HISTORY OF SIX SIGMA : PART II

The roots of six sigma as a measurement standard can be traced back to Carl Frederick Gauss (1777-1855) who introduced the concept of the normal curve. Six sigma as a measurement standard in product variation can be traced back to the 1920's when Walter Shewhart showed that three sigma from the mean is the point where a process requires correction. Many measurement standards (Cpk, Zero Defects, and so on) later came on the scene but credit for coining the term "six sigma" goes to a Motorola engineer named Bill Smith (six sigma is a federally registered trademark of Motorola).
In the late 1970's, Dr. Mikel Harry, a senior staff engineer at Motorola's Government Electronics Group (GEG), began to experiment with problem solving through statistical analysis. Using his methodology, GEG began to show dramatic results – GEG's products were being designed and produced faster and more cheaply. Subsequently, Dr. Harry began to formulate a method for applying six sigma throughout Motorola. His work culminated in a paper titled "The Strategic Vision for Accelerating Six Sigma Within Motorola." He was later appointed head of the Motorola Six Sigma Research Institute and became the driving force behind six sigma.
Dr. Mikel Harry and Richard Schroeder, an ex-Motorola executive, were responsible for creating the unique combination of change management and data-driven methodologies that transformed six sigma from a simple quality measurement tool to the breakthrough business excellence philosophy it is today. They had the charisma and the ability to educate and engage business leaders such as Bob Galvin of Motorola, Larry Bossidy of AlliedSignal (now Honeywell), and Jack Welch of GE. Together, Harry and Schroeder elevated six sigma from the shop floor to the boardroom with their drive and innovative ideas regarding entitlement, breakthrough strategy, sigma levels, and the roles for deployment of Black Belts, Master Black Belts, and Champions. In effect, they created a business revolution that continues to challenge the thinking of executives, managers and employees alike. Their strategies and tools have been perfected through the years by Six Sigma Academy. In brief, the contribution was the unique combination of business leadership plus quality and process improvement tools and techniques which made it possible for leaders to recognize the value of six sigma, not just as a tool for operational efficiency, but as an enterprise wide business strategy with direct bottom line impact.

Next post: Six Sigma: Part III; Black Belts, Master Black Belts, and Champions

Six Sigma: Is it enough? Part -I

Introduction

In the olden times there was the concept of "Zero Defect" but it was considered more as a hypothetical term rather than having a more practical aspect because though the companies propagated that their processes or services were of Zero Defect but very few customers relied on them because defects were always there. A "Defect" can be defined as any product or service that does not conform to the set standards or satisfaction of the customer. Now, Six Sigma is a concept that tries to achieve a near zero defect with 3.4 defects in a million events.

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a methodology used to improve any business process by constantly reviewing, updating and re-tuning the existing process. Six Sigma provides the tools to improve the capability of any business process. Six Sigma professionals evaluate a business process and determine ways to improve upon the existing process. Six Sigma incorporates the same principles and techniques used in Business, Statistics, and Engineering.

Six Sigma improves the process performance, decreases variation and maintains consistent quality of the process output. This leads to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale, product quality and finally customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma Strives for perfection every time. It allows for only 3.4 defects per million opportunities for each product or service transaction.

Six Sigma relies heavily on statistical techniques to reduce defects and measure quality.

Evolution of Six Sigma

Japan has been credited with the evolvement of Quality Systems like TQM, Kanban, Kaizen, etc., but Six Sigma has been evolved by the Americans by a company called Motorola in early 1990's. Later in the mid- nineties, GE and Allied Signal adopted it. According to Jack Welch CEO of GE, "Six Sigma is the most challenging and potentially rewarding strategy that GE has ever undertaken". Now Japan has always been known for controlling wastages by having Just-in-time Inventory systems but this concept of Six Sigma, which relies heavily on statistical controls, encompasses all the systems and gives near perfect and measurable results, which in other systems cannot be done easily.

Six Sigma was originally centered around manufacturing improvements. The reason for this was knowledge of the statistical tools in the manufacturing functions and the ease with which we can quantify the benefits. However the customers did not readily see these improvements. The approach was therefore broadened to all business operations. The success of these companies with the six sigma approach caught the attention of the Wall Street making it a popular strategy that is being adopted by many organizations worldwide. Indian organizations such as Wipro, Tata Motors, Hero Motors, Godrej-GE have also adopted six sigma strategy to improve their businesses (Reference: Business Today, Sept 22, 1999).

Operations Management Group

In this, i am gonna post the newsletter for the Operations and Management Group (OMG) that will be done by me every weekly or bi-weekly. This will cover all the activities undertaken which will include management, operations, technology, and other sections of operations and technology.

Every week we will cover the accomplishments, the future activities, a special article for reading and much more.

Chilling at Ellis Island, New York

Chilling at Ellis Island (New York)

The building in the background is located on the Ellis Island, and is the first immigration center established in the United States of America. Once inside, it provides an insight into the first years of people moving from different parts of the world to the "Free World".

Academician at Graduation

Graduation at Florida International University

The same arrogant guy with a Bachelor's, Double Master's Degrees. Too realistic to believe right!!!

The Devil himself !!!!

I was an embodiment of brashness, arrogance, ego but yet the best at what i did. Perfectionism is my middle name.

The devil himself!!!!

World Traveller

London Airport (Ferrari backing me)
The coolest airport i ever visited (I have flown more than 200,000 miles till now), the Heathrow at London.