Six Sigma may seem like an exclusively manufacturing practice to those outside its realm; its focus tends to lie on optimizing mass production processes and lowering defects to an industry-leading standard of 3.4 defects per million opportunities. But Six Sigma techniques can also be applied to service processes.
Key to Six Sigma success lies in striking an appropriate balance between quantitative and qualitative measures. Service industry leaders have used Six Sigma to improve customer delight while simultaneously streamlining processes to increase financial visibility and improve financial transparency.
Process Definition
Six Sigma's Process Definition phase examines current processes to identify areas for potential improvement and also involves identifying key process steps and their outputs, which provides vital information on where changes should be made and in what amounts. Having this knowledge allows teams to determine where enhancements can be made as well as determine their necessary levels.
Waste can be eliminated by examining the current process and identifying which components require modification. Usually, these changes result in a faster, simpler method that takes less time for completion - cutting overhead costs while increasing profits.
Once the analyze phase has been completed, the design phase can begin with creating a process that meets customer needs and can be tested before implementation and evaluation. This step in particular is essential as it ensures all processes are working as designed while also helping identify any serious issues which might arise.
Process Analyze
Six Sigma strives to improve business processes so they deliver near-perfect products and services, creating maximum customer satisfaction. In order to do so, companies must experiment with and optimize their manufacturing and business management processes in order to eliminate errors, reduce variability, increase quality and efficiency and ensure customer delight.
One of the major innovations brought forth by Six Sigma is professionalizing quality management, previously left up to production floor workers or statisticians in a separate quality department. Jack Welch of General Electric (GE) is often credited for introducing Six Sigma into his company and inspiring others to adopt it.
Six Sigma projects require a team of dedicated professionals with specific training and knowledge for optimal success. Champions are selected from within their company hierarchy and act as in-house experts; Black Belts work directly under Champions; Green Belts serve as support, providing statistical tasks assistance during project execution. Each level of certification requires different skill sets; however, all methodologies and tools used by Six Sigma projects remain largely the same across levels.
Process Design
Six Sigma processes focus on simplifying processes. Their cross-functional values stream map can often reveal areas of wasted effort such as rework or workarounds that slow the process with higher overhead costs; eliminating such activities leads to faster processing speeds with lower overhead costs for increased customer service and sales.
The analyze phase involves employing Lean analytical tools and statistical hypothesis testing techniques to pinpoint and identify the real source of customer issues, with its analysis being performed on actual performance data rather than theoretical or anecdotal information.
Lean and Six Sigma both aim to reduce process variation to levels acceptable to customers, with their definition of quality centered around customer value. They both utilize data heavily as part of their analytical methods and solution options, ensuring improvements are targeted at real problems rather than just subjective opinions or gut feel.
Process Measurement
Six Sigma strives to bring outputs as close to customer ideal as possible. To accomplish this goal, processes must be defined, measured, analyzed, improved and controlled - and this requires motivating stakeholders by emphasizing quality losses while explaining statistical tools such as Six Sigma.
The next steps involve identifying which processes need to be improved and devising a process that meets customer requirements and performs optimally, using various tools such as Value Stream Mapping, Capability Analysis and Five Whys.
An efficient manufacturing operation saves money on overhead expenses, reduces material costs and provides increased financial visibility to managers. This enables them to fine-tune production processes for maximum profit and success with reduced emergency fire drills - leading to happier bottom lines for both the manufacturer and their customers alike. Six Sigma black belt certification equips professionals to use specific methods and statistical tools for business process improvement.