The Evolution of Six Sigma
Six Sigma quality management aims at achieving less than 3.4 defects in one million produced items. The principles supporting this quality level use statistical analysis of a company's operations to monitor performance and process improvements to eliminate problem areas. Six Sigma differentiates itself from other quality management systems with its focus on designing process changes that not only fix the issues but also improve the company's profitability.
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When It Was Just Statistics
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The terminology of "Six Sigma" belongs to the world of statistics. Sigma represents the variability of a measurement from one item to another in a batch containing supposedly identical elements. When plotting the frequency of the values, the graph typically resembles a bell shape, with many points close to the expected value and a decreasing number of measurements more distant from the norm. This curve, frequently called a Gaussian distribution, encompasses all the scenarios present in the batch and allows identification of how many values fall outside of an acceptable range. Six Sigma represents the space under the curve that holds 99.99966 percent of the values.
Late 1970s: Glimpse of What Quality Could Be
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The moment of revelation that a systematic approach to quality management could result in drastic reduction in the number of product defects came from observing how a Japanese team of leaders turned around one of Motorola's television manufacturing centers in the late 1970s. The Japanese leaders changed the process lines entirely and reduced the number of defects to a level that was 20 times lower than what Motorola had been able to achieve previously. This eye-opening experience made Motorola reassess how they were producing products in comparison with their Japanese counterparts.
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1987: Motorola Launches a New Quality System
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Bob Galvin joined Motorola as Chief Executive Officer in 1981 and challenged the company to increase the quality of its products by at least tenfold by 1986. From observing production issues at Motorola, a new philosophy of quality management emerged. Bob Galvin called it the "Six Sigma Quality Program." This management system set the quality goal of achieving less than 3.4 defects in one million elements (Six Sigma, in statistical terms). To reach this level, a problem solving method was conceived with four types of sequential activities: Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (MAIC).
1988: Martial Arts Influence
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Mikel Harry, Motorola's champion of the Six Sigma principles, and Cliff Ames, plant manager at Unisys, wanted to find an efficient way to disseminate the new quality management method within a large organization. Both being enthusiasts of martial arts, they came up with the idea of representing levels of Six Sigma skills with a belt ranking system, similar to the practice used in martial arts. In 1990, Mikel Harry founded the Six Sigma Research Institute to train employees to become black belts.
1993: Alignment with Financial Gains
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In 1993, the Six Sigma model modified its philosophy, recognizing that business success had a higher priority than quality management. Although quality was important, upper management valued more increases in revenue. Hence, the methodology screened the process improvement paths identified by the MAIC process and kept only the ones that increased the company's financial returns. Mikel Harry, eager to accelerate Six Sigma implementation, also added tactical dimensions to the model and further stratified the skill levels of participants. He added Champion, Master Black Belt and Green Belt levels.
1996: General Electric's Endorsement and Improvements
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In June 1995, Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of General Electric, requested a cost benefit analysis of Six Sigma implementation to raise GE's performance. The results showed savings ranging between $7 and $10 billion. In January 1996, Welch fully endorsed Six Sigma and launched an effort to achieve 100 percent Six Sigma implementation at GE within five years. Leadership had to pass at least Green Belt level exams, and employees' bonuses were based 60 percent on performance and 40 percent on Six Sigma results.
Into the New Millennium
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Today, Six Sigma has become an industry with training centers, consultant agencies and certification centers. Its presence is at the global level. Large organizations have joined the Six Sigma ranks with Motorola and GE, including Toshiba, Black & Decker, Dupont, GM, IBM, FedEx, Johnson & Johnson, NBC, Polaroid, Sony, Kodak and Texas Instruments.
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