How to Implement Six Sigma

Six Sigma was introduced by Motorola in the 1980s to set standards for the way defects are counted. It is a statistical measure and business strategy. The goal of Six Sigma is to achieve fewer than 3.4 defects per million opportunities by training internal leaders to apply established techniques. Six sigma has been adopted by all sizes and types of organizations.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Commit to the project. Make sure all top-level management is on board and that financial and managerial resources are available. Establish policies and guidelines and hold training programs for employees.
2. Define the project scope and goals based on customer feedback and needs. Inspiration for six sigma projects can come from surveys, studies or existing projects. Set goals for the whole organization or for a specific level of the organization that needs improvement.
3. Measure the defects in the current system and performance. Use statistical data analysis.
4. Analyze the system to identify defects and problems. Identify the possible causes of problems. Explore possible solutions and assess their possible effect on the organization.
5. Improve the system by finding ways to do things faster, cheaper or better. Use management and planning tools to put the improvement projects into place. Test the improvement with statistical data.
6. Control the new process by modifying systems and measuring processes to continue to achieve results. Use customer feedback and statistical tools. State what was done to improve performance. Document methods to recognize and solve future problems.