The document provides an introduction to Six Sigma, including: 1) An overview of Six Sigma as a data-driven approach to process improvement focused on reducing defects, with origins at Motorola in the 1970s. 2) A description of common Six Sigma roles like Champions, Black Belts, and Green Belts who lead projects using the DMAIC methodology of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. 3) An explanation of how Six Sigma complements Lean methods by focusing on reducing variation and waste in processes.

1. Introduction to Six Sigma
Steve Depoe
June 2013
Steve.depoe@gmail.com

2. Background to Six Sigma Program
• So What is Six Sigma?
− a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and
delivering near-perfect products and services
− The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many
„defects‟ you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to
eliminate them and get as close to „zero defects‟ as possible
− A rigorous analytical methodology that employ statistical tools either to
design NEW products and processes or to improve EXISTING products and
processes (DMAIC - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control).
− Focused on prevention rather than detection, and is applicable to all
processes

3. • Statistical Quality Control (Deming)1940s
• Design Of Experiments (Taguchi / Box & Hunter)1940s
• Management By Objectives (McGregor)1950s
• Zero Defects (Crosby)1960s
• Total Quality Control (Juran)1980s
• Total Quality Management1980s
• Malcom Baldridge Award for Quality1980s
• The Toyota Production System1980s
• Lean Methodolgies & Kaizen1990s
• Six Sigma (GE, Motorola, Allied Signal, etc.)1990s
• Lean + Six Sigma 2000s
− Focus on reducing waste and variation throughout the
entire Value Stream
The Evolution to Lean Six Sigma

4. Background to Six Sigma Program
• History of Six Sigma
− 1979 Motorola starts Six Sigma program for production processes
• Goal is to eliminate waste by achieving near perfect results - 3.4 defects
per million opportunities
• Six Sigma is a registered trade and service mark of Motorola, Inc.
− Now used by major corporations throughout the world, for example:
• At GE Six Sigma is the way of life
– In 1991 Jack Welch invested $450 million and expected a $6
billion saving in 5 years…and he got it

5. The Difference
• Six Sigma differs from earlier methods in it‟s tie to financial
savings.
• Six Sigma is tied to financial or dollar savings as a metric for
the process improvement

6. Background to Six Sigma Program
• Benefits
− Greater customer satisfaction
− Reduction in the cost of poor quality
− Improved competitiveness
− Increased productivity and top-line
growth
− Establishes a rigorous approach for
problem solving
− Greater employee pride.

7. Background to Six Sigma Program
• Benefits to Customers
− A pro-active approach which listens to client requirements, and then
translates them into Critical to Quality measurements.
− Customer focused - taking key requirements and implementing processes
which deliver
− Increased quality of goods and services provided
− Ability to “Get it Right the First Time” and if there are problems to “Fix the
Problem, and only once”

8. Background to Six Sigma Program
• Relationship to Other Quality Methodologies
− Yes, SOME of the tools and concepts of Six Sigma are the same as TQM
• Conceptualizing Tools - Brainstorming, Fishbone Diagrams, Affinity
Diagrams
• Display Tools - Pareto Charts, Histograms, Trend Analysis
− But there are many new tools and concepts
• DMAIC
• Control Charts
• Mistake Proofing,
• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA),
• Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• MANY More

9. Background to Six Sigma Program
• Six Sigma complemented with Lean
− Lean has a focus on speed, efficiency, and elimination of waste
− Six Sigma is about defect reduction.
− Together we have Lean/Six Sigma
• Lean typically requires:
− Elimination of waste (muda):
Defects, overproduction, inventories, unnecessary
processing, unnecessary movement of people, unnecessary transport
of goods, waiting, designing goods and services that don‟t meet
customers‟ needs
− Value stream mapping: Map the process and focus on elimination of
non-value add activities
− Pull scheduling

10. Typical Course Agenda
Day a.m. p.m.
Monday Course Introduction Project Practical Session
Introduction to Six
Sigma
Define Phase
Tuesday Measure Phase Project Practical Session
Wednesday Analyse Phase Project Practical Session
Thursday Improve Phase Project Practical Session
Friday Control Phase Project Practical Session
Next Steps

11. Six Sigma Philosophy
• Improve Profitability
• Be Customer Focused
• Measure Outcomes
• Focus on Prevention
• Reduce Variation

12. Six Sigma Philosophy – Improve Profitability
• Six Sigma is about results
− Actions must lead to improved profitability
− Six Sigma is not a “smiles” program (but it does lead to “smiles”)
• Focus the organization
− Set targets
− Then measure performance outcomes to make sure you have hit the right
targets

13. • Defects
• Defects Per Unit (DPU)
• Total Defects Per Unit (TDU)
• Parts Per Million (PPM)
• Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO)
• Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY)
• Sigma ( )
Each of these metrics may be used at different levels in
the organization to express the performance of a
process in meeting requirements.
A Metric
Symbol
Value
Measure
Metric
Benchmark
Method
Tool
Goal
Philosophy
A Metric

14. Source: Journal for Quality and Participation, Strategy and Planning Analysi
A Benchmark
Symbol
Value
Measure
Metric
Benchmark
Method
Tool
Goal
Philosophy
Yield Defects
Per Million
Opportuniti
es (DPMO)
Cost of
Poor
Quality
(COPQ)
Sigma
99.9997% 3.4 <10% 6 World
Class
99.976% 233 1-0-15% 5
99.4% 6,210 15020% 4 Industry
Average
93% 66,807 20-30% 3
65% 308,537 30-40% 2 Non-
Competitiv
e
50% 500,000 40% 1

15. Six Sigma Philosophy – Be Customer Focused
• Listen to what customers say
− Hear what is being said “between the lines”
• Does CTQ = CTC?
− Make sure your CTQ (Critical to Quality) requirements match up to your
CTC (Critical to Customer) elements
− Be fast, flexible, and responsive
− Measure your performance through the eyes of your customers

16. Six Sigma Philosophy – Measure Outcomes
• If we don‟t measure “it” we don‟t improve “it”
− Measuring is an important way to focus the organization
• What we measure is what we get
− If we measure the wrong things, the wrong things get better
− Make sure your measures don‟t send mixed messages
− Measure your performance through the eyes of your customers
• Use a universal metric (DPMO – Defects Per Million Opportunity)
• Track improvement trends over time

17. Why 99% or 3.8 Sigma is NOT Good Enough!!
200,000 incorrect prescriptions
per year
2 unsafe landing per day at
Heathrow
5,000 incorrect
surgical operations
per week
1 hour of unsafe water each month
7.2 Hours per month
down-time
John Doe,
111 Any Address
Cg54 XD
20,000 lost articles of
mail per hour

18. Six Sigma – Some Examples
•7.2 Hours per month of server down
time
•20,000 lost articles of mail per hour
•5,000 incorrect surgical operations per
week
•Two short or long landings at most
major airports each day
•200,000 wrong drug prescriptions each
year
•9 seconds per month of server down
time
•Seven articles lost per hour
•1.7 incorrect operations per week
•One short or long landing every five
years
•68 wrong prescriptions per year
3.8 Sigma – 99% Good 6 Sigma – 99.99966% Good

19. Six Sigma Philosophy – Focus on Prevention
• Prevention costs less than detection
− Detection is finding and fixing errors, problems, and mistakes
− Prevention is preventing them from happening in the first place
• COQ : Cost of Quality
− Prevention costs
− Appraisal costs
− Internal failures
− External failures
• The $1 : $10 : $100 Rule
− $1 spent on prevention saves $10 of internal failures and $100 of external
failures

20. Six Sigma Philosophy – Reduce Variation
• Everything varies
− Even snowflakes
• Variation leads to:
− Unpredictable processes
− Poor process capability
− Scrap and re-work
− High cost of quality
− Lower profitability

21. Six Sigma Approach - DMAIC
• Define
− Define Customers and their CTQs
− Map the high level business process
− Develop and refine project charter
• Measure
− Establish baseline performance for the current process and to develop
measures that will enable improvement of the performance of the process
• Analyze
− Examine the data and process to determine root causes and opportunities
for improvement
• Improve
− Generate, select, design, test, and implement improvements
• Control
− Maintain the improvement

22. • “It is also known as the Toyota Production System. The goal of lean
production is described as "to get the right things to the right place at
the right time, the first time, while minimizing waste and being open
to change".
• At Toyota, engineer Tachi Ohno, who is credited with developing the
principles of lean production, discovered that in addition to
eliminating waste, his methodology led to improved product flow and
better quality.
What is Lean?

23. Lean Six Sigma is about identifying/quantifying and eliminating the
Hidden Factory through cycle time & defect reduction and
ultimately Design for Six Sigma
Described below is any process that meets a customer need
90% Yield after Final
inspection or test
Each defect must be
detected, repaired and placed
back in the process. This results in
Wasted:
• Time
• Money
• Resources
Scrap
Rework
Hidden Factory
30%
NOT
OK
OperationInputs
Informal
Inspection
70%
OK
90%
Customer Quality
This classic
approach to
calculating yield
does not account
for the hidden
factory.
Scrap
Rework
Hidden Factory
10%
NOT
OK
Operation
90%
OK
Formal
Inspection
Waste and the Hidden Factory

24. • Specify value from the perspective of the customer
• Identify and understand the value stream
• Reduce waste in the process
• Make the value flow – faster process
• Pull value according to customer demand
• Pursue perfection
Timed Value Map
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Activity
Hours
VALUE ADD
NON-VALUE ADD
3 types of value
• Value add
An activity that
transforms or shapes (for
the first time) material or
information to meet
customer requirements
• Non-value add
Those activities that take
time and resources but
do not add to the
customer requirements
• Non-value add but
necessary
i.e. legislative
Lean = Faster by Improving the Value Stream

25. • Waste elimination
• Work concentration
• Flow
• At the pull of the
customer
Speed Accuracy+
Lean Six Sigma
• Variation reduction
• Scrap / rework
elimination
• Process control
= $$$
Lean Methods & Six Sigma

26. • Lean is the focus of resources to reduce waste
• Lean tries to eliminate waste in the following areas
– Defects (correction of product)
– Overproduction
– Transportation
– Waiting
– Inventory
– Motion
– Processing
Lean Methods

27. Lean Six Sigma -
• Is not merely a quality initiative, it is a business initiative
• Is a total management commitment and philosophy of
excellence, customer focus, process improvement, and the
rule of measurement rather than gut feel – it means we do not
accept defects, we do not accept waste and we always work
toward improving our products & services
• The term Six Sigma refers to a product or process that produces
only three defects (or errors) out of every million
opportunities
Lean Six Sigma is Business Improvement

28. Project Based Approach
• Unlike traditional quality techniques, Six Sigma explicitly uses
concepts of project management, and so has several benefits of
a project
− Every Six Sigma project has a defined start date and end date and
a pre-defined project charter with goals, objectives and
deliverables.
• Project planning tools like project plan, Gantt
charts, PERT, planning trees etc are used for managing the
project and require proper knowledge of the different project
management knowledge areas:
− Project integration management
− Project scope, time and cost management
− Project human resources management
− Project communication and risk management
− Project risk management

29. Cohesive Project Based Approach
• Detailed process maps created during initial stages of Six Sigma project
provide an overview of complex processes in an organization,
identifies relationship and interdependencies between the processes
and facilitates identification of problems.
• Six Sigma methodologies can evaluate different processes within an
organization including people, equipment, environment, materials etc.
and identify the best projects to provide maximum benefits to the
organization.
• Cohesive process based approach helps in getting a holistic view of the
organization and identifying potential problem areas – Six Sigma
projects can then be used to fix the problems identified.

30. Quantitative Approach
• Since several traditional quality approaches did not use rigorous
quantitative methods, it was very difficult to measure the cost and
benefits of those quality initiatives.
• By using rigorous quantitative and statistical techniques, six sigma
provides mathematical analysis to determine which projects offer
maximum benefits at lowest costs i.e. all six sigma project have
measurable and quantifiable goals and associated costs.
• Following the quantitative six sigma concepts also helps ensure that
− The project goals align with the organization goals
− There are long-term benefits from the six sigma project.

31. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
Executive
Management
Champions
Green Belt Green BeltBlack Belt
Six Sigma Teams
Organisational Infrastructure
Support
Measure
Teach
Consult
MasterBlackBelt
Finance
Vision
Priority
Select
Define
Measure
Analyse
Improve
Control
Lead Black Belt

32. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
• Executive Management
− Sets the company/division strategy and goals
− Allocates resources
− Targets key improvement areas

33. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
• Champion
− Chooses projects
− Conducts project reviews
− Provides management, leadership, support, and mentoring to project
leaders
− Knocks down barriers

34. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
• Lead Black Belt
− Works with Product Line/Account management to identify project
opportunities
− Identifies people within the Product Line/Account who will run Six Sigma
projects
− Coordinates the training requirements
− Coordinates Six Sigma program within Product Line or Account
− Supports the individual projects

35. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
• Black and Green Belts
− Leads project
− Keeps champion informed of project progress
− Uses and educates team on Six Sigma methodology and tools
− Actively seeks to use Six Sigma process to solve problems

36. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
• Team Members
− Attends all the meetings
− Completes assignments between meetings
− Actively participates and contributes expertise
− Listens to other‟s ideas
− Uses Six Sigma process to solve problems

37. Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities
• Master Black Belt
− Provides technical support and mentoring
− Facilitates multiple projects
− Provides support and advice to Champions and Executive Management
− Trainer of Six Sigma tools and techniques