Organisations use Six Sigma to identify and eliminate costs that provide no value to customers. They analyse their processes to find out where and how defects occur, measure them and eliminate the problem areas.

Six Sigma is a highly disciplined, structured programme that delivers near perfect products and services. Sigma is a statistical term used in the measurement of how far a given process deviates from perfection. The idea is that, if you can measure the number of defects there are in a process, you can then systematically attempt to eliminate them to get as close to zero defects as possible. The generally accepted definition of the Six Sigma benchmark is 3.4 defects per million opportunities for each product or service transaction.

The principles of Six Sigma are to:

• Understand the critical to quality requirements (CTQs) of customers and stakeholders
• Understand processes ensuring they reflect these CTQs
• Manage by fact
• Involve and equip the people in the process
• Undertake improvement activity in a systematic way

Benefits are seen in cost reduction, shorter cycle times, improved customer service, greater employee productivity and increased profit margins.

For further details about the Six Sigma Unit please register your interest online.