Where did the name "Six Sigma" come from?
“Why 6s and not some other level of capability?”
"Where does the 1.5s shift factor come from – and why 1.5 versus some other magnitude?”
Bill Smith (originator of the six sigma concept in 1984) suggested Motorola should require 50 percent design margins for all of its key product performance specifications. Statistically speaking, such a "safety margin" is equivalent to a 6 sigma level of capability.
When considering the performance tolerance of a critical design feature, he believed a 25 percent “cushion” was not sufficient for absorbing a sudden shift in process centering. Bill believed the typical shift was on the order of 1.5s (relative to the target value). In other words, a four sigma level of capability would normally be considered sufficient, if centered. However, if the process center was somehow knocked off its central location (on the order of 1.5s), the initial capability of 4s would be degraded to 4.0s – 1.5s = 2.5s. Of course, this would have a consequential impact on defects. In turn, a sudden increase in defects would have an adverse effect on reliability. As should be apparent, such a domino effect would continue straight up the value chain.
Regardless of the shift magnitude, those of us working this issue fully recognized that the initial estimate of capability will often erode over time in a “very natural way” – thereby increasing the expected rate of product defects (when considering a protracted period of production). Extending beyond this, we concluded that the product defect rate was highly correlated to the long-term process capability, not the short-term capability. Of course, such conclusions were predicated on the statistical analysis of empirical data gathered on a wide array of electronic devices.
Thus, we come to understand three things.
First, we recognized that the instantaneous reproducibility of a critical-to-quality characteristic is fully dependent on the “goodness of fit” between the operating bandwidth of the process and the corresponding bandwidth of the performance specification.
Second, the quality of that interface can be substantively and consequentially disturbed by process centering error. Of course, both of these factors profoundly impact long-term capability.
Third, we must seek to qualify our critical processes at a 6s level of short-term capability if we are to enjoy a long-term capbility of 4s.
By further developing these insights through applied research, we were able to greatly extend our understanding of the many statistical connections between such things as design margin, process capability, defects, field reliability, customer satisfaction, and economic success.
Courtesy: iSixSigma
Further Details:http://www.isixsigma.com/forum/ask_dr_harry.asp?ToDo
Saturday, September 16, 2006
The History of Six Sigma
The roots of Six Sigma as a measurement standard can be traced back to Carl Frederick Gauss (1777-1855) who introduced the concept of the normal curve. Six Sigma as a measurement standard in product variation can be traced back to the 1920's when Walter Shewhart showed that three sigma from the mean is the point where a process requires correction. Many measurement standards (Cpk, Zero Defects, etc.) later came on the scene but credit for coining the term "Six Sigma" goes to a Motorola engineer named Bill Smith.
In the early and mid-1980s with Chairman Bob Galvin at the helm, Motorola engineers decided that the traditional quality levels -- measuring defects in thousands of opportunities -- didn't provide enough granularity. Instead, they wanted to measure the defects per million opportunities. Motorola developed this new standard and created the methodology and needed cultural change associated with it. Six Sigma helped Motorola realize powerful bottom-line results in their organization - in fact, they documented more than $16 Billion in savings as a result of our Six Sigma efforts.
Since then, hundreds of companies around the world have adopted Six Sigma as a way of doing business. This is a direct result of many of America's leaders openly praising the benefits of Six Sigma. Leaders such as Larry Bossidy of Allied Signal (now Honeywell), and Jack Welch of General Electric Company. Rumor has it that Larry and Jack were playing golf one day and Jack bet Larry that he could implement Six Sigma faster and with greater results at GE than Larry did at Allied Signal. The results speak for themselves.
Six Sigma has evolved over time. It's more than just a quality system like TQM or ISO. It's a way of doing business. As Geoff Tennant describes in his book Six Sigma: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services: "Six Sigma is many things, and it would perhaps be easier to list all the things that Six Sigma quality is not. Six Sigma can be seen as: a vision; a philosophy; a symbol; a metric; a goal; a methodology." We couldn't agree more.
Courtesy : iSixSigma
For further details : http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/six-sigma-newbie.asp
The roots of Six Sigma as a measurement standard can be traced back to Carl Frederick Gauss (1777-1855) who introduced the concept of the normal curve. Six Sigma as a measurement standard in product variation can be traced back to the 1920's when Walter Shewhart showed that three sigma from the mean is the point where a process requires correction. Many measurement standards (Cpk, Zero Defects, etc.) later came on the scene but credit for coining the term "Six Sigma" goes to a Motorola engineer named Bill Smith.
In the early and mid-1980s with Chairman Bob Galvin at the helm, Motorola engineers decided that the traditional quality levels -- measuring defects in thousands of opportunities -- didn't provide enough granularity. Instead, they wanted to measure the defects per million opportunities. Motorola developed this new standard and created the methodology and needed cultural change associated with it. Six Sigma helped Motorola realize powerful bottom-line results in their organization - in fact, they documented more than $16 Billion in savings as a result of our Six Sigma efforts.
Since then, hundreds of companies around the world have adopted Six Sigma as a way of doing business. This is a direct result of many of America's leaders openly praising the benefits of Six Sigma. Leaders such as Larry Bossidy of Allied Signal (now Honeywell), and Jack Welch of General Electric Company. Rumor has it that Larry and Jack were playing golf one day and Jack bet Larry that he could implement Six Sigma faster and with greater results at GE than Larry did at Allied Signal. The results speak for themselves.
Six Sigma has evolved over time. It's more than just a quality system like TQM or ISO. It's a way of doing business. As Geoff Tennant describes in his book Six Sigma: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services: "Six Sigma is many things, and it would perhaps be easier to list all the things that Six Sigma quality is not. Six Sigma can be seen as: a vision; a philosophy; a symbol; a metric; a goal; a methodology." We couldn't agree more.
Courtesy : iSixSigma
For further details : http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/six-sigma-newbie.asp
Saturday, September 02, 2006
6 Habits of Six Sigma LEADERS
1. Delivering customer VALUE.
Six Sigma leaders have a passion for delivering real value to their customers, and consider their own organizations to be as much a customer of their services as the organization's customers.
EXHIBIT PASSION: How committed are you that your work contributes clear benefit to your organisation and its customers? If this is a deeply rooted motivation of yours, you may have the conviction it takes to be a Six Sigma leader.
LISTEN ACTIVELY: Are you skilled at questioning stake holders and using other methods of discovering their real needs and preferences? If you are able to see and hear what other folks are miss, you already have a trait that is critical to effective Six Sigma Leadership!
COMMUNICATE PARTNERSHIP : How open are you to finding solutions and collaborating with people whose views differ from your own? To deliver customer value you will earn their trust as needed.
2. Focusing on EXECUTION.
Applying the Six Sigma management system requires that leaders develop a laser-sharp focus on actions that are vital to the specific, strategic results their organization needs.
RESULTS DRIVEN? : A Six Sigma leader needs to keep the end goals foremost until they have been achieved. This will require purposeful, habitual attention to results that are defined in exact terms, due dates, milestones and checkpoints.
RESOURCE-CONSCIOUS? : As a leader, you'll need a master plan for managing people, departments, cross functional teams and other resources in a fashion that respects the rules and help you stay several moves ahead of the game.
PROCESS-ORIENTED? : Six Sigma is about process and it takes process to execute effectively on any Six Sigma initiative. Six Sigma leaders follow a blueprint for centralising information and making it readily available, including next steps, indicators of current status, and a data audit trail.
3. Making sound, DATA-DRIVEN Decisions
Six Sigma leaders are successful to the degree that they are able to make effective, appropriate, informed decisions that are in the best interests of their organizations, customers, and colleagues.
CRITICAL THINKING Six Sigma leaders ask for facts and they ask a lot of questions about the facts, seeking data not just for data's sake, but for the purpose of considering anticipated actions, prime benefits, what-could-go-wrong, scenarios, options and alternatives, and fall-back remedies.
DECISIVENESS In today's competitive environment, time is always of the essence. Six Sigma leaders know when due diligence requires more analysis, and when sufficient analysis has been conducted to warrant decisive action and follow-through.
ACCOUNTABILITY that leadership requires taking full personal ownership of their decisions and the outcomes their team produce. A no-excuses, no-blame mentality saves time and helps to keep Six Sigma teams on task.
4. Managing PERFORMANCE
Six Sigma is about improving performance, so Six Sigma leaders must be skilled at managing and measuring performance on a daily and weekly basis. This small but critical set of performance habits helps.
SET GOALS! Six Sigma teams need to know the goals they are expected to achieve and the metrics against which they can measure the effectiveness of their activities in pursuit of those goals. It's the Six Sigma leader's job to establich this discipline of strong metrics.
TRACK PROGRESS! Six Sigma teams need a system for staying current with projects, maintaining momentum, and getting early warnings of potential problems or roadblocks. It's the Six Sigma leader's job to establish a system of guages for tracking progress and to make sure it is effectively utilized.
MANAGE DETAILS! Measuring anything requires careful attention to detail. Six Sigma leaders need superior organizational skills to quantify and collect data, to keep their teams focused on tasts that matter, and to monitor progress toward their plan on a real-time basis.
5. Advocating BREAKTHROUGH Improvements
Where others might seek to make small improvements here and there, Six Sigma leaders play big, reaching out to achieve goals that require breakthrough performance and improvement.
ASSERTIVENESS : How assertive are you? The most brilliant idea left unspoken is useless, so Six Sigma leaders must be equipped to champion a cause and drive an idea from concept to implementation.
INFLUENCE : How skilled are you at influencing people and teams? Six Sigma leaders cannot rely on mandates alone to prompt action or to give their projects and improvements " staying power." They need to be gifted at inspiring and persuading others as needed to build lasting consensus and commitment.
TENACITY : How quickly do you give up? Leading Six Sigma projects and teams is not easy! Six Sigma leaders must not be deterred by obstacles and challenges that arise along the way, but exhibit persistence and resourcefulness to keep the initiative on track.
6. Supporting TEAM-BASED Implementations
Six Sigma leaders recognize that the greatest improvements come from cross-functional teams that leverage each other's knowledge and capabilities -- not from one employee who is a "super hero."
MANAGE TEAMS! : Are you good at allocating team resources and ensuring that whole teams collaborate and function effectively? It takes a whole team working together for a Six Sigma project to succeed!
REWARD TEAMS! : Can you see that rewarding and recognizing the efforts and accomplishments of teams rather than individuals produces more impressive results? Six Sigma leaders define goals and incentives with emphasis on team-based implementation.
Courtesy : http://www.motorola.com/motorolauniversity
1. Delivering customer VALUE.
Six Sigma leaders have a passion for delivering real value to their customers, and consider their own organizations to be as much a customer of their services as the organization's customers.
EXHIBIT PASSION: How committed are you that your work contributes clear benefit to your organisation and its customers? If this is a deeply rooted motivation of yours, you may have the conviction it takes to be a Six Sigma leader.
LISTEN ACTIVELY: Are you skilled at questioning stake holders and using other methods of discovering their real needs and preferences? If you are able to see and hear what other folks are miss, you already have a trait that is critical to effective Six Sigma Leadership!
COMMUNICATE PARTNERSHIP : How open are you to finding solutions and collaborating with people whose views differ from your own? To deliver customer value you will earn their trust as needed.
2. Focusing on EXECUTION.
Applying the Six Sigma management system requires that leaders develop a laser-sharp focus on actions that are vital to the specific, strategic results their organization needs.
RESULTS DRIVEN? : A Six Sigma leader needs to keep the end goals foremost until they have been achieved. This will require purposeful, habitual attention to results that are defined in exact terms, due dates, milestones and checkpoints.
RESOURCE-CONSCIOUS? : As a leader, you'll need a master plan for managing people, departments, cross functional teams and other resources in a fashion that respects the rules and help you stay several moves ahead of the game.
PROCESS-ORIENTED? : Six Sigma is about process and it takes process to execute effectively on any Six Sigma initiative. Six Sigma leaders follow a blueprint for centralising information and making it readily available, including next steps, indicators of current status, and a data audit trail.
3. Making sound, DATA-DRIVEN Decisions
Six Sigma leaders are successful to the degree that they are able to make effective, appropriate, informed decisions that are in the best interests of their organizations, customers, and colleagues.
CRITICAL THINKING Six Sigma leaders ask for facts and they ask a lot of questions about the facts, seeking data not just for data's sake, but for the purpose of considering anticipated actions, prime benefits, what-could-go-wrong, scenarios, options and alternatives, and fall-back remedies.
DECISIVENESS In today's competitive environment, time is always of the essence. Six Sigma leaders know when due diligence requires more analysis, and when sufficient analysis has been conducted to warrant decisive action and follow-through.
ACCOUNTABILITY that leadership requires taking full personal ownership of their decisions and the outcomes their team produce. A no-excuses, no-blame mentality saves time and helps to keep Six Sigma teams on task.
4. Managing PERFORMANCE
Six Sigma is about improving performance, so Six Sigma leaders must be skilled at managing and measuring performance on a daily and weekly basis. This small but critical set of performance habits helps.
SET GOALS! Six Sigma teams need to know the goals they are expected to achieve and the metrics against which they can measure the effectiveness of their activities in pursuit of those goals. It's the Six Sigma leader's job to establich this discipline of strong metrics.
TRACK PROGRESS! Six Sigma teams need a system for staying current with projects, maintaining momentum, and getting early warnings of potential problems or roadblocks. It's the Six Sigma leader's job to establish a system of guages for tracking progress and to make sure it is effectively utilized.
MANAGE DETAILS! Measuring anything requires careful attention to detail. Six Sigma leaders need superior organizational skills to quantify and collect data, to keep their teams focused on tasts that matter, and to monitor progress toward their plan on a real-time basis.
5. Advocating BREAKTHROUGH Improvements
Where others might seek to make small improvements here and there, Six Sigma leaders play big, reaching out to achieve goals that require breakthrough performance and improvement.
ASSERTIVENESS : How assertive are you? The most brilliant idea left unspoken is useless, so Six Sigma leaders must be equipped to champion a cause and drive an idea from concept to implementation.
INFLUENCE : How skilled are you at influencing people and teams? Six Sigma leaders cannot rely on mandates alone to prompt action or to give their projects and improvements " staying power." They need to be gifted at inspiring and persuading others as needed to build lasting consensus and commitment.
TENACITY : How quickly do you give up? Leading Six Sigma projects and teams is not easy! Six Sigma leaders must not be deterred by obstacles and challenges that arise along the way, but exhibit persistence and resourcefulness to keep the initiative on track.
6. Supporting TEAM-BASED Implementations
Six Sigma leaders recognize that the greatest improvements come from cross-functional teams that leverage each other's knowledge and capabilities -- not from one employee who is a "super hero."
MANAGE TEAMS! : Are you good at allocating team resources and ensuring that whole teams collaborate and function effectively? It takes a whole team working together for a Six Sigma project to succeed!
REWARD TEAMS! : Can you see that rewarding and recognizing the efforts and accomplishments of teams rather than individuals produces more impressive results? Six Sigma leaders define goals and incentives with emphasis on team-based implementation.
Courtesy : http://www.motorola.com/motorolauniversity
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