Craig Gygi

To apply Six Sigma to your business and produce the best results, you need to understand what Six Sigma is, the principles of Six Sigma, and the DMAIC problem-solving method. The correct tools and use of the Six Sigma scale and methods will keep your data dependable and reusable.What is Six Sigma?Generally, Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools that help businesses improve their processes.

A cause-and-effect matrix — sometimes called a C&E matrix for short — helps you discover which factors affect the outcomes of your Six Sigma initiative. It provides a way of mapping out how value is transmitted from the input factors of your system (the Xs) to the process or product outputs (the Ys). With these relationships visible and quantified, you can readily discover the most-influential factors contributing to value.

To begin understanding the technical side of Six Sigma, you have to first answer a seemingly straightforward question: What is quality? A traditional and widely held definition of quality is Quality = compliance with specifications The following mental experiment walks through the traditional definition of quality and highlights why measuring quality this way is a flawed approach.

When defining a project, you get into the nuts and bolts of Six Sigma. Doing this step right is well worth your time because 50 percent of your project’s success depends on how well it’s defined! Different people can be part of defining a potential project, including the following: Champions Belts Process leaders Functional managers or process owners Note: Any employee can suggest a Six Sigma improvement project, but have one of the people in this list consider and sponsor the project.

After you know what your problem statement is and how much improvement you’re aiming for with Six Sigma, you’re ready to craft your objective statement. Your objective statement spells out the specific, quantifiable amount of improvement planned above the baseline performance that was indicated in the problem statement.

The problem statement serves several purposes in a Six Sigma project. First, it significantly clarifies the current situation by specifically identifying the problem and its severity, location, and financial impact. It also serves as a great communication tool, helping to get buy-in and support from others. When problem statements are well written, people readily grasp and understand what you’re trying to accomplish.

For Six Sigma, 5S can be invaluable for reducing waste. High-performing processes and workplaces are always characterized by organization and cleanliness. The whole point is to reduce or keep out waste, and the method that helps you with that is called 5S. The process behind 5S began decades ago in Japan as a means of immediately engaging frontline process teams in the daily work of improvement.

Having the right tools and knowing how to apply them to your Six Sigma projects will help you produce accurate, acceptable, and reusable outcomes. Here’s an overview of the Six Sigma landscape:

The Six Sigma scale shows how well a vital feature performs compared to its requirements. The higher the sigma score, the more efficient the feature is. This table shows the universal Six Sigma scale: Sigma Level (Z) Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO) Percent Defects (%) Percent Success (Yield %) Capability (CP) 1 691,462 69 31 0.