Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It was developed by
Motorola in 1986,
[1[!
coincidin" with the #apanese asset price bubble which is reflected
in its terminolo"y.
[citation needed
#ac$ %elch made it central to his business strate"y at
&eneral 'lectric in 199(.
[)
*oday, it is used in many industrial sectors.
[+
,i- ,i"ma see$s to improve the quality of process outputs by identifyin" and removin"
the causes of defects .errors/ and minimi0in" variability in manufacturin" and business
processes. It uses a set of quality mana"ement methods, includin" statistical methods, and
creates a special infrastructure of people within the or"ani0ation .12hampions1, 13lac$
3elts1, 1&reen 3elts1, 14ellow 3elts1, etc./ who are e-perts in these methods. 'ach ,i-
,i"ma pro5ect carried out within an or"ani0ation follows a defined sequence of steps and
has quantified value tar"ets, for e-ample6 reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution,
reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. *hese are also core to
principles of *otal 7uality Mana"ement .*7M/ as described by 8eter 9ruc$er and *om
8eters .particularly in his boo$ 1In ,earch of '-cellence1 in which he refers to the
Motorola si- si"ma principles/.
*he term Six Sigma ori"inated from terminolo"y associated with manufacturing,
specifically terms associated with statistical modelin" of manufacturin" processes. *he
maturity of a manufacturin" process can be described by a sigma ratin" indicatin" its
yield or the percenta"e of defect:free products it creates. ; si- si"ma process is one in
which 99.99966< of the products manufactured are statistically e-pected to be free of
defects .).+ defective parts=million/, althou"h, as discussed below, this defect level
corresponds to only a +.( si"ma level. Motorola set a "oal of 1si- si"ma1 for all of its
manufacturin" operations, and this "oal became a by:word for the mana"ement and
en"ineerin" practices used to achieve it.
Contents
1 9octrine
! Methodolo"ies
o !.1 9M;I2
o !.! 9M;9> or 9?,,
o !.) 7uality mana"ement tools and methods
) Implementation roles
o ).1 2ertification
+ 'tymolo"y of 1si- si"ma process1
( @ole of the 1.( si"ma shift
o (.1 ,i"ma levels
6 ,oftware
A ;pplication
8 2riticism
o 8.1 Bac$ of ori"inality
o 8.! @ole of consultants
o 8.) 8otential ne"ative effects
8.).1 Cver:reliance on statistical tools
8.).! ,tiflin" creativity in research environments
o 8.+ Bac$ of systematic documentation
o 8.( 1.( si"ma shift
9 ,ee also
1D @eferences
11 ?urther readin"
Doctrine
,i- ,i"ma doctrine asserts that6
2ontinuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results .i.e., reduce
process variation/ are of vital importance to business success.
Manufacturin" and business processes have characteristics that can be measured,
analy0ed, controlled and improved.
;chievin" sustained quality improvement requires commitment from the entire
or"ani0ation, particularly from top:level mana"ement.
?eatures that set ,i- ,i"ma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include6
; clear focus on achievin" measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any
,i- ,i"ma pro5ect.
;n increased emphasis on stron" and passionate mana"ement leadership and
support.
; clear commitment to ma$in" decisions on the basis of verifiable data and
statistical methods, rather than assumptions and "uesswor$.
*he term 1si- si"ma1 comes from statistics and is used in statistical quality control,
which evaluates process capability. Cri"inally, it referred to the ability of manufacturin"
processes to produce a very hi"h proportion of output within specification. 8rocesses that
operate with 1si- si"ma quality1 over the short term are assumed to produce lon":term
defect levels below ).+ defects per million opportunities .98MC/.
[([6
,i- ,i"maEs
implicit "oal is to improve all processes, but not to the ).+ 98MC level necessarily.
Cr"ani0ations need to determine an appropriate si"ma level for each of their most
important processes and strive to achieve these. ;s a result of this "oal, it is incumbent on
mana"ement of the or"ani0ation to prioriti0e areas of improvement.
1,i- ,i"ma1 was re"istered #une 11, 1991 as F.,. ,ervice Mar$ A+,D!6,+18. In !DD(
Motorola attributed over F,G1A billion in savin"s to ,i- ,i"ma.
[A
Cther early adopters
of ,i- ,i"ma include Honeywell .previously $nown as ;llied,i"nal/ and &eneral
'lectric, where #ac$ %elch introduced the method.
[8
3y the late 199Ds, about two:thirds
of the ?ortune (DD or"ani0ations had be"un ,i- ,i"ma initiatives with the aim of
reducin" costs and improvin" quality.
[9
In recent years, some practitioners have combined ,i- ,i"ma ideas with lean
manufacturin" to create a methodolo"y named Bean ,i- ,i"ma.
[1D
*he Bean ,i- ,i"ma
methodolo"y views lean manufacturin", which addresses process flow and waste issues,
and ,i- ,i"ma, with its focus on variation and desi"n, as complementary disciplines
aimed at promotin" 1business and operational e-cellence1.
[1D
2ompanies such as &',
[11

>eri0on, &'I8;2*, and I3M use Bean ,i- ,i"ma to focus transformation efforts not
5ust on efficiency but also on "rowth. It serves as a foundation for innovation throu"hout
the or"ani0ation, from manufacturin" and software development to sales and service
delivery functions.
*he International Cr"anisation for ,tandardisation .I,C/ has published I,C 1)D()6!D11
definin" the si- si"ma process.
[1!
Methodologies
,i- ,i"ma pro5ects follow two pro5ect methodolo"ies inspired by 9emin"Es 8lan:9o:
2hec$:;ct 2ycle. *hese methodolo"ies, composed of five phases each, bear the
acronyms 9M;I2 and 9M;9>.
[9
9M;I2 is used for pro5ects aimed at improvin" an e-istin" business process.
[9

9M;I2 is pronounced as 1duh:may:ic$1 .J d me $K/.
9M;9> is used for pro5ects aimed at creatin" new product or process desi"ns.
[9

9M;9> is pronounced as 1duh:mad:vee1 .J d mLd viK/.
DMAIC
Main article6 9M;I2
*he 9M;I2 pro5ect methodolo"y has five phases6
Define the system, the voice of the customer and their requirements, and the
pro5ect "oals, specifically.
Measure $ey aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
Analyze the data to investi"ate and verify cause:and:effect relationships.
9etermine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have
been considered. ,ee$ out root cause of the defect under investi"ation.
Improve or optimi0e the current process based upon data analysis usin"
techniques such as desi"n of e-periments, po$a yo$e or mista$e proofin", and
standard wor$ to create a new, future state process. ,et up pilot runs to establish
process capability.
Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from the tar"et are
corrected before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as
statistical process control, production boards, visual wor$places, and continuously
monitor the process.
,ome or"ani0ations add a Recognize step at the be"innin", which is to reco"ni0e the ri"ht
problem to wor$ on, thus yieldin" an @9M;I2 methodolo"y.
[1)
DMADV or DFSS
Main article6 9?,,
*he 9M;9> pro5ect methodolo"y, $nown as 9?,, .1Desi"n For Si- Si"ma1/,
[9
features
five phases6
Define desi"n "oals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise
strate"y.
Measure and identify 2*7s .characteristics that are Critical To Quality/, product
capabilities, production process capability, and ris$s.
Analyze to develop and desi"n alternatives
Design an improved alternative, best suited per analysis in the previous step
Verify the desi"n, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it
over to the process owner.s/.
Quality management tools and methods
%ithin the individual phases of a 9M;I2 or 9M;9> pro5ect, ,i- ,i"ma utili0es many
established quality:mana"ement tools that are also used outside ,i- ,i"ma. *he followin"
table shows an overview of the main methods used.
( %hys
,tatistical and fittin" tools
o ;nalysis of variance
o &eneral linear model
o ;IC>; &au"e @M@
o @e"ression analysis
o 2orrelation
o ,catter dia"ram
o 2hi:squared test
;-iomatic desi"n
3usiness 8rocess Mappin"=2hec$ sheet
2ause M effects dia"ram .also $nown as fishbone or Ishi$awa dia"ram/
2ontrol chart=2ontrol plan .also $nown as a swimlane map/=@un charts
2ost:benefit analysis
2*7 tree
9esi"n of e-periments=,tratification
Histo"rams=8areto analysis=8areto chart
8ic$ chart=8rocess capability=@olled throu"hput yield
7uality ?unction 9eployment .7?9/
7uantitative mar$etin" research throu"h use of 'nterprise ?eedbac$ Mana"ement
.'?M/ systems
@oot cause analysis
,I8C2 analysis .Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers/
2C8I, analysis .2ustomer centric version=perspective of ,I8C2/
*a"uchi methods=*a"uchi Boss ?unction
>alue stream mappin"
Imlementation roles
Cne $ey innovation of ,i- ,i"ma involves the absolute 1professionali0in"1 of quality
mana"ement functions. 8rior to ,i- ,i"ma, quality mana"ement in practice was lar"ely
rele"ated to the production floor and to statisticians in a separate quality department.
?ormal ,i- ,i"ma pro"rams adopt a $ind of elite ran$in" terminolo"y .similar to some
martial arts systems, li$e Nun":?u and #udo/ to define a hierarchy .and special career
path/ that $ic$s across all business functions and levels.
,i- ,i"ma identifies several $ey roles for its successful implementation.
[1+
Executive Leadership includes the 2'C and other members of top mana"ement.
*hey are responsible for settin" up a vision for ,i- ,i"ma implementation. *hey
also empower the other role holders with the freedom and resources to e-plore
new ideas for brea$throu"h improvements.
Champions ta$e responsibility for ,i- ,i"ma implementation across the
or"ani0ation in an inte"rated manner. *he '-ecutive Beadership draws them from
upper mana"ement. 2hampions also act as mentors to 3lac$ 3elts.
Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in:house coaches on ,i-
,i"ma. *hey devote 1DD< of their time to ,i- ,i"ma. *hey assist champions and
"uide 3lac$ 3elts and &reen 3elts. ;part from statistical tas$s, they spend their
time on ensurin" consistent application of ,i- ,i"ma across various functions and
departments.
Black Belts operate under Master 3lac$ 3elts to apply ,i- ,i"ma methodolo"y to
specific pro5ects. *hey devote 1DD< of their valued time to ,i- ,i"ma. *hey
primarily focus on ,i- ,i"ma pro5ect e-ecution and special leadership with
special tas$s, whereas 2hampions and Master 3lac$ 3elts focus on identifyin"
pro5ects=functions for ,i- ,i"ma.
Green Belts are the employees who ta$e up ,i- ,i"ma implementation alon" with
their other 5ob responsibilities, operatin" under the "uidance of 3lac$ 3elts.
,ome or"ani0ations use additional belt colours, such as Yello Belts, for employees that
have basic trainin" in ,i- ,i"ma tools and "enerally participate in pro5ects and 1%hite
belts1 for those locally trained in the concepts but do not participate in the pro5ect team.
1Cran"e belts1 are also mentioned to be used for special cases.
[1(
Certification
Main article6 Bist of ,i- ,i"ma certification or"ani0ations
&eneral 'lectric and Motorola developed certification pro"rams as part of their ,i-
,i"ma implementation, verifyin" individualsE command of the ,i- ,i"ma methods at the
relevant s$ill level .&reen 3elt, 3lac$ 3elt etc./. ?ollowin" this approach, many
or"ani0ations in the 199Ds started offerin" ,i- ,i"ma certifications to their employees.
[9
[16
2riteria for &reen 3elt and 3lac$ 3elt certification varyO some companies simply
require participation in a course and a ,i- ,i"ma pro5ect.
[16
*here is no standard
certification body, and different certification services are offered by various quality
associations and other providers a"ainst a fee.
[1A[18
*he ;merican ,ociety for 7uality for
e-ample requires 3lac$ 3elt applicants to pass a written e-am and to provide a si"ned
affidavit statin" that they have completed two pro5ects, or one pro5ect combined with
three yearsE practical e-perience in the body of $nowled"e.
[16[19
!tymology of "six sigma rocess"
*he term 1si- si"ma process1 comes from the notion that if one has si- standard
deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit, as shown in the
"raph, practically no items will fail to meet specifications.
[(
*his is based on the
calculation method employed in process capability studies.
2apability studies measure the number of standard deviations between the process mean
and the nearest specification limit in si"ma units, represented by the &ree$ letter P
.si"ma/. ;s process standard deviation "oes up, or the mean of the process moves away
from the center of the tolerance, fewer standard deviations will fit between the mean and
the nearest specification limit, decreasin" the si"ma number and increasin" the li$elihood
of items outside specification.
[(
&raph of the normal distribution, which underlies the statistical assumptions of the ,i-
,i"ma model. *he &ree$ letter P .si"ma/ mar$s the distance on the hori0ontal a-is
between the mean, Q, and the curveEs inflection point. *he "reater this distance, the
"reater is the spread of values encountered. ?or the "reen curve shown above, Q R D and P
R 1. *he upper and lower specification limits .F,B and B,B, respectively/ are at a
distance of 6P from the mean. 3ecause of the properties of the normal distribution, values
lyin" that far away from the mean are e-tremely unli$ely. 'ven if the mean were to move
ri"ht or left by 1.(P at some point in the future .1.( si"ma shift, coloured red and blue/,
there is still a "ood safety cushion. *his is why ,i- ,i"ma aims to have processes where
the mean is at least 6P away from the nearest specification limit.
#ole of the $%& sigma shift
'-perience has shown that processes usually do not perform as well in the lon" term as
they do in the short term.
[(
;s a result, the number of si"mas that will fit between the
process mean and the nearest specification limit may well drop over time, compared to an
initial short:term study.
[(
*o account for this real:life increase in process variation over
time, an empirically:based 1.( si"ma shift is introduced into the calculation.
[([!D

;ccordin" to this idea, a process that fits 6 si"ma between the process mean and the
nearest specification limit in a short:term study will in the lon" term fit only +.( si"ma S
either because the process mean will move over time, or because the lon":term standard
deviation of the process will be "reater than that observed in the short term, or both.
[(
Hence the widely accepted definition of a si- si"ma process is a process that produces ).+
defective parts per million opportunities .98MC/. *his is based on the fact that a process
that is normally distributed will have ).+ parts per million beyond a point that is +.(
standard deviations above or below the mean .one:sided capability study/.
[(
,o the ).+
98MC of a si- si"ma process in fact corresponds to +.( si"ma, namely 6 si"ma minus the
1.(:si"ma shift introduced to account for lon":term variation.
[(
*his allows for the fact
that special causes may result in a deterioration in process performance over time, and is
desi"ned to prevent underestimation of the defect levels li$ely to be encountered in real:
life operation.
[(
*he role of the si"ma shift is mainly academic. *he purpose of si- si"ma is to "enerate
or"ani0ational performance improvement. It is up to the or"ani0ation to determine, based
on customer e-pectations, what the appropriate si"ma level of a process is. *he purpose
of the si"ma value is as a comparative fi"ure to determine whether a process is
improvin", deterioratin", sta"nant or non:competitive with others in the same business.
,i- si"ma .).+ 98MC/ is not the "oal of all processes.
Sigma le'els
; control chart depictin" a process that e-perienced a 1.( si"ma drift in the process mean
toward the upper specification limit startin" at midni"ht. 2ontrol charts are used to
maintain 6 si"ma quality by si"nalin" when quality professionals should investi"ate a
process to find and eliminate special:cause variation.
,ee also6 *hree si"ma rule
*he table
[!1[!!
below "ives lon":term 98MC values correspondin" to various short:term
si"ma levels.
It must be understood that these fi"ures assume that the process mean will shift by 1.(
si"ma toward the side with the critical specification limit. In other words, they assume
that after the initial study determinin" the short:term si"ma level, the lon":term 2p$ value
will turn out to be D.( less than the short:term 2p$ value. ,o, for e-ample, the 98MC
fi"ure "iven for 1 si"ma assumes that the lon":term process mean will be D.( si"ma
!eyond the specification limit .2p$ R SD.1A/, rather than 1 si"ma ithin it, as it was in the
short:term study .2p$ R D.))/. Iote that the defect percenta"es indicate only defects
e-ceedin" the specification limit to which the process mean is nearest. 9efects beyond
the far specification limit are not included in the percenta"es.
Sigma
le'el
Sigma ()ith
$%&* shift+
DPMO
Percent
defecti'e
Percentage
yield
Short,
term C-
.ong,
term C-
1 :D.( 691,+6! 69< )1< D.)) SD.1A
! D.( )D8,()8 )1< 69< D.6A D.1A
) 1.( 66,8DA 6.A< 9).)< 1.DD D.(
+ !.( 6,!1D D.6!< 99.)8< 1.)) D.8)
( ).( !)) D.D!)< 99.9AA< 1.6A 1.1A
/ 0%& 1%0 2%222103 44%444//3 5%22 $%&
A (.( D.D19 D.DDDDD19< 99.9999981< !.)) 1.8)
Soft)are
Main article6 Bist of ,i- ,i"ma software pac$a"es
Alication
Main article6 Bist of ,i- ,i"ma companies
,i- ,i"ma mostly finds application in lar"e or"ani0ations.
[!)
;n important factor in the
spread of ,i- ,i"ma was &'Es 1998 announcement of G)(D million in savin"s than$s to
,i- ,i"ma, a fi"ure that later "rew to more than G1 billion.
[!)
;ccordin" to industry
consultants li$e *homas 8y0de$ and #ohn Nullmann, companies with fewer than (DD
employees are less suited to ,i- ,i"ma implementation, or need to adapt the standard
approach to ma$e it wor$ for them.
[!)
,i- ,i"ma however contains a lar"e number of
tools and techniques that wor$ well in small to mid:si0e or"ani0ations. *he fact that an
or"ani0ation is not bi" enou"h to be able to afford 3lac$ 3elts does not diminish its
abilities to ma$e improvements usin" this set of tools and techniques. *he infrastructure
described as necessary to support ,i- ,i"ma is a result of the si0e of the or"ani0ation
rather than a requirement of ,i- ,i"ma itself.
[!)
Criticism
.ac- of originality
Ioted quality e-pert #oseph M. #uran has described ,i- ,i"ma as 1a basic version of
quality improvement1, statin" that 1there is nothin" new there. It includes what we used
to call facilitators. *heyEve adopted more flamboyant terms, li$e belts with different
colors. I thin$ that concept has merit to set apart, to create specialists who can be very
helpful. ;"ain, thatEs not a new idea. *he ;merican ,ociety for 7uality lon" a"o
established certificates, such as for reliability en"ineers.1
[!+
#ole of consultants
*he use of 13lac$ 3elts1 as itinerant chan"e a"ents has .controversially/ fostered an
industry of trainin" and certification. 2ritics ar"ue there is oversellin" of ,i- ,i"ma by
too "reat a number of consultin" firms, many of which claim e-pertise in ,i- ,i"ma
when they have only a rudimentary understandin" of the tools and techniques involved,
or the mar$ets or industries in which they are actin".
Potential negati'e effects
; "ortune article stated that 1of (8 lar"e companies that have announced ,i- ,i"ma
pro"rams, 91 percent have trailed the ,M8 (DD since1. *he statement was attributed to
1an analysis by 2harles Holland of consultin" firm 7ualpro .which espouses a competin"
quality:improvement process/1.
[!(
*he summary of the article is that ,i- ,i"ma is
effective at what it is intended to do, but that it is 1narrowly desi"ned to fi- an e-istin"
process1 and does not help in 1comin" up with new products or disruptive technolo"ies.1
;dvocates of ,i- ,i"ma have ar"ued that many of these claims are in error or ill:
informed.
[!6[!A
O'er,reliance on statistical tools
; more direct criticism is the 1ri"id1 nature of ,i- ,i"ma with its over:reliance on
methods and tools. In most cases, more attention is paid to reducin" variation and
searchin" for any si"nificant factors and less attention is paid to developin" robustness in
the first place .which can alto"ether eliminate the need for reducin" variation/.
[!8
*he
e-tensive reliance on si"nificance testin" and use of multiple re"ression techniques
increases the ris$ of ma$in" commonly:un$nown types of statistical errors or mista$es. ;
possible consequence of ,i- ,i"maEs array of 8:value misconceptions is the false belief
that the probability of a conclusion bein" in error can be calculated from the data in a
sin"le e-periment without reference to e-ternal evidence or the plausibility of the
underlyin" mechanism.
[!9
Cne of the most serious but all:too:common misuses of
inferential statistics is to ta$e a model that was developed throu"h e-ploratory model
buildin" and sub5ect it to the same sorts of statistical tests that are used to validate a
model that was specified in advance.
[)D
;nother comment refers to the often mentioned
*ransfer ?unction, which seems to be a flawed theory if loo$ed at in detail.
[)1
,ince
si"nificance tests were first populari0ed many ob5ections have been voiced by prominent
and respected statisticians. *he volume of criticism and rebuttal has filled boo$s with
lan"ua"e seldom used in the scholarly debate of a dry sub5ect.
[)![))[)+[)(
Much of the first
criticism was already published more than +D years a"o. @efer to6 ,tatistical hypothesis
testin"T2riticism for details. ;rticles featurin" critics have appeared in the IovemberS
9ecember !DD6 issue of F,; ;rmy Bo"istician re"ardin" ,i-:,i"ma6 1*he dan"ers of a
sin"le paradi"matic orientation .in this case, that of technical rationality/ can blind us to
values associated with double:loop learnin" and the learnin" or"ani0ation, or"ani0ation
adaptability, wor$force creativity and development, humani0in" the wor$place, cultural
awareness, and strate"y ma$in".1
[)6
Iassim Iicholas *aleb consider ris$ mana"ers little
more than 1blind users1 of statistical tools and methods.
[)A
He states that statistics is
fundamentally incomplete as a field as it cannot predict the ris$ of rare events :
somethin" ,i- ,i"ma is specially concerned with. ?urthermore, errors in prediction are
li$ely to occur as a result of i"norance for or distinction between epistemic and other
uncertainties. *hese errors are the bi""est in time variant .reliability/ related failures.
[)8
Stifling creati'ity in research en'ironments
; Business#eek article says that #ames McIerneyEs introduction of ,i- ,i"ma at )M had
the effect of stiflin" creativity and reports its removal from the research function. It cites
two %harton ,chool professors who say that ,i- ,i"ma leads to incremental innovation
at the e-pense of blue s$ies research.
[)9
*his phenomenon is further e-plored in the boo$
Going Lean, which describes a related approach $nown as lean dynamics and provides
data to show that ?ordEs 16 ,i"ma1 pro"ram did little to chan"e its fortunes.
[+D
;ccordin" to an article by #ohn 9od"e, editor in chief of $esign %es, use of ,i- ,i"ma
is inappropriate in a research environment. 9od"e states
[+1
1e-cessive metrics, steps,
measurements and ,i- ,i"maEs intense focus on reducin" variability water down the
discovery process. Fnder ,i- ,i"ma, the free:wheelin" nature of brainstormin" and the
serendipitous side of discovery is stifled.1 He concludes 1thereEs "eneral a"reement that
freedom in basic or pure research is preferable while ,i- ,i"ma wor$s best in incremental
innovation when thereEs an e-pressed commercial "oal.1
.ac- of systematic documentation
Cne criticism voiced by 4asar #arrar and ;ndy Ieely from the 2ranfield ,chool of
Mana"ementEs 2entre for 3usiness 8erformance is that while ,i- ,i"ma is a powerful
approach, it can also unduly dominate an or"ani0ationEs cultureO and they add that much
of the ,i- ,i"ma literature lac$s academic ri"or6
8robably more to the ,i- ,i"ma literature than concepts, relates to the evidence for ,i-
,i"maUs success. ,o far, documented case studies usin" the ,i- ,i"ma methods are
presented as the stron"est evidence for its success. However, loo$in" at these
documented cases, and apart from a few that are detailed from the e-perience of leadin"
or"ani0ations li$e &' and Motorola, most cases are not documented in a systemic or
academic manner. In fact, the ma5ority are case studies illustrated on websites, and are, at
best, s$etchy. *hey provide no mention of any specific ,i- ,i"ma methods that were used
to resolve the problems. It has been ar"ued that by relyin" on the ,i- ,i"ma criteria,
mana"ement is lulled into the idea that somethin" is bein" done about quality, whereas
any resultin" improvement is accidental .Bat0$o 199(/. *hus, when loo$in" at the
evidence put forward for ,i- ,i"ma success, mostly by consultants and people with
vested interests, the question that be"s to be as$ed is6 are we ma$in" a true improvement
with ,i- ,i"ma methods or 5ust "ettin" s$illed at tellin" storiesV 'veryone seems to
believe that we are ma$in" true improvements, but there is some way to "o to document
these empirically and clarify the causal relations.
W
[!8
$%& sigma shift
*he statistician 9onald #. %heeler has dismissed the 1.( si"ma shift as 1"oofy1 because
of its arbitrary nature.
[+!
Its universal applicability is seen as doubtful.
*he 1.( si"ma shift has also become contentious because it results in stated 1si"ma
levels1 that reflect short:term rather than lon":term performance6 a process that has lon":
term defect levels correspondin" to +.( si"ma performance is, by ,i- ,i"ma convention,
described as a 1si- si"ma process.1
[([+)
*he accepted ,i- ,i"ma scorin" system thus
cannot be equated to actual normal distribution probabilities for the stated number of
standard deviations, and this has been a $ey bone of contention over how ,i- ,i"ma
measures are defined.
[+)
*he fact that it is rarely e-plained that a 16 si"ma1 process will
have lon":term defect rates correspondin" to +.( si"ma performance rather than actual 6
si"ma performance has led several commentators to e-press the opinion that ,i- ,i"ma is
a confidence tric$.
[(
See also
9esi"n for ,i- ,i"ma
9M;I2
Nai0en S a philosophical focus on continuous improvement of processes
Bean ,i- ,i"ma
Bean Manufacturin"
Mana"ement fad
,i- ,i"ma for @CI
*otal productive maintenance
*otal quality mana"ement
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@etrieved !DD6:D1:!9.
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+.
Further reading
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;dams, 2ary %.O &upta, 8raveenO %ilson, 2harles '. .!DD)/. Six Sigma
$eployment. 3urlin"ton, M;6 3utterworth:Heinemann. I,3I D:A(D6:A(!):).
C2B2 (D69)1D(.
3reyfo"le, ?orrest %. III .1999/. &mplementing Six Sigma) Smarter Solutions
.sing Statistical Methods. Iew 4or$, I46 #ohn %iley M ,ons. I,3I D:+A1:
!6(A!:1. C2B2 (D6D6+A1.
9e ?eo, #oseph ;.O 3arnard, %illiam .!DD(/. -./(% &nstitute0s Six Sigma
Breakthrough and Beyond 1 ,uality *erformance Breakthrough Methods. Iew
4or$, I46 Mc&raw:Hill 8rofessional. I,3I D:DA:1+!!!A:A. C2B2 (!9)A()1.
Hahn, &. #., Hill, %. #., Hoerl, @. %. and Yin$"raf, ,. ;. .1999/ +he &mpact of Six
Sigma &mprovement1( Glimpse into the "uture of Statistics, *he ;merican
,tatistician, >ol. (), Io. ), pp. !D8S!1(.
Neller, 8aul ;. .!DD1/. Six Sigma $eployment) ( Guide for &mplementing Six
Sigma in Your 8rganization. *ucson, ;Y6 7uality 8ublishin". I,3I D:9)DD11:8+:
8. C2B2 +A9+!)8+.
8ande, 8eter ,.O Ieuman, @obert 8.O 2avana"h, @oland @. .!DD1/. +he Six Sigma
#ay) 5o GE6 Motorola6 and 8ther +op Companies are 5oning +heir
*erformance. Iew 4or$, I46 Mc&raw:Hill 8rofessional. I,3I D:DA:1)(8D6:+.
C2B2 6+ADD6A9+.
8y0de$, *homas and 8aul ;. Neller .!DD9/. +he Six Sigma 5and!ook6 +hird
Edition. Iew 4or$, I46 Mc&raw:Hill. I,3I D:DA:16!))8:8. C2B2 (119+(6(.
,nee, @onald 9.O Hoerl, @o"er %. .!DD!/. Leading Six Sigma) ( Step1!y1Step
Guide Based on Experience ith GE and 8ther Six Sigma Companies. Fpper
,addle @iver, I#6 ?* 8ress. I,3I D:1):DD8+(A:). C2B2 (1D+8+!).
*aylor, &erald .!DD8/. Lean Six Sigma Service Excellence) ( Guide to Green Belt
Certification and Bottom Line &mprovement. Iew 4or$, I46 #. @oss 8ublishin".
I,3I 9A8:1:6D+!A:DD6:8. C2B2 !A1AA)A+!.
*ennant, &eoff .!DD1/. S&' S&GM() S*C and +,M in Manufacturing and
Services. ;ldershot, FN6 &ower 8ublishin", Btd. I,3I D:(66:D8)A+:+.
C2B2 ++)91((6.
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