Six Sigma: For a Perfect Business Process Improvement

Six Sigma is a methodology and a set of rules that helps to achieve perfection and minimize defects in business processes. It was introduced in 1986 by an American Engineer Bill Smith while working at Motorola.

Six Sigma is a disciplined and data-driven approach used in project management. It develops a systematic framework to identify and eliminate variations that impact project performance.

The etymology of “Six Sigma” can be described as follows. Sigma (σ) is a statistical term for measuring process deviation from the process mean or target. Six represents the level of quality where the goal is to have only 3.4 defects per million opportunities. If the process has six sigmas, three above and three below the mean, the defect rate can be identified as extremely low.

Methodologies

Six Sigma follows two major methodologies. They are DMAIC and DMADV.

DMAIC is a data-driven method that is used to correct or improve a process that already exists. DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control and it is pronounced as ‘duh-may-ik’. In simple, the 5 phases include defining the problem, improving the activity, identifying the opportunities for improvement, setting project goals, and meeting the needs of the customers.

The other method is DMADV which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify. Unlike DMAIC, DMADV is geared towards designing new processes to achieve perfection from the start. As it shows only the Design and Verify phases differ from DMAIC. DMADV is more appropriate for addressing problematic processes or products.

These approaches are strategic roadmaps leading to continuous improvement and innovation of the organizations. Applying these methods can ensure customer satisfaction and quality of the processes and products.