6 Sigma

Home
Blog
...   "through the rigorous pursuit of four big Company-wide initiatives —Globalization, Services, Six Sigma Quality and Digitization — we’ve changed not only where we work and what we sell, but how we work, think and touch our customers. "   ...  GE 2000 Annual Report (PDF).
Recent Posts
 
...   "Delivery and Quality metrics improved even as we reduced inventories, product programs and applications stayed on track and were funded, and customer support functions were maintained even in the decline. "  ...  Honeywell 2009 Annual Report (PDF).



Apply 6 Sigma Techniques

6 Sigma is a measure of defect-free work.  The Sigma level  defines the failure rate in opportunities or parts per million, DPMO.  The Sigma defect rates are as follows:  6 Sigma Business Success1 Sigma is 690,000 DPMO;  2 Sigma is 308,000 DPMO;  3 Sigma is 66,800 DPMO;  4 Sigma is 6,210 DPMO;  5 Sigma is 320 DPMO;  and 6 Sigma is 3.4 DPMO;  Reaching Sigma level 6 is a multi-year journey for most companies.  For companies that have focused their efforts on the Six Sigma journey, many have begun to integrate lean techniques in their methodology.
...   "And at some of the companies we studied, leaders still label their initiatives as Six Sigma or 6 Sigma even though, from our perspective, they have moved beyond Six Sigma’s original definition and scope by incorporating Lean features as well. "  ... Driving operational innovation using Lean Six Sigma, IBM (PDF).
In many enterprises, lean principles and 6 Sigma methods are being integrated for driving business success.  ...   "Company leaders expected 6 Sigma to improve the quality of products and services, increase manufacturing efficiencies, identify growth opportunities and improve processes. "  ...  Pursuit of Excellence at Caterpillar (Link).
A number of companies are branding their continuous improvement efforts under a foundation of "production system".  Turbotec follows the doctrines of 6 Sigma based on the foundation of the Caterpillar production system, or CPS (PDF).
 

 
Follow sixthsigma on Twitter 
Six Sigma
Lean Manufacturing
Kaizen
 
...   "We are in the ninth year of Six Sigma at GE, and it has become a permanent initiative—Six Sigma is the way we work. During the last year we completed more than 50,000 projects, focused primarily in three areas: working with our customers on their issues; improving our internal processes to improve our customer interfaces and generate cash; and improving the flow of high-technology products and services to the marketplace. "  ...  GE 2002 Annual Report (PDF).
 
 

The Sixth Sigma on Twitter

    follow me on Twitter



    References
     

  • The Six Sigma Way Team Fieldbook: An Implementation Guide for Process Improvement Teams by Peter S. Pande

  • Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods by Forrest W. Breyfogle III

  • The Six Sigma Handbook by Thomas Pyzdek

  • Leading Six Sigma: A Step-by-Step Guide Based on Experience with GE and Other 6 Sigma Companies by Ronald D. Snee

  • 6 Sigma Certification For Managers by Greg Brue

  • Six Sigma, The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing The World's Top Corporations by Mikel J. Harry

    •  
    ...   "Why this facility? Because it has had an outstanding record of success in doing this same kind of work in several military programs. And it also has become a shining example within Boeing of a site that has achieved extraordinary gains in productivity and quality through the application of Lean principles, one of our four enterprise initiatives aimed at accelerating growth and productivity through the replication and sharing of best ideas and practices. "  ...  Boeing 2008 Annual Report (PDF).
     
    Best Practices Industry Exemplars Continuous Improvement
    Root Cause Identification General Electric Kaizen Blitz
    Lean Obeya Motorola Lean Principles
    Value Stream Map Toyota Japanese Management Techniques
    Plant Floor Boeing Transformation
    © Copyright 2004-2010, The Sixth Sigma