What Is Six Sigma And Is It Right For My Business?

For many years, businesses in various industries have constantly looked for ways to improve operational efficiencies, cut down on manufacturing defects and increase their bottom lines as a result. Six Sigma originally did that for Motorola, and is now doing it for hundreds of other companies. To ask what is Six Sigma can be a complicated question depending on who you ask. Some say it’s a methodology, others say it’s a company culture, and still others call it a system of metrics. Many also say it’s a combination of all three. In order to adapt to what is Six Sigma ways of doing business, it absolutely requires a change in company culture, meaning that the entire company has to buy into the concept and be totally on board. A breakdown at any level can render Six Sigma completely ineffective.

As stated above, the question of what is Six Sigma is what made an engineer by the name of Bob Smith change a decades-long approach to manufacturing and business operations. For many years, companies like Motorola, where Bob Smith worked back in 1986, relied on a method of measuring manufacturer defects in quantities of thousands. Bob Smith decided to put a practice in place where operational efficiencies could be quantitatively analyzed, using a customer-focused approach, i.e. understanding the customer’s exact needs in order to make a better product, and relying on data to reduce process variation which in turn reduces defects. The end result is that defects are now measured by one million, and the acceptable Six Sigma goal is 3.4 defects per one million units. The underlying part of what is Six Sigma is in changing the entire business culture to ensure that everyone involved in operations all the way to the executive offices are completely in tune with Six Sigma and it strategies. The end result for Motorola was that they vastly improved quality control operations and saved $16 billion on their bottom line. Within a decade, a vast majority of Fortune 500 companies were using Six Sigma methodology in their own businesses.

To know what is Six Sigma is also understanding that it uses the Karate approach in terms of making the change to Six Sigma methodology, utilizing Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Belts to lead the Six Sigma changeover process and adapt its processes at all levels of the company. The end result is that the entire company is now focused on delivering a better made product by listening to their customers’ needs in order to build a better product, installing reliable data infrastructures and relying on the data rather than gut feelings. Six Sigma has certainly changed the way many of the leading businesses operate.