To succeed, your company must be excellent, both in terms of the quality of the products sold and the efficiency of the internal procedures involved in the production process. Using a philosophy that decreases the number of defects in your products and hence improves profitability and efficiency is an excellent idea. In the long run, it will have a significant effect on your organization’s market share. Are you looking to step back on costs and gain a competitive advantage? Are you a company active in software development or manufacturing, and your main goal is to improve your production line procedures? In that case, the Six Sigma methodology will be compatible with your requirements.
The Six Sigma philosophy is not suitable for all types of companies. However, in the right industry and with professional management, it is, as history has shown, one of the best methodologies by which you can significantly improve your organization’s market position. Investing in your company’s efficiency will result in the streamlining of the internal processes utilized by your employees, the reduction of unnecessary waste, and better resource allocation. What does this mean for you? More profits, which in turn can be reinvested back into the products or services you sell.
The Six Sigma method is compatible with other philosophies used in the business environment, such as Kaizen or Lean, and it has a well-defined goal: to improve your company’s performance by eliminating defects from the production line. Is Six Sigma relevant in the 21st century? The data shows that it is. For companies active in manufacturing, Six Sigma has been and still is the most crucial methodology to streamline the internal processes used in the production line. And because of this, the value of Six Sigma training courses is more pronounced than ever.
Why Six Sigma?
Are you a company operating in a competitive field where human error can lead to losses of hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars? In this case, your priority should be to improve your business efficiency. Although the origins of the ever-so-present Six Sigma methodology come from Japan in the 1980s, when Motorola first applied it successfully in its production lines, its relevance nowadays is perhaps more vital than it was in the last ten years. This is due to the increasing diversification of product categories marketed globally.
Are you trying to record high-profit margins? Do you want to maintain a loyal following and continue improving your products while keeping in mind the core beliefs of your business? Then, the Six Sigma methodology is right for you. The goal of Six Sigma is to identify and eliminate defects in the production process, reduce variability in the products offered, and make data-driven decisions that eliminate subjective factors from the discussion. Six Sigma is based on quality, sometimes at the sacrifice of innovation.
So, is Six Sigma a preferable philosophy for IT companies that need to innovate month after month? Probably not. But it is a perfect methodology for businesses that want to achieve peak efficiency. By eliminating waste and getting rid of the internal production elements that clog operations, Six Sigma, when implemented prudently, leads to significant savings and has a considerable effect on the reputation of the companies that use it. Moreover, Six Sigma encourages employee engagement, and as a philosophy that relies heavily on data-gathering methods, it can be applied globally, regardless of cultural or language barriers.
How Does Six Sigma Work?
Six Sigma is a philosophy whose history goes back more than seventy years and which has retained its relevance even to this day. This is because it follows a structured approach, which benefits companies that want to focus their strategy on collecting relevant business data. At the core of Six Sigma is the DMAIC model, which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. They all have a significant impact on business strategy, and the implementation of the DMAIC model may differ depending on industry and business size. But what do these terms mean?
The “Define” portion of the DMAIC framework refers to the steps required to detect internal problems that affect long-term production line efficiency. “Measure,” on the other hand, consists of the processes of identifying and collecting critical data structured and examined during the “Analyze” process. In the “Improve” part of the DMAIC process, bespoke solutions are developed to correct problems identified in the first three steps of the Six Sigma cycle. Finally, in the “Control” stage, the groundwork is laid to create a strategy that ensures implemented changes are not affected by market shifts.
The DMAIC framework can only be successfully implemented through the expertise of Six Sigma specialists who have graduated and obtained their certification. Why is certification relevant? In short, it’s essential because it’s the only way for your employees to become familiar with the statistical tools needed to implement the DMAIC model successfully. These statistical techniques range from Nested ANova to Advanced MSA and Full Factorials. Is it complex? Yes, but that’s the point. Six Sigma is not for beginners, and this is one of the main reasons why it has remained relevant, even in the business climate of the 21st century.
What Is the History of Six Sigma?
The Six Sigma philosophy originated in post-war Japan, where pioneers such as William Edwards Deming laid the foundations for the concept that in the 1950s came to be known as Statistical Process Control. Over the years, SPC went through refinements and became adopted nationwide until, in 1980, Motorola, through Bill Smith, senior engineer and future vice president of the company, developed the concept of Six Sigma and incorporated it into the company’s production line. By the late 1980s, Six Sigma had become an official business strategy and came to be seen as a philosophy distinct from SPC. Moreover, the methodology began to spread internationally.
Now officially known as “Six Sigma, the SPC-inspired philosophy was used globally by GE in the mid-1990s, only to peak in the early 2000s with implementation by companies like Philips or Ford. Six Sigma is no longer the only methodology adopted by companies active in manufacturing, and its market adoption has declined since the 2000s. However, it’s still relevant, and the merger with Kaizen, or Lean, has made the DMAIC model helpful, even for start-ups.
It Can Be an Excellent Tool for Your Firm
Are you the owner of a business operating in an ultra-competitive field? Are your customers demanding and expect only the highest quality from your products? In this case, for your market share not to suffer, a good idea would be to invest in the Six Sigma methodology. Why Six Sigma? Efficiency and cost-savings. When combined with the Lean philosophy, Six Sigma leads to significant gains in profitability by eliminating waste and removing the elements of the production line that clog the internal processes used by personnel.
The Six Sigma methodology removes subjectivity from decision-making and significantly enhances the quality of the products marketed. Does your company sell various products whose profits vary depending on the season? In that case, with the help of the Six Sigma philosophy, you can analyze the performance of your goods using statistical tools and eliminate those that are not performing. Six Sigma encourages objective decision-making, is a philosophy that will align with the strategic blueprint of your firm’s long-term strategy and is internationally applicable to any enterprise active in software development, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, or services.