Can anyone explain exactly what six sigma is and how it's implemented, or is it really just a meaningless title to impress stupid people?
A guy on another message board was talking about how he had made a lot of money by using six sigma in business, but when my friend asked him to explain exactly what he meant by that, he evaded giving a direct answer, or an answer with any mathematical background, and got angry when he was called out on his lack of explanation.
The always accurate wikipedia says that "The widely accepted definition of a six sigma process is one that produces 3.4 defective parts per million opportunities." It also says that the basic methodology for improving an existing business process comprises the following steps:
* Define the process improvement goals that are consistent with customer demands and enterprise strategy.
* Measure the current process and collect relevant data for future comparison.
* Analyze to verify relationship and causality of factors. Determine what the relationship is, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered.
* Improve or optimize the process based upon the analysis using techniques like Design of Experiments.
* Control to ensure that any variances are corrected before they result in defects. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability, transition to production and thereafter continuously measure the process and institute control mechanisms.
It seems like a lot of business talk and not necessarily very much statistics. At any rate, it doesn't seem like it uses new statistical techniques or involves anything that a qualified statistician couldn't handle without the extra Six Sigma training or titles. Six Sigma uses martial arts titles (the message board guy said he was a black belt) and the wikipedia says, for example:
# Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six Sigma methodology to specific projects. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They primarily focus on Six Sigma project execution, whereas Champions and Master Black Belts focus on identifying projects/functions for Six Sigma.
# Green Belts are the employees who take up Six Sigma implementation along with their other job responsibilities. They operate under the guidance of Black Belts and support them in achieving the overall results.
Kind of sounds like Scientology for Businesspeople with the hierarchy titles. It seems like a term that easy to throw around, but I don't know if there's really anything to it or not. I do some statistical control in my work, and it seems ridiculous to me that there are people buying into these titles as requisites for working on this type of quality control project which seems fairly standard. However, like I said, I don't know much about it and I'm willing for someone to inform me differently.