ISBIS4 Abstract

Contact Author's Name: Ronald J.M.M. Does
Title of Abstract: Recent Developments in Six Sigma
Author(s): Ronald J.M.M. Does, Jeroen de Mast and Henk de Koning
Affiliation: Institute for Business and Industrial Statistics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Six Sigma is a philosophy for company wide quality improvement. It was developed by Motorola and popularized by General Electric. Several variants are current in the literature. The programme is characterized by its customer driven approach, by its emphasis on decision making based on quantitative data, and by its priority on bottom line results. Improvement actions are performed by so called Black Belts and Green Belts in the form of projects. Part of the Six Sigma programme is a stepwise strategy (sometimes called the ´Six Sigma Breakthrough Cookbook´;), which represents a problem-solving method. It tackles problems in four phases: Measure (M), Analyze (A), Improve (I), and Control (C). In more recent accounts of the methodology a five phase structure is proposed, in which a Define (D) phase precedes the other four. These phases guide a project leader in the execution of a quality improvement project.
";While Six Sigma has made a big impact on industry, the academic community lags behind in understanding of Six Sigma."; An obstacle for scientific research of Six Sigma is the absence of a consistent and crystallized exposition of its methodology and philosophy. Present accounts of the method —; often written for a non-scientific audience and for different purposes than to serve as a basis for scientific research —; do not meet scientific standards of precision and consistency.
The objective of this paper is to study the validity of Six Sigma\'s Breakthrough Cookbook, and more specifically to study under what conditions and for what purposes it is applicable. Since, however, the Breakthrough Cookbook is formulated in unscientific language, efforts should first focus on explication (\"rational reconstruction\"). Thus, the research follows the steps:
- Rational reconstruction of Six Sigma\'s Breakthrough Cookbook.
- Grounding (=validation) of the Breakthrough Cookbook.
- Identification of contexts where it can be applied.
- Identification of conditions that affect the success of application. Furthermore, a comparison is made with other quantitative strategies like Shainin, Taguchi and lean manufacturing.