Contributing Writer
- FMA
- The Fabricator
- FABTECH
- Canadian Metalworking
Categories
- Additive Manufacturing
- Aluminum Welding
- Arc Welding
- Assembly and Joining
- Automation and Robotics
- Bending and Forming
- Consumables
- Cutting and Weld Prep
- Electric Vehicles
- En Español
- Finishing
- Hydroforming
- Laser Cutting
- Laser Welding
- Machining
- Manufacturing Software
- Materials Handling
- Metals/Materials
- Oxyfuel Cutting
- Plasma Cutting
- Power Tools
- Punching and Other Holemaking
- Roll Forming
- Safety
- Sawing
- Shearing
- Shop Management
- Testing and Measuring
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Waterjet Cutting
Industry Directory
Webcasts
Podcasts
FAB 40
Advertise
Subscribe
Account Login
Search
Working toward Six Sigma success
- By S. Manivannan
- March 7, 2006
- Article
- Shop Management
Many companies have implemented Six Sigma with great success. Driving a company from a Three or Four Sigma business process to a Six Sigma business process requires reducing defects by a factor of more than 20,000 and completely transforming the organization's culture. However, some companies that attempt to implement it get disappointing results.
Why are some not succeeding? It could be that:
- The wrong person was chosen to be the "Black Belt."
- Someone at the top didn't get behind the initiative (lack of support).
- Key team members didn't understand Six Sigma and therefore couldn't implement it effectively (lack of training).
Companywide understanding of the Six Sigma process is required for companywide buy-in and, ultimately, success. And the drastic transformations achievable with Six Sigma can't be accomplished simply by tweaking the process. They require creativity.
The greatest enemy of that creativity is hierarchy. Because hierarchy in a traditional firm controls all of the resources—material and human—an individual employee must obtain permission from someone to use any resource. If the resources required to pursue a creative idea are controlled by several positions in the hierarchy, the employee must get permission from each. And when one asks permission, only a "Yes" answer moves things ahead.
What Is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma's magic doesn't lie in statistical or high-tech razzle-dazzle. Six Sigma relies on tried-and-true methods that have been around for decades. In fact, Six Sigma discards a great deal of the complexity that characterizes Total Quality Management (TQM).
By one expert's count, there are more than 400 TQM tools and techniques. Six Sigma takes a handful of these methods and trains a cadre of in-house technical leaders, known as Six Sigma Black Belts or Green Belts, to a high level of proficiency in the application of those techniques.
To be sure, some of the methods Black Belts or Green Belts use, including up-to-date computer technology, are highly advanced. But the tools are applied within a simple performance-improvement framework known as DMAIC, which stands for Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. It is analogous to the older TQM model known as Plan-Do-Study-Act.
Anyone with more than a cursory exposure to Six Sigma is familiar with the DMAIC cycle. It is used almost universally to guide Six Sigma process improvement projects. And although truly dramatic improvement in quality requires transforming the management philosophy and organizational structure, actual projects must be undertaken sooner or later to make things happen. Projects are the means through which processes are systematically changed; they are bridges between the planning and the doing.
The Road to Success
Properly defined Six Sigma projects meet certain criteria:
- They have clearly defined deliverables.
- They have approval from management.
- They are not so large that they're unmanageable, or so small that they're unimportant or uninteresting.
- They relate directly to the organization's mission.
According to a recent benchmarking report, successful Six Sigma initiatives share three common characteristics:
- Implementation teams led by senior executives
- Well-organized training programs
- Ability to create a corporate culture that values objective performance measurement
Organizations that attempt to implement Six Sigma initiatives without addressing these three areas are far less likely to reap the rewards successful Six Sigma programs enjoy.
Winning executive support, planning properly, defining critical objectives, and demonstrating the impact of quality initiatives on customers are all key drivers toward Six Sigma success.
About the Author
subscribe now
The Fabricator is North America's leading magazine for the metal forming and fabricating industry. The magazine delivers the news, technical articles, and case histories that enable fabricators to do their jobs more efficiently. The Fabricator has served the industry since 1970.
start your free subscription- Stay connected from anywhere
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Welder.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Tube and Pipe Journal.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator en Español.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 03/05/2024
- Running Time:
- 65:35
After Ludlow Manufacturing Inc. (LMI) received The Fabricator's 2024 Industry Award, Todd Ludlow, founder and president of the...
- Trending Articles
Volatility in steel prices likely to continue
Tube laser positions fabricator for future growth
Fighting the fear of new technology in the manufacturing shop
Precision Cut Industries appoints president
Norton RazorStar abrasive discs designed to improve grinding performance
- Industry Events
NASCC: The Steel Conference
- March 20 - 22, 2024
- San Antonio,
The Fabricator's Manufacturers & Suppliers Event (MSE)
- March 26, 2024
- Schaumburg, IL
Coil Processing Workshop & Tours
- April 2 - 3, 2024
- Corpus Christi, TX
GOLF4MFG South
- April 15, 2024
- Charlotte, NC
16th Annual Safety Conference
- April 30 - May 1, 2024
- Elgin,