Six Sigma

Six Sigma

Introduction

This paper demonstrates the concept of Six Sigma and steps involved in the application of Sig sigma. The concept of Six Sigma is for the present, as well as for the future. The main focus of this concept is not the products, but the customer. Motorola Corp. has developed the concept of Six Sigma to reduce the cost and improve the quality of the products and processes to meet the needs of the customers. It brought cultural changes in the organization (Harry, 2013). This paper further demonstrates different tools and methodologies of Six Sigma, which can be used in our running project.

Discussion

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a process that helps the organization to focus on manufacturing and delivering products that are near to perfect. The main aim of Six Sigma process is to reduce waste and increase efficiency by maximizing customer satisfaction by offering products meeting the expectation of customers. Six Sigma allows the management to define roles effectively to employees/staffs.

The main idea behind the Six Sigma is to measure the number of defects the organization have in manufacturing process. It allows to figure out the way to reduce defects and get closer to 'zero defect'. There is a failure chances of only 3.4 defects per million (DPMO). The approach of Six Sigma is to:

Improve process

Reduce defects

Lower process variability

Minimize cost

Maximize customer satisfaction

Maximize profits

Steps in application of Six Sigma

Steps that are involved in application of Six Sigma to increase efficiency and quality of the product is DMAIC - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (Desai & Shrivastava, 2008).

Define Phase - This phase defines the goals of the project and deliverables to customers. This phase also defines the project's scope that includes deadlines, time constraints and budget. It allows defining the responsibilities and roles of the project team. The SIPOC process takes place in this phase that involves identifying elements such as, Supplier, Input, Process, Output and Customers.

Measure Phase - This phase allows the organization to measure the performance of the project and quantifying the problem. Three important parts involved in measure phase are; Data collection; Data evaluation; and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).

Data collection - data collection plan involves identifying the required data that has to be collected, its sources etc. The primary sources of data are output, process and input.

Data evaluation - this stage involves the assessment of collected data and calculation of sigma.

FMEA - this final stage of measure phase refers to avoid defects prior to their occurrence. This stage defines the defects in three ways; likelihood of defects; ability to detect; and the severity level defects.

Analyze Phase - this phase helps the organization to determine the causes of the defects. It involves the analysis of source, process, data, resource and communication.

Source - source or root cause analysis involves the detection of source of defects. After determining the source, organization makes an attempt to resolve the problem before eliminating the defects.

Process - it involves the analysis of adopted process by the ...