文档介绍：Preface
ix Sigma is best described as a journey—a journey for busi-
Sness professionals who are mitted to improving
productivity and profitability. Six Sigma isn’t theoretical; it’s an
active, hands-on practice that gets results. In short, you don’t
contemplate Six Sigma; you do it. And doing it has proven to be
the fast track to vastly improving the bottom line.
The Six Sigma story began in the 1980s at Motorola, where
it was first developed and proven. In 1983, reliability engineer
Bill Smith concluded that if a product was defective and cor-
rected during production, then other defects were probably
being missed and later found by customers. In other words,
process failure rates were much higher than indicated by final
product tests. His point? If products were pletely
free of defects, they probably wouldn’t fail customers later.
This is where Six Sigma took off. Mikel Harry, ., the
founder of the Motorola Six Sigma Research Institute, further
refined the methodology, to not only eliminate process waste,
but also turn it into growth currency—regardless of the specific
type of service, product, or market sector. The rest, as they say,
is history.
Six Sigma statistically measures and reflects true process
capability, correlating to such characteristics as defects per unit
and probabilities of ess or failure. Its value is in transform-
ing cultural outlooks placency to plishment
across the spectrum of industry.
panies function at four sigma—tolerating 6,210
defects per one million opportunities. Operating at six sigma
creates an almost defect-free environment, allowing only
ix
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Contents
Preface ix
1. What Is Six Sigma? 1
Six Sigma Defined and Explained 2
Essentials of the Six Sigma Methodology 7
Focus on Engaging People and Changing Processes 9
Not Just Statistics, b