By Eric Hummel
October 2000
- A credit card company was losing business-customers were waiting too long to receive cards they had applied for. Solution: A Six Sigma methodology was used to revise credit applications, significantly reducing illegible forms. Implementing the new process got cards in customers’ hands faster, leading to improved profitability.
- A manufacturer of specialized medical testing strips was experiencing a 50% poor quality return rate. Solution: Six Sigma experiments identified two production conditions working in tandem were causing most of the defects. Simple procedural changes resulted in less waste, translating into multi-million dollar savings.
These problems occurred in profitable companies. Both had previously tried to improve by asking employees to identify problems and recommend solutions. Both found Six Sigma approaches more successful because they focused on what was important to the customer, identified key satisfaction process drivers using data and statistical techniques, and maintained gains with process management.
An engineer at Motorola concerned with company performance started using Six Sigma Methodologies, or Process Sigma Improvement, in 1985. He applied statistical measures of variation from the norm (the Greek symbol Sigma) to customer expectations. The acceptable variation customers will accept is identified, analyzed, and then improved to reduce errors to 3.4 per 1 million opportunities, the equivalent of a 99.9997% success rate.
The difference between 99% (3.8 Sigma) and 99.9997% (6 sigma) may not seem great until you consider:
27,400 drug prescription errors per day vs. 9
2 unsuccessful landings at each major airport per day vs. 1.2 in 5 years
It sounds as if an advanced applied statistics degree is all you need to improve performance. But the people factor is also critical. Process Sigma Improvement doesn’t work without good internal systems, teamwork, and leaders who implement change and foster the zeal for ongoing customer satisfaction improvement. Six Sigma only works when there is the dynamic interchange between knowledge of what and how to improve with a company-wide passion for success.
For more information, please call 1-800-669-8326 or email info@orielinc.com
Posted by oriel 
