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Recommended: Six sigma
1) What is Six Sigma (6S) ?
1.1 The concept
The sigma’s concept comes from the Greek letter ‘σ’ which the statisticians use to describe the “the standard deviation of a population”. So, Sigma represents the variability within a population. A high quality level of Sigma demonstrates the possibility of defective products. The higher the Sigma’s level, the lower the rate of the defective. Hence, the use of Six Sigma helps to reduce the variation, achieving small standard deviations and improving the product’s quality.(Pande et al 2002, Breyfogle 1999, Breyfogle et al 2001, Oakland 1999)
1.2 The background
Six Sigma was developed by Motorola in the late 1980s with a view to improving the quality (Bhote 2002). In 1990s, General Electric and Allied Signal implied Six Sigma successfully. After that, more and more organisations firstly in United States and after worldwide developed 6S and it won the attention of the business world. The strategy of Six Sigma includes the use of statistical tools within a structured methodology for obtaining of knowledge needed to achieve faster, better and cheaper products and services from the competitors.
The disciplined and the repeated implementation of the main strategy are the key of the 6S. (Breyfogle 1999, Urdhwareshe 2000)
1.3 Definition of Six Sigma
Six sigma has many definitions depending on the authors, it can be defined as a strategy, an operational initiative, a statistic method, a tool for measurement, a target, a comparative performance’s measure, a vision, a philosophy and other.
Breyfogle (1999) supports that Six Sigma is considered an operational strategy that uses a well-structured continuous improvement methodology. The aim is to reduce the variability of processes and the c...
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...Six Sigma is not a technique or a method, according to the definition of Mario Perez-Wilson (1999), the 6S targets an optimized performance level with almost zero defects in a process that produces products, services or transactions. It indicates an achievement and maintenance of a world-class performance. Six Sigma is the result, not the journey. Accordingly, Perez-Wilson does not consider the Six Sigma as a methodology, but as a target.
Consequently, according Knowles (2011), as output of the different views, Six Sigma has three aspects and it is:
1) A measure: How far is the organisation from the target and the perfect quality ?
2) A target: 3.4 defects per one million opportunities.
3) A philosophy: It focuses on sustainability and on a long term strategy which targets on the reduction of expenses, decreasing the variability in the process and the products.
There are many people that benefit from Lean Six Sigma which include mainly customers, suppliers, employees, and also stockholders. Lean Six Sigma is a way for businesses to improve, to reduce waste and to become more successful. In the future, more and more organizations will adopt or practice some of the Lean, Six Sigma, or both in order to stay competitive in today’s market. In some cases, blending both Lean and Six Sigma can be costly and difficult; however the end result can create an organization that focuses on quality, accuracy, and speed to meet the goal which is profitability.
1) Six Sigma should not be viewed as a quality program that is commissioned to reduce defects but as a methodology that helps companies better meet the needs of their business. KM shares this goal.
Even though I have no real experience in software development I know that dealing with software is not easy and can be very frustrating. Six sigma incorporates many tools that help organizations determine their customer requirements. Before reading this article I thought six sigma was just about statistics and improving processes. It is so much more than that. It’s also about managing all given information or data quantitative or not. Six sigma can help with customer requirements and also with understanding processes capability.
A fundamental aspect of the implementation of the Six Sigma theory is the project manager. The existence of a project manager significantly increases the financial returns and project success of Six Sigma projects (Marzagão & Carvalho, 2016, p.1516). Thus, the project manager helps implement and enforce cost cutting measures, in addition ensuring the projects meet the organization’s goals. Marzagão and Carvalho also note that in addition to a strong understanding of Six Sigma, a project manager also needs important leadership qualities, specifically teambuilding and interpersonal skills (2016, p, 1516). Consequentially, Six Sigma influences the hiring process of an organization since the human resource department should seek out employees that possess these
As you can see from the figure the lean six sigma is customer driven, targets variation, focuses
* Utilize Six Sigma Lean strategies to identify and develop process improvements for the care line.
There is a lot of literature on the concept of continuous improvement (CI). Studies show that CI is very important to creating competitive advantages in highly competitive industries such as the automobile industry (Bhuiyan & Baghel 2005; Li et al. 2009; Schaeffer, Cadavid, & Backström 2010). These studies suggest that manufacturing firms use CI to eliminate waste in all organisational systems and processes (Bhuiyan & Baghel 2005; Li et al. 2009). Currently, manufacturing firms use lean manufacturing, six sigma, lean six sigma, and the Kaizen methods of CI methodologies to reduce wastages, simplify the production line, and improve quality (Swink & Jacobs 2012).
Sitnikov, C. (2012). Six sigma as a strategic tool for companies. Young Economists Journal / Revista Tinerilor Economisti, 94-102.
The methodology of Lean Six Sigma is the merger of two business tools that includes Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. Six Sigma focuses on improving current business processes and performance while Lean Manufacturing focuses on the improvement of the processes of an organization by using highly skilled employees to increase speed and quality. Combining the two methodologies creates an organization that focuses on quality, efficiency and speed to lower operational costs and increase profits. By following the Lean Six Sigma methodology, many companies have attempted to create a lean, waste-free environment ultimately at the expense of the employee and occasionally at the expense of the organization.
The Six Sigma approach was designed by Motorola in 1986. The primary objective of the concept was to develop a tool for tallying the process defects and, as the result, improving business operations. The foundations of the approach are the customer needs, statistical analysis of data and facts, and timely execution. The method promises numerous benefits such as increasing performance and profitability of an organization, improving product or service quality and employee morale, decreasing costs, the growth of market share, the higher level of satisfying customer needs, etc. (Meredith & Shafer, 2013). The primary advantage
Barnard, W., De Feo, J. (2004). Juran Institute’s Six Sigma Breakthrough and Beyond. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies
The Strategy plays an important and vital role in the 7-S’s Model as the strategy is the detailed plan devised to maintain and build the competitive advantage over the competition for achieving and accomplishing the targeted common goals.
Thus, the main business tactics of the company in context of this business philosophy is ;
Contained within the following paper is the evaluation of the author’s organization’s mission, vision goals, and objectives .The author will discuss the pre-determined questions as set forth by Jeffrey Trapp, a certified University of Phoenix instructor. This paper will discuss the differences that a rise between a company that has implemented TQM (Total Quality Management) with that of the authors own organization’s management style.
Improvement in the quality is a continuous process; by discontinuing the continuity will shatter the business competitiveness in the market. Generally, six sigma, lean and Kaizen are being used for continuous improvement by the companies. But in case of manufacturing companies, they need to be more calculative and carful in the continuous improvement is essential but the company should be cautious in not investing in destructive research. It is not possible for implementing the TQM in all process (Ashkenas, 2013).