Chapter 10

Principles of
Six Sigma

1
Key Idea

Although we view quality improvement tools and

techniques from the perspective of Six Sigma, it
is important to understand that they are simply a
collection of methods that have been used
successfully in all types of quality management
and improvement initiatives, from generic TQM
efforts, to ISO 9000, and in Baldrige processes.
Six-Sigma Metrics

 Defect – any mistake or error that is

passed on to a customer
 Defects per unit (DPU) = number of
defects discovered  number of units
produced
 Defects per million opportunities
(dpmo) = DPU  1,000,000 
opportunities for error
Six-Sigma Quality

 Ensuring that process variation is half the

design tolerance (Cp = 2.0) while allowing
the mean to shift as much as 1.5 standard
deviations, resulting in at most 3.4 dpmo.
Key Idea

Although originally developed for manufacturing

in the context of tolerance-based specifications,
the Six Sigma concept has been operationalized
to any process and has come to signify a generic
quality level of at most 3.4 defects per million
opportunities.
k-Sigma Quality Levels
Problem Solving

 Problem: any deviation between what

“should be” and what “is” that is important
enough to need correcting
– Structured
– Semistructured
– Ill-structured
 Problem Solving: the activity associated
with changing the state of what “is” to what
“should be”
7
Quality Problem Types

1. Conformance problems
2. Unstructured performance problems
3. Efficiency problems
4. Product design problems
5. Process design problems
Key Factors in Six Sigma
Project Selection
 Financial return, as measured by costs
associated with quality and process
performance, and impacts on revenues and
market share
 Impacts on customers and organizational
effectiveness
 Probability of success
 Impact on employees
 Fit to strategy and competitive advantage
Problem Solving Process

1. Redefining and analyzing the

problem
2. Generating ideas
3. Evaluating and selecting ideas
4. Implementing ideas
Key Idea

A structured problem-solving process provides

all employees with a common language and a
set of tools to communicate with each other,
particularly as members of cross-functional
teams.
DMAIC Methodology

1. Define
2. Measure
3. Analyze
4. Improve
5. Control
Define

 Describe the problem in operational

terms
 Drill down to a specific problem
statement (project scoping)
 Identify customers and CTQs,
performance metrics, and
cost/revenue implications
Measure

 Key data collection questions

– What questions are we trying to answer?
– What type of data will we need to answer
the question?
– Where can we find the data?
– Who can provide the data?
– How can we collect the data with
minimum effort and with minimum
chance of error?
Analyze

 Focus on why defects, errors, or

excessive variation occur
 Seek the root cause
 5-Why technique
 Experimentation and verification
Improve

 Idea generation
 Brainstorming
 Evaluation and selection
 Implementation planning
Control

 Maintain improvements
 Standard operating procedures
 Training
 Checklist or reviews
 Statistical process control charts
Tools for Six-Sigma and
Quality Improvement
 Elementary statistics
 Advanced statistics
 Product design and reliability
 Measurement
 Process control
 Process improvement
 Implementation and teamwork
Design for Six Sigma

 Focus on optimizing product and process

performance
 Features
– A high-level architectural view of the design
– Use of CTQs with well-defined technical requirements
– Application of statistical modeling and simulation
approaches
– Predicting defects, avoiding defects, and performance
prediction using analysis methods
– Examining the full range of product performance using
variation analysis of subsystems and components
Key Idea

All Six Sigma projects have three key

characteristics: a problem to be solved, a
process in which the problem exists, and one
or more measures that quantify the gap to be
closed and can be used to monitor progress.
Key Six Sigma Metrics in
Services
 Accuracy
 Cycle time
 Cost
 Customer satisfaction
Lean Production and Six
Sigma
 The 5S’s: seiri (sort), seiton (set in order),
seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardize), and
shitsuke (sustain).
 Visual controls
 Efficient layout and standardized work
 Pull production
 Single minute exchange of dies (SMED)
 Total productive maintenance
 Source inspection
 Continuous improvement
Traditional Economic Model
of Quality of Conformance

Total cost

Cost due to Cost of

nonconformance quality
assurance

100%
“optimal level” of quality
Modern Economic Model of
Quality of Conformance

Total cost
Cost due to
nonconformance
Cost of
quality
assurance

100%