Six Sigma is a data-driven methodology for improving processes by eliminating defects. It involves the following key aspects: - A structured DMAIC methodology of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control phases to systematically solve problems. - A focus on processes capable of producing no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. This is derived from operating processes with no more than six standard deviations from the mean. - Use of statistical tools during the Analyze phase to determine root causes of defects and during the Improve phase to develop and test solutions. - An emphasis on controlling performance through statistical process controls after improvements are made to maintain results.

1. What is Six Sigma?

2. Basics
 A new way of doing business
 Wise application of statistical tools within
a structured methodology
 Repeated application of strategy to
individual projects
 Projects selected that will have a
substantial impact on the ‘bottom line’

3. A scientific and practical method to achieve
improvements in a company
Scientific:
• Structured approach.
• Assuming quantitative data.
Practical:
• Emphasis on financial result.
• Start with the voice of the customer.
“Show me
the data”
”Show me
the money”
Six Sigma

4. Six Sigma
Methods Production
Design
Service
Purchase
HRM
Administration
Quality
Depart.
Management
M & S
IT
Where can Six Sigma be applied?

5. Knowledge
Management
The Six Sigma Initiative
integrates these efforts

6. ‘Six Sigma’ companies
 Companies who have successfully
adopted ‘Six Sigma’ strategies include:

7. GE “Service company” - examples
 Approving a credit card application
 Installing a turbine
 Lending money
 Servicing an aircraft engine
 Answering a service call for an appliance
 Underwriting an insurance policy
 Developing software for a new CAT product
 Overhauling a locomotive

8. “the most important initiative GE has
ever undertaken”. Jack Welch
Chief Executive Officer
General Electric
• In 1995 GE mandated each employee to work towards
achieving 6 sigma
• The average process at GE was 3 sigma in 1995
• In 1997 the average reached 3.5 sigma
• GE’s goal was to reach 6 sigma by 2001
• Investments in 6 sigma training and projects reached
45MUS$ in 1998, profits increased by 1.2BUS$
General Electric

9. “At Motorola we use statistical methods daily
throughout all of our disciplines to synthesize an
abundance of data to derive concrete actions….
How has the use of statistical methods within
Motorola Six Sigma initiative, across disciplines,
contributed to our growth? Over the past decade we
have reduced in-process defects by over 300 fold,
which has resulted in cumulative manufacturing cost
savings of over 11 billion dollars”*.
Robert W. Galvin
Chairman of the Executive Committee
Motorola, Inc.
MOTOROLA
*From the forward to MODERN INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS by Kenett and Zacks, Duxbury, 1998

10. Positive quotations
 “If you’re an average Black Belt, proponents say
you’ll find ways to save $1 million each year”
 “Raytheon figures it spends 25% of each sales
dollar fixing problems when it operates at four
sigma, a lower level of efficiency. But if it raises
its quality and efficiency to Six Sigma, it would
reduce spending on fixes to 1%”
 “The plastics business, through rigorous Six
Sigma process work , added 300 million pounds
of new capacity (equivalent to a ‘free plant’),
saved $400 million in investment”

11. Negative quotations
 “Because managers’ bonuses are tied to Six
Sigma savings, it causes them to fabricate
results and savings turn out to be phantom”
 “Marketing will always use the number that
makes the company look best …Promises are
made to potential customers around capability
statistics that are not anchored in reality”
 “ Six Sigma will eventually go the way of the
other fads”

12. Barrier #1: Engineers and managers are not interested in
mathematical statistics
Barrier #2: Statisticians have problems communicating with
managers and engineers
Barrier #3: Non-statisticians experience “statistical anxiety”
which has to be minimized before learning can take place
Barrier # 4: Statistical methods need to be matched to
management style and organizational culture
Barriers to implementation

13. Technical
Skills
Soft Skills
Statisticians
Master
Black Belts
Black Belts
Quality Improvement
Facilitators
BB
MBB

14. Reality
 Six Sigma through the correct application
of statistical tools can reap a company
enormous rewards that will have a positive
effect for years
or
 Six Sigma can be a dismal failure if not
used correctly

15. Six Sigma
 The precise definition of Six Sigma is not
important; the content of the program is
 A disciplined quantitative approach for
improvement of defined metrics
 Can be applied to all business
processes, manufacturing, finance and
services

16. The Six Sigma metric

17. Consider a 99% quality level
 5000 incorrect surgical operations per
week!
 200,000 wrong drug prescriptions per
year!
 2 crash landings at most major airports
each day!
 20,000 lost articles of mail per hour!

18. Not very satisfactory!
 Companies should strive for ‘Six Sigma’
quality levels
 A successful Six Sigma programme can
measure and improve quality levels across
all areas within a company to achieve
‘world class’ status
 Six Sigma is a continuous improvement
cycle

19. 19
Improvement cycle
 PDCA cycle
Plan
Do
Check
Act

20. Prioritise (D)
Measure (M)
Interpret
(D/M/A)
Problem (D/M/A)
solve
Improve (I)
Hold
gains (C)
Alternative interpretation

21. 1: What is Six Sigma?

22. Statistical background
Target = m
Some Key measure

23. +/- 3s
Statistical background
Target = m
‘Control’ limits

24. +/- 3s
LSL USL
Statistical background
Required Tolerance
Target = m

25. +/- 3s
+/- 6s
LSL USL
Statistical background
Tolerance
Target = m
Six-Sigma

26. +/- 3s
+/- 6s
LSL USL
ppm
1350
ppm
1350
Statistical background
Tolerance
Target = m

27. +/- 3s
+/- 6s
LSL USL
ppm
0.001
ppm
1350
ppm
1350
ppm
0.001
Statistical background
Tolerance
Target = m

28. Statistical background
 Six-Sigma allows for un-foreseen
‘problems’ and longer term issues
when calculating failure error or
re-work rates
Allows for a process ‘shift’

29. Six Sigma
A special problem:
Chip wavers had
only 30% and less
production yield.
© image: Steve
Evans

30. LSL
0 ppm ppm
3.4
1.5s
USL
ppm
3.4
ppm
66803
m
+/- 6s
Statistical background
Tolerance

31. 1: What is Six Sigma?
3σ 2σ 1σ 1σ 2σ 3σ
~3,000 DPMO
3σ
DPMO: Defects per 1 million
6σ 4σ 2σ 2σ 4σ 6σ
5σ 3σ 1σ 1σ 3σ 5σ
~3.4 DPMO
6σ
Process
shift

32. Performance Standards
2
3
4
5
6
308537
66807
6210
233
3.4
s PPM
69.1%
93.3%
99.38%
99.977%
99.9997%
Yield
Process
performance
Defects per
million
Long term
yield
Current standard
World Class

33. Number of processes 3σ 4σ 5σ 6σ
1
10
100
500
1000
2000
2955
93.32
50.09
0.1
0
0
0
0
99.379
93.96
53.64
4.44
0.2
0
0
99.9767
99.77
97.70
89.02
79.24
62.75
50.27
99.99966
99.9966
99.966
99.83
99.66
99.32
99.0
First Time Yield in multiple stage process
Performance standards

34. 1: What is Six Sigma?

35. Benefits of 6s approach w.r.t. financials
s-level Defect rate
(ppm)
Costs of poor quality Status of the
company
6 3.4 < 10% of turnover World class
5 233 10-15% of turnover
4 6210 15-20% of turnover Current standard
3 66807 20-30% of turnover
2 308537 30-40% of turnover Bankruptcy
Financial Aspects

36. Six Sigma uses 2 phase models
for improvements:
• DMAIC
• DMADV (= DfSS)
Methods of Six Sigma

37. Six Sigma uses various techniques:
Methods of Six Sigma

38. Six Sigma Methodologies
Six Sigma is divided into methodologies:
 DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control),
Improvement methodology for existing processes and
performance.
 DFSS (Design For Six Sigma), A methodology of the
design of new products or services, with a six sigma
capability and performance.

39. • Develop a focused Problem Statement and Objective
• Develop a Process Map and/or FMEA
• Develop a Current State Map
• Identify the response variable(s) and how to measure them
• Analyze measurement system capability
• Assess the specification (Is one in place? Is it the right one?)
Practical
Problem
Problem
Definition
• Characterize the response, look at the raw data
• Abnormal? Other Clues? Mean or Variance problem?
• Time Observation • Spaghetti Diagram
• Future State Maps • Percent Loading
• Standard Work Combination
• Use Graphical Analysis, Multi-Vari, ANOVA and basic
statistical tools to identify the likely families of variability
Problem
Solution
• Identify the likely X’s
• 5S • Set Up Time Reduction (SMED)
• Material Replenishment Systems
• Level Loading / Line Leveling
• Cell Design • Visual Controls
• Use Design of Experiments to find the critical few X’s
• Move the distribution; Shrink the spread; Confirm the results
Problem
Control
• Mistake Proof the process (Poka-Yoke)
• Tolerance the process
• Measure the final capability
• Place appropriate process controls on the
critical X’s
• Document the effort and results
• Standard Work • TPM
Identify
Problem
• Strategic Link to Business Plan defined in Project Selection Process
• Structured Brainstorming at all organizational levels
• Cause and Effect Diagrams identifying critical factors
• Primary and Secondary Metrics defined and charted
• Multi-Level Pareto Charts to confirm project focus
 What do you want to know?
 How do you want to see what it is that you need
to know?
 What type of tool will generate what it is that you
need to see?
 What type of data is required of the selected tool?
 Where can you get the required type of data?
Problem Solving
Plan Execute
Execute Plan
Operational
Excellence
Methodology

40. Six Sigma Project Methodology
Control
Define Measure Analyze Improve
Establish
standards to
maintain process;
Design the
controls,
implement and
monitor.
Evaluate financial
impact of the
project
Identify, evaluate
and select
projects for
improvement
Set goals
Form teams.
Collect data on
size of the
selected problem,
identify key
customer
requirements,
Determine key
product and
process
characteristic.
Analyze data,
establish and
confirm the “ vital
few “
determinants of
the performance.
Validate
hypothesis
Improvement
strategy
Develop ideas to
remove root
causes
Design and carry
out experiments,
Optimize the
process.
Final solutions
Project Phases

41. DMAIC (Define)
 Define (What is important?)
 Base-lining and benchmarking processes
 Decomposing processes into sub-processes
 Specifying customer satisfaction goals/sub-goals (requirements)
 Support tools for Define step:
 Benchmarking
 Baseline
 Voice of Customer (Win Win)
 Voice of Business (Win Win)
 Quality Function Deployment & etc.
41

42. DMAIC (Measure)
 Measure (How are we doing?)
 Identifying relevant metrics based on engineering principles and
models
 Performance measurement: throughput, quality (statistically, mean and
variation)
 Cost (currency, time, and resource)
 Other example of measurement: response times, cycle times, transaction
rates, access frequencies, and user defined thresholds
 Support tools for Measure step:
 7 Basic tools : Flow chart, Check Sheets, Pareto diagrams,
Cause/Effect diagrams, Histograms, and Statistical Process Control
(SPC).
 Defect Metrics
 Data Collection Forms, Plan, Logistics
42

43.  Many think when they start a journey the most important thing to know is
where they are going.
 While we agree knowing where you want to go is very important, we believe
some of the first information you need before starting any journey is your
current location.
 The six sigma approach asks the Black Belt project manager to quantify and
benchmark the process using actual data.
 At a minimum, consider the mean or average performance and some
estimate of the dispersion or variation (may be, even calculate the standard
deviation).
 Trends and cycles can also be very revealing.
 Process capabilities can be calculated once there is performance data,
DMAIC (Measure)

44. DMAIC (Analyze)
 Analyze (What’s wrong?)
 Evaluate the data/information for trends, patterns, causal
relationships and “root cause”
 Example: Defect analysis, and Analysis of variance
 Determine candidate improvements
 Support tools for Analyze step:
 Cause/Effect diagram
 Failure Modes & Effects Analysis
 Decision & Risk Analysis
 Statistical Inference
 Control Charts
 Capability Analysis and etc.
44

45. • Once the project is understood and the baseline performance documented and verified that
there is real opportunity, it is time with the six sigma approach to do an analysis of the
process.
• In this step, the six sigma approach applies statistical tools to validate root causes of
problems.
• Any number of tools and tests can be used.
• The objective is to understand the process at a level, sufficient to be able to formulate
options for improvement.
• We should be able to compare the various options with each other to determine the most
promising alternatives.
• As with many activities, balance (no. of activities vs depth of analysis) must be achieved.
• Superficial analysis and understanding will lead to unproductive options being selected,
forcing recycle through the process to make improvements.
• At the other extreme is the thorough analysis of only a few activities. Striking the
appropriate balance is what makes the six sigma Black Belt highly valuable.
DMAIC (Analyze)

46. DMAIC (Improve)
 Improve (What needs to be done?)
 Making prototype or initial improvement
 Measure and compare the results with the simulation results
 Iterations taken between Measure-Analyze-Improve steps to
achieve the target level of performance
 Support tools for Improve step:
 Design of Experiments
 Modeling
 Tolerancing
 Robust Design
46

47. • During the improve step of the six sigma approach ideas and
solutions are put to work.
• The six sigma Black Belt has discovered and validated all known
root causes for the existing opportunity.
• The six sigma approach requires Black Belts to
identify solutions. Few ideas or opportunities are so good that all
are an instant success.
• As part of the six sigma approach there must be checks to assure
that the desired results are being achieved.
• Some experiments and trials may be required in order to find the
best solution.
• While making trials and experiments, it is important that all
project associates understand that these are trials and really are
part of the six sigma approach.
DMAIC (Improve)

48. DMAIC (Control)
 Control (How do we guarantee performance?)
 Ensuring measurements are put into place to
maintain improvements
 Support tools for Control step:
 Statistical Controls: Control Charts, Time Series
methods
 Non-Statistical Controls: Procedural adherence,
Performance Mgmt., Preventive activities
48

49.  Many people believe the best performance you can ever get from a process is at the
very beginning.
 Over time, there is an expectation that slowly things will get a little worse until
finally it is time for another major effort towards improvement.
 Contrasted with this is the Kaizen approach that seeks to make everything
incrementally better on a continuous basis.
 The sum of all these incremental improvements can be quite large. As part of the
six sigma approach performance tracking mechanisms and measurements are in
place to assure, at a minimum, that the gains made in the project are not lost over a
period of time.
 As part of the control step we encourage sharing with others in the organization.
 With this the six sigma approach really starts to create phenomenal returns, ideas
and projects in one part of the organization are translated in a very rapid fashion to
implementation in another part of the organization.
DMAIC (Control)

50. DFSS
 Design For Six Sigma (DFSS)
 A rigorous approach to the design of a new product or service
 The goals:
 Reduce delivery time and development cost and
 Increase the effectiveness of the product or service and hence customer
satisfaction.
 Key elements:
 A customer focus and the ability to measure quality using the six sigma
metric and philosophy
 Appropriate design that delivers excitement without failure, and does so to
budget and expectation
 An overarching business strategy and management that brings out the
very best for organic growth, through the repeated and regular launch and
successful development of new products and services
50

51. The Six Sigma Roadmap
 Five steps to implementing Six Sigma
1. Identify core processes and key customers
2. Define customer requirements
3. Measure current performance
4. Prioritize, analyze, implement improvements
5. Expand and integrate the Six Sigma system

52. Basic Implementation
Roadmap
Understand and Define
Entire Value Streams
Deploy Key Business Objectives
- Measure and target (metrics)
- Align and involve all employees
- Develop and motivate
Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve
Identify root causes, prioritize, eliminate waste,
make things flow and pulled by customers
Control
-Sustain Improvement
-Drive Towards Perfection
Identify Customer Requirements
Vision (Strategic Business Plan)
Continuous Improvement (DMAIC)
Identify Customer Requirements

53. Organizing Six Sigma
Key Roles
 Leadership Team
 Champions
 Mentors (master black belts)
 Experts (black belts)
 Participants (green belts)

54. Master
Black
Belt
Black Belts
Green Belts
Team Members
Quality Fundamentals/ Kaizen Now
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.
Responsible for supporting the Deployment Strategy within Line of
Business/Customer Segment or Golden Thread
Deployment
Champions

55. Key Six Sigma Roles
The Leadership Group
 Be actively involved from outset
 Develop a strategic plan
 Establish Roles and Infrastructure
 Establish supporting policies
 Job descriptions
 Reward/Compensation systems
 Career paths
 Select projects
 Prioritize projects and allocate resources
 Facilitate, guide, manage

56. Six Sigma Champions
 Create the vision of Six Sigma for the company.
 Define the path to implement Six Sigma across the organization.
 Develop a comprehensive training plan for implementing the Breakthrough
Strategy.
 Carefully select high-impact projects.
 Support development of “statistical thinking”.
 Ask Black Belts many questions to ensure that they are properly focused.
 Realize the gains by supporting Six Sigma projects through allocation of
resources and removal of roadblocks.
 Hold the ground by implementing Black Belt recommendations.
 Make sure that project opportunities are acted upon by the organization’s
leadership and the finance department.
 Recognize people for their efforts.

57. Master Black Belts
 Understand the big business picture.
 Partner with the Champions.
 Get certified as Master Black Belts.
 Develop and deliver training to various levels of the organization.
 Assist in the identification of projects.
 Coach and support Black Belts in project work.
 Participate in project reviews to offer technical expertise.
 Help train and certify Black Belts.
 Take on leadership of major programs.
 Facilitate sharing of best practices across the corporation.

58. Black Belts
 Act as Breakthrough Strategy experts and be Breakthrough Strategy enthusiasts.
 Stimulate Champion thinking.
 Identify the barriers.
 Lead and direct teams in project execution.
 Report progress to appropriate leadership levels.
 Solicit help from Champions when needed.
 Influence without direct authority.
 Determine the most effective tools to apply.
 Prepare a detailed project assessment during the Measurement phase.
 Get input from knowledgeable operators, first-line supervisors, and team
leaders.
 Teach and coach Breakthrough Strategy methods and tools.
 Manage project risk.
 Ensure that the results are sustained.

59. Black Belt Activities
MENTORS: Cultivates a network of Six Sigma individuals at the local
organization or site.
TEACH: Provides formal training of local personnel in new strategies and
tools.
COACH: Provides one-on-one support to local personnel.
TRANSFER: Passes on new strategies and tools in the form of training,
workshops, case studies, and local symposia.
DISCOVER: Finds application opportunities for Six Sigma strategies and
tools, both internal and external (e.g. suppliers and customers).
IDENTIFY: Highlights / surfaces business opportunities through
partnerships with other organizations.
INFLUENCE: Sells the organization on the use of Six Sigma strategies
and tools.

60. Green Belts
 Function as Green Belts on a part-time basis, while
performing their regular duties.
 Participate on Black Belt project teams in the context of
their existing responsibilities.
 Learn the Six Sigma methodology as it applies to a
particular project.
 Continue to learn and practice the Six Sigma methods and
tools after project completion.

61. From Six Sigma to Lean Six
Sigma
Six Sigma (Motorola, GE)
Lean Manufacturing /
Management (Toyota)
Striving for dramatic revolutions
by means of projects.
Striving for continuous
improvement.
Focus on improving output
precision.
Focus on reduction of product
stocks and process waste.
Goal: Reducing cost of bad
quality.
Goal: Short cycle times and just
in time production and service.
Total Quality Management
History
Lean Six Sigma

62. Six Sigma is “TQM on steroids”.
Lean applies a “pull” approach on production,
i.e. it is driven from the output side, not input.
From Six Sigma to Lean Six
Sigma