6σ management is a statistical evaluation method, the core of which is the pursuit of zero-defect production, to prevent the risk of product liability, reduce costs, increase productivity and market share, and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. "σ" is a Greek letter used in statistics to represent the standard deviation value to describe the degree of individual deviation from the mean in the aggregate, the measured σ characterizes the probability of defects such as unit defects, millions of defects, or errors, the larger the σ value, the fewer the defects or errors. 6σ is a goal, this level of quality means that 6σ is a goal, and this level of quality means that 99.99966% of all processes and results are defect-free, which is almost as close to perfection as human beings can get.
Advantages of Six Sigma Management
(a) The ability to improve the management of the enterprise
6σ management is driven by data and facts. In the past, companies' understanding of management and their knowledge of management theories were more verbal and written, while 6σ translates all this into practical and effective actions. 6σ management methodology has become synonymous with the pursuit of a flawless management style.
"The high quality created by 6σ management has miraculously reduced the waste, streamlined management processes, and lowered material costs that GE used to have in its complex management processes.The implementation of 6σ management has become one of the necessary strategies and hallmarks of introducing and committing to high-quality innovative products."
(ii) It can save the cost of business operation
For a company, all the defective products are either discarded, need to be reworked, or need to be repaired and replaced at the customer's site, which all cost the company money. U.S. statistics show that a company that implements 3σ management standards has costs directly related to quality issues that account for 10% to 15% of its sales revenue.
(C) can increase customer value
The implementation of 6σ management can make the enterprise from understanding and meet customer needs to realize the maximum profit between the various links to achieve a virtuous cycle: the company first to understand, grasp the customer's needs, and then through the use of 6σ management principles to reduce the arbitrariness and reduce the error rate, so as to improve customer satisfaction.
General Electric's medical device division created a new technology after the introduction of 6σ management, bringing about a revolution in medical testing technology. Whereas it used to take 3 minutes for a patient to get a full body checkup, it now takes only 1 minute. As a result, the hospital has increased equipment utilization and reduced examination costs. In this way, the company, the hospital and the patient are satisfied with the results.
(D) can improve the level of service
Because 6σ management can be used to improve not only the quality of the product, but also can be used to improve the service process, so the level of customer service can also be greatly improved.
General Electric lighting department of a 6σ management team successfully improved with its largest customer Wal-Mart payment relationship, so that the bill error and the two sides of the dispute reduced by 98%, both to speed up the payment of speed, but also melted the two sides of the mutually beneficial cooperation.
(E) can form a positive corporate culture
In the traditional management style, people often feel overwhelmed, do not know their own goals, work in a passive state. Through the implementation of 6σ management, everyone knows what they should do and how they should do it, and the whole enterprise is full of enthusiasm and efficiency. Employees attach great importance to quality and customer requirements, and strive to do their best, and through participation in training, master standardized and standardized problem solving methods, work efficiency has been significantly improved. With strong management support, employees are able to focus on their work, reducing and eliminating fire-fighting activities at work.
Implementation Procedures for Six Sigma Management
(a) Identify core processes and key customers
(b) Define customer needs
(c) Evaluate current behavioral performance with respect to customer needs
(d) Prioritize and implement process improvements
Distinguish between processes that need to be improved, and find the highest-performing ones. Identify high-potential improvement opportunities and prioritize them for improvement. If you don't prioritize, you may be distracted from the implementation of 6σ management. Business process improvement follows a five-step cycle of improvement, the DMAIC model:
1. Define (Define). Define the stage is mainly to clarify the issues, goals and processes, need to answer the following questions: should focus on what issues or opportunities? What results should be achieved? When to achieve this result? What process is being investigated? What customers does it primarily serve and impact?
2. Assessment (Measure). Assessment stage is mainly to analyze what the focus of the problem, with the help of key data to narrow the scope of the problem, to find the key causes of the problem, clear where the core of the problem.
3. Analysis (Analyze). Through the use of logical analysis, observation, interviews and other methods, has been assessed to lead to further analysis of the causes of the problem, to confirm whether there is a causal relationship between them.
4. Improvement (Improve). The development of several alternative improvement programs, through discussion and consultation, from which to select the most ideal improvement program to be implemented. The implementation of 6σ improvement, the original process can be a localized improvement; in the original process more problems or inertia, you can also redesign the process, the introduction of new business processes.
5. Control (Control). According to the improvement program in the pre-determined control standards, in the process of improvement, timely resolution of various problems, so that the improvement process does not deviate from the pre-determined track, the occurrence of large errors.
(E) expansion, integration of 6σ management system
6σ improvement is a process of repeated improvement, the five-step cycle of improvement in the process of practice also need to be used repeatedly, the formation of a benign development of the closed-loop system, and constantly improve the level of quality management, reduce the defect rate.