Management Classic Tools Leading Methods Philip Crosby W. Edwards Deming Fredrick Herzberg Kaoru Ishikawa Joseph M. Juran Lawrence D. Miles Alex Osborn Walter Shewhart Genichi Taguchi Frederick W. Taylor J. Edgar Thomson Quotes Database Recommended Reading Order PathMaker Order ipathmaker Dr. W. Edwards Deming Dr. Deming's Ideas Dr. Deming's famous 14 Points, originally presented in Out of the Crisis , serve as management guidelines. The points cultivate a fertile soil in which a more efficient workplace, higher profits, and increased productivity may grow. Create and communicate to all employees a statement of the aims and purposes of the company. Adapt to the new philosophy of the day; industries and economics are always changing. Build quality into a product throughout production. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone; instead, try a long-term relationship based on established loyalty and trust. Work to constantly improve quality and productivity.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Management
Leading Methods
W. Edwards Deming
Fredrick Herzberg
Lawrence D. Miles
Walter Shewhart
Genichi Taguchi
Frederick W. Taylor
J. Edgar Thomson
Quotes Database
Recommended Reading
Order PathMaker
Order ipathmaker
Call us today:
Dr. W. Edwards Deming
Dr. Deming's Ideas Dr. Deming's famous 14 Points, originally presented in Out of the
Crisis, serve as management guidelines. The points cultivate a fertile soil in which a more
efficient workplace, higher profits, and increased productivity may grow.
Create and communicate to all employees a statement of the aims and purposes of the
company.
Adapt to the new philosophy of the day; industries and economics are always changing.
Build quality into a product throughout production.
End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone; instead, try a long-
term relationship based on established loyalty and trust.
Work to constantly improve quality and productivity.
Institute on-the-job training.
Teach and institute leadership to improve all job functions.
Drive out fear; create trust.
Strive to reduce intradepartmental conflicts.
Eliminate exhortations for the work force; instead, focus on the system and morale.
(a) Eliminate work standard quotas for production. Substitute leadership methods for
800.826.7284
(US and Canada)
+1.412.371.0680
(Other countries)
improvement.
(b) Eliminate MBO. Avoid numerical goals. Alternatively, learn the capabilities of processes,
and how to improve them.
Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship
Educate with self-improvement programs.
Include everyone in the company to accomplish the transformation.
Comments on some of Dr. Deming's points:
The first of the 14 Points charges management with establishing continual improvement
through the redefinition of the company's purposes. Quite simply, the company must
survive, compete well, and constantly replenish its resources for growth and improvement
through innovation and research.
In the fifth point, Dr. Deming states that only a commitment to a process of continual
improvement truly rewards. A company cannot expect to ignite and feed a quality
revolution from which it will prosper for all time. Instead, it must adopt an evolutionary
philosophy; such a philosophy prevents stagnation and arms the company for the
uncertain future. Part of the evolutionary mentality is to abandon practices that, despite
their obvious short term benefits, ultimately detract from the company's effectiveness.
Point number four specifically warns against this scenario: the purchasing department of
a company consistently patronizes those vendors who offer the lowest prices. As a result,
the company often purchases low quality equipment. Dr. Deming urges companies to
establish loyal ties with suppliers of quality equipment.
Point five condemns mass inspection procedures as inefficient; a product should be
monitored by the workers, throughout the assembly process, to meet a series of quality
standards. In the long term, the use of better equipment and a more intense worker-
oriented method of inspection will markedly improve productivity and lower costs. In
order to accomplish these goals, a company must develop a consistent, active plan that
involves its entire labor force in the drive toward total quality.
Cooperation- Dr. Deming based his new business philosophy on an ideal of cooperation.
In order to fulfill its own potential, a company must harness the power of every worker in
its employment; for that reason, the third point bars shoddy workmanship, poor service,
and negative attitudes from the company.
Theory of Profound Knowledge -- In order to promote cooperation, Deming espouses
Search SkyMark.com
Search
his Theory of Profound Knowledge. Profound knowledge involves expanded views and an
understanding of the seemingly individual yet truly interdependent elements that
compose the larger system, the company. Deming believed that every worker has nearly
unlimited potential if placed in an environment that adequately supports, educates, and
nurtures senses of pride and responsibility; he stated that the majority--85 percent--of a
worker's effectiveness is determined by his environment and only minimally by his own
skill.
A manager seeking to establish such an environment must:
employ an understanding of psychology--of groups and individuals.
eliminate tools such as production quotas and sloganeering which only alienate workers
from their supervisors and breed divisive competition between the workers themselves.
form the company into a large team divided into sub-teams all working on different
aspects of the same goal; barriers between departments often give rise conflicting
objectives and create unnecessary competition.
spread profit to workers as teams, not individuals.
eliminate fear, envy, anger, and revenge from the workplace.
employ sensible methods such as rigorous on-the-job training programs.
In the resulting company, workers better understand their jobs--the specific tasks and
techniques as well as their higher value; thus stimulated and empowered, they perform
better. The expense pays for itself.
The ideas of W. Edwards Deming may seem common or obvious now; however, they've
become embedded in our culture of work. Dr. Deming's ideas (and personal example) of
hard work, sincerity, decency, and personal responsibility, forever changed the world of
management. "It is not enough to just do your best or work hard. You must know what to
work on."- W. Edwards Deming
Biography As the sun rose on the 20th century, a baby was born to the Deming family in
a small town in Iowa. W. Edwards Deming would become a colossus of modern
management thinking. He would live through most of the century, and have a tremendous
impact on its second half.
The Demings moved from Iowa to Wyoming, and in 1917, Edwards entered the University
of Wyoming. To fund his education, he worked as a janitor. He graduated in 1921, and
went on to the University of Colorado, where he received a M.S. in physics and
mathematics. This led towards a doctorate in physics from Yale University.
From physics, Dr. Deming gravitated towards statistics. The U.S. Census Bureau hired Dr.
Deming in 1940, just at the time that the Bureau shifted its procedure from a complete
count to a sampling method. Upon completion of the 1940 census, Deming began to
introduce Statistical Quality Control into industrial operations. In 1941, he and two other
experts began teaching Statistical Quality Control to inspectors and engineers.
Dr. Deming started his own private practice in 1946, after his departure from the Census
Bureau. For more than forty years his firm served its clientele--manufacturers, telephone
companies, railways, trucking companies, census takers, hospitals, governments, and
research organizations. As a professor emeritus, Dr. Deming conducted classes on
sampling and quality control at New York University. For over ten years, his four-day
seminars reached 10, 000 people per year.
The teachings of Dr. Deming affected a quality revolution of gargantuan significance on
American manufacturers and consumers. Through his ideas, product quality improved
and, thus, popular satisfaction. His influential work in Japan--instructing top executives
and engineers in quality management--was a driving force behind that nation's economic
rise. Dr. Deming contributed directly to Japan's phenomenal export-led growth and its
current technological leadership in automobiles, shipbuilding and electronics. The Union
of Japanese Science and Engineering (JUSE) saluted its teacher with the institution of the
annual Deming Prize for significant achievement in product quality and dependability. In
1960, the Emperor of Japan bestowed on Dr. Deming the Second Order Medal of the
Sacred Treasure.
Stateside, the American Society for Quality Control awarded him the Shewhart Medal in
1956. In 1983, Dr. Deming received the Samuel S. Wilks Award from the American
Statistical Association and election to the National Academy of Engineering. President
Reagan honored him with the National Medal of Technology in 1987, and, in 1988, the
National Academy of Sciences lauded him with the Distinguished Career in Science
award. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1991.
Dr. Deming was a member of the International Statistical Institute. He was elected in
1986 to the Science and Technology Hall of Fame in Dayton. From the University of
Wyoming, Rivier College, the University of Maryland, Ohio State University, Clarkson
College of Technology, Miami University, George Washington University, the University of
Colorado, Fordham University, the University of Alabama, Oregon State University, the
American University, the University of South Carolina, Yale University, Harvard
University, Cleary College, and Shenandoah University, Dr. Deming received the degrees
L.L.D. and Sc.D. honorius causa. From Yale University, he won the Wilbur Lucius Cross
Medal, and the Madeleine of Jesus from Rivier College.
Dr. Deming authored several books and 171 papers. His books, Out of the Crisis
(MIT/CAES, 1986) and The New Economics (MIT/CAES, 1994) have been translated into
several languages. Myriad books, films, and videotapes profile his life, his philosophy, and
the successful application of his worldwide teachings.
W Edwards Deming was an American statistician who was credited with the rise of Japan as a
manufacturing nation, and with the invention of Total Quality Management (TQM). Deming went to Japan
just after the War to help set up a census of the Japanese population. While he was there, he taught
'statistical process control' to Japanese engineers - a set of techniques which allowed them to
manufacture high-quality goods without expensive machinery. In 1960 he was awarded a medal by the
Japanese Emperor for his services to that country's industry.
Deming returned to the US and spent some years in obscurity before the publication of his book "Out of
the crisis" in 1982. In this book, Deming set out 14 points which, if applied to US manufacturing industry,
would he believed, save the US from industrial doom at the hands of the Japanese.
Although Deming does not use the term Total Quality Management in his book, it is credited with
launching the movement. Most of the central ideas of TQM are contained in "Out of the crisis".
The 14 points seem at first sight to be a rag-bag of radical ideas, but the key to understanding a number
of them lies in Deming's thoughts about variation. Variation was seen by Deming as the disease that
threatened US manufacturing. The more variation - in the length of parts supposed to be uniform, in
delivery times, in prices, in work practices - the more waste, he reasoned.
From this premise, he set out his 14 points for management, which we have paraphrased here:
1."Create constancy of purpose towards improvement". Replace short-term reaction with long-term
planning.
2."Adopt the new philosophy". The implication is that management should actually adopt his philosophy,
rather than merely expect the workforce to do so.
3."Cease dependence on inspection". If variation is reduced, there is no need to inspect manufactured
items for defects, because there won't be any.
4."Move towards a single supplier for any one item." Multiple suppliers mean variation between
feedstocks.
5."Improve constantly and forever". Constantly strive to reduce variation.
6."Institute training on the job". If people are inadequately trained, they will not all work the same way, and
this will introduce variation.
7."Institute leadership". Deming makes a distinction between leadership and mere supervision. The latter
is quota- and target-based.
8."Drive out fear". Deming sees management by fear as counter- productive in the long term, because it
prevents workers from acting in the organisation's best interests.
9."Break down barriers between departments". Another idea central to TQM is the concept of the 'internal
customer', that each department serves not the management, but the other departments that use its
outputs.
10."Eliminate slogans". Another central TQM idea is that it's not people who make most mistakes - it's the
process they are working within. Harassing the workforce without improving the processes they use is
counter-productive.
11."Eliminate management by objectives". Deming saw production targets as encouraging the delivery of
poor-quality goods.
12."Remove barriers to pride of workmanship". Many of the other problems outlined reduce worker
satisfaction.
13."Institute education and self-improvement".
14."The transformation is everyone's job".
Deming has been criticised for putting forward a set of goals without providing any tools for managers to
use to reach those goals (just the problem he identified in point 10). His inevitable response to this
question was: "You're the manager, you figure it out."
"Out of the crisis" is over 500 pages long, and it is not possible to do full justice to it in a 600 word article.
If the above points interest you, we recommend the book for further information.
There is a lot of hype about the McDonalds' scalding coffee case. No one is in favor of frivolous cases of outlandish
results; however, it is important to understand some points that were not reported in most of the stories about the case. McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was scalding -- capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh and muscle. Here's the whole story.
Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonalds' coffee in February 1992. Liebeck, 79 at the time, ordered coffee that was served in a styrofoam cup at the drivethrough window of a local McDonalds.
After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and stopped momentarily so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. (Critics of civil justice, who have pounced on this case, often charge that Liebeck was driving the car or that the vehicle was in motion when she spilled the coffee; neither is true.) Liebeck placed the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap.
The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused.
During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This history documented
McDonalds' knowledge about the extent and nature of this hazard.
McDonalds also said during discovery that, based on a consultants advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit to maintain optimum taste. He admitted that he had not evaluated the safety ramifications at this temperature. Other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is generally 135 to 140 degrees.
Further, McDonalds' quality assurance manager testified that the company actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185 degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above, and that McDonalds coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns would occur, but testified that McDonalds had no intention of reducing the "holding temperature" of its coffee.
Plaintiffs' expert, a scholar in thermodynamics applied to human skin burns, testified that liquids, at 180 degrees, will cause a full thickness burn to human skin in two to seven seconds. Other testimony showed that as the temperature decreases toward 155 degrees, the extent of the burn relative to that temperature decreases exponentially. Thus, if Liebeck's spill had involved coffee at 155 degrees, the liquid would have cooled and given her time to avoid a serious burn.
McDonalds asserted that customers buy coffee on their way to work or home, intending to consume it there. However, the companys own research showed that customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while driving.
McDonalds also argued that consumers know coffee is hot and that its customers want it that way. The company admitted its customers were unaware that they could suffer thirddegree burns from the coffee and that a statement on the side of the cup was not a "warning" but a "reminder" since the location of the writing would not warn customers of the hazard.
The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages. This amount was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck 20 percent at fault in the spill. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonalds' coffee sales.
Post-verdict investigation found that the temperature of coffee at the local Albuquerque McDonalds had dropped to 158 degrees fahrenheit.
The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 -- or three times compensatory damages -- even though the judge called McDonalds' conduct reckless, callous and willful.
No one will ever know the final ending to this case.
The parties eventually entered into a secret settlement which has never been revealed to the public, despite the fact that this was a public case, litigated in public and subjected to extensive media reporting. Such secret settlements, after public trials, should not be condoned.
Micheline Maynard , Contributor “Silicon grease may have gotten into the stop-
lamp switch at the factory…” Joann Muller , Forbes Staff Toyota says it happened “during installation of the contact-type stop lamp switch on one of the North
American assembly lines”. That’s not very Toyota-like [...] Richard Brookes Here’s the thing: From the outset, Toyota was unwilling to admit they could have done anything wrong. The company’s management was so convinced of Toyota’s [...]
Toyota has been trying to fix its reputation after a series of massive recalls of 14 million vehicles over the last
several years, mostly in the U.S., affecting faulty floor mats, braking and gas pedals.
Before that, Toyota had a reputation for pristine quality, centred on its super-lean production methods that
empowered workers to hone in on quality control. Toyota executives have acknowledged the escalating recalls were
partly caused by the company's overly ambitious growth goals.
Executives had shrugged off last month's recalls as coming from products made before stricter quality controls
kicked in following the soul-searching that came after the recall scandal in the U.S.
But the latest recall underlines how quality problems continue to dog Toyota, especially as it has gone back to
pursuing aggressive growth.
Toyota is now headed to record vehicle sales around the world, offsetting a sales plunge in China with booming
demand in emerging markets such as Indonesia, India and Thailand.
"Zero Defects" is one of the postulates from Philip Crosby's "Absolutes of Quality Management". Although
applicable to any type of enterprise, it has been primarily adopted within industry supply chains wherever large
volumes of components are being purchased (common items such as nuts and bolts are good examples).
Zero Defects was a quality control program originated by the Denver Division of the Martin Marietta Corporation
(now Lockheed Martin) on the Titan Missile program, which carried the Project Gemini astronauts into space in the
middle to late 1960s. It was then incorporated into the Orlando Division, which built the mobile Pershing Missile
System, deployed in Europe; the Sprint antiballistic missile, never deployed; and a number of air to ground missiles
for the Vietnam War.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Principles of Zero Defects o 1.1 1. Quality is conformance to requirements o 1.2 2. Defect prevention is preferable to quality inspection and correction o 1.3 3. Zero Defects is the quality standard o 1.4 4. Quality is measured in monetary terms – the Price of Nonconformance (PONC)
o 3.1 DMAIC o 3.2 DMADV or DFSS o 3.3 Quality management tools and methods used in Six Sigma
4 Implementation roles o 4.1 Certification o 4.2 University Certification Programs
5 Origin and meaning of the term "six sigma process" o 5.1 Role of the 1.5 sigma shift o 5.2 Sigma levels
6 Software used for Six Sigma o 6.1 Statistics Analysis tools with comparable functions
7 Application o 7.1 In healthcare
8 Criticism o 8.1 Lack of originality o 8.2 Role of consultants o 8.3 Potential negative effects o 8.4 Lack of systematic documentation o 8.5 Based on arbitrary standards o 8.6 Criticism of the 1.5 sigma shift
9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading
[edit] Historical overview
Six Sigma originated as a set of practices designed to improve manufacturing processes and eliminate defects, but its
application was subsequently extended to other types of business processes as well.[6] In Six Sigma, a defect is
defined as any process output that does not meet customer specifications, or that could lead to creating an output that
does not meet customer specifications.[5]
CEO Bob Galvin decided to focus on improving the quality of Motorola products, and found an ally in John F.
Mitchell,[7][8][9] a young engineer on the rise to becoming Chief Engineer. Mitchell was seen as a demanding,[10][11]
hands-on manager who cared for his co-workers[12][13] and insisted on team effort.[14] Mitchell believed in building
quality into the engineering and manufacturing processes as a way of lowering costs and improving yield.[10] He also
favored competition among product lines and distributors as a business discipline to both reduce costs and to
promote quality improvement.[12] Mitchell’s early successes with quality control appeared with the introduction of a
new digital transistorized pager, and the formalization of improvised Mitchell Quality Tests.[15] He used Shainin
Methods and other tests[16] in his operations.[17] John F. Mitchell set the bar high for his engineers knowing they
would respond.[18] By the early 1970s, as John F. Mitchell was on his ascendancy to General Manager,
Communications Division in 1972, Motorola had established itself as second largest producer of electronic
equipment behind IBM,[19] and as the world leader in wireless communication products, and had been battling Intel
and Texas Instruments for the number one slot in Semiconductor sales. Motorola was also the largest supplier of
A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma project.[5]
An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.[5]
A special infrastructure of "Champions", "Master Black Belts", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.[5]
A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data and statistical methods, rather than assumptions and guesswork.[5]
The term "Six Sigma" comes from a field of statistics known as process capability studies. Originally, it referred to
the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification. Processes
that operate with "six sigma quality" over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4
defects per million opportunities (DPMO).[36][37] Six Sigma's implicit goal is to improve all processes to that level of
quality or better.
Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola Inc.[38] As of 2006 Motorola reported over US$17
billion in savings[39] from Six Sigma. Other early adopters of Six Sigma who achieved well-publicized success
include Honeywell (previously known as AlliedSignal) and General Electric, where Jack Welch introduced the
method.[40] By the late 1990s, about two-thirds of the Fortune 500 organizations had begun Six Sigma initiatives
with the aim of reducing costs and improving quality.[41]
In recent years, some practitioners have combined Six Sigma ideas with lean manufacturing to create a methodology
named Lean Six Sigma.[42] The Lean Six Sigma methodology views lean manufacturing, which addresses process
flow and waste issues, and Six Sigma, with its focus on variation and design, as complementary disciplines aimed at
promoting "business and operational excellence".[42] Companies such as IBM and Sandia National Laboratories use
Lean Six Sigma to focus transformation efforts not just on efficiency but also on growth. It serves as a foundation
for innovation throughout the organization, from manufacturing and software development to sales and service
delivery functions..
[edit] Methods
Six Sigma projects follow two project methodologies inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. These
methodologies, composed of five phases each, bear the acronyms DMAIC and DMADV.[41]
DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving an existing business process.[41] DMAIC is pronounced as "duh-may-ick" (<ˌdʌ ˈmeɪ ɪk>).
DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating new product or process designs.[41] DMADV is pronounced as "duh-mad-vee" (<ˌdʌ ˈmæd vi>).
[edit] DMAIC
The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:
Define the problem, the voice of the customer, and the project goals, specifically. Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out root cause of the defect under investigation.
Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such as design of experiments, poka yoke or mistake proofing, and standard work to create a new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.
Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process control, production boards, visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.
Some organizations add a Recognize step at the beginning, which is to recognize the right problem to work on, thus
yielding an RDMAIC methodology.[43]
[edit] DMADV or DFSS
The DMADV project methodology, known as DFSS ("Design For Six Sigma"),[41] features five phases:
Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise strategy. Measure and identify CTQs (characteristics that are Critical To Quality), product capabilities,
production process capability, and risks. Analyze to develop and design alternatives, create a high-level design and evaluate design
capability to select the best design. Design details, optimize the design, and plan for design verification. This phase may require
simulations. Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it over to the
process owner(s).
[edit] Quality management tools and methods used in Six Sigma
Within the individual phases of a DMAIC or DMADV project, Six Sigma utilizes many established quality-
management tools that are also used outside Six Sigma. The following table shows an overview of the main methods
used.
5 Whys Analysis of variance ANOVA Gauge R&R Axiomatic design Business Process Mapping Cause & effects diagram (also known as
fishbone or Ishikawa diagram) Check sheet Chi-squared test of independence and fits Control chart Correlation Cost-benefit analysis CTQ tree Design of experiments
Pareto analysis Pareto chart Pick chart Process capability Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Quantitative marketing research through
use of Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) systems
Regression analysis Rolled throughput yield Root cause analysis Run charts Scatter diagram SIPOC analysis (Suppliers, Inputs, Process,
Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) General linear model Histograms
Outputs, Customers) Stratification Taguchi methods Taguchi Loss Function TRIZ
[edit] Implementation roles
One key innovation of Six Sigma involves the "professionalizing" of quality management functions. Prior to Six
Sigma, quality management in practice was largely relegated to the production floor and to statisticians in a separate
quality department. Formal Six Sigma programs adopt a ranking terminology (similar to some martial arts systems)
to define a hierarchy (and career path) that cuts across all business functions.
Six Sigma identifies several key roles for its successful implementation.[44]
Executive Leadership includes the CEO and other members of top management. They are responsible for setting up a vision for Six Sigma implementation. They also empower the other role holders with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough improvements.
Champions take responsibility for Six Sigma implementation across the organization in an integrated manner. The Executive Leadership draws them from upper management. Champions also act as mentors to Black Belts.
Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in-house coaches on Six Sigma. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They assist champions and guide Black Belts and Green Belts. Apart from statistical tasks, they spend their time on ensuring consistent application of Six Sigma across various functions and departments.
Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six Sigma methodology to specific projects. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They primarily focus on Six Sigma project execution, whereas Champions and Master Black Belts focus on identifying projects/functions for Six Sigma.
Green Belts are the employees who take up Six Sigma implementation along with their other job responsibilities, operating under the guidance of Black Belts.
Some organizations use additional belt colours, such as Yellow Belts, for employees that have basic training in Six
Sigma tools and generally participate in projects and 'white belts' for those locally trained in the concepts but do not
participate in the project team.[45]
[edit] Certification
Corporations such as early Six Sigma pioneers General Electric and Motorola developed certification programs as
part of their Six Sigma implementation, verifying individuals' command of the Six Sigma methods at the relevant
skill level (Green Belt, Black Belt etc.). Following this approach, many organizations in the 1990s started offering
Six Sigma certifications to their employees.[41][46] Criteria for Green Belt and Black Belt certification vary; some
companies simply require participation in a course and a Six Sigma project.[46] There is no standard certification
body, and different certification services are offered by various quality associations and other providers against a
fee.[47][48] The American Society for Quality for example requires Black Belt applicants to pass a written exam and to
provide a signed affidavit stating that they have completed two projects, or one project combined with three years'
practical experience in the body of knowledge.[46][49] The International Quality Federation offers an online
certification exam that organizations can use for their internal certification programs; it is statistically more
demanding than the ASQ certification.[46][48] Other providers offering certification services include the Juran
Institute, Six Sigma Qualtec, Lean Six Sigma Standardization Association (LSSSA), Air Academy Associates,
Management and Strategy Institute, IASSC. EmbryInc.com, and many others.[47]
[edit] University Certification Programs
In addition to certification service provider institutes, there are Six Sigma certification programs offered through a
few four-year colleges and universities. These programs provide the same courses verifying individuals' command
of the Six Sigma methods at the relevant skill level from Green Belt to Black Belt etc.
Boston University [50] Cal State Fullerton [51] Emory University [52] Franklin University [53] George Washington University [54] Kent State University [55] Ohio State University [56] Rutgers University [57] University of Texas [58] Villanova University [59]
[edit] Origin and meaning of the term "six sigma process"
The term "six sigma process" comes from the notion that if one has six standard deviations between the process
mean and the nearest specification limit, as shown in the graph, practically no items will fail to meet specifications.[36] This is based on the calculation method employed in process capability studies.
Capability studies measure the number of standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest
specification limit in sigma units. As process standard deviation goes up, or the mean of the process moves away
from the center of the tolerance, fewer standard deviations will fit between the mean and the nearest specification
limit, decreasing the sigma number and increasing the likelihood of items outside specification.[36]
Graph of the normal distribution, which underlies the statistical assumptions of the Six Sigma model. The Greek letter σ (sigma) marks the distance on the horizontal axis between the mean, µ, and the curve's inflection point. The greater this distance, the greater is the spread of values encountered. For the green curve shown above, µ = 0 and σ = 1. The upper and lower specification limits (USL and LSL, respectively) are at a distance of 6σ from the mean. Because of the properties of the normal distribution, values lying that far away from the mean are extremely unlikely. Even if the mean were to move right or left by 1.5σ at some point in the future (1.5 sigma shift, coloured red and blue), there is still a good safety cushion. This is why Six Sigma aims to have processes where the mean is at least 6σ away from the nearest specification limit.
[edit] Role of the 1.5 sigma shift
Experience has shown that processes usually do not perform as well in the long term as they do in the short term.[36]
As a result, the number of sigmas that will fit between the process mean and the nearest specification limit may well
drop over time, compared to an initial short-term study.[36] To account for this real-life increase in process variation
over time, an empirically-based 1.5 sigma shift is introduced into the calculation.[36][60] According to this idea, a
process that fits 6 sigma between the process mean and the nearest specification limit in a short-term study will in
the long term fit only 4.5 sigma – either because the process mean will move over time, or because the long-term
standard deviation of the process will be greater than that observed in the short term, or both.[36]
Hence the widely accepted definition of a six sigma process is a process that produces 3.4 defective parts per million
opportunities (DPMO). This is based on the fact that a process that is normally distributed will have 3.4 parts per
million beyond a point that is 4.5 standard deviations above or below the mean (one-sided capability study).[36] So
the 3.4 DPMO of a six sigma process in fact corresponds to 4.5 sigma, namely 6 sigma minus the 1.5-sigma shift
introduced to account for long-term variation.[36] This allows for the fact that special causes may result in a
deterioration in process performance over time, and is designed to prevent underestimation of the defect levels likely
A control chart depicting a process that experienced a 1.5 sigma drift in the process mean toward the upper specification limit starting at midnight. Control charts are used to maintain 6 sigma quality by signaling when quality professionals should investigate a process to find and eliminate special-cause variation.
See also: Three sigma rule
The table[61][62] below gives long-term DPMO values corresponding to various short-term sigma levels.
It must be understood that these figures assume that the process mean will shift by 1.5 sigma toward the side with
the critical specification limit. In other words, they assume that after the initial study determining the short-term
sigma level, the long-term Cpk value will turn out to be 0.5 less than the short-term Cpk value. So, for example, the
DPMO figure given for 1 sigma assumes that the long-term process mean will be 0.5 sigma beyond the specification
limit (Cpk = –0.17), rather than 1 sigma within it, as it was in the short-term study (Cpk = 0.33). Note that the defect
percentages indicate only defects exceeding the specification limit to which the process mean is nearest. Defects
beyond the far specification limit are not included in the percentages.
[edit] Statistics Analysis tools with comparable functions
Arena ARIS Six Sigma Bonita Open Solution BPMN2 standard and KPIs for statistic monitoring JMP Mathematica MATLAB or GNU Octave Microsoft Visio Minitab R language (The R Project for Statistical Computing[63]). Some contributed packages at CRAN
contain specific tools for Six Sigma: SixSigma,[64] qualityTools,[65] qcc[66] and IQCC.[67]
SDI Tools SigmaXL Software AG webMethods BPM Suite SPC XL STATA Statgraphics STATISTICA
[edit] Application
Main article: List of Six Sigma companies
Six Sigma mostly finds application in large organizations.[68] An important factor in the spread of Six Sigma was
GE's 1998 announcement of $350 million in savings thanks to Six Sigma, a figure that later grew to more than $1
billion.[68] According to industry consultants like Thomas Pyzdek and John Kullmann, companies with fewer than
500 employees are less suited to Six Sigma implementation, or need to adapt the standard approach to make it work
for them.[68] This is due both to the infrastructure of Black Belts that Six Sigma requires, and to the fact that large
organizations present more opportunities for the kinds of improvements Six Sigma is suited to bringing about.[68]
Standardize an operation and activities. Measure the operation (find cycle time and amount of in-process inventory) Gauge measurements against requirements Innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity Standardize the new, improved operations Continue cycle ad infinitum
This is also known as the Shewhart cycle, Deming cycle, or PDCA. Other techniques used in conjunction with
PDCA include 5 Whys, which is a form of root cause analysis in which the user asks "why" to a problem and finds
an answer five successive times. There are normally a series of root causes stemming from one problem,[10] and they
can be visualized using fishbone diagrams or tables.
Masaaki Imai made the term famous in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.[11]
Apart from business applications of the method, both Anthony Robbins[citation needed] and Robert Maurer have
popularized the kaizen principles into personal development principles. In the book One Small Step Can Change
Your life: The Kaizen Way, and CD set The Kaizen Way to Success, Maurer looks at how individuals can take a
kaizen approach in both their personal and professional lives.[12][13]
In the Toyota Way Fieldbook, Liker and Meier discuss the kaizen blitz and kaizen burst (or kaizen event) approaches
to continuous improvement. A kaizen blitz, or rapid improvement, is a focused activity on a particular process or
activity. The basic concept is to identify and quickly remove waste. Another approach is that of the kaizen burst, a
specific kaizen activity on a particular process in the value stream.[14]
[edit] The five main elements of kaizen
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2010)