Six Sigma is a quality control program developed by Motorola in 1986 that aims for near perfection by striving to reduce defects to 3.4 per million opportunities. It uses a data-driven approach to eliminate defects in processes from manufacturing to services. Six Sigma has evolved from quality control to a general business management philosophy focused on meeting customer requirements. It provides tools to analyze processes, identify issues, and drive improvements. Major companies like GE, Microsoft, and Wipro have successfully implemented Six Sigma.

1. SIX SIGMA

2. A quality – control program developed in 1986 by
Motorola. Initially, it emphasized cycle-time
improvement and reducing manufacturing defects to a
level of no more than 3.4 per million. Since then, Six
Sigma has evolved into a more general business-
management philosophy focused on meeting customer
requirements, improving customer retention, and
improving and sustaining business products and
services. Six Sigma is applicable to all industries.
Definition

3. 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 in any process
from manufacturing to transactional and from product
to service.
Description

4. Brainstorm – This is an example of six sigma tool which
allows the employees of a company think innovatively and
come up with suggestions and ideas for the improvement of
the company.
Affinity Diagram – This is the which helps sorting out the best
ideas from the ones provided by people.
Histogram – This is a sort of bar chart that helps estimating
and evaluating the data collected from various aspects of the
system
Pareto Charts – The Pareto Charts is an example of Six Sigma
application tool that helps short-listing the causes of
different problems, is one of the easiest ways to solve them
as the effort is reduced.
Examples

5. General Electric Company – GE is one of the companies that reaped
maximum benefit from six sigma. This company is famous for its
diversity in numerous fields and also for the research and
development.
Satyam – Satyam is another prominent software and services
company that has become one of the most popular companies in
the field after it implemented Six Sigma in its infrastructure.
Microsoft – it is one of the most popular and revenue generating
companies of the world. Now, the secret behind their near perfect
services and products is Six Sigma.
Wipro – Wipro is one company that deals in software development,
consumer goods production and customer services with equal
efficiency. It attained the ultimate condition free from all sorts of
defects with help of Six Sigma.
Examples of Six Sigma Companies

6.  Six Sigma is driven by the customer and thus aims to achieve
maximum customer satisfaction and minimizing defects. It targets
the customer delight and new innovative ways to exceed the
customer expectations.
 Implementations of Six Sigma methodology leads to rise of
profitability and reduction in costs. Thus improvements achieved are
directly related to financial results.
 Six Sigma is successfully implemented virtually every business
category including return on sales, return on investment,
employment growth and stock value growth.
 Six Sigma targets variation in the processes and focuses on the
process improvement rather than final outcome.
 Six Sigma is prospective methodology as compared to other quality
programs as it focuses on prevention on defects rather than fixing it.
Advantages of Six Sigma

7.  Applicability of Six Sigma is being argued among the Six
Sigma critics. They opined that the quality standards
should be according to specific task and measuring 3.4
defects per million as standard leads to more time spent in
areas which are less profitable.
 Six Sigma gives emphasis on the rigidity of the process
which basically contradicts the innovation and kills the
creativity. The innovative approach implies deviations in
production, the redundancy, the unusual solutions,
insufficient study which are opposite Six Sigma principles.
Disadvantages of Six Sigma

8.  People argue that Six Sigma is a bit gimmicky and simply a
rebranding of the continues improvement techniques and
tools as practiced by Toyota. It thus promotes outsourcing
of improvement projects with lack of accountability.
 Six Sigma implementation constantly require skill man
force. Thus control and employee dedication are hard to
accomplish if its not implemented regularly
 While converting the theoretical concepts into practical
applications there are lot to real time barriers which needs
to be resolved.

9. Six Sigma is valuable because it creates an environment
for improving productivity and efficiency in a business
environment of continuous improvement. It gives
everyone an opportunity to make improvements to the
traditional processes. It creates a disciplined,
knowledge based approach designed to enhance
customer satisfaction and build a customer culture that
embraces innovative approaches to technology and
business development.
Importance of Six Sigma

10. Ultimately, Six Sigma is a superb strategy that addresses
leadership, tools and infrastructure issues, some of which
were neglected by previous programs. Six Sigma is a
powerful data driven, customer focused, top management
led formal process aimed at reducing defects as defined by
the customers using the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze,
Improve, and Control) methodology. This standardized
approach, if applied throughout the organization, project by
project, can lead to substantial reduction of defects, thereby
increasing bottom-line benefits.
Conclusion of Six Sigma