Six Sigma is a management philosophy, first developed at Motorola, which emphasizes setting extremely high objectives, collecting data, and analyzing results as a way to reduce defects in products and services. The Greek letter sigma is used here to denote variation from a standard. The philosophy behind Six Sigma is to systematically eliminate defects in a process in order to get as close to perfection as possible. In order for a company to achieve Six Sigma, it cannot produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. (Source: Definition of “six sigma” copyrighted and used with permission of whatis.com (http://www.whatis.com/) and TechTarget Inc.)

There are two Six Sigma processes: Six Sigma DMAIC and Six Sigma DMADV. Six Sigma DMAIC is a process that Defines, Measures, Analyzes, Improves, and Controls existing processes that fall below the Six Sigma specification. The Six Sigma DMADV (Design for Six Sigma - DFSS) process is slightly different, in that it Defines, Measures, Analyzes, Designs, and Verifies new processes or products that are trying to achieve Six Sigma quality. All Six Sigma processes are executed by individuals who are trained in process improvement tools, often termed Six Sigma Green Belts or Six Sigma Black Belts, and Six Sigma Master Black Belts. These terms are taken from martial arts to signify the individual’s level of expertise, and were originally used by Motorola.

Six Sigma proponents claim that its benefits include:

** up to 50% process cost reduction,
** cycle-time improvement,
** less material waste,
** a better understanding of customer requirements,
** increased customer satisfaction, and
** more reliable products and services.

It is acknowledged that Six Sigma can be costly to implement and can take several years before a company begins to see bottom-line improvements. (Source: Definition of “six sigma” copyrighted and used with permission of whatis.com (http://www.whatis.com/) and TechTarget Inc.)

Many of the tools used by Six Sigma practitioners can be implemented without implementing a full Six Sigma program.

McDonald Group TOOL/COURSE	Six Sigma Step
	DEFINE
Process Mapping and Improvement – Quality Functional Deployment (QFD)	Determine customer needs
Process Mapping and Improvement – Process flowcharting	Defining Process
Internal Quality Auditor – turtle diagram	Defining Process – SIPOC Diagram
Project Management	Work Breakdown Structure Resource Analysis
	MEASURE
Process Mapping and Improvement – Process flowcharting	Detailed process map
Process Mapping and Improvement – Benchmarking/Competitive Analysis	Data collection plan
Measurement Systems Analysis – Gage R&R	Validate Measurement System
	ANALYZE
Root Cause Analysis Tools – Histogram, Pareto, Run Chart, Scatter Plot, Cause and Effect (Fishbone), 5 Whys    Statistical Process Control	Define performance objectives Define non-value added steps Sources of variation Root Cause Analysis Determine “vital few”
Design of Experiments	Controlling inherent variation
	IMPROVE
Design of Experiments (DoE)	Perform DoE
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)	Understand areas for improvement/control
Brainstorming, Mistake Proofing (pokayoke)	Eliminate possible failure modes
DoE, pilot studies	Validate possible solutions
	CONTROL
Statistical Process Control	Control variables
APQP/Control Plan, SPC	Determine Process Capability
Project Management – Closure phase	Hand off project, closure, metrics