Six Sigma : Myths

[sk_kireeti]

MYTHS ABOUT SIX SIGMA

There are many misunderstandings about Six Sigma. Here are just a few of the myths—and the truth:

• Six Sigma works only in manufacturing settings.
• Six Sigma doesn’t include customer requirements.
• Six Sigma is repackaged TQM.
• Six Sigma uses difficult-to-understand statistics.
• Six Sigma is an accounting game without real savings.
• Six Sigma is just training.
• Six Sigma is a “magic pill” with little effort.

Six Sigma works only in manufacturing settings. Although it’s true that Six Sigma started in manufacturing, it has been applied successfully in all segments of business—banking, healthcare, the military, fast food chains, airlines, hotels, retail stores, and on and on and on. If there’s a repetitive process with a problem, you can apply Six Sigma.

Six Sigma doesn’t include customer requirements. That’s totally false. Every Six Sigma project starts with the customers, with determining the factors that are critical to the customer. Those factors focus the project.

Six Sigma is repackaged TQM. Quality programs are valuable in that they can create a quality perspective and culture. But Six Sigma fixes identifiable, chronic problems that directly impact your bottom line. Six Sigma projects are selected to reduce or eliminate waste, which translates into real money. Six Sigma is not theory. It defines, measures, analyzes, improves, and controls the vital few processes that matter most, to tie quality improvement directly to bottom-line results.

Six Sigma uses difficult-to-understand statistics. Because it uses statistical terminology, Six Sigma is frequently perceived as a statistics and measurement program. This is not the case. The methodology uses statistics solely as tools for interpreting and clarifying data to derive information that can be used to drive decisions. Six Sigma practitioners also use computers and statistical software to take advantage of knowledge and speed the improvement process. Six Sigma is really more about cultural transformation than about statistics.

Six Sigma is an accounting game without real savings. To refute that myth, just return to the “Financial Benefits” section earlier and read again the gains achieved by some of the companies that have applied Six Sigma.
Six Sigma is just training. There’s training, of course: practitioners are trained in the methodology and the tools. But the training that occurs with a Six Sigma program is about knowledge transfer and application. In Six Sigma we learn so that we can apply and gain a competitive advantage. That purpose keeps the focus on satisfying the customer, reducing variation and defects, and saving money. Six Sigma is far more than just training: it’s a business strategy that fosters a cultural shift at all levels.

Six Sigma is a “magic pill” with little effort. Six Sigma requires commitment, planning, organization, discipline, and diligence. There’s nothing magic about it—unless you consider using tools and brains methodically to be magic. MAGIC is the acronym for “Measure-Analyze-Guess-Improve-Control, but there’s no G in the Six Sigma model: we don’t guess; we use data and facts to drive a solution.

[slinkanand]

thanx dude..

[au123]

Thanks Kireeti

Nicely written and useful too.

Originally Posted by sk_kireeti

MYTHS ABOUT SIX SIGMA

There are many misunderstandings about Six Sigma. Here are just a few of the myths—and the truth:

• Six Sigma works only in manufacturing settings.
• Six Sigma doesn’t include customer requirements.
• Six Sigma is repackaged TQM.
• Six Sigma uses difficult-to-understand statistics.
• Six Sigma is an accounting game without real savings.
• Six Sigma is just training.
• Six Sigma is a “magic pill” with little effort.

Six Sigma works only in manufacturing settings. Although it’s true that Six Sigma started in manufacturing, it has been applied successfully in all segments of business—banking, healthcare, the military, fast food chains, airlines, hotels, retail stores, and on and on and on. If there’s a repetitive process with a problem, you can apply Six Sigma.

Six Sigma doesn’t include customer requirements. That’s totally false. Every Six Sigma project starts with the customers, with determining the factors that are critical to the customer. Those factors focus the project.

Six Sigma is repackaged TQM. Quality programs are valuable in that they can create a quality perspective and culture. But Six Sigma fixes identifiable, chronic problems that directly impact your bottom line. Six Sigma projects are selected to reduce or eliminate waste, which translates into real money. Six Sigma is not theory. It defines, measures, analyzes, improves, and controls the vital few processes that matter most, to tie quality improvement directly to bottom-line results.

Six Sigma uses difficult-to-understand statistics. Because it uses statistical terminology, Six Sigma is frequently perceived as a statistics and measurement program. This is not the case. The methodology uses statistics solely as tools for interpreting and clarifying data to derive information that can be used to drive decisions. Six Sigma practitioners also use computers and statistical software to take advantage of knowledge and speed the improvement process. Six Sigma is really more about cultural transformation than about statistics.

Six Sigma is an accounting game without real savings. To refute that myth, just return to the “Financial Benefits” section earlier and read again the gains achieved by some of the companies that have applied Six Sigma.
Six Sigma is just training. There’s training, of course: practitioners are trained in the methodology and the tools. But the training that occurs with a Six Sigma program is about knowledge transfer and application. In Six Sigma we learn so that we can apply and gain a competitive advantage. That purpose keeps the focus on satisfying the customer, reducing variation and defects, and saving money. Six Sigma is far more than just training: it’s a business strategy that fosters a cultural shift at all levels.

Six Sigma is a “magic pill” with little effort. Six Sigma requires commitment, planning, organization, discipline, and diligence. There’s nothing magic about it—unless you consider using tools and brains methodically to be magic. MAGIC is the acronym for “Measure-Analyze-Guess-Improve-Control, but there’s no G in the Six Sigma model: we don’t guess; we use data and facts to drive a solution.