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Six Sigma is not for the faint of heart nor the undisciplined organization. It's intense and rigorous, and it entails questioning the way everything is done. It doesn't allow a management team to believe that "good" or "competitive" is good enough but, rather, exposes the waste that otherwise would remain invisible to shareholders and customers.
Neil DeCarlo, Breakthrough Management Group
Source: Six Sigma for Dummies
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What is Six Sigma and Why do Companies Need it?
Generally speaking, companies use Six Sigma to reduce variation in products and processes - but the net effect of any Six Sigma project is what people are really looking for: fewer defects, shorter cycle times, increased capacity and throughput, lower costs, higher revenues and reduced capital expenditures.
When Six Sigma is deployed systematically and pervasively - with the right technology support and leadership force - it can produce large amounts of cash for shorter-term profitability or for longer-term investments.
In its most simple sense, Six Sigma is a highly disciplined approach to decision making that helps people focus on improving processes to make them as near perfect as possible.
The term "Six Sigma" relates to the number of mathematical defects in a process. Six Sigma practitioners focus on systematically eliminating the defects so they can get as close to "zero defects" as possible.
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The Six Sigma Method - DMAIC
Most people are familiar with the methodological expression of Six Sigma, DMAIC - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. 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.
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.
Six Sigma and TPE
In the context of Total Performance Excellence (TPE), Six Sigma focuses more on quality and problem-solving - while Process Management focuses on basic process definition, Lean focuses on time and flow, and Design for Six Sigma focuses on designing new processes or products.
When Six Sigma works in concert with these other methods, the benefits can be exponential.
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