Some of readers might not be familiar with Six Sigma term or familiar with the concept but not interested since it is a complicated and fully statistical quantification, etc. Now I am trying to explain the concept in the most simplify method without reducing its main concept.

What is Six Sigma? To get into Six Sigma signification (commonly wrote as 6s), we should go back to its history. Six Sigma pioneered by Motorola in the 1980s lead by an engineer named Bill Smith. Motorola used statistics tools integrated with financial metrics in management (Return on Investment, ROI), as one of the measurement device for quality improvement process.

Six Sigma is a structured method to repair a process that focused on the efforts to reduce process variances as well as defect product or service by using statistic and problem solving tools extensively.

Six Sigma is a process with 3 to 4 defect possibilities in a million of product/service. Is it possible? There are many controversies about this fact. However, the essence of Six Sigma is to perform as measurement device to achieve an almost perfect condition. During its development, Six Sigma is not merely a measurement device, but transformed to be a business strategy.

Business strategy has 6 main component of Six Sigma concept:

1. Customer first: the awareness regarding customer as a definition in a broad spectrum are, as follows:  buyer,   colleagues, a team who received the service, and society who used our service, etc.
2. Management always based on facts and figures. It is not a baseless assumption but always with evidence.
3. Focus on process up to reparation: Six Sigma depends very much in our capacity to understand a process  until its reparation process supported with a good management capability.
4. Proactive management: leaders’ role in directing towards changing that will result to success.
5. Unlimited collaboration: teamwork among the team.
6. Look for perfection

Basic concept of Six Sigma was taken from Total Quality Management (TQM) and Statistical Process Control (SPC). These 2 big concepts started by Shewhart, Juran, Deming, Crossby dan Ishikawa. From period point of view, Six Sigma is the latest evolution of quality improvement that develops since the year of 1940.

The fact above was the ground of the several statistical expert skeptic positions. They considered six sigma as a recycled concept with a new packaging, that many people see it as a trend or flavor of the moment.

Many people considered Six Sigma as a practical TQM, others said it is an SPC combined with financial metrics; but for me, whatever the name is, whatever the taste, the most important thing is: this is a workable concept as long as it conducted in a discipline and consistency way, it will generate a real and proven change.

1.  Improvement Process
Lately we find the “improvement process” term almost everywhere. Competition required all organizations/companies to be more innovative in terms of customer satisfaction. Unsatisfied customer means bankruptcy.

We will often see the terms “defect” or “waste”; this term is a terminology for every product and service which is inappropriate to customer demand. The defection is not just such a damaged watch or a bad sewing dress, or a failed car. If we supposed to arrive at the office punctually at 8 o’clock, and we arrived in office at 8.06, it calls a defect. The standard to produce an ID card is between 7 to 14 days. When we obtain our ID Card after 3 months, it can also be called as a defect too. If a bottle of medium size supposes to be filled with water for 1490ml - 1510ml, when we found a bottle filled only with 1450ml, it is a defect.

The more defects we produced in our management process, the easier for the customer to switch to other company. When the competition is tighter, customer requirements also become tighter (and higher too).
The differences is in term of how the company manage its process and how the reduce the variant of the process and services.

2.  Six Sigma fundamental: DMAIC, Black Belt, and Practitioner Team.
As we mention before, Six Sigma is a very structured method. Above is the structure which consists of 5 steps that abbreviate into DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

Define: in this step, the practitioner identified the problems, define customer specification, and decide the goal (reducing the defect/the cost and the deadline)

Measure: a step to validate the problem, measure/analyze problems based on the available data.

Analyze: determine factors that most influence to the process; means to find one or two factors that affect the process dramatically if we restore its problem.

Improve: in this step, we discuss ideas to fix our system based on the previous analyzing report, conduct an experiment to observe the result. If the result is positive, a Standard Operating Procedure should be established.

Control: in this step we need to make measurement plans and design to sustain our development. In this step, we produce some kind of metrics that need to be monitored and corrected, depends on the condition, whether it is decreasing or needs a reparation.

On the other hand, the achievement of Six Sigma implementation could be determined by the facilitator (one or more). A facilitator should comprehend the management and statistical usage; this type of facilitator called Black Belt.

But most of all, the most important aspect is the team. The team should be consist of the member from various related team/department (cross-functional team)

3.  Always there…
As we mentioned before, Six Sigma is a controversy, especially in the quality practitioner society. One side, many people consider Six Sigma as a great, simple but powerful thing. Many consultants compete to include Six Sigma as one of their service in addition to the books that available in the market.

While for the opposite side, many practitioners are being skeptical with Six Sigma: nothing special, just a flavor of the month, and become famous only because of the media.

Once again, beyond those controversies, if we use this concept/method, whatever the name is, in our job, the result is the main point, if we are discipline and consistent…