1. 6
Six Sigma Basics
GEOP 4316

2. Outline Basics Principles of improvement DMAIC, DMADV, DFSS
Six Sigma people
Lean Sigma

3. Basics of Six Sigma Focus on ROI
Top management commitment and accountability
Customer focus (VOC)
Project focus
Extensive use of tools and technology
The objective is to ensure high quality and reliability of products, services, and transactions
Applicable to any type of organization

4. Basics Term CTXs = Critical to X.
System variables/ metrics
For example: CTQ = Critical to Quality.
Objective is to be as close as possible in every opportunity to the target of a CTX
The existence of variation in systems is a fundamental assumption of 6s
Target cannot be achieved every time for many reasons.

5. Basics CTX follow the traditional bell curve.
CTX have limits of performance: Upper Spec Limit and Lower Spec Limit.
Some are one sided specifications
Delivery time only has an upper spec
6s is 3.4 defects (not within specs) per million opportunities.

6. Principles for improvement
System behavior dictated by:
y = f(x) + e
x = the inputs, the independent variable
y = the output, the dependent variable
f(x) = The transformation function
e = The uncontrollable error

7. Principles of improvement
Changes in x will have an effect on y
Principle of Cause and Effect
Percentage of humidity in the plastic material will determine the break point in the part
x = % humidity; y = break point
The principle of determinism = change in x will result in a change in y. Without this, there is no control
Inputs
Output
Inputs
Output
Process
Process

8. Principles of improvement
Variation
Multiple causes: workers, materials, tools, temperature
Cumulative: different factors get combined to increase difference in the results.
Common versus special causes
Common: Inherent to the system/process, for example due to equipment limitations
Special: caused by something special, for example changes in voltage, changes in operator training
Short term versus long term effect
Address special variation first: control for equipment malfunctions, train all personnel for consistent performance, …

9. Principles of improvement
Measures are the basis of improvement
Measurement provides benchmarks and understanding
Sometimes it is difficult to come with measures for perception type criteria.
But without it, hard to understand the effect of changing x’s in the y.
Customer satisfaction surveys

10. Principles of improvement
A vital few variables determine the quality of a given outcome.
Pareto Principle (80-20) is well known, but often ignored by the most intelligent people
Perfectionists suffer from this.
Trying to fix everything …
The key is using a structured process to identify the critical x’s
By understanding how your x’s affect your y, changes can be implemented to improve your y

11. DMAIC
Developed by General Electric as a means of focusing effort on quality using a methodological approach
Overall focus of the methodology is to understand and achieve what the customer wants
Problem Solving Process
Define the project goals and customer (internal and external) deliverables
Measure the process to determine current performance
Analyze and determine the root cause(s) of the defects
Improve the process by eliminating defects
Control future process performance

12. DMAIC, DMADV, DFSS
The process improvement methodologies associated with Six Sigma
DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
DMADV: Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify
DFSS: Design for Six Sigma
A structured process to understand and minimize/prevent variation
More information in additional material sets

13. Six Sigma People Green Belts
There are also white belts and yellow belts: related to the “level of knowledge”
Green Belts
Regular workers that perform six sigma related activities (are part of a six sigma project) on a part-time basis
Participate on Black Belt project teams in the context of their existing responsibilities.
Learn the Six Sigma methodology as it applies to a particular project.
Continue to learn and practice the Six Sigma methods and tools after project completion.

14. Black Belts Six Sigma People
Lead and direct teams in project execution.
Report progress to appropriate leadership levels.
Solicit help from Champions when needed.
Determine the most effective tools to apply.
Prepare a detailed project assessment during the Measurement phase.
Get input from knowledgeable operators, first-line supervisors, and team leaders.
Manage project risk.
Ensure that the results are sustained.

15. Six Sigma People Master Black Belts
Understand the big business picture.
Partner with the Champions.
Develop and deliver training to various levels of the organization.
Assist in the identification of projects.
Coach and support Black Belts in project work.
Participate in project reviews to offer technical expertise.
Help train and certify Black Belts.
Take on leadership of major programs.
Facilitate sharing of best practices across the corporation.

16. Six Sigma People Champions
Create the vision of Six Sigma for the company.
Define the path to implement Six Sigma across the organization.
Develop a comprehensive training plan
Carefully select high-impact projects.
Support development of “statistical thinking”.
Realize the gains by supporting Six Sigma projects through allocation of resources and removal of roadblocks.
Make sure that project opportunities are acted upon by the organization’s leadership and the finance department.
Recognize people for their efforts

17. Lean Sigma
Lean techniques eliminate much of the noise from a process using a variety of simple tools
Six Sigma offers a sequential problem-solving procedure: DMAIC
Statistical tools so that potential causes are not overlooked, and viable solutions to chronic problems can be discovered
Lean Sigma is the combination of both CI methodologies in order to maximize profitability

18. Lean Sigma LEAN SIX SIGMA Goal Create flow and eliminate waste
Goal
Create flow and eliminate waste
Improve process capability and eliminate variation
Application
Primarily manufacturing processes
All business processes
Approach
Teaching principles and "cookbook style" implementation based on best practice
Teaching a generic problem-solving approach relying on statistics
Project Selection
Driven by Value Stream Map
Various approaches
Length Of Projects
1 week to 3 months
2 to 6 months
Infrastructure
Mostly ad-hoc, no or little formal training
Dedicated resources, broad-based training
Training
Learning by doing

19. Lean Sigma
An integrated improvement strategy has to take into consideration the differences and use them effectively:
Lean projects are very tangible, visible, and can oftentimes be completed within a few days.
Six Sigma projects typically require a few months.
An integrated approach should emphasize Lean projects during the initial phase of the deployment to increase momentum.
Lean emphasizes broad principles with practical recommendations to achieve improvements, inadequate to solve complicated problems that require advanced analysis.
Six Sigma needs to be introduced in the first year to ensure that the improvement roadmap includes a generic problem-solving approach.