What is Six Sigma?

A lot of organizations are looking for ways to streamline their processes to drive more profit. One of the most popular methods used for increasing efficiency within a corporation is Six Sigma. 

What is Six Sigma? 

Six Sigma is a data-driven, disciplined methodology that helps in eliminating defects in any process – from product to service and manufacturing to transactional. The process seeks to enhance the quality of outputs by recognizing and eliminating the causes of errors and reducing variability in business processes and manufacturing. It makes use of a set of methods, mainly statistical, empirical methods, and builds a special team of professionals within the company who are experts in implementing these systems. 

Every project that is carried out in the company follows a specific sequence of steps and has pre-computed value targets, for instance: reduce pollution, reduce process cycle time, reduce costs, increase profits and customer satisfaction.

Six Sigma methodology asserts that:

1. Business and manufacturing processes should be consistently analyzed, measured, improved and controlled.
2. Constant efforts to attain predictable and stable process results are of great importance to the success of a business.
3. Accomplishing sustained quality improvement entails commitment from the organization, specifically from top-level management.

Attributes that set Six Sigma apart from other quality improvement methods:

1. A clear focus on attaining quantifiable and measurable financial revenues.
2. Increased importance on passionate and strong management support and leadership.
3. Clear commitment to making choices on the basis of statistical methods and verifiable data, rather than guesswork and assumptions.

In a nutshell, the answer to the question what is six sigma? is that it is a method that deals with improving and measuring how close you can come to delivering what you have planned to do with your business. However, implementation of the methodology is only possible with professional help. It is important to hire the right people to train your employees for smooth execution within the organization and within each business process.