Overview

Are Six Sigma methodologies designed for a small company or for a large company? Do we need a large reserve of money to implement Six Sigma? Am I ready to implement Six Sigma in my department? Where do I start? What do I need? What help is available? Even more important, why should I implement Six Sigma? Answer all these questions when considering Six Sigma for your company.

These questions make sense from both an investment perspective and a business needs perspective. In tough economic times, the focus must be on improving processes and profitability. Six Sigma is a wonderful tool for realizing dramatic improvement. However, in good economic conditions, Six Sigma is also very important because it helps to improve processes through employee participation and is an excellent tool for improving employee morale. Continuing to improve profits is a never-ending responsibility of leadership, no matter what the economic climate.

Why would a company pursue Six Sigma? Studies show that companies that have implemented Six Sigma have improved their processes by as much as 100 percent. Traditionally, people seem satisfied with 99 percent performance. However, 99 percent performance could mean 20,000 lost articles of mail per hour, two short or long landings at major airports each day, or 200,000 wrong drug prescriptions each year.

Six Sigma implies 3.4 defects per million opportunities, which is almost perfect work. Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric, has said that such a quality drive requires the passionate commitment of all employees to...