Category: New to Six Sigma

What does it mean to be “Six Sigma”? Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. However, the statistical implications of a Six Sigma program go well beyond the qualitative eradication of customer-perceptible defects. It’s a methodology that is well-rooted in mathematics and statistics. What […]

One of the most confusing issues associated with someone saying “I’m using Six Sigma” has to do with what methodology they are using. A majority of the time they are using the DMAIC methodology because they have existing processes that are wasting resources (hence the big savings you’ve heard about at GE, Honeywell, […]

Consider a power company for illustration purposes: A power company measures its performance in uptime of available power to its grid. Here is the five-step process to calculate your Process Sigma. Step 1: Define Your Opportunities An opportunity is the lowest defect noticeable by a customer. This definition, of course, is debatable within the […]

Would you be happy if your doctor received her MD from an unknown and unaccredited medical school? Probably not. What about your CPA or attorney? Again, probably not. For the same reason, your employer wouldn’t be happy with your Lean Six Sigma certification if it was awarded by an unknown organization with a poor reputation […]

When there are too many items on a menu you can get confused by the variety of choices. Getting Lean Six Sigma trained and certified can also be confusing. Let’s discuss some of your options.

Based in Bardon, Leicestershire, U.K., Benson Group is one of the country’s largest carton suppliers, producing packaging for both the food and pharmaceutical industries at its 130,000-square-foot facility. The Bardon plant produces sheets of printed cardboard that is then cut and glued for use in the food industry as containers. With the adoption of Lean […]

Message: 8897 Posted by: Carlos Castillo Posted on: Tuesday, 29th January 2002 What are the benefits of choosing 6sigma over Kaizen, 6 sigma seems a great deal more expensive and more bureucratic. I have obtained great gains from Kiazen with minimal investment. Message: 8899 Posted by: mn Posted on: Tuesday, 29th January 2002 ——————————————————————————– I […]

Message: 16306 Posted by: Eric Posted on: Thursday, 25th July 2002 My company is actively deploying Lean Mfg principles. To this point, we have not been heavily involved with Six Sigma. Although recently our Customers have heightened our awareness of Six Sigma by asking/ requiring us to participate in their Six Sigma efforts – including […]

Message: 15934 Posted by: Tim Posted on: Wednesday, 17th July 2002 ——————————————————————————– Hi, I am writing my thesis about Six Sigma and try to compare TQM and Six Sigma. Actually there are differences but does anyone know how to define TQM exactly. Can I use Deming for this comparison? Does it make sence to point […]

Making the decision to bring Six Sigma into your organization is just the first step on a long journey. Although this approach has proven successful for a variety of industries (including manufacturing, transactional and professional services), the best-laid plans may go awry if the focus is solely on the technical side, without considering the cultural […]

A frequently asked question by Six Sigma practitioners is how to select appropriate metrics for a particular organization or process. Considerable material has been written on this subject. This paper focuses on three aspects that should be of interest to Six Sigma practitioners: Why are metrics – and more importantly appropriate metrics – needed? A five-step procedure […]

Learning the Six Sigma methodology can be confusing. Even if you know the Six Sigma methodology, questions arise from co-workers or in daily activities and answers may not be readily available. To help with this problem, iSixSigma has compiled a list of questions that have been posed on the discussion forum. Below are the five […]

Some consultants are earning seven figure salaries, CEOs of large companies are claiming billions of dollars saved, conferences, books, and seminars are popping up everywhere, and yet one can argue that there isn’t much new about Six Sigma that we didn’t have with TQM. Is Six Sigma just the latest management buzzword or is Six […]

Is Six Sigma for real? Is it the factor responsible for improvements? How much Six Sigma is really necessary to get positive results? Doesn’t any quality improvement method yield similar results? These questions are always in the minds of people in every organization – sometimes out in the open, sometimes not. In a thoughtful response to […]

Most CEOs of small and mid-sized businesses are aware of Six Sigma and what it has done for other companies. But some think the quality improvement program only works in larger companies. Of course, that is not true. Six Sigma can help grow any company by giving it the all-important competitive edge. For the majority […]