An Introduction to Six

An Introduction to Six Sigma and Process Improvement, 2e James Evans,William Lindsay (Solutions Manual All Chapters) (Download link at the end of this File)

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CHAPTER 1

Foundations of Six Sigma: Principles of Quality

Management

Teaching Notes

The first chapter provides an overview of the foundations of the Six Sigma philosophy and methodology and its relation to principles of quality in a rapidly changing business environment.Actually, that has become a cliché. Perhaps we should use the phrase: “a chaotic business environment.” Students at both the undergraduate and graduate level are likely to be taking this course as an elective, or using this text as a supplement to a quality or project management course, so you may have a tendency to assume that they are "self-motivated" by simply being there. This is not necessarily the case. The terms “TQM,” “total quality,” “Six Sigma” or even “Lean-Six Sigma” may be looked upon by some as outdated. For some, they may have become such an accepted practice in some industries that students may say “ho-hum, what’s new?” You should try to "hook" them on the excitement of quality by pointing out that if quality management and the implementation of Six Sigma were “easy,” everyone would have a smoothly operating system with few errors or product recalls. Because adopting and implementing the philosophy is difficult, those who can actually “do it” will be in demand. Key

objectives should include:

• To define the concept of “breakthrough” and its key relationship to Six Sigma.

• To show how Six Sigma has evolved from several disciplines and is based on solid quality principles.

• To introduce the concept of quality assurance -- providing consumers with goods and services of appropriate quality, as a point of reference. This is often how the average person thinks of quality, but it requires pointing out its limitations, as a technical, rather than a managerial, approach.

• To review the history of quality from the Craftsmanship era in the 1700’s, through the Japanese post-World War II challenge brought on by attention to quality and international competitiveness, to the “Quality revolution” in the U.S. and elsewhere in the 1980’s through the early 21 st Century. The “revolution” came about as a result of consumer pressures, technological change, outmoded managerial thinking, and competitive 2 / 4

2 pressures that changed the way that U.S. and managers around the world viewed the role of quality.

• To explore the differences between Six Sigma and total quality management (TQM).

• To understand how different perspectives on quality are necessary, and related definitions.

• To develop an understanding of the differences between consumers, external customers and internal customers and the importance of “critical to quality” (CTQ) characteristics in meeting customer needs.

• To explore the promise of Six Sigma for revitalizing the focus on quality in the 21 st

century.

• To instill in every student the idea that quality and its derivative, the Six Sigma approach, is a managerial concept first, and a technical concept, second, and to point out that quality is vital to every organization at every level, not just to manufacturing firms in their production areas.

• To reinforce the concept of the role of quality and the use of Six Sigma to enhance a firm's profitability and competitive advantage. Studies have shown that quality is positively related to increased market share and profitability.

In the first class session we provide a few introductory remarks about the importance of quality (see PowerPoint© slides for use in your lectures) and then often show a video or YouTube segment. The annual YouTube video versions of NIST’s Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners’ profiles provides for an ever-expanding and rich source of inexpensive case studies that can supplement the text materials. These are available through YouTube

(http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL914FB9D44BF49C14).

Also, associations such as the American Society for Quality (ASQ), Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS) are excellent sources for quality films and materials. As mentioned above, the Baldrige award series continues to be updated, year-by-year, featuring the videos filmed by NIST at the Baldrige Awards, and includes profiles of the awardees. Another source for various Baldrige, quality, and Six Sigma materials is the Baldrige Foundation’s website at: http://www.baldrigepe.org/

ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

• Define the term “breakthrough.” Why is it an important concept for modern organizations?

Ans. Breakthrough can be defined as the accomplishment of any improvement that takes an organization to unprecedented levels of performance. It is important for modern organizations because every organization needs to improve in order to compete in today’s world. Mere incremental improvement is seldom sufficient, because of the disruptive 3 / 4

3 technological changes that seem to be taking place at an increasingly rapid pace. It is hard to believe, but the iPhone was only introduced in 2007. Now, some seven years later, it is considered a “mature” design, even though it was a “breakthrough” technology at the time that it was introduced.

• Define Six Sigma. Where did the term originate?

Ans. Six Sigma is a business improvement approach that seeks to find and eliminate causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and service processes by focusing on outputs that are critical to customers and a clear financial return for the organization. The term six sigma is based on a statistical measure that equates to 3.4 or fewer errors or defects per million opportunities.

• What does the acronym DMAIC stand for?

Ans. DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. It is a simple problem solving methodology that incorporates a wide variety of statistical and other types of process improvement tools.

• List the four key metrics on which Six Sigma is focused.

Ans. Six Sigma is focused on four key issues of: quality, productivity, cost, and profitability.The quality of the goods and services that create customer satisfaction, productivity (the measure of efficiency defined as the amount of output achieved per unit of input), and the cost of operations, and all contribute to profitability.

• Explain the difference between the terms “Six Sigma” and “six sigma.”

Ans. The term six sigma is based on a statistical measure that equates to 3.4 or fewer errors or defects per million opportunities. (The key difference between six sigma – the defect- or error-based metric, and Six Sigma – the approach and philosophy is that one is quantitative and the other is qualitative – in an organizational sense.) An ultimate “stretch” goal of all organizations that adopt a Six Sigma philosophy is to have all critical processes, regardless of functional area, at a six-sigma level of capability.

• What are the core concepts of the Six Sigma philosophy?

Ans. The core philosophy of Six Sigma is based on the following key concepts.

• Think in terms of key organizational processes and customer requirements with a clear

focus on overall strategic objectives.

• Focus on high-level executive sponsors responsible for championing projects, supporting

team activities, helping to overcome resistance to change, and obtaining resources.

• Emphasize such quantifiable measures as defects per million opportunities (dpmo) that

can be applied to all parts of an organization: manufacturing, service, engineering, administrative, software, and so on.

• Ensure that appropriate metrics are identified early in the process and that they focus on

business results, thereby providing incentives and accountability.

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