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What are the standards for Six Sigma quality?
I want to know what criteria Six Sigma consultants use to determine their quality assessments. Anyone got any insights?
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3 Answers
Customers are King! We are in business for our Customer
Have we forgotten what customers want?
In the “old” days, quality advocates functioned more or less as company cops, authoritative figures who’d get you in trouble for taking shortcuts. Today, and definitely in the future, the quality professional’s role will have less to do with blowing the whistle than seamlessly integrating processes within all business operations relating to customers. This represents a distinct departure from the past and requires specific tools and procedures. To access these tools, companies are combining lean and Six Sigma methodologies. Thus, to answer the question, quality professionals haven’t forgotten what customers want, but the quality community has never fully realized the best approach for recognizing customers: defining value, delivering it and maintaining accountability for those goals.
Which leads us to the next question.
How can we bring value to the supply chain?
First, what is value? Simply, it’s whatever the customer says it is and is willing to pay a company to deliver--whether goods or services. Lean says in order to measure value inhibitors, increase value and eliminate waste, we must construct a value stream map of our current state, create another map for the future that includes the same processes without the waste, and then devise an action plan to take us to that future state and beyond to the ideal state: perfection. Six Sigma tells us to measure these processes and establish variation-reducing controls to ensure a consistent output. That methodology also tells us to ensure conformity. Taken separately, the lean and Six Sigma approaches could possibly be viewed as conflicting. These days, companies are learning that, in fact, the two methodologies are complementary, if not inseparable.
Six Sigma has certainly become an overused dumping ground for all sorts of projects initiated by management. Boring but interesting let's first understand the measurements of six sigma. Let's start with a sigma. In a normal distribution curve - also known as a bell curve - there is a center point or mean or average. If all the members of your family or company had their height measured there would be a mean/average (all heights added together divided by the # of people = the mean). This process results in a center point distribution that is fairly evenly dispersed in a normal curve. The theorem for this tendency is called the Central Limit Theorem. If we then count the center as 0, because it is a sysmetrical bell curve there are equidistant points mirrored on each side of the center point. The first measured point statistically is called 1 sigma from the mean on either side. This is always approximately 65% with 32.5% on either side. This is the confidence level to which one is measuring results. So in one sigma confidence there will be forecasted 65% of the results. So if you know the value of the mean/average you will also know 32.5% more will be a value (unit of measure, number, etc) that will equal the 1st sigma. The next measurement is 2 sigma on either side which will account for 95% of the results and can be calculated again from the mean. Finally 3 sigma from the mean takes us out to the far corners of the bell curve at 99.75%. The remainder of 100% are considered statistically insignificant or "outliers".
Why do these figures matter? The process known as Six Sigma uses these calibrated measurements over and over again. A process is the measurements of inputs versus outputs. Your body can be considered a process as it has inputs, efficiencies, and outputs. Any multi-step action can be considered a process. What is the process of your getting up in the morning? How could you make that process more efficient?
Next Six Sigma uses DMAIC or DMADV - define, measure, analyze - improve and control or design and verify - IC is used in improving existing process such as manufacturing of an item, while DV is used when starting a new process - many of which are service processes.
So with that as background Six Sigma as an official process using certified practitioners has come a long way from the initial idea of defining a problem, measuring it and analyzing the results. It now has many best practices and rules associated with a formal Six Sigma process. I would suggest remembering the initial and basic descriptions: Define the problem by choosing the right one. Measure the problem as measurements are the only objective reality. And finally Analyze the data to see what conclusions you can make from them. Once these become habits you can become better at suggesting possible solutions.
Can you be more specific with your question? Do you mean what methods do we use to measure the quality level of a process characteristic? Or how do we evaluate the quality of the process we use to do projects? Or what quality metrics do we normally choose as evidence of process quality? Or something else? It would make the answers more focused!
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