Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It aims to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. The core idea is that if you have six standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit, you will produce 3.4 defective parts per million opportunities. Six Sigma follows the DMAIC model which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. It relies on a strong emphasis on data and statistics to measure and improve processes. The Dabbawala system in Mumbai, India is often cited as an example of a near Six Sigma level process with an error rate of around 1 in 16 million deliver

1. Submitted By:
Samarth Gupta
18MBAIB14
International Human Resource Management
PSMBAIBTC0203
International Centre for Cross
Cultural Research & Human
Resource Management

2. IN
HUMAN
RESOURCE

3.  A business philosophy & strategy adopted by companies
who are recognised leaders in world class quality.
 Fact based decision making. An integrated part of a
management system.
 Customer focused (Customer “critical-to-quality”
factors) determine where we should focus our quality
improvements.
 Continuous improvement methodology used to
improve business processes and products.
 Utilisation of powerful statistical tools.
 Statistical measure of process capability.

4. ‘Six Sigma is a goal for process
improvement that forces us to put our
vision of quality in numerical terms (i.e
3.4 defect parts per million or
99.99966% “good”)’
A more practical definition is ‘Data
driven problem solving’

5. It is a Philosophy
– Anything less than ideal is an
opportunity for improvement
– Defects costs money
– Understanding processes and
improving them is the most
efficient way to achieve lasting
results
It is a Process
– To achieve this level of
performance you need to:
Define, Measure, Analyse,
Improve and Control
It is Statistics
– 6 Sigma processes will
produce less than 3.4
defects per million
opportunities

6. Sigma Level
Sigma Level
(Process
Capability)
Defects per Million
Opportunities
2 308,537
3 66,807
4 6,210
5 233
6 3.4
Six Sigma =
99.9997%
Six-Sigma is an integrated quality improvement
framework, which aims at ensuring no more than 3.4
defects per million opportunities.

7. What it means to be @ Six Sigma
Is 99% (3.8s) good enough? 99.99966% Good – At 6s
20,000 lost mails per hour 7 lost mails per hour
Unsafe drinking water
almost 15 minutes each day
One minute of unsafe
drinking water every seven
months
5,000 incorrect surgical
operations per week
1.7 incorrect surgical
operations per week
2 short or long landings at most
major airports daily
One short or long landing at
major airports every five years
200,000 wrong drug
prescriptions each year
68 wrong drug prescriptions
each year

8. Why Six Sigma?
Money
Customer
Satisfaction
Growth
Quality
Competitive
Advantage
Employee Pride

9. Potential HR contributions in this area include:
Building a competency model that will help identify candidates with
the right mix of technical, team, and leadership skills and abilities.
Creating job descriptions that help candidates fully understand the
position and expectations prior to signing on.
Developing a retention strategy that will help ensure Black Belts
complete their rotation and the organization recoups its investment in
training and development.

10. HR professionals can help the project teams work together more
effectively. Potential HR contributions in this area include:
 Ensuring team leaders and members get training and/or coaching in
teamwork, conflict management, communications, dealing with difficult
team members, and other team effectiveness skills.
 Acting as a resource for Black Belts who encounter team-related
challenges they cannot surmount.

11. Some of the skill sets and competencies that get developed along with the
implementation of Six Sigma are as below:
Builds Team Building Competency
Creates a learning culture
Develops Coaching and Mentoring skills
Improves presentation and training skills
Improves Project Management skills
Encourages Statistical Thinking
Opportunity to set challenging targets

12. Creates cross functional awareness /
competency building
Motivation through awards and recognition
Encourages sharing and learning between
strategic business units.

13. Some examples of projects a green belt or black belt from HR can
work, with a focus of process improvement are as listed below:
 Recruitment and Induction Process
 Performance Management Process
 Knowledge Management
 Human Resource Information System
 Training and Development Process
 Compensation Disbursement and Reimbursement
Process

14.  Employee related administrative transactional
processes
 Competency Development Process
 Job Design and Analysis

15. 1. Process Power
2. People Power

16. Six Sigma projects follow two project methodologies
inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle.
These methodologies, composed of five phases
each, bear the acronyms DMAIC and DMADV.
 DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving an
existing business process.
 DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating new
product or process designs.

17. Six Sigma: Process

18. Design For Six Sigma (DFSS): DMADV
• 6 Sigma uses DMADV method for development of new
products
• Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands
and the enterprise strategy.
• Measure and identify Customers and Requirements (CTQs)
• Analyze to develop and design alternatives,
• Design details, optimize the design,
• Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production
process

20. • Define
– What is important?
• Measure
– How are we doing?
• Analyze
– What is wrong?
• Improve
– Fix what’s wrong
• Control
– Ensure gains are maintained
to guarantee performance
• A logical and structured approach to
problem solving and process
improvement
• An iterative process (continuous
improvement)
• A quality tool with focus on change
management

21. 1. Process Power
2. People Power

22. Master
Black
Belt
Black Belts
Green Belts
Team Members /
Yellow Belts
Champions
Mentor, trainer, and coach of Black Belts and
others in the organization.
Leader of teams implementing the six
sigma methodology on projects.
Delivers successful focused projects
using the six sigma methodology and
tools.
Participates on and supports the
project teams, typically in the context
of his or her existing responsibilities.
Six Sigma: People Power

24. (Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association)
 History : Started in 1880
 Charitable trust : Registered in 1956
 Avg. Literacy Rate : 8th Grade Schooling
 Total area coverage : 60 Kms
 Employee Strength : 5000
 Number of Tiffin's : 2,00,000 Tiffin Boxes
i.e 4,00,000 transactions every day.
 Time taken : 3 hrs

25. Error Rate : 1 in 16 million transactions
•Six Sigma performance (99.999999)
•Technological Backup : Nil.
•Cost of service -Rs. 300/month ($ 6.00/month)
•Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space)
•Rs. 36 Cr. Turnover approx. [6000*12*5000=360000000 i.e
Rs. 36 crore p.a.]
•“No strike” record as each one a share holder •Earnings -5000
to 6000 p.m.
•Diwali bonus: one month’s from customers.

26.  Zero % fuel Zero % investment
 Zero % modern technology Zero % Disputes
 99.9999% performance 100 % Customer Satisfaction

27.  Initial Coding System used colored threads to mark 7 Islands
 Then Utilized thrown away cotton waste from tailors
 Now using color markers:
E :: Code for Dabbawala Street
at residential station
VLP :: Residential Station Ville Parle
3 :: Code for Destination station.
E.G :: Church gate
9 :: Code for Dabbawala at Destination.
Ex :: Express towers ( Building name)
12 :: Floor no. in the building.

28. Pick up Dabba from
Residence/Caterer and
bring it to Andheri
Station.
*Journey in Local
Train* Unloading and Sorting
at Destination Station.
Delivery to respective
customers.
Collection of Empty
Dabba.
Sorting at Destinations
station.
Returning Dabba to
Residence/Caterer.
9:30 A.M- 10:30 A.M 10:34- 11:20 A.M 11:20- 12:30 P:M
1:15- 2:30 P.M
3:30- 4:40 P.M
12:30 - 1:00 P.M2:48- 3:30P:M

29.  In 1998, Forbes Global magazine conducted
a quality assurance study on the Dabbawalas'
operations
 Gave Rating of 99.999999
 Dabbawalas made one error in six million
transactions.
 Stood High along with MNC’s like Motorola,
GE etc…
 Dabbawalas got ISO 9001- 2000 for
Excellence in service

30.  Documentaries made by :
 BBC ,UTV, MTV, ZEE TV, AAJ TAK, TV TODAY,
SAHARA SAMAY, STAR TV, CNBC TV 18, CNN, SONY
TV, TV TOKYO, NDTV.
 CASE STUDY made by :
 ICFAI Press Hyderabad & Bangalore
 Richard Ivey School of Business – Canada
 Also, Included in a subject in Graduate School of
Journalism University of California, Berkeley
 Invitations from :
 CII for conference held in Bangalore, IIML, IIMA, CII
Cochin, CII Delhi, Dr. Reddy’s Lab Foundation Hyderabad,
SCMHRD Pune, SCMHRD Nasik, Sadahana – Pune,
Rotary Club – Bangalore, NIQR at Chennai

31. • World record in Best Time management.
• Name in “GUINESS BOOK of World
Records”.
• Registered with Ripley's “ believe it or not”.
• Invited for marriage of Hon. Prince Charles
of England on 9th April, 2005
• Documentary called “Dabbawalas, Mumbai's
unique lunch service”
by two Dutch filmmakers in 1998.

33.  www.sixsigmaranch.com
 www.sixsigma.ua.edu
 www.zdnet.com/six-sigma
 www.wikipedia.com/sixsigma
 www.mydabbawalla.in