A Six Sigma program aims to provide detailed knowledge on this topic. There are several levels of Six Sigma programs and numerous private institutes offer them. Motorola University is one of the best institutes providing versatile Six Sigma programs to the aspiring management professionals.

Six Sigma program is defined as a certification in the field of Six Sigma. The programs are available with various universities and private institutes. There are certain basic features of the Six Sigma programs. First of all, the Six Sigma program educates the professionals about the basics of Six Sigma which includes all tools, applications and statistical approaches. The general Six Sigma program includes: 

• Basic mathematical concepts of probability, factorial and exponential terms.
• The details of various diagrams used in Six Sigma like Ishikawa diagrams, fishbone diagrams, Pareto charts, histograms etc. 
• The methods of analysis like root-cause analysis, Kano model etc.
• Practical applications of the statistical tools in problem situations.

The Six Sigma programs are designed in different fashion by different institutes. Sometimes, these programs are customized according to the requirements of the companies. The program includes the learning materials, regular classes for two or three consecutive weeks and practical training. When a group of employees from the same organization take part in a Six Sigma program, they are provided with problems related to the functionalities of that particular company. This is the most helpful approach indeed when you like to implement Six Sigma in your set-up with absolute perfection. The most popular Six Sigma programs include the one from the Motorola University

• Motorola University Six Sigma Program: Motorola is the pioneering institute in Six Sigma training. This is the company which developed the concepts of Six Sigma and now it is sharing the knowledge with people who wish to know about it in detail. The Six Sigma programs are designed skillfully so that they are helpful for the aspiring Six Sigma professional in the practical ventures. Here the professionals will get to learn trouble shooting methods apart from the regular course topics. Every year, the university trains hundreds of professionals on Six Sigma using its experience of two decades in this field. The University offers mainly three types of programs like:
  • Green belt certification program: This is for the entry level employees of an organization. The courseware includes basic concepts of Six Sigma and the duration of the course is 5 days.
  • Black Belt Certification Program: At Motorola University, this program is considered as a specialization program and hence, the learners need to invest four weeks in it. They have to go through trainings, testing and demonstrations through projects.
  • Six Sigma Program for Product Development: This is also a five-day-long training provided to the experienced professionals so that they can execute the process of product improvement and development process efficiently.
  • Six Sigma Program for Software and IT: This design is meant for the software professionals who are very much into software development and other products of information technology.
  • Six Sigma Program for Lean Green Belt: This is an exclusive Six Sigma program provided to professionals who are about to work for the manufacturing units. They learn the concepts of Six Sigma and lean together in order to make beneficial changes to the existing infrastructure of the company.

Professionals who have undergone a thorough and well-planned Six Sigma program can proficiently handle projects and also lead them skillfully. This is why the popularity of these programs is increasing day by day and more number of institutes are introducing special Six Sigma programs, online and general.

Six Sigma performance is seen in all aspects of the company’s business. Six Sigma happens to be one of the most efficient management strategies. There are many companies who have understood the huge benefits of this program and are now implementing it in their existing set up. Be it customer satisfaction, increase in the stock values or annual revenue figure, all fields experience equal enhancement. The cost savings and profit increase are two of the most important aspects of Six Sigma performance.

Six Sigma is probably the best set of management strategies that can drastically improve the performance of any business. There are numerous Fortune 500 companies from all over the globe, who have reportedly reaped benefits from these strategies. The big names include Motorola, GE etc., and all of them have seen significant improvement in their output after successfully implementing Six Sigma in their systems.

The downfall in the quality management system of business is the main reason of overall breakdown of an organization. This is where the Six Sigma comes into picture. When GE was suffering from quality issues in the 1990s, in spite of having an efficient Research and development laboratory, they finally decided to try the Six Sigma strategies. The performance level showed improvement over a short period of time and now they are one of the leading business giants of the world. This depicts the positive effects of Six Sigma in the performance of a company.

Six Sigma is not just a set of tactical tools but an approach that facilitates the overall performance improvement. The approach is altered while applying it in different companies as all of them have different issues and shortcomings. So, the Six Sigma performance depends solely on the relevance of the applications in context to the organizational requirements. When Six Sigma is implemented in a Healthcare company, the aim will be achieving ultimate customer satisfaction. When it is incorporated in the systems of a manufacturing unit, enhanced product quality and cost effective solution are the sole objectives. Reducing the risks, managing employees in a better way, increasing efficiency are few of the common objectives for Six Sigma.

There are certain steps which should be strictly followed in order to reap maximum benefits from the Six Sigma policies. The steps would be:

• DMAIC Model: DMAIC model is the basis of Six Sigma and it is generally used by the professionals to implement the tools in the set up of a company. The goals of the process are defined properly in order to make the management as well as employees understand what exactly the organization is going to achieve. After that the scopes and risks are measured for caution so that they can be eliminated beforehand. The next step is analyzing the processes from all aspects so that the planning is fool- proof and results in success. Finally, the improvement strategies are incorporated in the system and then they are constantly monitored for complete control. 
• Tools and Applications: There are several tools and applications available with Six Sigma, which are essential for the performance improvement process. The Pareto charts, fishbone diagrams, Kano models etc., are useful aids that can significantly evaluate, and improve the performance. The analyzing methods are extremely efficient in calculating the risk factors and also in finding the methods to solve them.

These are two main tools that aid in improving the Six Sigma performance. Six Sigma performance improvement programs have outperformed all other management techniques and this is why most of the companies are opting for it.

Lean Six Sigma manufacturing is widely used in the manufacturing units. Many popular companies from all over the world have reaped the benefits of this method. The practice of Lean is quite old in the manufacturing field. But the Six Sigma tools were incorporated into it so that the statistical approach can be used remarkably. The experiment proved successful and the results can be observed in enhanced customer satisfaction and improvement in overall quality of products.

Lean Six Sigma manufacturing is a fusion of the lean methodologies and Six Sigma management strategies. This combines methodology aids in improving the overall output of the processes. In other terms, Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing can also be described as solving the complicated problems of manufacturing industries using the Six Sigma and lean techniques. The relation between these two different methodologies is described in several ways like:  

• Extending the Six Sigma process using the techniques of lean.
• If there is a problem where the desired standards are not met in a particular process, it can be solved easily with these combined strategies.
• The Six Sigma techniques are utilized to retain the improvements made to the system.
• The specific problems of the manufacturing units can be effectively solved by Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing.

Application of Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing in the industries is a stepwise process and the steps are as follows:

• Defining the Process: First of all, the problem areas of a process are detected and a project is planned observing the scopes of improvements. The next step is defining the goals of the projects to the employees and also to the management. This is essential because the senior management supports the system. The risks related to the project should be measured before implementing it. The problems are addressed and resolved according to the priorities.
• Analyzing the Problem: Tools like histograms and flowcharts help in chalking out the tasks to be performed throughout the process. Often, excel sheets are also used to categorize the data. The data driven approach of Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing aids in the analysis process. There are certain exclusive principles of Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing which ensure maximum output at reasonable turn- around time. These principles are: zero inventory and wait time, cutting the batch sizes, balancing the lines and scheduling.
• Innovative Ideas: The Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing strategies can be further improvised by implementing the innovative ideas. This particular process works quite well when the employees are included into it. Many of the popular companies have used this method and reaped benefits out of it. It is also known as brainstorming and brilliant ideas pour in on regular basis. The affinity diagrams are used to sort out the best ones from it.
• Implementing the Changed Strategies: The strategies that are chalked out after thorough analysis should be implemented carefully. Initially, the changes will show minimum yields and gradually it will increase to remarkable benefits. The value of stocks, customer feedback and revenues will increase noticeably as a result.
• Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing in Product Development: There are two steps followed before a product is finally generated- designing and final production. The collective effects of Lean and Six Sigma strategies help in both the stages, which ensure that the final product is flawless from all aspects. Moreover, it also helps the employees and supervisors learn the process practically, which proves beneficial in the long run. The defect level is reduced greatly, which is directly proportional to the customer satisfaction factor.

Six Sigma healthcare is a collection of strategies and applications which are used in healthcare organizations. These techniques often improve the services offered by the organizations by eliminating the infrastructural defects. There are several steps which should be followed while deploying Six Sigma healthcare.

The approach of Six Sigma has gained extreme popularity in all the fields and the healthcare organizations are also tasking interest in using these policies in their infrastructure. There are several examples where the Six Sigma policies have proved helpful for these sorts of organizations where public service is the major aim. They have achieved 100% percent customer satisfaction by providing excellent services and hospitality.

In the healthcare industry, they need to deal with the patients and the people accompanying them to the clinics. The equipments used for performing the tests should be excellent in quality in order to provide error free results. Moreover, a small dysfunction in the system can lead to major customer issues. Now the Six Sigma healthcare is helpful in understanding the problem areas and improving those to achieve a completely error free system running smoothly.

Six Sigma healthcare allows the management to reduce the number of errors to 3.4 per million opportunities, which is significantly low and simply great for the reputation of any organization. Now, when an organization determines to incorporate the strategies in their set up, they get confused about where exactly to start from. Following are the steps which guide the organization to implement the steps successfully.

• Knowing the Customer: Healthcare industry is basically one sort of service industry. This is the reason why Six Sigma projects should be planned in such a manner that the customers receive most of the benefits. In order to do so, the professionals need to know their customers and also get information about their preferences and needs. The feedback should be collected in proper data format as it is used as the material while planning the projects.
• Features of Six Sigma Healthcare Projects:  The Six Sigma healthcare projects should be planned including certain important features. The goals of the projects should be clarified even before the projects start. The approval from the management end is immensely essential as they are the ones who back up the entire implementation process. The projects should be discussed with the employees of the company and the communication should be both sided. This will facilitate the success of the projects. Analyzing the risks and scopes of the Six Sigma healthcare projects is quite important. The goals set by the project planners should be realistic and achievable.
• Yellow Belt Online Certification: Yellow belt certification provides the student with a basic overall understanding of Six Sigma program, its principles, its tools and methodologies. It gives them an introduction of the application of DMAIC model to improve the company’s ability to meet the customer’s needs; thus increasing its value and competence in the market.
• Beginner’s Tips: If this is the first time a Six Sigma project is being implemented in the organization, then extra caution should be taken. If sufficient number of Six Sigma certified employees’ are not present in the company, then a few experienced professionals should be hired. The particular area that needs improvement on an urgent basis should be identified, as this will help the organization reap benefits at a faster rate. Employee retention is equally important for a healthcare organization and this factor should be considered while looking at the cost cutting part.

These small steps can help an organization implement Six Sigma successfully in their set up.

Six Sigma is a compilation of the time-tested strategies and the power of Six Sigma is seen in the success stories of numerous companies. Though Motorola initiated the process, companies like GE, Satyam, Wipro, Dell etc., have adopted it and emerged successful. They generated more revenues, had the share values increased and also achieved ultimate customer satisfaction which led the way towards becoming perfect as a company. The power of Six Sigma is also considered in the reduced number of defects in numerous medium and small companies.

As a powerhouse management tool, Six Sigma endeavors to transform a business project into a much improved, productive and functionally healthy and profitable one by committing negligible error, reducing cost and retaining the existing customers. Enhanced quality control adorned by innovation is the secret to the power of Six Sigma. A plentiful of prominent and successful companies have implemented Six Sigma strategies to taste its magical powers through the avenue of triumph.

Power of Six Sigma in Context with Motorola and Others: The Motorola success story depicts the benefits of meticulously implementing Six Sigma. Quality is almost synonymous to Motorola since it embraced Six Sigma in its intrinsic management functions. Bob Galvin, the pathfinder of Six Sigma execution in Motorola, improvised quality in operational projects, which is consistently followed till date to retain the company as a pioneer in the domain. A range of process assignments under the Six Sigma cover put into practice in the organization are:

Crown operational task registers “Six Sigma quality”, which calls for precisely nothing more than 3.4 defects per million products or client services. Six Sigma is inscripted in the heart of the company culture as it ensures that every time, something fresh is introduced by the management or the employees. Being a mammoth mobile phone manufacturer, Motorola thus, has incorporated “roboust patterns”, housing sensible disparity in element pieces in order to achieve uniformly identical final products featuring consistent quality.  Statistical expertise and evidencing of each and every flaw in the tasks assigned to any individual worker has been made a part of the company’s strategies. The same policies have been adopted by others like GE, Wipro, Bank of America, Dell etc. who followed the footprints of Motorola and emerged successful with increased annual revenue and higher share value. Ample organizations are reaping the benefits of Six Sigma, which counts for bottom line perfection, superior grade presentation in the financial segment, competitive advantage in the choppy market scenario etc.

There are certain tools which aid in increasing the power of Six Sigma which includes:

• DMAIC Model: The DMAIC model stands for Define, Measure, Analysis, Improve and Control. These are subsequent steps which allow an organization to reach the ultimate goals without failing any of the quality parameters. After identifying the problem areas of a company the objectives are defined. Then the scopes and existing problems are measured skillfully and the probable output of the strategies analyzed. Finally it is all about improving and controlling the process until the desired results are obtained.
• DMADV Model: DMADV is the abbreviated form of Define, Measure, Analysis, Design and Verify. The first three steps of the process are the same with DMAIC model. But here on the fourth step the process is designed carefully in order to ensure the customers’ benefits. Finally, they are verified so that the projects are a sure shot success.

The power of Six Sigma has been proved through numerous practical examples and this is the reason why the popularity is growing in leaps and bounds and many other small and large organizations are adopting and implementing it in their existing infrastructure.

Six Sigma presentation is a great help to make the beginners understand the subject. A well-prepared and informative presentation can prove to be useful material for studies. Often, the master black belts and black belts use the Six Sigma presentations for their subordinates or for the management in order to explain the projects, progress and other aspects in a better way. A presenter should know each and every detail about Six Sigma as this will help him prepare the presentation perfectly.

Six Sigma presentation holds paramount importance in the mind of competition-spirited industry players of the global village, all thriving to reach the pinnacle of success. It is crucial that the content is lucid so that subconsciously the audience gets involved to the core of the subject.

Based on proficiency and aptitude, a Six-Sigma presentation is delivered by Green Belts, Black Belts and Master Black Belts.  It is essential that your message penetrates through every sphere of the organization. Like the famous saying, “Practice makes a man perfect”, you should rehearse and prepare the topic to offer a spontaneous, informative and engaging presentation.

Six Sigma process strives to formulate innovative strategies to comprehend customer expectations and meet them resourcefully. An efficient Six Sigma presentation ought to teach the application of the strategies to reduce defect intensity to 3.4 defects per one million opportunities (DPMO).

• Objectives of Six Sigma Presentation: Six-Sigma curriculum is basically presented either in the certification institutes or corporate companies that arrange for Six Sigma presentation for their employees. The basic objectives of any Six-Sigma presentation are: 
  • Providing accurate, simple and coherent definition of the subject in order to help a learner possess exact and thorough understanding of the matter, especially if it is being taught as a certification course in an institute.
  • In various companies, Six Sigma presentations are used to coach the methodologies for a specific department according to the goals, profile of the staff, challenges faced by them etc. Six-Sigma presentation in this kind of affairs focuses on analyzing the challenges, uncovering solutions of various problems and trimming down defects to negligible levels.
• Who Makes the Presentation: In the corporate sector, generally superior quality Six Sigma presentations are prepared by the Master Black Belts or Champions who define the goals of a company. In fact they are quite proficient in preparing presentations. Their presentation is meant for the Black Belts whom they supervise and guide. Black Belts prepare presentations for the Green Belts, which are directed to build up knowledge and exceptional talent for cracking setbacks. Green Belts compose presentations to show their understanding on Six-Sigma, analyzing situations, figuring out errors and diminishing them on the path of improvement.
• Qualities of the Presenter: It is mandatory that you have a discreet understanding about the growth forecast of the company, as accordingly you will evaluate it and identify possible ways and means to improve the prospects. The aim of your presentation would be tasting success and also providing suitable and competent guidance to the learners. You need to understand very well how this is going to help the audiences and what are the areas that should be highlighted. These are a few qualities that any individual should possess if he intends to prepare a Six Sigma presentation.
• Benefits of Six Sigma Presentation: An efficient and effective presentation helps the students to understand the statistical tools and other strategies of Six Sigma and apply them in the practical scenario. Employees become aware of troubleshooting competently. The presentations are also used to explain the features of a Six Sigma project in front of the management and subordinates.

Six Sigma companies are growing slowly as the management of the companies all over the world is realizing that Six Sigma is the methodology that helps a company grow in every aspect. The strategies, statistical tools and other applications aid the organization improve the product quality and customer satisfaction. The efficiency of the employees increase attrition rate decreases remarkably. Some of the popular Six Sigma companies include Motorola and GE.

When a company wants to become the market leader, it needs to eliminate almost all the defects that generally occur in any division of the organization. The three pillars of any company that can make or break the future are- employee contentment, customer satisfaction and quality of product and services. Now, Six Sigma is a time tested, sophisticated methodology, that can aid any company reduce the defects to 3.4 per million opportunities handled. The best fact about Six Sigma is that, the strategies, tools and applications can be easily implemented without making too many changes to the existing infrastructure. This is why, the small, medium and large companies are all taking initiative in knowing and deploying Six Sigma to their systems.

Some of the companies hire Six Sigma consultants to plan the projects and implement them in the system. There are quite a number of other organizations who train their employees for green belts and black belts as these cuts the cost remarkably. The departments which need improvements should be selected first and then projects be planned accordingly. The statistical tools, analyzing models and other applications are used widely by the Six Sigma companies. Industries like finance, manufacturing, healthcare, IT and ITES use Six Sigma effectively. Companies that have already reaped excellent benefits from Six Sigma are Motorola, GE and many more.

• Motorola: Motorola is the developer and implementer of Six Sigma methodologies. The management of Motorola compiled all possible techniques which have proved helpful for the small and big organizations in achieving quality improvement. It changed the overall concept of measuring the quality standards and from percentage measurement system, they transformed it into parts per million systems. Motorola received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the year 1988 which gained it recognition as a well-known business firm. Motorola became the role model for many other diversified companies and now it is known as the initiator of the Six Sigma concept.
• General Electric Company: General Electric Company is a US based company that deals in numerous fields like electrical equipments and fixtures, plastic items, consumer goods, finance and many more. The company trusts the method of Research and development in order to improve product quality. But, during the 90’s, the company was undergoing various setbacks due to quality issues. Their existing structure was running with 4 Sigma program, where the amount of defects was about 35000 per million opportunities. The then CEO, Mr. Welch, was impressed and inspired by the Six Sigma strategies, especially Motorola’s success, and this is the reason why he decided to use the same in his company as well. The groundwork was initiated in 1988 and final implementation took place in 1995. Excellent results were depicted in the hike in revenues and share prices.
• Bank of America: Bank of America is one of the most popular banks in the world and it also acknowledged the effectiveness of Six Sigma programs by implementing it in its systems. The customer service quality, investment facilities and revenues, all have improved drastically with this initiative.
• Dell: Dell is one of the best computer hardware manufacturing companies across the globe. It recognized the Six Sigma concept and its benefits and implemented them in its infrastructure. The results can be observed in the improved business and reputation of the company.  

GE Six Sigma denotes the six strategies implemented by GE in the company for overall improvements in all its divisions. The legendary CEO, Mr. Welch was impressed with the concept and it was his initiative to deploy it in the organization. They followed certain strategies and steps during the process and started it with a workout process in 1988. Final implementation took place in 1995. The employees of the company were assigned specific projects and responsibilities and they were also imparted proper training and were given power to execute the related steps. This was the secret behind the success of GE Six Sigma.

GE Six Sigma is known to the world for its success as an endeavor. The General Electric Company is a US based company, which generated revenues worth $125.91 billion by the year 2001. The company has explored a number of business fields like finance, plastic, compact discs, consumer goods and many more, and emerged as a winner. It aims to achieve ultimate customer contentment and in order to get this, it puts emphasis on research and development tasks. “GE Research and Development Center” is considered as one of the leading and most wide-spread laboratories across the globe. The laboratory features technical experts, engineers and scientists, who invest their time and talent to improve the business and product quality of the company. But, in the 1990’s, quality parameters and customer satisfaction turned to be a major concern for this company.

This was when the then CEO of GE, Mr. Jack Welch, decided to implement Six Sigma in his company, inspired by the remarkable results achieved by Motorola. Though he was slightly dicey about the practical results of Six Sigma, but he was impressed by the concept and strategies and this resulted in Six Sigma implementation in GE in 1995. Following are a few facts about GE Six Sigma:

• Motive of GE Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a logical methodology that is driven by data. It is essential for controlling the desired quality of product, service or any other factor. As GE is a diversified company, rather group of companies, they needed to implement the methodologies for overall improvement. The data analysis techniques, statistical tools and communicative measures of Six Sigma proved to be really useful for the company. The sophisticated and well-calculated procedures of Six Sigma can effectively reduce the errors and defects up to 3.4 for per million opportunities grabbed and explored by a company. This was a necessity of GE and the objective was accomplished after deployment of Six Sigma.
• Execution of GE Six Sigma: GE Six Sigma was implemented after estimating the existing processes and outputs of the company. Initially, the company was running with a 3 or 4 Sigma program, where the defect level was as high as 35000 defects per million opportunities. Once it was decided that GE will implement Six Sigma in its infrastructure, the underpinning started in 1988 through a work out program called “WorkOut”. As employees make the foundation of a company, the first step of GE Six Sigma was to influence and prepare them for a successful deployment. The steps and goals set for the Six Sigma implementation were as follows:
  • Building Trust:  The employees of GE were encouraged and inspired to pass judgments on the management policies and strategies. They were assured about the fact that no negative consequences will occur to their position or career because of frank opinions. In fact, this helped significantly to understand and assess the strategies that should yield better results for the company.
  • Assigning Tasks to Skilled Employees: The management of GE took special initiative in selecting and assigning tasks to those employees who had the potential and proficiency for accomplishing that particular job. They were further persuaded and endowed with power to plan and take required steps.
• Benefits of GE Six Sigma: The Six Sigma analysts felt that GE Six Sigma strategies aided Mr. Jack Welch provide a complete make over to this old-economy business monster and turn it into a spirited and emergent company. The most important fact is that, no other organization has emerged as successful as GE after implementing Six Sigma. GE generated $ 2.5 billion worth benefits and the positive effects were also seen in the increased share value of the company. The main aspects of an organization- employee satisfaction, customer-satisfaction and product-quality, all of the three departments experienced sheer improvement, which is the triumph of GE Six Sigma.

Six sigma projects are generally designed by the six sigma black and master black belts. An ideal project should be selected according to the requirement of the specific department. The project should be designed depending on the improvement strategies that will help reducing errors and increase yields.

Six Sigma Projects are those which are treated with Six Sigma strategy to show the benefits of the particular data-driven analytical approach to different processes for significant improvement of the company. Six Sigma Projects are used for certification and mainly demonstrates the application of various Six Sigma methodologies and tools in different real-life and innovative situations, and their effectiveness in bringing return on investment.

Selecting the Project:
This is an important part of the whole process. The right project should be chosen for the maximum benefits in the long run. For this reason, it is best to do some research on the current market practices and policies. But such research may not always bring out clear cut guiding rules and tips to choosing a project. So, the Six Sigma Project Selection Criteria Matrix was brought out by the Supply Chain that provides an approximate idea of the project that is supposed to fetch highest gains in the future. It comprises of five selection criteria and on the basis of these criteria, each project is measured and a rough estimate of the highest promising project is drawn. Some of the general tips to remember before selecting a project are as follows:

• It is not wise to think about monetary gains every time while selecting a project because certain projects are indirectly related to the other processes running in the company and application of the six sigma tactics might not directly result in monetary gains. It can affect the motivation and efficiency of the human labor, the reputation of the company in the market, better functional basis for other processes or such, resulting in better performance of the company in the future.
• A careful concern is required for the organization and functioning of the six sigma consultants for the project. It is very important how to use the resources properly for the effective application of the six sigma strategy, which results in highest long term investment returns of the company.
• A project should always be divided into different phases like operational, tactical, and strategic, that will utilize the available tools and methodologies of six sigma program, and will bring a better coordination in the company.

A good six sigma project should have three characteristics:

• The project must be positively related to the company’s policies and objectives. It must achieve the goals and expectations of the company. It can be either the project itself that brings maximum profits for the company or related to other projects so that its improvement in turn causes significant improvement in the other dependant processes.
• The project must meet the customer’s needs and requirements. It should aid in the improvement of the processes so that ultimately, it comes out profitable to both the organization and the customers or the consumers. After all, a competent company depends on its level of customer satisfaction.
• The project must contribute significantly to the Bottom Line, by reducing the expenditure, reallocation of assets to higher value-added projects, strengthening the company’s base for utilizing the market opportunities that might come up in the future.

Once the project is selected, it is the time for the senior management to create a project charter. A project charter is a typical brief but detailed description of the company’s goals and objectives regarding the project. It analyses the project and lists down all the scopes of the project. It lists down all the needs of the project and its effect on the other prospective projects as well. It charts down the trends in the market, the customer’s variable needs and requirements and draws a model of how the project should be. In other words, it chalks out a strict guidance and direction for the six sigma team to work at. These are the basics of a six sigma project which are very important for the consultants to know.

Six sigma management is an effective management structure that helps in the complete utilization of a company’s potential, resources and finally, achievement of the goal and objectives set with the lowest investment. This is a true fact that six sigma management is the best management approach available in the industrial market today.

Six sigma management is a data-driven logical approach adopted by a company to improve the output and share values in the market. It generally aims at perfect or nearly perfect administration and strives to improve the company’s present functional and operational system to achieve the target. It was first developed by Motorola and then it was imbibed by other companies like Xerox, Allied Signal, General Electric and so on. All of them have benefited tremendously from six sigma management. They saw drastic improvement in productivity, quality, consistency and performance, thus resulting in the company’s overall market competence, product or services excellence and level of customer satisfaction. These are all achieved at the lowest cost possible.
The Six sigma management follows a typical and widely known DMAIC model. This stands for the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control.

• Define: This phase defines the core project in details. It discusses the scope, the available resources, the possible expectations and the timelines. It is a general document work of the project.
• Measure: This part of the approach applies a heavy use of advanced mathematical and statistical methods, and actually quantifies the customer’s need and requirements, the company’s goals and objectives, and the present stand of the project. It prepares an exact measurement of the data and provides a specific mission, rather than a rough goal, to work upon.
• Analyze: The next step is breaking down the process into details and analyzing it thoroughly to get into the root causes of the problems that may arise. This actually helps and facilitates in the eradication of the defects and improvement of the process in an efficient way.
• Improve: This is the phase where after understanding the root causes of the problems or defects in the system, the search for the most innovative and fruitful solution is carried out. Applying the different statistical and logical tools available and after a number of tests and trials, the most promising strategy is selected. Then it is verified for the expected results.
• Control: This is the one of the most important parts and the last one of the approach. It makes sure that the improvement generated is consistent, and sets a new standard for the future.

Six Sigma Management works like a tier system. In this system, there are different people at different levels, who specialize in specific functions of six sigma plan. Apart from the Champions, whose responsibility is to select the projects and establish the goals and objectives that are to be achieved some of the six sigma trained professionals at different levels called belts are selected. There are three major belts in the tier system:

• Green Belt: These people are trained in the principles and philosophies of six sigma, along with some basic logical and statistical tools, to deal with less complex situations. This is the first level in the six sigma management and the certification can be completed generally in two weeks. They function under the Black Belts. They are trained team leaders, who have a good knowledge of the team dynamics, have capability of instructing and guiding team to work on a specific project that is assigned to them.
• Black Belt: This is the next level over the green belt. These are trained professionals, who have good knowledge of the DMAIC model, and the various statistical tools and methodologies of six sigma. They normally handle different projects and act as guide and instructor to the green belt.
• Master Black Belt: This is the top level of the six sigma management system. They generally are trained in the most advanced statistical tools and methodologies and are capable of dealing with the most complicated situations. They have a good knowledge of the six sigma ideals, tools and methodologies, and work on finding different opportunities to apply them to bring out the full potential of the organization. They also guide the Black Belts and supervise different processes running in the company.

Six sigma improvement depend on the efficiency of the professionals and consultants handling it. They follow the DMAIC project strictly in order to obtain optimum results. The green belts, black belts and master black belts are equally responsible for the six sigma improvement process.

Six Sigma is a statistical data-driven management approach to achieve the company’s goals and expectations with least amount of investment bringing maximum returns in the future. It is a collection of management strategies that are applied to the different running processes in a company to check for perfection, or near perfection for that matter. This was first developed by Motorola and then adopted by many other reputed companies like Allied Signal, Xerox, General Electric and such. After the integration of six sigma into their operational strategy and applying it to the execution of the projects in hand, drastic improvements in their market competence and level of customer satisfaction with a higher level of consistency was noticed.

Now, before we know what steps they follow to improve the process, let us know how to actually choose the project. A lot of research on the current industry practices and policies is done, which may provide a rough idea of the right project to select from the list. But to make it easier, the Supply Chain developed a Selection Criteria Matrix comprising of five criteria to be fulfilled. The project which scored highest in the selection actually shows the best promises of higher returns in the future. A good project should always keep the company’s interests intact, provide the highest value to the customers and also helps in the company’s overall competence and stand in the market for future prospects.

After the process is selected, a process deployment strategy is chalked up. It considers the upper level and bottom line functional resources and whether they are meeting the company’s standards or not. It is better that the whole process is divided into certain phases, i.e., tactical, operational, functional, etc and then dealt with one at a time. This results in a clarified and coordinated system of execution of the improvement strategy.

The basic six sigma process improvement model that is followed by most organizations is the DMAIC model. It stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. A short introduction to all the steps has been given below:

• Define: There should be a clear idea of the end project before the improvement work can actually begin on the present project. It determines the goals of the company, customer’s needs and demands, the project’s scope, the resources available, the expectations and the timelines. It basically creates a document work on the project.
• Measure: This phase basically uses the most advanced statistical and logical tools and methodologies and figures out the current aspects of the project and the expected improvements that are to be brought in the same in quantities. In short, it quantifies how much improvement needs to be accomplished.
• Analyze: This is the stage where the project is divided into small parts, focus is maintained on each aspect or scope of the project and possible problems are assessed. It goes on to dig further and find the root causes of the problems. This actually helps in the steps to improvement ahead.
• Improve: This is when the creative thoughts flow and churn out ingenious plans or strategies to deal with those problems. Huge experience and high competence in the management field is needed to come up with the best promising plans to eradicate or cope up with the errors. It actually happens in two methods: either subtract the defects or replace it with more effective plan.
• Control: It is the most important part of the whole approach. This phase makes sure that the accomplished improvement doesn’t diminish over time and always keeps up with the company’s standards and expectations. It also checks the effects of the project on the other dependant processes and thus, the overall competence of the organization in the market.

This whole process is a recurrent process, which is taken care of by a special team of six sigma experts which takes care that the organization keeps improving and performing in a consistent manner in the future as well.

Six sigma in manufacturing is a popular option due to various reasons. When a manufacturing unit is facing problems with the quality and standard of the products produced, it can seek help from six sigma. The strategies will reduce the errors and enhance the quality of the products. It also cuts down the cost factor increasing the overall profit margin.

Application of six sigma in manufacturing is equally helpful as it is in the other fields. There are many manufacturing units that have adopted the six sigma strategies and applications for the improvement of different departments and the results are positive in almost all the cases. It can be any kind of manufacturing company like a chemical factory, electronics machinery manufacturing unit or automobile factory, six sigma can help all of them. Not the same methodologies are applied to all these cases as the requirements and targets are different in all. The manufacturing units are generally dedicated to prepare products for the end users i.e. the buyers and this is why customer satisfaction is the area they should target.

The agenda for six sigma implementation in manufacturing should focus on the customer requirements. Extensive data collection methods need to be applied to evaluate the needs of the target group of buyers and to asses the priorities of these needs. There are various curves and diagrams that can help you to understand which ones of the requirements should top the priority list and which ones are basically “nice-to-have”. The histograms, fishbone diagrams and Pareto charts should be used to make the entire process successful. This is even a better idea to study various cases where six sigma has been implemented for the manufacturing units and emerged as a success.

When it comes to evaluating whether a six sigma deployment has proved beneficial for the manufacturing units or not, there are few factors which are seriously considered. These factors are as follows:

• Cost Effectiveness: The manufacturing units are considered to be running successfully only when the cost factor is limited within the budgets. If the new strategies are able to reduce the existing cost without compromising on the quality of the products produced by the unit, it is surely marked as a huge success on six sigma.  
• Quality of Products: The task of a manufacturing unit is to generate products in bulk for the consumer market. The quality of the products is more significant than the quantity. When it is assessed that the product quality is going down or the quantity is not up to the mark, six sigma can be used to improve the situation. If the estimated standard is attained within due course of time, it is considered to be effective.
• Customer and Employee Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is definitely the main motto of any manufacturing unit as this is what decides the future and prospects of the unit. Six sigma helps in achieving this over a period of time. Apart from it, employee satisfaction is another objective of six sigma. It will also help the organization to retain the employees and keep them satisfied as well.

Six sigma can solve numerous problems that can occur in the manufacturing units. If the specific department of an organization is underperforming in terms of production or quality then this can be improved with the help of six sigma. Defining the prospects and objectives of the processes is quite important for the success of six sigma in manufacturing. Collection and documentation of data is helpful in six sigma implementation and can assure success with complete understanding of the process.

Six sigma deployment is quite common in companies of all sizes and from various fields. It clearly depicts the versatility of the strategies. The process can cut down the errors to 3.4 per million opportunities taken by the organization. A good infrastructure can facilitate the deployment of six sigma. The experienced master black belts lead the process and the green belts execute the basic instructions. Most often the six sigma deployments have brought success in the improvement process of different departments.

Six sigma deployments are no more restricted for small companies. It has been observed recently that many small and large companies have implemented six sigma successfully in their setups. It vividly shows that six sigma deployments are quite versatile and suitable for all. But the basic requirement for six sigma deployments is an infrastructure that is flawless and ideal for the implementation from all aspects. The reason behind the necessity of a perfect set up is that this is the base where the strategies and applications are implemented.

There are various industries where six sigma can be implied. Now-a-days you will see many healthcare, IT and manufacturing companies employing six sigma. The objective of six sigma deployment can vary from achieving customer satisfaction, eliminating errors from administrative segments, increasing the efficiencies of the employees and reducing the rate of defects to a minimum of 3.4 per million of opportunities explored by the organization. Six sigma deployment process can be facilitated by various steps like interviewing the new and existing employees and organizing conferences for them.

The deployment process becomes easier when you have professionals looking after it. This is why the companies need to provide the employees with basic green belt trainings, as this will help them to understand the benefits and strategies of six sigma. There are six sigma consultants who are experienced in the field of six sigma deployments and can help significantly to make it a success.

There are few factors that any company should consider before they start with the six sigma deployments.

• Data-driven Approach: Data collection and documentation is one of the most important factors that can make or break the success of six sigma deployments. When all the steps are taken keeping in mind all the statistical data and hard core facts there is very less chance left to commit an error in the deployment process. There are numerous complications which often arise in the business processes and this is why data driven approach becomes important as you cannot afford to rely on the gut feelings every time.
• Continuity of Improvement Process: The six sigma deployment will attain complete success only when the improvement process is continuous. The organization and the project leaders need to keep a watch on the perfect implementation of the improvement techniques so that it is hindered by no means. You need to track the requirements and needs of the customers in order to eliminate the errors in the process. 
• Communication at All Levels: Six sigma deployment is a process where people from all levels are involved. The general team members who are responsible for the execution of a six sigma project are the green belts and those who lead them are the black belts. The black belts are again answerable to the master black belts who are posted at higher positions in an organization. The management should also know the details of the project, its progress and objectives. All these are facilitated when there is easy communication among different levels and it will contribute to the success of six sigma deployment.

There are very few instances where the six sigma strategies have failed to keep up the promise of improvements and cutting down errors. There are obviously few reasons behind the setbacks. Sometimes the master black belts are not aware or careful enough about the deliverables he should receive from the subordinates like black belts and green belts. Project selection and defining the objectives is very important for successful deployment of six sigma and sometimes wrong steps in this particular phase leads to failure. Analysis of the results and prospects of the projects and communication with all employees is essential to make the six sigma deployment a hit.

Several six sigma online programs are available in the market these days. Though, it is a popular belief that classroom system of training is the best form of education since it allows the student to interact with other fellow mates, share their ideas and concepts with each other and thereby grow himself. But some online six sigma programs have proved it wrong. They provide excellent facilities so that the student never misses out any of the advantages of a real classroom. It allows the student to apply the six sigma rules and procedures to real life situations, create new processes and test them as if in a practical problem has occurred. They are taught with additional facilities like online seminars and discussions, outperforming the experiences and merits that one can get in a real classroom.

Highest value goods and services at lowest prices is what makes a company stand out in today’s market. For this reason, all the processes need to be efficient and quality-proven to achieve optimum competence. Thus, the requirement of a team of six sigma experts is felt, which will take care of all the requirements. These experts should undergo full course six sigma certification. Today, six sigma training doesn’t bind itself to the stereotypical regular classes and lecture system. Students can learn from home or office availing this helpful program through the online study system. It is a combination which integrates the proven methods of the classroom with convenience and advantages of home study system. There are certain certifications that are available online. They are as noted below:

• Black Belt Online Certification: It mainly trains the candidate on the detailed six sigma principles, methodologies and way of approach. A student is trained on how to supervise each processes running in a company and assigning each of them to the most suitable team member.
• Green Belt Online Certification:  A green belt certified professional is a trained team member in his own functional-specific area of work. He has thorough understanding of the six sigma rules and procedure, and applies the DMAIC model to his own specific process, strives for the better effectiveness and deliverance of the resources to achieve the goal set by management of the company.
• Yellow Belt Online Certification: Yellow belt certification provides the student with a basic overall understanding of six sigma program, its principles, tools and methodologies. It introduces the application of DMAIC model to improve the company’s ability to meet the customer’s needs; thus increasing its value and competence in the market.
• Lean and DFSS Online Certification: This mainly teaches a student about the defects identification and removal in all kinds of processes in a company. Thus, they come to know how to use the DMAIC model to reduce the defects and improve the whole procedure of any process they are asked to handle.

The advantage of six sigma online program is that it allows the student to move according to his own pace. He can work out the place and time as per his own convenience. He can take regular online tests to assess where he stands. Not to mention, the online study materials are interactive source of information, so the student always has the guidance whenever he needs it. In fact, it is already proven that the more complex courses of the program are better coped with the online training system.

There are some popular online training tools that are available for use:

• QPM Solutions 6sigma Online Training Methods: Two of the several types of online programs are the green belt certification and the black belt certification, that span over a period of three months. The duration can be extended up to 12 to 20 sessions, each of 3 hours. Generally, both programs offer learning at self pace, preparatory mock tests and case study materials so that the student may get ready for the next session properly.
• Pivotal Resources Enlighten Program:  This is a high-end six sigma training e-learning product, very popular for online education. This provides a student with a complete understanding of the DMAIC model in the various real-life situations that may arise, and it also combines the facility of online discussions along with problem-solving simulations, thus providing the student with cutting edge competence in the market.
• AVETA Solution Courses: It provides a thorough and enhanced standard of teaching for the application of six sigma program in real-life and innovative situations. You can get a complete understanding of the parameters to be considered from the customer’s point of view and how to deliver the optimum quality service to meet them.

Six sigma books are an important source of knowledge apart from courses and practical training of six sigma. Six sigma is the practical application of various time-tested strategies implemented by the organizations in order to improve their performances. The six sigma books have been proved helpful for the beginners, who like to learn the details of six sigma in easy terms. But there are quite a number of books that are solely written for the black belts and master black belts so that they can cover up all the deficits they have in understanding six sigma. The good books are always written in simple language to facilitate the convenience of the readers. The books are available online and in the stores as well.

Six sigma approach has become very popular in the recent years because of its high level of efficiency. There are many organizations which are implementing the approach in order to eliminate all sorts of flaws and defects from their systems. This approach is extremely helpful in attaining ultimate customer satisfaction and also to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional systems. Two models popularly used in six sigma approach are DMAIC and DMADV.

Six sigma methodology stands for the basic DMAIC model which is considered to be the basic of the program. DMAIC stands for Define, Measurement, Analysis, Improvement and Control. This is taught to the green belts in detail and often they use this model in practical situations. The black belts also refer to this methodology when required. The target of this methodology is to make improvements in various departments of an organization. There are certain requirements and steps that are necessary for successful implementation of six sigma methodologies. Apart from DMAIC, there are others as well like DMADV and DFSS.

Six sigma implementation needs complete support from the management. Six sigma is the compilation of various tried and tested rules and strategies that can make drastic improvement to various domains of an organization. These techniques can easily fit in the general infrastructural set up of the company. The employees from the entry level to the higher level should be trained on six sigma strategies to make the implementation successful. The executives need to be green belt, project leaders should be Black Belt and the quality leaders have to be master black belt certified. All steps of six sigma implementation starting from team selection are equally important.

Six Sigma is a great tool to manage the quality of services provided by the companies. It is used in various industries like health, manufacturing, finance and IT. With the six sigma strategies, the company can generate best quality for the products. Customer satisfaction is considered to be the immediate result of six sigma quality control tools. As the popularity of six sigma has increased drastically in the past years, different quality control software has been developed for the organizations. The best part of six sigma is that the applications suggested here are all tested and proven. Special training on six sigma quality is available from numerous institutes.