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The_Six_Sigma_Method_And_Design_Of_Experiments
| The Six Sigma Method And Design Of Experiments
Six Sigma is becoming a proven approach for businesses and
organizations to improve their performance. The spectrum of
companies actively engaging in Six Sigma today is wide from
industrials like Celanese, Caterpillar, GE, Honeywell, and 3M to
service/retail organizations like Starwood Hotels, Sears, and
Home Depot. Six Sigma has even started in the financial industry
with Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase initiating major
deployments in the past two years. Probably the most exciting
area is in the public and healthcare sectors with success
stories emerging from city government and John Hopkins Medical.
So what is all this excitement about? Haven’t these quality
tools been around for years? Is it just the fact that people
have strange names like Champion, Green Belt, Black Belt and for
the chosen few, Master Black Belt? Okay, if it is not the names
then what? Six Sigma’s success revolves around the fundamental
elements needed for any successful organization. Six Sigma
starts with a vision of delivering products and services to
customers with no defects from the eyes of the customers. For
companies it is vital to deliver these products and services at
a profit. Once the organization has created their own vision of
Six Sigma, the business leaders need to define their
organization’s objectives in numerical terms. These “high-level
metrics,” often called big Y’s in Six Sigma, are the foundation
for identifying project y’s that Six Sigma Belts will execute
projects on. With big Y’s in hand, business leaders called Six
Sigma “Champions” breakdown these organizational level Y’s into
smaller y’s a project leader called a Green Belt or Black Belt
can work from. So what’s next, do business leaders take a
hands-off management by objectives (MBO) approach of, “I don’t
care how you do it as long as you get results!”? For Six Sigma
organizations the answer is a loud “NO.” Champions do care how
projects are executed and have appointed highly trained Master
Black Belts to assist and mentor project leaders in applying the
Six Sigma method to manage their projects. I believe this is the
key to Six Sigma’s success. In a past life I participated in a
high-level meeting with executives from the world leader in the
production of a product we all know. The purpose of the meeting
and visit was to evaluate a critical new product design. All of
the high-tech executives were dressed in dark Italian business
suits complemented with gold and diamonds. I listened closely to
each question these executives asked. I never once heard “how
much?”, “when?” or even “why?” – every question was “by what
method?.” Methodology is what Six Sigma is about. Six Sigma
Methods There have evolved two key methods for carrying out Six
Sigma projects. The first method is the most well-defined and
works best if you have a problem with an unknown solution in
existing products, processes or services. This method is called
DMAIC or Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. The
newest method, which is in the developing stages, is called
Design for Six Sigma or DFSS. The goal of DFSS is to develop a
new product, process or service that is defect-free in the eyes
of the customer. A number of consulting companies have invented
roadmaps for DFSS like IDOV (Identify, Design, Optimize and
Validate) and DMADV (Design, Measure, Analyze, Design and
Verify). Six Sigma and Design of Experiments Once an
organization has decided on the method and the project y’s,
Belts are marched off to training “waves” bringing
management-approved projects to class. DMAIC Green Belt training
is normally two one-week sessions separated by one month. Black
Belt training waves are extended by two additional months with
two more weeks of training. The emphasis during the extended two
weeks of Black Belt training is often on learning more details
about advanced tools such as Design of Experiments (DOE). So
where does Design of Experiments fit into Six Sigma? Six Sigma
is about understanding and controlling the variation of key
process variables known as inputs or x’s in order to obtain
improved results on project outputs or y’s. In Design of
Experiment terms these inputs or x’s are often referred to as
factors and the outputs are referred to as responses. In nearly
all Six Sigma projects the relationship of the project y’s takes
on the form of y
About the author:
Peter Peterka is the leading consultant for www.6sigma.us. Peter
has eleven years of experience performing as a Master Black
Belt, working with numerous companies, including 3M, Dell, Dow,
GE, HP, Intel, Motorola, Seagate, and Xerox. You can signup for
Peter's Six Sigma Certification at 6Sigma.us.
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