma has two key methods:
1.
2.

DMAIC DMADV

both inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle.

DMAIC is used to improve an existing business process; DMADV is used to create new product or process design. The difference in the methods DMADV & DMAIC exists from the last two letter- "DV & IC".

1.

DMAIC:

The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement. Some companies add a R for "recognize" in front of Define and an R for "realize" after Control. You first have to Recognize you have a problem before defining it and, after implementing a solution you have to control it over time to Realize its financial benefits. Six Sigma methodology improves any existing business process by constantly reviewing and re-tuning the process. To achieve this, Six Sigma uses a methodology known as DMAIC. While Six Sigma follows the DMAIC methodology at the project level, it follows a well established deployment methodology at the business level. Companies like GE and DuPont have paved the way for making Six Sigma deployable through large networks of Champions, Black Belts, Green Belts, Yellow Belts and Process Owners.

The basic method consists of the following five steps: Define high-level project goals and the current process. : In this phase, the goals relating to the project are defined. It mainly concentrates on defining customers & their requirements. The goals, benefits, team spirit & problem solving statements are developed. Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data. This phase measures the performance level of the process & also identifies the problems. Data is collected & the defects, relationships, collection plans, opportunities, etc are defined in detail Analyze the data to verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. In this phase, the root cause of the defects is thoroughly analyzed & determined. The objective for Performance is set & the causes of variations are defined. Improve or optimize the process based upon data analysis using techniques like Design of experiments. Improving is a process of eliminating the defects in an project. Here different experiments are conducted, potential solutions are developed, causes of failure are identified & corrections relating to developing of potential solutions are carried out. Control to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects. In this phase, future performance levels are controlled. Here a proper monitoring & control systems are developed. Standards are defined, procedures,

statistical control processes & capabilities of the process are developed & effectively implemented.

DMAIC FLOW CHART

DMAIC CIRCULAR FLOW

2.DMADV:
The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement. Six Sigma methodology can also be used to create a brand new business process from ground up using DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) principles. Six Sigma experts (Green Belts and Black Belts) evaluate a business process and determine ways to improve upon the existing process. Six Sigma experts can also design a brand new business process using DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) principles. Typically its easier to define a new process with DFSS principles than refining an existing process to reduce the defects. The basic method consists of the following five steps:

Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise strategy. It describes the need for defining the needs for finding out the goals from the project to be executed, in order to meet the customer satisfaction. Therefore, the first step involves in the explanation of both the internal and external goals from the product.

Measure and identify CTQs (characteristics that are Critical To Quality), product capabilities, production process capability, and risks. The process is done to find out the quantity of the customer's needs to measure the goal management and the quality of the product Analyze to develop and design alternatives, create a high-level design and evaluate design capability to select the best design. Through the process of analyzing, it is able to find out the existing cause of errors with in the organization and the process. It also helps in evaluating the corrective measures Design details, optimize the design, and plan for design verification. This phase may require simulations. : Once the error origination is found out, the next step is to design the new process or a corrective measures to meet the target specification Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it over to the process owners. Verification is done simultaneously, to check the performance of the developed design and its quality to meet the target needs

DMADV is also known as DFSS, an abbreviation of "Design For Six Sigma". From the above definition, it is clear that mere designing in new products and services is not the only matter, which leads to the success of the organization, but the practice of re-designing the process according to the needs of the target is also very much important. In addition, the same is the difference between the implementation of two methods in six sigma methodology

It is better to replace DMADV, than the other way. There are two occasions in which DMADV can be used to replace DMAIC. One occasion is at the time there is no existing product, out of which the organization is aiming to create from the scratch. At the time when the implementation of DMAIC has not produced the expected result, though best efforts are done to make the improvements, DMADV methods can be used. It is proved that there are situations where planned DMAIC is been replaced by the use of DMADV method. The method is used at the time when the "improvement" process is not able to deliver the organization the expectations.

DMADV PROCESS

Apart from the above said six sigma methods there are other designs for six sigma methodologies. They are: CDOC DCCDI DCDOVconceptualize, design, optimize, control define, customer concept, design and implement define, concept, design, optimize, verify

D-IDOV-M - define, identify, design, optimize, verify, monitors DMADOV - define, measure, analyze, design, optimizes and verify

DMAI C DMEDI IDOV I2DOV -

define, measure, analyze, improve, implement, control define, measure, explore, develops and implement identify, design, optimizes and validate invent, innovate, develop, optimize, validate

MEDIC map and measure, explore and evaluate, define and describe, implement and improve, control and conform VCPCIA visualize, commit, prioritize, characterize, improve, achieve

ORIGIN AND THE MEANING OF THE TERM SIX SIGMA PROCESS:

Graph of the normal distribution, which underlies the statistical assumptions of the Six Sigma model. The Greek letter marks the distance on the horizontal axis between the mean, , and the curve's inflection point. The greater this distance is, the greater is the spread of values encountered. For the curve shown in red above, = 0 and = 1. The other curves illustrate different values of and . The following outlines the statistical background of the term Six Sigma. Sigma (the lower-case Greek letter ) is used to represent the standard deviation (a measure of variation) of a statistical population. The term "six sigma process" comes from the notion that if one has six standard deviations between the process mean and the

nearest specification limit, there will be practically no items that fail to meet specifications. This is based on the calculation method employed in process capability studies. In a capability study, the number of standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit is given in sigma units. As process standard deviation goes up, or the mean of the process moves away from the center of the tolerance, fewer standard deviations will fit between the mean and the nearest specification limit, decreasing the sigma number and increasing the likelihood of items outside specification.

1.5 SIGMA SHIFT Role of the 1.5 sigma shift

Experience has shown that in the long term, processes usually do not perform as well as they do in the short. As a result, the number of sigmas that will fit between the process mean and the nearest specification limit is likely to drop over time, compared to an initial short-term study. To account for this real-life increase in process variation over time, an empirically-based 1.5 sigma shift is introduced into the calculation. According to this idea, a process that fits six sigmas between the process mean and the nearest specification limit in a short-term study will in the long term only fit 4.5 sigmas either because the process mean will move over time, or because the long-

term standard deviation of the process will be greater than that observed in the short term, or both. Hence the widely accepted definition of a six sigma process is one that produces 3.4 defective parts per million opportunities (DPMO). This is based on the fact that a process that is normally distributed will have 3.4 parts per million beyond a point that is 4.5 standard deviations above or below the mean (one-sided capability study). So the 3.4 DPMO of a "Six Sigma" process in fact corresponds to 4.5 sigmas, namely 6 sigmas minus the 1.5 sigma shift introduced to account for long-term variation. This is designed to prevent underestimation of the defect levels likely to be encountered in real-life operation.

Criticism of the 1.5 sigma shift

Because of its arbitrary nature, the 1.5 sigma shift has been dismissed as "goofy" by the statistician Donald J. Wheeler. Its universal applicability is seen as doubtful. The 1.5 sigma shift has also been contentious because it results in stated "sigma levels" that reflect short-term rather than long-term performance: a process that has long-term defect levels corresponding to 4.5 sigma performance is, by Six Sigma convention, described as a "6 sigma process." The accepted Six Sigma scoring system thus cannot be equated to actual normal distribution probabilities for the stated

number of standard deviations, and this has been a key bone of contention about how Six Sigma measures are defined. The fact that it is rarely explained that a "6 sigma" process will have long-term defect rates corresponding to 4.5 sigma performance rather than actual 6 sigma performance has led several commentators to express the opinion that Six Sigma is a confidence trick.

SIGMA LEVELS:
Taking the 1.5 sigma shift into account, short-term sigma levels correspond to the following long-term DPMO values (one-sided):

One Sigma = 690,000 DPMO = 31% efficiency Two Sigma = 308,000 DPMO = 69.2% efficiency Three Sigma = 66,800 DPMO = 93.32% efficiency Four Sigma = 6,210 DPMO = 99.379% efficiency Five Sigma = 230 DPMO = 99.977% efficiency Six Sigma = 3.4 DPMO = 99.9997% efficiency

IMPLEMENTATION ROLES:

One of the key innovations of Six Sigma is the professionalizing of quality management functions. Prior to Six Sigma, quality management in practice was largely relegated to the production floor and to statisticians in a separate quality department. Six Sigma borrows martial arts ranking terminology to define a hierarchy

(and career path) that cuts across all business functions and a promotion path straight into the executive suite. Six Sigma identifies several key roles for its successful implementation.
Executive Leadership includes the CEO and other members of top management.

They are responsible for setting up a vision for Six Sigma implementation. They also empower the other role holders with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough improvements.

Champions are responsible for Six Sigma implementation across the organization in

an integrated manner. The Executive Leadership draws them from upper management. Champions also act as mentors to Black Belts.

Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in-house coaches on Six Sigma.

They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They assist champions and guide Black Belts and Green Belts. Apart from statistical tasks, their time is spent on ensuring consistent application of Six Sigma across various functions and departments.

Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six Sigma methodology to

specific projects. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They primarily focus on Six Sigma project execution, whereas Champions and Master Black Belts focus on identifying projects/functions for Six Sigma.

Green Belts are the employees who take up Six Sigma implementation along with

their other job responsibilities. They operate under the guidance of Black Belts.

Benefits of implementing six sigma in your company:

1) Financial benefits: "The quality performance" is the foundation stone of all types of industries. The growth of an industry depends on its performance quality. So checking out of the performance quality of an industry is something which is inevitable.

"SIX SIGMA" - The statistical representation, is a process of quality measurement, which helps the organization in the improvement of their quality. Six Sigma is a systematical process of "quality improvement through the disciplined data-analyzing approach, and by improving the organizational process by eliminating the defects or the obstacles which prevents the organizations to reach the perfection". Six sigma points out the total number of the defects that has come across in an organizational performance. Any type of defects, apart from the customer specification, is considered as the defect, according to Six Sigma. With the help of the statistical representation of the Six Sigma, it is easy to find out how a process is performing on quantitatively aspects. A Defect according to Six Sigma is nonconformity of the product or the service of an organization. Since the fundamental aim of the Six Sigma is the application of the improvement on the specified process, through a measurement-based strategy, Six Sigma has its own rules and methodologies to be applied. In order to achieve this service mark, the process should not produce defects more than 3.4. These numbers of defects are considered as "the rate of the defects in a process should not exceed beyond the rate 3.4 per million opportunities". Through the Six Sigma calculation the number of defects can be calculated. Once the qualities of the products are increased, the customer satisfaction is also increased. This lead to the development of an organization through profit gaining. This makes clear that six sigma training can be implemented in an organization for the purpose of cost and saving, that is for the financial benefits of an organization it is important to implement the knowledge and training of six sigma.

2) Quality improvement of the product: Sine the aim of six sigma is the production of defect free products, through the systematical analysis, the implantation of six sigma in an organization is very much important for the increasing profit and for the better customer satisfaction. Trainings are given to know more about the needs of the customers.

3) Identification of employee skills: Implementation of six sigma helps the authorities in finding out the skills and knowledge of their employees. At the time working out of a project, the implementation of six sigma helps in finding out the responsibilities assigned to each person involved in the project. This is possible because six sigma gives training for the specific skills that is needed for the work, which is different from other types of

training. In other types of training, attention is paid in developing more skills at a time. The tasks are divided into different levels according to the responsibilities. In every company there are business leaders who lead the six sigma methodology at the time of sponsoring projects. These business leaders are known as the "Champions". It is their responsibility to select the projects and then to find out the goals obtained out of the project. For the attainment of these goals, the champions select and mentor six sigma project leaders, who is know as the "Belt". According to six sigma the word belt refers to the level or the position, of a person in an organization at the time of performing a work or at the time of implementation of a project. Several responsibilities take part at the time of the implementation of a work, so as to meet and make sure that the project is launched with zero defects and is able to meet the customer satisfaction. Hence results in sustaining the quality and profit of the company or the organization. There are 3 major levels of belts. Along with the training, these participants are also provided with certifications also. The six sigma certification differs from other types of certification. As in the other type of certifications, six sigma certification do not qualify a persons different capability, instead it gives importance to the specific ability which is needed for the defect free production of the company. The 3 major levels of belts and its certifications are:

"Six Sigma Belts"

Green belt certification Black belt certification Master black belt certification

Apart from the above certification there are yellow belt certification and lean belt certification. The implementation of six sigma methodology will also help in less time consuming, since the works are divided into several levels.

CRITICISM OF SIX SIGMA:

Six Sigma has made a huge impact on industry and is widely employed as a business strategy for achieving and sustaining operational and service excellence. However, there have also been various criticisms of Six Sigma. 1. Lack of originality

Noted quality expert, Joseph M. Juran, has described Six Sigma as "a basic version of quality improvement," stating that "[t]here is nothing new there. It includes what we used to call facilitators. They've adopted more flamboyant terms, like belts with different colors. I think that concept has merit to set apart, to create specialists who can be very helpful. Again, that's not a new idea. The American Society for Quality long ago established certificates, such as for reliability engineers." 2. Role of consultants The use of "Black Belts" as itinerant change agents is controversial as it has created a cottage industry of training and certification. Critics argue there is overselling of Six Sigma by too great a number of consulting firms, many of which claim expertise in Six Sigma when they only have a rudimentary understanding of the tools and techniques involved. The expansion of the various "Belts" to include "Green Belts," "Master Black Belts" and "Gold Belts" is commonly seen as a parallel to the various "belt factories" that exist in martial arts. 3. Potential negative effects A Fortune article stated that "of 58 large companies that have announced Six Sigma programs, 91 percent have trailed the S&P 500 since." The statement is attributed to "an analysis by Charles Holland of consulting firm Qualpro (which espouses a competing quality-improvement process)." The gist of the article is that Six Sigma is effective at what it is intended to do, but that it is "narrowly designed to fix an existing process" and does not help in "coming up with new products or disruptive technologies." Many of these claims have been argued as being in error or illinformed. A Business Week article says that James McNerney's introduction of Six Sigma at 3M may have had the effect of stifling creativity. 4. Based on arbitrary standards While 3.4 defects per million opportunities might work well for certain products/processes, it might not be ideal or cost-effective for others. A pacemaker process might need higher standards, for example, whereas a direct mail advertising campaign might need lower ones. The basis and justification for choosing 6 as the number of standard deviations is not clearly explained. In addition, the Six Sigma model assumes that the process data always conform to the normal distribution. The calculation of defect rates for situations where the normal distribution model does not apply is not properly addressed in the current Six Sigma literature.

SIX SIGMA DEPLOYMENT:

All Six Sigma proponents agree to the fact that the key to Six Sigma improvement success is the building up of an effective infrastructure. An effective infrastructure lays the foundation for the success of the organization in its implementation of Six Sigma. It is a known fact today that the success of Six Sigma lays on the projects selected and their link to the strategy of their organization. There have been enough publications on the selection of projects and the filters to be used for the prioritization

of projects, however there are not enough details available on the building the key infrastructure for the deployment of Six Sigma. When we discuss the building up of an implementation structure what we are embarking on is a project in itself, which follows the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) methodology: D: Define the Strategic Direction of the organization M: Set Measures for the strategic objectives of the organization A: On a continual basis collect data on the measures set and analyse using Six Sigma tools and techniques I: Identify the opportunities for improvement and convert them to Six Sigma projects for improvement C: Set up a management control action of continuous reviews on the improvements made on the Six Sigma Projects

The objectives of the Define and Measure phase of this project are defined as below:
1. Building up a set of metrics for the organization that give definition to the organizations Vision 2. Metrics that are Integrated with the Strategic direction and objectives of the organization 3. Metrics that align people and work with their strategic objectives 4. Metrics that serve as effective means of communication for the organization both horizontally and vertically. 5. Metrics that provide insight needed for making decisions, setting direction and correcting course. 6. Metrics which will serve as a continuous source for identifying gaps in the organization and plugging them with Six Sigma Projects The problem most organizations face in the phases of Define and Measure is how to build such an organizational dashboard, which will help achieve the objectives cited above.

Solution:
First Step The first step an organization needs to embark on is conducting a self-assessment based on proven assessment models like the Malcolm Baldrige which will help the organization in understanding its "as is" state more clearly and help identify the various opportunities for improvement. The organizations could use the checklist type

of approach in conjunction with interviews for identifying the gaps in ApproachDeployment-Results. Once the assessment of the organization is completed the findings need to be shared with the top management and the employees. This step is extremely crucial as this is what binds the organization together and helps create the cultural change needed aspect within the organization combined with the need for Six Sigma. Second Step Once the first step is conducted the organization is now clear about its current strategies for growth and customer statisfaction. Based on the assessment conducted the organization can re-evaluate all its strategies and strategic objectives. New strategic objectives can now be identified. Third Step Most organizations after having articulated and identified their various objectives are unable to communicate the strategies of the organization. One of the most effective methods for communicating the strategy of the organization is building a strategy map encompassing the now widely adopted Kaplan and Norton's Balanced score card spanning the four perspectives. Answering the questions related to the perspectives helps understand the strategy better and also build a good strategy map. The strategy map helps provide the vital cause and effect linkages in an organization and helps link the Business processes to the strategic destination of the organization.

FOUR PERSPECTIVE

THE BALANCE SCORE CARD PERSPECTIVE It helps an organization to integrate and operationalise the organizations strategy.

Six Sigma Confidence Intervals

Confidence intervals are very important to Six Sigma methodology. To understand Confidence Intervals better, consider this scenario: Acme Nelson, a leading market research firm conducts a survey among voters in USA asking them whom would they vote if elections were to be held today. The answer was a big surprise! In addition to Democrats and Republicans, there is this surprise independent candidate, John Doe who is expected to secure 22% of the vote. We asked Acme, how sure are you? In other words how accurate is this prediction? Their answer: "Well, we are 95% confident that John Doe will get 22% (plus or minus 2%) vote" In the statistical world, they are saying that John Doe will get a vote between 20% to 24% (also known as Confidence Range) with a probability of 95% (Confidence Level).

Definition of Confidence Interval

According to University of Glasgow Department of Statistics, Confidence Interval is defined as: A confidence interval gives an estimated range of values which is likely to include an unknown population parameter, the estimated range being calculated from a given set of sample data. If independent samples are taken repeatedly from the same population, and a confidence interval calculated for each sample, then a certain percentage (confidence level) of the intervals will include the unknown population parameter. Confidence intervals are usually calculated so that this percentage is 95%, but we can produce 90%, 99%, 99.9% (or whatever) confidence intervals for the unknown parameter. In our Acme Nelson survey example The confidence interval is the range 20 to 24 The confidence level is 95% The confidence limits are 20 (lower limit) and 24 (upper limit) The unknown population parameter is the 'percentage of the total vote' John Doe is expected to Get The width of the confidence interval, in our case 24-20=4 is a measure that is directly proportional to the precision. Consider this scenario: What if Acme Nelson's survey predicted that John Doe will get 22% plus or minus 20% vote. In other words Acme is saying John Doe will get between 2% and 42% of the vote. This is a very wide confidence range and in order to reduce the Confidence Interval, Acme needs to collect more samples.

Confidence Intervals in Six Sigma

When we calculate a statistic for example, a mean, a variance, a proportion, or a correlation coefficient, there is no reason to expect that such point estimate would be exactly equal to the true population value, even with increasing sample sizes. There are always sampling inaccuracies, or error. In most Six Sigma projects, there are at least some descriptive statistics calculated from sample data. In truth, it cannot be said that such data are the same as the population's true mean, variance, or proportion value. There are many situations in which it is preferable instead to express an interval in which we would expect to find the true population value. This interval is called an interval estimate. A confidence interval is an interval, calculated from the sample data that is very likely to cover the unknown mean, variance, or proportion. For example, after a process improvement a sampling has shown that its yield has improved from 78% to 83%. But, what is the interval in which the population's yield lies? If the lower end of the interval is 78% or less, you cannot say with any statistical certainty that there has been a significant improvement to the process. There is an error of estimation, or margin of error, or standard error, between the sample statistic and the population value of that statistic. The confidence interval defines that margin of error. The next page shows a decision tree for selecting which formula to use for each situation. For example, if you are dealing with a sample mean and you do not know the population's true variance (standard deviation squared) or the sample size is less than 30, than you use the t Distribution confidence interval. Each of these applications will be shown in turn. Decision Tree for selecting What Formula to use:

Six Sigma Z Confidence Intervals for Means

Z Confidence Interval for Means applies to a mean from a normal distribution of variable data. Use the normal distribution for the confidence interval for a mean if the sample size n is relatively large ( 30), and is known. The confidence interval (C.I.) includes the shaded area under the curve in between the critical values, excluding the tail areas (the risk). The entire curve represents the most likely distribution of population means, given the sample's size, mean, and the population's standard deviation.

Here we are making an assumption that the underlying data we are working with is distributed like the bell curve shown.

The most common confidence interval used in industry is probably the 95% confidence interval. If we were to use its formula on many sets of data from the population, then 95% of the intervals would contain the unknown population mean that we are trying to estimate. And 5% of the intervals would not contain the population mean. 2.5% of the time, the interval would be low, and 2.5% of the time, the interval would be too high.

The probability is 95% that the interval contains the population parameter. The 95% value is the confidence coefficient, or the degree of confidence. The end points of the interval are called the confidence limits. In the graphic on the previous page, the endpoints are defined by

For Example - Z Confidence Interval for Means

QUE: Calculate a 95% C.I. on the mean for a sample (n = 35) with an x-bar of 15.6" and a known of 2.3 " ANS:

SIX SIGMA CONFIDENCE INTERVAL FOR MEAN:

Use the t distribution for the confidence interval for a mean if the sample size n is relatively small (< 30), and/or is not known. The confidence interval (C.I.) includes the shaded area under the curve in between the critical values, excluding the tail areas (the risk). The entire curve represents the most likely distribution of population means, given the sample's size, mean, and standard deviation.

Six Sigma t Confidence Interval for a Variance

Use the 2 (chi-squared) distribution for the confidence interval for the variance The confidence interval (C.I.) includes the area under the curve in between the critical values, excluding the tail areas (the risk). The entire curve represents the most likely distribution of population variances (sigma squared), given the sample's size and variation.

EXAMPLE:
Calculate a 95% C.I. on variance for a sample (n = 35) with an S of 2.3"

This interval represents the most likely distribution of population variances, given the sample's size and variance. 95% of the time, the population's variance will fall in this interval

Z Confidence Intervals for Proportions

This Z Confidence Interval for Proportions applies to an average proportion (which is from a binomial distribution).

Example -

SIX SIGMA METRICS:

What is six sigma metrics?

Six sigma metrics are the different types of measurements used in six sigma methodology, in order to measure the success of the company's product quality. It doesn't means, the simple collection and calculation of the data and defects are enough for the attainment of the success. In order to get the right measurement through the use of six sigma metrics, a successful business should apply these metrics in the right context in a innovative ways so as to solve the customer's critics to the quality of the products. Therefore there are certain steps and six sigma metrics, in six sigma methodology to be applied for the defect-free products.

Different types of Six Sigma Metrics:

The two major types of six sigma metrics are : 1.Classical measures of Six Sigma metrics 2. Typical Six Sigma Measures.

1.Classical Six Sigma Measures: Under which the measurement of the quality of timeliness, accuracy, ease of doing business and cost are taken into consideration. Classical six sigma measurement gives important to improve the quality of the above said aspects for the organization's six sigma measurement framework.

2.Typical Six Sigma Measures: other six sigma measures come under the typical six sigma measurement. other types of six sigma measurement are rolled-throughputyield, DPMO, six sigma tailor and critical-to -quality (CTQ).

ROLLED-THROUGHPUT-YIELD:

"Rolled-Throughput-Yield = Product of the Yields at all Steps in the Process". Rolled throughput yield (RTY) is the percentage of the possibilities or probabilities, that can take place in a single unit, which passes through a series of process. This step is done to get a product of free of defects

DEFECTS PER MILLION OPPORTUNITIES(DPMO):

Six sigma metrics calculates the number of defects with in a process, procedures and service. This type of calculation which indicates the number of defects is know as DPMO or defects per million opportunities. Here the defects are measured in the number of millions of opportunities. To calculate the DPMO, defects per opportunity is calculated first. Once the defects per opportunity is obtained, that number should be multiplied by 1,000,000 to get DPMO.

DPMO= (DPO) x 1,000,000

DEFECTS PER OPPORTUNITY(DPO):

This is the calculation made in six sigma metrics for finding out the total number of possible defects that can be counted in a service. The formula of the defects per opportunity, uses the number of defects and the number of units times that is the defect opportunities. The formula for the calculation of defects per opportunity go like this: DPO = Number of defects divided by the Number of units X Number of opportunities number of defects DPO = --------------------------------------------------------------number of units X number of opportunities

Six Sigma Capability Improvement

(Defect Based Six Sigma Metrics) Example: QUE: If there are 9 defects among 150 invoices, and there are 8 opportunities for errors for every invoice, what is the dpmo? ANS: dpu = no. of defects / total no. of product units = 9/150 = .06 dpu dpo = no. of defects / (no. of units X no. of defect oppurtunities per unit) = 9/(150 X 8) = .0075 dpo dmpo = dpo x 1,000,000 = .0075 X 1,000,000 = 7,500 dpmo

Sigma Table
Yield dpmo Sigma () Cp Equiv.
.840 160,000 .870 130,000 .900 100,000 .930 .935 .940 .945 .950 .955 .960 .965 .970 .975 .980 .985 70,000 65,000 60,000 55,000 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 2.50 2.63 2.78 2.97 3.01 3.05 3.10 3.14 3.20 3.25 3.31 3.38 3.46 3.55 3.67 0.83 0.88 0.93 0.99 1.00 1.02 1.03 1.05 1.06 1.08 1.10 1.13 1.15 1.18 1.22 20% 30%

COPQ (Cost of Poor Quality)

40%

.990 .995 .998 .999 .9995 .99975

10,000 5,000 2,000 1,000 500 250

3.82 4.07 4.37 4.60 4.79 4.98

1.27 1.36 1.46 1.53 1.60 1.66 5% 10%

CRITICAL TO QUALITY(CTQ): The measurable character critical to quality is the key to measure the product or process, whose performance standards must be met in order to satisfy the customer needs. This procedure is done on the basis of the customer's requirements. CTQ gives the result of the product and the services through the customer's definition. These definition includes the upper and lower specification limits. All the factors related to the product or service are also included to customer's demand. The CTQ is invited from a qualitative customer. The CTQ should be actionable, and quantitative business specification. in general it is said that CTQ is something that the customer is expecting from the product that is the basic need of the customer.

IMPLEMENTING SIX SIGMA METRICS:

STEPS:

1.COLLECTION OF DATA: The first step to be taken for the implementation of six sigma metrics, is the collection of data that are sufficient, relevant, representative, contextual and timely. Type of metrics should be planned on the basis of these data collected. This is an important step, because if the data is not these attributes, the metric based on this data can bring out a bad assumptions and wrong conclusions.

2.SELECTION OF METRIC: Once sufficient data are collected, find out the type of metric to be applied. While selecting the metric, see to it whether the metric is actionable. The action ability of the

metric helps the upper management to get the idea about the current levels and to decide whether those levels are acceptable or not.

3.PRESENTATION OF METRIC: The third section includes the presenting of the metrics in a clear format which gives a line of clear sight. This helps the upper management to get a quality metrics. More over it also helps the upper management to know about the actions taken to improve the metric, because this information is critical to the success of the business. Through this the upper management is able to find out the high-level metric and drill down the business to gain a better understanding about the root cause of the problem. The metrics should be presented in a simple manner, by presenting the most critical seven to twelve metrics, which is required to run the business successfully.

SIX SIGMA BELTS:

What is a BELT?

According to six sigma the word belt refers to: The level or the position, of a person in an organization at the time of performing a work or at the time of implementation of a project. Several personalities take part at the time of the implementation of a work, so as to meet and make sure that the project is launched with zero defects and is able to meet the customer satisfaction. Hence results in sustaining the quality and profit of the company or the organization. Each belt is given different colors for the purpose their six sigma success identification. Each color represents each responsibility. This is because the aim of six sigma is not only the production of defect free projects and products, but also the fast implementation of the projects with out time waste. This is able when the work is divided into several parts. More over each color indicates each quality or level of skills. This identification could help the project leaders to find out the apt person for assigning the different tasks. Each color is having different task responsibilities and

skills to perform. Therefore the color will also help the project leader to find out the skills and the responsibilities of the person assigned to the work. In every company there are business leaders who lead the six sigma methodology at the time of sponsoring projects. These business leaders are known as the "Champions". It is their responsibility to select the projects and then to find out the goals obtained out of the project. For the attainment of these goals, the champions select and mentor six sigma project leaders, who is know as the "Belt".

LEVELS OF BELTS:
There are 3 major levels of belts. Along with the training, these participants are also provided with certifications also. The six sigma certification differs from other types of certification. As in the other type of certifications, six sigma certification do not qualify a persons different capability, instead it gives importance to the specific ability which is needed for the defect free production of the company. The 3 major levels of belts and its certifications are:

1.GREEN BELT:
Here the six sigma green belt operators are given training to operate in the support or under the supervision of a six sigma black belt. Through this certification the person is trained to analyze and solve quality problems. This results in the quality improvement projects. The person, who had undergone the six sigma green belt certification, has at least three years of work experience in demonstrating the knowledge of six sigma tools and processes.

A SPECIMEN OF SIX SIGMA GREEN BELT CERTIFICATE

2.BLACK BELT:
The candidate who had undergone six sigma black belt certification is a professional who is capable in the explanation of six sigma philosophies and the principles. His knowledge also includes the supporting systems and the tools. This certification also deals with the training of the candidate in developing the demonstrating of the team leadership, understanding team dynamics and assigning team member roles and responsibilities. A six sigma black belt will be well versed will all the aspects of the DMAIC model in accordance with the six sigma principles. These professionals have basic knowledge of lean enterprise concepts. They are capable in identifying nonvalue added elements and activities. A SPECIMEN OF THE BLACK BELT CERTIFICATION

MASTER BLACK BELT:

The professionals who had undergone the master black belt certification are considered as a six sigma quality experts and they are responsible for the strategic implementations within an organization. The training is given for the improvement of the responsibilities of a master black belt, which includes training and mentoring of black belts and the green belts. Moreover the responsibilities or the duties of a master black belt extend to the range of helping the both belts in prioritizing, selecting and charting high impact projects. Maintaining the integrity of the six sigma measurements, improvements and developing, revising six sigma training materials, qualifying or teaching the other six sigma facilitators about the methodologies, tools and applications in all functional areas of a company are some of the other responsibilities of a person who has completed master black belt certification.

3.YELLOW BELT:
Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification provides with the attendees an overall insight to the use age of the six sigma techniques. The training is also given in the field of six sigma metrics and the basic improvement methodologies. It is essential for six sigma yellow belt to learn how to integrate lean and six sigma methodologies to get the high level production and transactional systems. This is to meet the customer's expectations and the objectives of the organization from the bottom, to its best. The certification helps the trainees to receive an idea about the introduction to the process management and the basic tools of six sigma. Strong understanding of the processes, enabling each individual to provide meaningful assistance is the other characteristics of the six sigma yellow belt certification. The aim of this certification is the achievement of the organizations overall objectives.

LEAN MANUFACTURING:

What is lean manufacturing?

The methodology of the lean six sigma is to bring about the maximum result with less time in the inventory, space, people and money. The lean aims about speeding up the process and getting the right product at the first time. Here lean manufacturing is the systematical approach of identification and the elimination of waste through continuous improvement by the flow of products, which meets the demand of the customer. The philosophy of lean manufacturing is derived from the "Toyota Production System". Lean manufacturing is a generic process of management, for the production of goods through the removal of waste and implementing the flow. The operational strategy in lean manufacturing gives importance in the achievement of better production of goods that meet the customer's satisfaction, through the process of shortest possible cycle time by eliminating waste and reducing incidental work. Lean manufacturing is a technique which helps in decreasing the time between the customer need and the shipment. It is designed in a way that there is a rapid improvement in the profit, gaining the customer satisfaction, reducing the production of time and sustaining the employee emotions. In general it is said that lean manufacturing is considered as a company's "half human effort, the half manufacturing space, the half investment in tools and the half engineering hours for the development of a new product with in the half time scheduled". It is clear that the benefits gained through the implementation of lean manufacturing is the lower costs, higher quality and shorter lead time for the production.

The characteristics of lean processes are:

1.Single-piece production 2.Repetitive order characteristics 3.Just-in-time materials or pull scheduling 4.Short cycle times 5.Quick changeover 6.Continuous flow work cells 7.Collocated machines, equipment, tools and people 8.Compressed space

Lean manufacturing approaches:

1. The first approach is used for the identification and the continuous elimination of the waste. It is clear that as the waste is being eliminated, the quality of the product improves, while the production time and cost is reduced.

2. The second approach to lean manufacturing, is focusing on improving the "flow"

of the work. By the word flow means, the smoothness of the work. in the second approach the focus is given in the smoothening of the work, through the system and not the waste reduction. The second approach was promoted by Toyota. The difference between the two approaches lies not on the attainment of the goal, but achieving the goal at the first time itself. In the second approach, the smooth flow of the work helps in exposing the defects or the quality problems which is there in the

work already. This exposing of the defects leads to the reduction of the waste naturally.

Types of wastes:

The elimination of waste is the goal of lean manufacturing and Toyota defined that there are three types of waste like: "muda, muri and mura". 1.MUDA: muda is process of activity that results wasteful or which does not add any value to the production of goods which meets the customer satisfaction. There are seven types of muda. They are as follows:

Overproduction: production of goods beyond the demand Transportation: moving the products that is not required for the processing Waiting: wasting the time waiting for the next production step

Inventory: all the necessary steps like components, work-in-progress and finished products not being processed Motion: movement of the people or the equipments more than it is needed for the processing Over Processing: Defects: the result of poor tool or product design creating activity

the efforts used in inspecting and fixing the defects.

2.MURI: The pushing of a person or a machine beyond its natural limits with in a work is referred as muri, which is another type of waste. all types of unreasonable works that the management is imposing towards the workers and the machines comes under this category. This is because of the poor management organization. Poor management organization such as making carry heavy weights, moving things around, dangerous tasks, even working faster than usual.

3.MURA: This is the action which focus on the implementation and elimination of fluctuation at the scheduling or the operational levels. This includes the levels of quality and volume.

BASIC LEAN SIX SIGMA INFRASTRUCTURE

LEAN SIX SIGMA:

What is lean six sigma?

Lean six sigma is a methodology of business improvement, which is the combination of lean manufacturing and six sigma tools. The aim of lean six sigma is the production of products which yields the "better quality faster". An organization implement the use of lean six sigma in order to reduce the time of production with the high quality expected. This is possible through the combination of the lean manufacturing and the traditional six sigma methodology. While lean manufacturing pays attention towards the speed, the traditional six sigma focuses on the quality of the product. Both action results in the production of a "better quality faster".

The implementation of lean six sigma acts as an inter process inspections, in order to find out and eliminate the defective units. Lean six sigma gives importance in finding out the cause of defective units rather than further processing.

Steps that are involved in lean six sigma method is:

1. Finding out the processes, both in the functional department and in a business, which is more important in delivering the customer value 2.Mapping the processes using the value stream mapping 3.Identifying the bottlenecks or the obstacles in the value stream 4.Standardizing the relevant process steps through the application of variation reduction by using DMAIC or DMADV methods.

 COMPARISION OF DMAIC AND LEAN PROCESS

SCOPE OF LEAN SIX SIGMA

Lean Six Sigma Certification

Lean six sigma certification provides the professionals with both techniques of service and manufacturing in industries. Along with this lean certification makes an individual attain the following requirements: 1.Focusing how to move fast in order to accomplish the objectives with in the industry. 2.Involves in business enterprise, identifies and eliminates the activities which do not provide values to the product or to the service given to the customer. 3. Awareness of the lean and six sigma methodology help the business enterprise in attaining a stable improvement. 4.The improvement will start from the bottom level and will be having a fast accomplishment 5.Identifying the potential areas, deciding the improvements, meeting the customer expectation and the business results are other fields in which the trainees concentrate.

BENEFITS OF LEAN SIX SIGMA:

Eliminates non-value-added activities and makes processes highly efficient. Reduces defects, resulting in higher quality products and services. Lowers operating costs by increasing process capability and yield. Decreases cycle time and lead time for both products and services. Leverages data to help the business make sound decisions. Improves customer satisfaction by providing high-quality offerings at the right time. Involves employees at all levels to institutionalize a culture of excellence.

SIX SIGMA IN BUSINESS

Even though Six Sigma was initially implemented at Motorola to improve the manufacturing process, all types of businesses can profit from implementing Six Sigma. Businesses in various industry segments such as Services industry (Example: Call Centers, Insurance, Financial/Investment Services), Ecommerce industry (Example: B2B/B2C websites), Education can definitely use Six Sigma principles to achieve higher quality. Many big businesses such as GE and Motorola have successfully implemented Six Sigma but the adaptation by smaller businesses has been very slow. GE is a pioneer in using Six Sigma. Here are some of the reasons to consider: Bigger companies have resources internally who are trained in Six Sigma and also have 'Train the Trainer' programs using which they churn out many more Six Segma instructors. Also many bigger companies encourage the employees to learn Six Sigma process by providing Green Belts/Black Belts as mentors. Effectively applying the Six Sigma techniques is difficult compared to actually learning the techniques in a class. Big companies make Six Sigma as part of the Goals for employees and provide incentives for employees who undergo training and mentor colleagues. Many assume that that Six Sigma works for bigger companies only as they produce in volumes and have thousands of employees.

SIX SIGMA WITHIN BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE:

Because Six Sigma is in essence the practice of monitoring and improving business processes it is clearly a valuable component within the overall Business Intelligence framework. More specifically, because Six Sigma drives management behavior and decision-making regarding business processes, it is a type of Decision Support System (DSS). Six Sigma process monitoring can and does take place in every interface listed: 1. Analysis Process analysis, often called Statistical Process Control (SPC) is at the heart of the Six Sigma program for quality 2.Report Six Sigma tools such as control charts (X-bar and r, etc.) are important business reporting tools. 3. Scorecard The Six Sigma components of control limits and defects per million opportunities provide businesses with a powerful quality scorecard. 4. Alerts The Six Sigma process is designed to alert the business when a business process begins to fluctuate or become out of control. 5. Query Although queries are not always required to monitor a process, they can be used to get data to be included in Six Sigma process evaluation. 6. Dashboard - One of the most valuable tools under the Business Intelligence umbrella is the dashboard. Dashboards provide managers with quick, easy to read high level information about an organization. Quality indicators, as metrics within the Six Sigma process are often well represented in management dashboards.

SIX SIGMA IN LARGE COMPANIES VS SMALL COMPANIES:

Companies like GE, Motorola, and AlliedSignal have already saved billions of dollars with their Six Sigma Quality initiatives. According to Jack Welch, GE CEO, "the financial rationale for embarking on this quality journey is clear." But are the results of a Six Sigma implementation as clear for small companies? Requirements of six sigma: Following are the major requirements of six sigma: 1. Management Team Buy-In and Support 2. Education and Training 3. Resource Committment 4. Link to Compensation

1. MANAGEMENT TEAM BUY-IN AND SUPPORT:

LARGE COMPANIES If the executive team is not fully supportive and proactive in establishing the Six Sigma Quality initiative, you will be wasting everyone's time. As with any successful initiative implementation, everyone's actions need to be tied to the initiative. A useful exercise in determining buy-in is to list out all the individuals of the management team on a piece of paper. Then assign a positive, neutral or negative to each person signifying what you believe to be their support for the initiative. Your job, before beginning the implementation, is to move every single person to at least a neutral position, if not positive. Education can help with this goal. SMALL COMPANIES Compared to large companies, small company management teams are typically closer on a personal basis. Pulling the small company team together for a short meeting can be done in minutes, as opposed to days for a large company. Because smaller companies are more agile, it is typically easier to achieve management team agreement that a standard methodology can help achieve results. Although politics are always present, less may be required in a smaller company to come to agreement and buy-in for implementing Six Sigma Quality.

3. EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

LARGE COMPANIES: Many educational programs currently exist; most provided by consulting companies. A list of the most reputable consultants can be found in the Six Sigma Consultants category of the iSixSigma library. What training is necessary? Well, it depends on who is getting trained. Here's a snapshot table identifying the major groups of individuals, the suggested training agenda, approximate cost and duration of the training.

Training Your Business or Organization

Group Management Team and Champions MajorTopics * Six Sigma Overview * Benefits and Case Studies * How To Implement Six Sigma * Tools and Resources * Six Sigma Overview * Six Sigma Methodology and Tools * Statistics Training * Computer Application Training * ProjectSelection and Execution * Six Sigma Overview * Benefits * What To Expect Going Forward * Simple Case Study and Exercise ApproximateCost Per Person $1,000-$2,500 Duration 1-5days

Selected Six Sigma Leaders (Black Belts and Master Black Belts)

$12,000-$50,000

4 weeks delivered over a period of 2-6 months

All Employees

Variable, depending on if taught in-house or if consultant (approximately $2,000 per day plus expenses) is used

0.5-1day

SMALL COMPANIES Although the above costs presented are somewhat standard, buying in bulk always produces a discount. This is the main reason education and training is harder (costlier) for smaller companies. Time is money -- time away from the office is lost revenue and production for both small and large companies alike. But the return on investment is a function of the potential savings of the business. For a behemoth like GE or Motorola, standardized processes can yield enormous savings -- a large potential exists prior to implementing Six Sigma. For a smaller companies, the savings potential may not be as great. The return on investment may not be as quick or as significant.

3. RESOURCE COMMITMENT: LARGE COMPANIES Black Belts (BBs) and/or Master Black Belts (MBBs) need to be identified and trained. But more importantly, they need to be assigned to your Six Sigma efforts almost 100%; 50% application yields less than a 50% result. In addition to BBs and MBBs, you should be ready to assign 5-15% of key employees' time to specific projects SMALL COMPANIES The key issue here is employee time. As mentioned above, time is money for both employees that are partially assigned to teams and project leaders. BUT -- we must remember to see the forest through the trees. Any time dedicated to process improvement will be recouped in process productivity going forward for all time. But it again boils down to the potential savings that are available in your business. 4. LINK TO COMPENSATION: LARGE COMPANIES In large companies all work and perform responsibilities for a paycheck, right? Just as it expect the factory to produce Y widgets per hour and t banek to process Z deposits per day, it expects projects to be contributed to and successfully completed in a prescribed time period. And employees executing well should be compensated well. The quickest way to initiative success is to tie results to the business bottom line, create performance goals, and compensate employees appropriately. SMALL COMPANIES No brainer. Being able to link compensation to Six Sigma implementation is much easier in a small company, compared to a larger company. Decisions in general are quicker for small companies, that's why they are more agile. The key will be applying the rigor and written procedures that larger companies do well.

SIX SIGMA MAPS AND FLOWCHARTS

The use of Six Sigma Maps and Flowcharts:

The process according to six sigma is the total number of sequences, series and the arrangements of events, steps or measurements done repeatedly for the production of quality products or services. Changing a process is the first step in a six sigma improvement program in order to reduce the costs and improve quality. There are different types of graphical representation for a process or procedure to show its flow type style of all actions and conclusion taking place in a process. There are process maps, flow charts, and SIPOC diagrams used for the graphical representation of the process.

1. Process Maps:
The process maps are same as the flowchart but some elements are different form the flowchart. Process maps are often more detailed than flowchart and also include a timeline. Process mapping is a hierarchical method of illustrating how a product or transaction is processed. It contains all the activities that transform a well organized and defined input or inputs into a pre defined set of outputs. The process mapping gives us a visual representation of the work flow with in a process.

2. Flowcharts:
A flowchart is a graphical representation of a process, used as a tool that shows the input, activities and output of the process. It represents the entire process from the start to the finishing point, and act as a serving instructional manual for facilitating detailed analysis and improving the workflow and service delivery. A flowchart helps in attaining an entire process at a detailed level of observation. Flowcharts help in the successful implementation of six sigma programs.

3. SIPOC Diagram:
SIPOC:"supplier inputs outputs and customer" diagram is created at the initial
stage of the process, that is to define the phase of a six sigma project. It is to ensure that the supplier, inputs, process, outputs and the customer have identified and are agreed by all the members of the team.

4. Block Diagram- flowchart:

The graphical tool, that make use of the picture of any given process or procedure. It shows the design of the connection of its components or the elements and the logical flow of the process or the procedure. Different shapes are used to represent each item in the diagram.

For example: To indicate the process "rectangle" shape is used To indicate the connector "circle" shape is used To indicate the extract "triangle" shape is used To indicate the decision "diamond" shape is used The elements contained in a graphs are the starting point to the process and its subprocesses, an ending points to the process and its sub-processes, inputs, outputs and other types of direction and decisions which leads to another potential direction. EXAMPLE OF BLOCK DIAGRAM

5.Complex Block Diagram:

A mixture of the sequences of the processes or procedures and is also an analogy of the process of procedure.

LIST OF SIX SIGMA COMPANIES:

The following companies claim to have successfully implemented Six Sigma in some form or another: The Performance Management Group LLC

3M[1] Advanced Micro Devices[2] Agilent Technologies Air Canada Amazon.com[3] AXA Bank of America[4] Bechtel Corporation[5] Boeing[6] CAE Aviation Training Canada Post Caterpillar Inc.[7] CIGNA Cognizant Technology Solutions Computer Sciences Corporation[8] Cummins Inc. Deere & Company[9] Dell[10] Denso[11] DHL Dominion Resources Dow Chemical Company Dow Chemical Joint Ventures DSB Bank DuPont Eastman Kodak Company[12] EMC Flextronics Ford Motor Company[13] General Electric[10] General Dynamics Genpact GlaxoSmithKline Heinz Co. Honeywell[14] Hertel HSBC Group Idearc Media Ingram Micro Intrawest ULC Inventec[11] JEA Korea Telecom Kraton Polymers KTF

Mando Corporation McKesson Corporation [16] Merrill Lynch Methodia[17] Microflex Inc. Motorola[10] Mumbai Dabbawala or NMTBSA National Australia Group Europe Network Rail Nortel Networks Northrop Grumman[10] Organo Corporation[11] Owens-Illinois Patheon Precision Castparts Corp. Quest Diagnostics, Inc Raytheon[10] Samsung Group SGL Group Shinhan Bank Shinhan Card Siemens AG SKF Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide[18] Staples Inc. Sterlite Optical Technologies Teradyne Trane Textron The McGraw-Hill Companies Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology[11] TRW TSYS (Total System Services) Ueki Corporation[11] United States Air Force[19] United States Army[20] United States Marine Corps[21] United States Navy[22] UnitedHealth Group Vodafone Volt Information Sciences Whirlpool Wipro[23] Xerox

LIST OF SIX SIGMA SOFTWARE PACKAGES:

There are generally two classes of software used to support Six Sigma:

Analysis tools, which are used to perform statistical or process analysis Program management tools, used to manage and track a corporation's entire Six Sigma program

Analysis tools

EngineRoom by MoreSteam IBM WebSphere Business Modeler iGrafx Process for Six Sigma JMP Microsoft Visio Minitab Quality Companion by Minitab SigmaXL Software AG webMethods BPM Suite Statgraphics STATISTICA Telelogic System Architect Actuate The Unscrambler Select Architect Business Process Modeling

BRINGING SIX SIGMA TO ICU BEDSIDE

Using Six Sigma principles, one health care system has significantly cut ventilator days As hospitals and health systems around the country strive to become more efficient and obtain higher levels of patient satisfaction, more and more are turning to a comprehensive methodology called Six Sigma1 to facilitate those changes more quickly.
EXAMPLE: BAY

CARE HEALTH SYSTEM

At BayCare Health System, a not-for-profit health system with nine hospitals in the Tampa Bay area, Six Sigma has provided noticeable improvements. BayCare launched Six Sigma approximately 1 year ago to help improve patient care and reduce costs.One of BayCares first 12 Six Sigma projects was to reduce the number of days intensive care unit patients remained on ventilators at a hospital. Any reduction of time on a ventilator improves the clinical outcomes of critically ill patients. The results were very positive. The hospital achieved these results by using Six Sigmas DMAIC methodology. Each phase plays an important role in achieving a practical solution. Here is more on each phase: 1. Define Phase Launching and setting the context and objectives for the project The first step in the Define Phase was to assemble a team that was knowledgeable about the ventilator process. Defining the project allowed the team to identify project metrics and narrow the scope of the project. Upon completion of this phase, an important deliverable is a SIPOC diagram (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers diagram) that is created (Figure 1).

2. Measure Phase
Understanding the process and gathering the baseline performance and capability of the project The first task during this phase was for the multidisciplinary team to document a process flow for a patient from intubation through extubation. This exercise revealed areas that needed improvement with more consistent process flow and standardization, leading to some immediate lean techniques. A capability analysis (how well the process is currently meeting the customers needs) showed areas for improvement The goal was verified by running an analysis of the means to determine that the change in the number of days was statistically significant and outside of the confidence intervals.

4.

Analyze Phase

Using data and tools to understand the cause-and-effect relationships in the process or system With a baseline sample of data to work with, the team entered the Analyze Phase ready to identify key inputs that affect the number of days a person is on a ventilator. Due to the quantity of variables, the Six Sigma team leader, known as a Black Belt, divided them into three areas. The first set of information consisted of patient-centered or demographic information The second set of variables included items that occurred to the patient while in our care, such as type of sedation medication, type of pain medication, whether a sedation vacation was performed, nutritional consult, rehabilitation consult, daily ABG, and daily chest x-ray. The last set of variables were associated with post-exudation: items that did not fall into the prior two categoriesdischarge disposition, temporary or permanent tracheotomy, and reintubation rate.
5.

Improve Phase

Determining, validating, and implementing solutions to achieve the objective statement Based on the statistical solution, the team began thinking of ways to implement practical solutions.

They focused on a five-prong approach for these improvements. 1. Standardization a. Process flow b. Weaning criteria c. Daily rounding sheet 2. Hospital-driven improvements a. Interdisciplinary rounding b. Daily sedation vacation c. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) bundle administered 3. Physician-driven improvements a. Updated weaning protocol b. Pulmonologist acceptance c. Regained confidence in clinical staff 4. Information system support and documentation a. New critical care orders b. Daily departmental notification of ventilated patients c. Weekly dashboard d. Policies and procedures to support new processes e. Team map 5. Team member education and training a. RN in-service is conducting ongoing education on topics such as pain management b. Ventilator-specific annual competencies are being done for the RT department c. Interdisciplinary Lunch and Learn

5.Control Phase
Establishing plans and procedures to ensure the improvements are sustained The most important phase in this methodologyand what sets Six Sigma apart from other quality initiativesis the Control Phase. During the Control Phase, the team focuses on putting processes in place to fully monitor the input improvements that have been implemented. This phase focuses on the key xs or variables identified in the Analyze Phase. If these components are under control or within the specifications set by the team, the output or number of ventilator days should, in theory, always stay close to or under our target goal.

SIX SIGMA IN MOTOROLA

The Six Sigma methodology was created by Motorola, which proudly claims one of the most established business improvement procedures in the industry. Motorola has built upon this experience and has continued to focus its efforts on developing the Six Sigma methodology. For almost two decades, Motorola has been using Six Sigma throughout its organization, implementing the practice into various facets of the company besides manufacturing. "As a result, we have documented over $17 billion in savings to our own organization!" (1) Motorola has been working with its customers and suppliers for some time to deliver the benefits of Six Sigma. The company has helped customers not only in the manufacturing arena but also in the service sectors as well, including financial service companies. The company's global reach affords a large source of experience and guidance, as well as the qualifications to further develop Six Sigma.

SIX SIGMA IN DABBAWALLAS

Claiming that implementation of this concept would not only boost the companys bottom line by reducing the mistakes, he said enhancing the customer satisfaction and increasing the market share was the end result. Stating that it was a must for any organisation, regardless of what product it makes or what kind of service it provides, he said the implementation was perfect when every individual and every part of the organisation take it seriously and have a positive approach. Citing the example of the Dabbawallas of Mumbai, who supply tiffin to the employees at their offices daily, he said the people involved in this service work with unbelievable speed and accuracy and deliver the right tiffin to the right person, with minimum possibility of a mistake. He said the chances of mistake in that service was one in six million. He said the Dabbawallas had been operating like the Six Sigma multinationals like the Motorola and the General Electric

SIX SIGMA IN GENERIC ELECTRICS(GE):

GE began moving towards a focus on quality in the late '80s. Work-Out, the start of our journey, opened our culture to ideas from everyone, everywhere, decimated the bureaucracy and made boundaryless behavior a reflexive, natural part of our culture, thereby creating the learning environment that led to Six Sigma Key Concepts of Six Sigma At its core, Six Sigma revolves around a few key concepts. 1.CRITICAL TO QUALITY: attributes most important to customers. 2.DEFECT: failing to deliver what customer wants. 3. PROCESS CAPABILITY: what your process can deliver. 4. VARIATION: what the customer sees and feel. 5. STABLE OPERATIONS: ensuring consistent, predictable processes to improve what the customer sees and feels. 6. DESIGN FOR SIX SIGMA: designing to meet customer needs and process capability.
A SIMPLE TECNIQUE USED BY GE