Is Six Sigma applicable to only manufacturing companies or processes?

While Six Sigma is an initiative of the constant quality and productivity pressures faced in manufacturing environments, the principles apply equally to transaction and service environments as well. Companies have applied Six Sigma techniques to non-manufacturing processes selectively. Once the quality of the product began to improve, it was normally expected for companies to begin questioning their invoicing, inventory, supply chain, finance and engineering processes. In some companies, the Six Sigma methodology was applied, but with limited management support, success was mixed. It was General Electric’s CEO, Jack Welch, with his vision that GE not become a Six Sigma manufacturer, but a Six Sigma company, who jump-started the use of Six Sigma outside the factory. Welch pushed his managers to use Six Sigma in every corner of the organization, including the service businesses of GE Capital, NBC and GE Information Systems. Many manufacturing companies found that the majority of their Six Sigma benefits came from improving the transactional processes surrounding their manufacturing operations, and the service businesses reported similar level savings from improving their business processes.

Is Six Sigma a method in which statistical tools are used extensively?
For many companies, Six Sigma seems little more than a confusing set of statistical tools. In addition, Six Sigma includes many tools, like process mapping, which may already be used in an organization. This creates the misconception that if an individual understands and uses these tools, then that is enough to say the company is “applying Six Sigma.” Like the first trip taken to listen to a symphony, the number and variety of instruments can be intimidating. It is only through education that one learns to classify similar instruments into groups, learn which devices serve which functions and understand that it is only with this spectrum of tools that the symphony can produce a range of sounds to please the listener. Clearly though, people do not buy a symphony ticket to listen to a tuba, but to hear Mozart. While world class musicians spend countless hours practicing to play, they also know the musical score and their place within it. Successful conductors know the arrangement, but also the range of each instrument and the individual skills of the musician. It is this shared vision and the ability of the performers that turns musical instruments into a symphony. Six Sigma is not different. Clear leadership and talented change agents use tools to turn data into information and continuously align the organization. Just as learning to play one instrument does not produce the powerful performance of a symphony, learning and using individual tools in the Six Sigma toolbox does not make one a practitioner.

Isn't Six Sigma a one-time event?
Improving business processes itself is a continuous process. Unlike reengineering, where the goal is “the radical redesign of business processes for dramatic improvement” Six Sigma is the continuous alignment of business processes to deliver customer value. Instead of one-time redesigns that gradually fall out of alignment with changing markets, a system of continuous feedback and improvement is set in motion. The result is an organization that feeds off of market and competitive information and is fast enough to respond quickly to market opportunities.

Does Six Sigma mean zero-defect?
Many companies first pursued quality with a focus on the ultimate goal of zero defects. Unfortunately, many service companies implemented this by instilling a culture of fear regarding mistakes. After the goal was announced, workers were expected to come to work the next day as perfect workers. Jobs depended on it. Errors were covered up. Companies “improved.” This continued until customers left, workers found jobs in less threatening environments, and service quality became another “slogan.” Having a process focus means treating defects as valuable clues to diagnose poor processes. People are encouraged to discuss their knowledge of internal problems that cause customer dissatisfaction. It is only in a culture of openness that the true issues emerge. Human beings will never be perfect and having a Six Sigma focus does not expect them to be perfect. It is not Six Sigma people, but Six Sigma processes that we seek. By working on the structures in which our people work, we can make the transaction and service environments extremely mistake-proof.

Don't layoffs increase with Six Sigma?
Layoffs and restructuring changes are the result of companies’ misalignment with the market. They are defined by costs that can no longer be supported by the market price, too much capacity in a shrinking market and products and services that no longer meet customers’ needs. Organizations that continually align their processes with the market find they never have enough people to fix the business issues that are constantly uncovered. When labor is freed from unproductive processes, it is quickly reassigned to previously under-resourced areas. Six Sigma is a relief to companies that can not find enough qualified people to fill open positions or grow their business, as workers are transferred from solving customer complaints to satisfying customer expectations.