Six Sigma Levels PDF

UNIT IV SIX SIGMA WHAT IS SIX SIGMA  Six Sigma is a set of methodologies and tools used to improve business processes by reducing defects and errors, minimizing variation, and increasing quality and efficiency. The goal of Six Sigma is to achieve a level o...

UNIT IV SIX SIGMA WHAT IS SIX SIGMA  Six Sigma is a set of methodologies and tools used to improve business processes by reducing defects and errors, minimizing variation, and increasing quality and efficiency. The goal of Six Sigma is to achieve a level of quality that is nearly perfect, with only 3.4 defects per million opportunities. SIX In 1984, a Motorola engineer named Bill Smith developed the Six Sigma management system to reduce the SIGMA variations in Motorola's electronic manufacturing processes that were causing product defects. Six Sigma is a methodology for process improvement developed by a scientist at Motorola in the 1980s. The five phases of the Six Sigma method, known as DMAIC, are defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling. OBJECTIVES OF SIX SIGMA  OVERALL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT  REMEDY DEFECTS/VARIABILITY  REDUCE COSTS  IMPROVE CYCLE TIME  INCREASE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION  REDUCED RISKS  FEWER HUMAN ERRORS  Microsoft (MSFT) is one of the largest software producers in the world. It used Six Sigma to help eradicate defects in its systems and data centers and systematically reduce IT infrastructure failures.  The company first established standards for all of its hardware and software to create a baseline measurement for detecting defects. It then used root-cause analysis, including collecting data from past high-priority incidents, server failures, and recommendations from product group members and customers, to pinpoint potential problem areas.  Large amounts of data were collected on a daily and weekly basis from various servers. The incidents were prioritized based on how severely the defects affected the business and the company's underlying services.  Data analysis and reporting identified the specific defects, after which remediation steps for each defect were established. As a result of Six Sigma, Microsoft says it improved the availability of its servers, boosted productivity, and increased customer satisfaction.  Understanding the Six Sigma Belt levels can be confusing. Many people want to know the advantages and requirements of each Six Sigma Certification belt level. The most important factor is the degree to which you are involved in the work or projects.  1. White Belt  This is the first level of certification in the Six Sigma certification training. Professionals who have not undergone prior formal certification training or any other extended training are called six sigma white belt holders. It shows them how they are the ones who contribute towards efficiency and most reliable outcomes. With this basic platform, to begin with, white belt holders participate in those projects that are driven towards problem-solving. It strictly revolves around quality management and reducing waste.  2. Yellow Belt  Holding this designation means that it indicates exposure to concepts of Six Sigma that moves ahead of the fundamentals that a white belt holder seeks. Yellow Belts practitioners have training sessions attended over a period of two days, enhancing the knowledge that they need to work on the project and dealing with team members who are all inter-dependent closely. They may uplift the projects that had a limited scope and help managers who are at belts in the higher level.  3. Green Belt  For getting a green belt six sigma certification, required professionals are expected to attend the full course that exposes them to methods of Six Sigma, how to develop, improve and reduce variation in services and processes. They know how to apply frameworks which are for problem-solving, one example is DMAIC. This cycle of improvement chalks out a series of steps to analyze the problems that prevail in a business process.  They carve out important metrics to measure changes, infer relevant data and execute solutions post which sustains the results over a period of time. The green belt is extremely valuable for professionals who are into the project management field, medical and healthcare and also financial management. It serves as a base for performance metrics and control charts tools like (FMEA) failure modes and effect analysis.  Once the certification is completed, executives are prepared to take charge of projects, joining connections of LSS concepts with the organization goals. They have the knowledge to apply leadership tools for implementing action, finding ways to reduce waste and infer sights that are crucial from the data.  4. Black Belt  This is an advanced training level that leaders undergo to upgrade their skills, after the completion of green belt certification. It is pre-requisite to have previous LSS knowledge so that leaders and stakeholders become the master of their skills and knowledge which to apply when planning.  This helps to take care of the fact that they have to lead many complex projects which are expansive, disruptive and may need organizational changes. Professionals who are black belt certified could be considered to demonstrate their learning and real account experiences by carrying out a live project for their higher-ups. It could also be for a non-profit organization.  By making a project charter, gathering data and infusing six sigma tools for a real project context, students harbor and grow the potential they need for making their business more efficient, productive and increasing the customer satisfaction at the same time. Together with the application of lean efforts, they run high-quality improvement with scope for making a huge impact on the productivity of the company.  5. Master Black Belt  A professional with thorough leadership skills and problem-solving approaches can elevate to hold a master black belt in LSS. The designation of a Master black belt holder is about an expert who has a wide spectrum of strategy all throughout the business and thereby coordinating all cross-functional teams.  6. Champion  A professional is called champion when he is a manager in the upper level leading LSS deployment and strategy. Now, based on the number of objectives that are set by professional leaders, champions are the ones who ensure that most initiatives to lower waste and to eliminate variation actually help in removing faults as per the alignment with the needs of the company. Guided by their leaders who are master black belts, such managers help a lot by mentoring high-end professionals who are involved in the implementation of LSS, and also tracking how much progress has been made.  LEAN SIX SIGMA  Lean was developed in Toyota as part of the Toyota Production System, which was built around the work of Shewhart and Deming. Toyota had been a client of Deming and established its operational management practices on the principles he taught. The fundamental driver of Lean is the elimination of waste. In fact, a good description of the Lean approach is, "a set of tools that assist in the identification and the steady elimination of waste."The Lean strategy was established by Toyota in the 1940s and attempts to streamline operational processes, from manufacturing to transactions.  Lean Six Sigma is a team-focused managerial approach that seeks to improve performance by eliminating resource waste and defects.  It combines Six Sigma methods and tools with the lean manufacturing/lean enterprise philosophy. It strives to eliminate the waste of physical resources, time, effort, and talent while assuring quality in production and organizational processes.Lean Six Sigma seeks to improve employee and company performance by eliminating the waste of resources and process/product defects.  Six Sigma originated in the 1980s and seeks to improve output quality by reducing defects.  Lean Six Sigma is a process improvement methodology designed to eliminate problems, remove waste and inefficiency, and improve working conditions to provide a better response to customers’ needs.  It combines the tools, methods and principles of Lean and Six Sigma into one popular and powerful methodology for improving your organization’s operations.  Lean Six Sigma’s team-oriented approach has proven results in maximizing efficiency and dramatically improving profitability for businesses around the world.  Lean Six Sigma Techniques  The techniques and tools used to accomplish essential goals of the Lean Six Sigma strategy include:  Kanban: Workflow management practices, such as work visualization and limited work in progress, which maximize efficiency and promote continuous improvement.  Kaizen: Practices that engage employees and promote a work environment that emphasizes self-development and ongoing improvement.  Value stream mapping: Analyze places to eliminate waste and optimize process steps.  5S tool: Method to ensure that the workplace is efficient, INTEGRATING LEAN AND SIX SIGMA  Lean and Six Sigma both provide customers with the best possible quality, cost, delivery, and a newer attribute, nimbleness. There is a great deal of overlap between the two disciplines; however, they both approach their common purpose from slightly different angles:  Lean focuses on waste reduction, whereas Six Sigma emphasizes variation reduction.  Lean achieves its goals by using less technical tools such as kaizen, workplace organization, and visual controls, whereas Six Sigma tends to use statistical data analysis, design of experiments, and hypothesis testing.  Often successful implementations begin with the lean approach, making the workplace as efficient and effective as possible, reducing waste, and using value stream maps to improve understanding and throughput. If process problems remain, more technical Six Sigma statistical tools may then be applied.   THERE ARE THREE KEY Tools and techniques: A comprehensive set ELEMENTS TO LEAN of tools and analytical SIXthat techniques SIGMA. are used to identify and solve problems.  Process and methodology: A series of phases that organize the use of the problem- solving tools to ensure that the true root causes are found and that a solution is fully implemented.  Mindset and culture: A way of thinking that relies on data and processes to achieve operational performance goals and continuously improve.  These three elements reinforce each other. Analytical techniques are not used effectively unless there is a process for applying them and a mindset of continuous improvement creating the need for them. An improvement process does not produce the desired results unless it includes the tools and techniques that define the activity of the process steps and there is a culture that insists on systemic data-based approach to solving problems.