1. What is Six Sigma and how did it start?
2. Identify two companies that have used Six Sigma and report on their results.
3. What other process improvement method can be used instead of Six Sigma, how do they differ?

Question #1:

Six Sigma:

Six Sigma is the methodology adopted by the companies to remove the defects and it is used for the purpose of development and improvement in the quality of a business. It is basically a data-driven technique by which companies achieve the level of perfect quality almost. Six sigma is a tool by which organizations improves their quality in the manufacturing process. By using the Six Sigma method companies ensure the improvement by identifying the defects and then removing it and thus achieve the goal of delivering the highest quality. Six Sigma is used by the organizations for the purpose of identifying defects, improving the quality, increase the capability of the process, improve the variation level, and stable the operations of the company. Six Sigma is a way in which companies can satisfying their customers and improve their quality and also become leaders in the market in a low cost and also earn profits. (Welch) (htt7) (Diorio)

Six Sigma Start:

The start of Six Sigma is considered since 1920’s when word “Sigma” was used by engineers and mathematicians for measuring the variation in quality of the product. The concept “Six Sigma” was then used by the Motorola Engineers, Bill Smith and Bob Galvin in the year 1986. They used it as a technique by which defects can be identified and then removed and obtained the level of high quality. At the end of 1980’s Motorola extended this technique and adopted it as business process and by this Six Sigma became formal in business and used by the companies as a method of improving performance and quality by removing defects. (Renee O’Farrell)

Question # 2:

Companies:

Six Sigma techniques first developed and adopted by Motorola Company. After this, many companies adopted this for the better quality. The two companies who adopted this are:

• General Electric
• Samsung

These both are explained below.

General Electric:

General Electric is an American Company which provides home appliances from the year 1892. General Electric adopted Six Sigma in the year 1995 by the CEO Jack Welch. General Electric implements Six Sigma and trained their workers for 13 days and completely implements the Six Sigma project in 1998. General Electric does training and monitoring by the effective leadership and successfully adopted it. General Electric thus identifying their customer needs enhanced their work quality, innovate new products and also develop products and earn profits by adopting it. (Nayab, 2011)

Samsung:

Samsung was founded in the year 1969 as an electronic Company. Samsung used many techniques for the purpose of ensuring their quality. Jong-Yong Yun brings Six Sigma in the Samsung. In the end of the year 1999, Samsung starts to adopt Six Sigma and at the beginning of 2000, company completely adopted it. After adopting it, Samsung reduced their defects by 50% in the year 2000 and became one of the leading companies in the market. It was observed that revenue increased after the adoption of Six Sigma. Samsung also produced innovative products with the help of Six Sigma and also improve their quality. (Jong-Yong, 2002) (Nagpal, 2013)

Question #3:

Other Process Improvement Methods:

Six Sigma is used for the improvement in the process. Companies also used other techniques and methods for the purpose of improving their process. Some methods are:

• Total Quality Management (TQM)
• The European Foundation Quality Model (EFQM)
• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
• Benchmarking
• Kaizen
• Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• DRIVE (Define, Review, Identify, Verify, Execute)
• Force Field Analysis
• CEDAC ( Cause and Effect Diagram with Additions of Cards)
• Brainstorming
• Pareto Analysis
• Scatter Diagram
• Check Sheets
• Matrix Analysis
• Histogram