An Overview Of Six Sigma MethodologiesSix Sigma is a set of methodologies used to systematically improve processes by working on defects. These set of practices eliminate any defects in a process and make the process rich, quality wise. The article below gives an overview of six sigma methodologies and their usage. Six Sigma methodologies were first developed by Motorola company. These methodologies were formulated by Bill Smith in 1986. The methodologies were termed Six Sigma because they incorporated six quality improvement methods such as Zero Defects, quality control, TQM, etc. The Six Sigma methodologies were designed to assert continuous efforts which were being made to reduce the variations in the output results of a process. These were designed to analyze, improve and control the manufacture and business processes. Thus, in short these methodologies were designed to run a business successfully. Six Sigma methodologies refer to the ability of processes to produce results or outputs within specification limits. It is estimated that the processes that follow these methodologies produce output with astonishingly low defect level of less than 3.4 per million opportunities. Some organizations also define Six Sigma as a measure of quality. It is a disciplined and data driven approach to eliminate any faults in the process. A statistical representation of Six Sigma methodologies describes the performance of a process quantitatively. As mentioned earlier Six Sigma methodologies help to implement those strategies in a process that lead to incremental improvement in that process. They also help to reduce any variations in the process outputs. This task is accomplished by two sub-methodologies that comes under Six-Sigma. These are DMAIC and DMADV. DMAIC sub-methodology stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. It is a method to improve existing processes that fall below specifications. Thus, this method provides measures to improve the process. DMADV stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify. It is a method to improve new processes in a system. This method is also employed in case the current process requires more than incremental improvement. Six Sigma methodologies are executed by professionals who are Six Sigma certificate holders. Those who execute the Six Sigma process are Six Sigma Black Belt certificate holders and Six Sigma Green Belt certificate holders. The Six Sigma Master Black Belt certificate holders oversee the process. If business and manufacturing companies employ Six Sigma methodologies they can save a lot of money. It is estimated that such companies can save money up to $230,000 per project. Such companies can also complete their projects at a fast pace (around six projects in a year). For example GE company implemented Six Sigma methodologies and the company was able to save $10 million dollars during the five years of its implementation. The Six Sigma explained in this article is an overview of Six Sigma and the usefulness of six sigma methodologies for the business and manufacturing companies. Thus, you will find the overview of 6 sigma in this article of some help to you. |