What is Six Sigma? Methodologies and Certifications

Six Sigma is a business methodology focused on improving quality and efficiency by minimizing defects and variations in processes. It utilizes statistical tools and techniques to identify and eliminate the root causes of problems, ultimately leading to better products, services, and customer satisfaction.

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a data-driven approach to process improvement that aims to reduce defects and variability, ultimately leading to increased efficiency and customer satisfaction. It was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in the 1980s as a way to improve quality and reduce costs. The name Six Sigma comes from statistics, where a "six sigma" level indicates a very low defect rate (3.4 defects per million opportunities).

Six Sigma Core Philosophies and Principles

Six Sigma is not just one new idea used to drive process improvements; instead, it takes many other concepts and methods and combines them into a single comprehensive program. Some of the best-known philosophies included in the program are:

• 80-20 Rule: This principle suggests that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. In Six Sigma, it helps identify the most critical factors impacting a process or outcome, allowing for focused improvement efforts.
• Quality from the Customer Perspective: Six Sigma emphasizes understanding and meeting customer needs and expectations to deliver high-quality products and services.
• Quality Trilogy Model: Juran's Quality Trilogy (Quality Planning, Quality Control, and Quality Improvement) provides a framework for managing quality throughout the entire process.
• Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA): This iterative process guides continuous improvement by testing changes, analyzing results, and implementing improvements.
• Cause and Effect: According to this principle, understanding the root causes of problems is crucial for effective problem-solving within Six Sigma.
• DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control): This structured problem-solving approach is used to improve existing processes by identifying, analyzing, and eliminating defects.
• Effects of External Disturbance: Six Sigma acknowledges that external factors can impact processes and aims to mitigate their effects.

Six Sigma is truly unique in this respect as the program can be tailored into something that has a purpose within different business models. The end goal of being as efficient and precise as possible is the same for all companies that use Six Sigma, but the pathway to those project goals is different for everyone and defines the outcomes.

Six Sigma Project Methodologies

Six sigma utilizes a structured, five-step approach called DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. This methodology aims to enhance quality, efficiency, and overall performance in various business settings. Here are the five phases of the DMAIC process.

DMAIC

• Define – Define the problem at hand from both customer and process perspective.
• Measure – Measure the current process and collect relevant data.
• Analyze – Turn the data collected into knowledge in an attempt to determine the relationship between the problem and a solution.
• Improve – Based on the data collected and the data analysis, decisions should be made surrounding how the problem should then be tackled so as to improve the whole process.
• Control – Controlling the future state of the process to prevent any deviation from the target will ensure the process control remains on course.

While DMAIC is the core methodology, Six Sigma also employs other approaches.

DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify) is used when designing new products or processes or for major redesigns. The major phases of DMADV are:

• Define –Define the design goal to meet the customers’ needs and manufacturing process.
• Measure – This involves identifying risks, production process capability, and product capabilities.
• Analyze - After creating the designs, each of them is to be analyzed. The best possible one is to be picked for implementation.
• Design - Once a design is chosen, it is necessary to optimize it while planning for the next phase. This step may require simulations using certain software or prototypse.
• Verify - The design, setup pilot runs, and implementation of the production process should be handed over to the process owners.

Both of these options do well in environments that place focus on Six Sigma. With that being said, it is important to have plans such as these that incrementally work on reaching the company’s goals for them to not only come to fruition, but also to be successful through the implementation of improved business processes. Quality management is everything, and reaching that status takes meticulous planning.

Six Sigma in Decision Making

Six Sigma methodologies provide a structured, data-driven approach to decision-making, emphasizing the reduction of defects and variation in processes. This contrasts with decision-making that relies on intuition, assumptions, or gut feelings. By using statistical analysis and process mapping, Six Sigma enables informed decisions with a higher degree of accuracy and predictability, minimizing risks and improving outcomes.

Goals of Using Six Sigma in Decision Making

Six Sigma leads to more informed, effective, and sustainable decisions by minimizing guesswork and relying on objective analysis. Key aspects of decision making with Six Sigma:

Data-Driven Approach: Six Sigma prioritizes the use of data to identify root causes of problems and measure performance, rather than relying on subjective opinions or guesswork.

Problem Solving: The DMAIC framework provides a structured methodology for solving problems, from identifying the issue to implementing and controlling solutions.

Variation Reduction: Six Sigma focuses on minimizing variation in processes, leading to more consistent and predictable results.

Process Optimization: By analyzing and improving processes, Six Sigma helps organizations make better decisions that lead to increased efficiency, reduced costs, and improved quality.

Risk Mitigation: The structured and data-driven nature of Six Sigma helps organizations identify and mitigate potential risks associated with decisions.

Improved Outcomes: Ultimately, Six Sigma aims to improve decision-making processes, leading to better products, services, and overall business performance.

What Six Sigma Tries to Solve

Decision making without Six Sigma can lead to increased costs, wasted resources, and lower customer satisfaction due to inconsistent quality and delayed delivery. Problems with decision making without Six Sigma:

Reliance on Intuition: Without Six Sigma, decisions may be based on intuition, assumptions, or gut feelings, which can lead to inaccurate or ineffective outcomes.

Increased Risk: Without data to support decisions, organizations may face a higher risk of making costly mistakes or experiencing negative consequences.

Process Inefficiencies: Without a structured approach to process improvement, organizations may struggle with inefficiencies, defects, and variation in their processes.

Lack of Control: Without control methods, changes implemented based on intuition may not be sustainable, and the organization may not be able to maintain consistent performance.

Thus, Six Sigma provides a robust framework for making data-driven decisions that are more accurate, efficient, and reliable than those made without a structured methodology.

Six Sigma Certification

The Six Sigma program recognizes individuals based on their education and experience using the aforementioned methodologies. Similar to martial arts, there are formal levels within the program that are identified by different colored belts. Students must attain certain certifications in order to attain these belts which reflect on their development. The different colored belts include white, yellow, green, black, and master black belts.

Six Sigma White Belt

A Six Sigma white belt represents the entry-level certification in Lean Six Sigma, providing a fundamental understanding of the methodology and its basic concepts. White Belts primarily participate in local problem-solving teams, supporting larger projects by contributing their basic knowledge of Six Sigma principles and tools. This certification is suitable for anyone seeking a foundational awareness of Six Sigma, regardless of their prior experience.

Six Sigma Yellow Belt

A Six Sigma yellow belt signifies a foundational understanding of Six Sigma principles, enabling individuals to actively contribute to process improvement projects. They support green and black belts, assisting with data collection, process mapping, and identifying areas for improvement. Yellow belts are essential team members, applying basic Six Sigma tools and techniques to enhance efficiency and productivity within their roles.

Six Sigma Green Belt

Six sigma green belts lead smaller-scale projects and facilitate process improvement initiatives within teams or departments. It is suitable for professionals in roles like process improvement specialists, project managers, and engineers who want to lead improvement projects.

Six Sigma Black Belt

Black belts spend 100% of their day working on improvements and project implentation for their companies and are an expert in their field. They lead Six Sigma projects, mentor green belts, and possess advanced statistical and technical skills. This certification is suitable for project managers, operations managers, and consultants who want to lead large-scale, complex process improvement initiatives.

Six Sigma Master Black Belt

Becoming a Six Sigma master black belt takes several years of courses, study, exams, experience, practice, project work, and more. Master black belts also need to be mentored by existing master black belts in order to attain this level. These experts provide training and mentoring to Black and Green Belts. They also shape the organization's Six Sigma strategy and serve as internal consultants.

Key Six Sigma Process Improvement Terms

Everyone in a Six Sigma facility should have at least a basic understanding of common words and terms used in this system. While it is ideal to have everyone at least yellow belt certified, it could suffice to provide very simple training to get things started. The following are some key Six Sigma process improvement terms that everyone across the teams should put emphasis on:

Having a basic understanding of these disciplines will help everyone on the Six Sigma team have a clear understanding of the company’s objectives and help to pave a pathway to facility an improvement result.

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is a methodology that combines the principles of Lean and Six Sigma to improve process efficiency and quality. It aims to eliminate waste and defects in processes by focusing on customer needs and streamlining workflows. The eight wastes of Lean include defects, over-production, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, inventory, motion, and extra processing.

Lean Six Sigma is guided by 5 key principles, derived from the core philosophies of Lean and Six Sigma, that form the foundation for its approach to process improvement. Here are the five key principles:

1. The Law of the Market: According to this law, businesses should prioritize meeting customer needs and focus on "critical-to-quality" elements, as customer satisfaction is directly linked to profitability.
2. The Law of Flexibility: This law highlights the importance of being adaptable to change and continuously improving processes. It encourages teams to be responsive to feedback and make necessary adjustments to optimize performance.
3. The Law of Concentration: This law suggests focusing resources on high-impact areas. It encourages teams to identify bottlenecks and waste within a process and address them systematically.
4. The Law of Speed: This law aims to minimize cycle times and improve responsiveness. It encourages teams to identify and eliminate non-value-added activities to improve efficiency and speed.
5. The Law of Complexity and Costs: This law highlights the importance of simplifying processes and reducing unnecessary expenses. It encourages teams to identify and eliminate unnecessary steps, reduce errors, and streamline workflows.

These laws, when applied in conjunction with the DMAIC process, provide a framework for organizations to achieve operational excellence and deliver superior value to their customers.

Benefits of Adding Lean to Six Sigma

Companies that implement Lean Six Sigma will benefit from the following:

• Saving on production costs
• Improving the quality of the product
• Becoming more efficient and consistent with production
• An increase in customer value
• An increase in profits

While transitioning to Lean Six Sigma might look easy, successful implementation and realizing sustained benefits require more than just adopting the methodologies. It demands a strategic approach with critical success factors like strong leadership, a supportive organizational culture, and the right tools.

Lean Manufacturing – Here, the company’s arsenal of organizational tools can include, but is not limited to, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, Kanban, PM, and Visual management.

Six Sigma – Some of the more prominent tools that companies use for Six Sigma include PDCA, DAMIC, and DMADV. There are others listed above in this article as well.

Six Sigma Facts

The Six Sigma method is well established across the globe and has proven to be effective in many industries, offering competitve advantage. Learning a key fact or two about the system and its history can help people see just how powerful this methodology can be for a company and how helpful certification can be for an individual if they are looking to get higher up the hierarchy.

Whether a company already uses Six Sigma or is hoping to implement its features for the first time, one of the best things any individual can do is get a Six Sigma certification. These certifications not only benefit the company that employs these individuals, but also provide major career benefits to the individuals themselves on a long term basis.

When implementing Six Sigma, it is highly beneficial to involve a Master Black Belt or at least a Black Belt to ensure proper management and prevent potential negative impacts from improper execution. Six Sigma, like other process improvement initiatives, requires careful, top-down management for successful implementation. While it requires significant effort, successful implementation can transform a company.