six sigma is about more than just number crunching

There is a growing demand for people with Six Sigma certification and expertise as companies realize the many ways in which the Six Sigma methodology can help their organizations grow and improve. Six Sigma has grown beyond its manufacturing origins with many government agencies and service providers now advertising for Six Sigma help. More importantly, even small companies are taking on Six Sigma consultants or full-time staff, which implies that the demand for Six Sigma professionals will only increase in the coming years.

Six Sigma Job Categories

There are many junior- and senior-level Six Sigma openings across a wide range of industries. The positions and job descriptions are oftentimes unique to the company and its requirements. Admittedly, many of these positions are filled internally, as companies train their own people in the Six Sigma methodology so that people already familiar with the corporate culture are provided with the needed skill sets. On the other hand, these same organizations often reach outside for help, seeking out experienced people to either lead, or implement full-scale Six Sigma projects throughout the company.

Six Sigma Job Openings

Many companies openly advertise job opportunities that are clearly Six Sigma based (e.g., Six Sigma Analyst or Six Sigma Black Belt). Others, however, advertise openings for positions that are not obviously Six Sigma openings such as Functional Project Lead, Director of Operational Excellence, Business Project Manager, or Senior Projects Manager.

Job openings such as these are usually for people with Six Sigma Black Belt capabilities - someone trained in the Six Sigma methodology with experience in leading cross-functional process improvement teams. These people are tapped to lead individual Six Sigma teams.

Companies sometimes advertise for Six Sigma Master Black Belts to fill organization-wide Six Sigma program manager positions, in effect taking over very senior positions within the organization. The successful applicants will be tasked to lead the company's Six Sigma implementation, oversee Black Belts and process improvement projects, and guide the Black Belts as needed. These positions will require the highest level of Six Sigma experience and qualifications.

Meeting Six Sigma Job Criteria

The primary requirement for a Six Sigma job is, of course, to be trained in the Six Sigma methodology, ideally as a Six Sigma Black Belt. This requires formal training from qualified Six Sigma consultants who have long experience in training and implementation of Six Sigma. Often, a request is made for those with a specific background such as in Six Sigma DMAIC or DFSS methodology.

Companies recognize experience as being the best teacher, however, so many establishments express strong preference (if not outright demand) for people with hands-on experience in completing at least one Six Sigma project.

Aside from Six Sigma training and project experience, companies have a preference for those with background experience (usually at least five years) in their particular industry or business. Management experience is another plus factor and this is usually a requirement by companies looking for a Six Sigma project team leader. Managing projects within structured environments, and proven management skills (as indicated by successful project implementation) will be a definite advantage in your favor, because companies in the initial stages of Six Sigma application will be looking for people who will lead and facilitate business teams as well as Black Belts and Green Belts through the process.

Other requirements

If you are applying for a Six Sigma position, you need to show that you have an excellent understanding of processes and quality methodologies as well as a willingness to grab the initiative and take the lead in making changes.

Another vital skill will be the ability to link strategy to execution. You need to show that you are able to look beyond surface issues and concerns: consider strategic business issues from a detached, clinical perspective, and use this as a springboard for developing and implementing creative and practical solutions to problems identified.

There is a growing demand for people with Six Sigma certification and expertise as companies realize the many ways in which the Six Sigma methodology can help their organizations grow and improve. Six Sigma has grown beyond its manufacturing origins with many government agencies and service providers now advertising for Six Sigma help. More importantly, even small companies are taking on Six Sigma consultants or full-time staff, which implies that the demand for Six Sigma professionals will only increase in the coming years.

Six Sigma Job Categories

There are many junior- and senior-level Six Sigma openings across a wide range of industries. The positions and job descriptions are oftentimes unique to the company and its requirements. Admittedly, many of these positions are filled internally, as companies train their own people in the Six Sigma methodology so that people already familiar with the corporate culture are provided with the needed skill sets. On the other hand, these same organizations often reach outside for help, seeking out experienced people to either lead, or implement full-scale Six Sigma projects throughout the company.

Six Sigma Job Openings

Many companies openly advertise job opportunities that are clearly Six Sigma based (e.g., Six Sigma Analyst or Six Sigma Black Belt). Others, however, advertise openings for positions that are not obviously Six Sigma openings such as Functional Project Lead, Director of Operational Excellence, Business Project Manager, or Senior Projects Manager.

Job openings such as these are usually for people with Six Sigma Black Belt capabilities someone trained in the Six Sigma methodology with experience in leading cross-functional process improvement teams. These people are tapped to lead individual Six Sigma teams.

Companies sometimes advertise for Six Sigma Master Black Belts to fill organization-wide Six Sigma program manager positions, in effect taking over very senior positions within the organization. The successful applicants will be tasked to lead the company s Six Sigma implementation, oversee Black Belts and process improvement projects, and guide the Black Belts as needed. These positions will require the highest level of Six Sigma experience and qualifications.

Meeting Six Sigma Job Criteria

The primary requirement for a Six Sigma job is, of course, to be trained in the Six Sigma methodology, ideally as a Six Sigma Black Belt. This requires formal training from qualified Six Sigma consultants who have long experience in training and implementation of Six Sigma. Often, a request is made for those with a specific background such as in Six Sigma DMAIC or DFSS methodology.

Companies recognize experience as being the best teacher, however, so many establishments express strong preference (if not outright demand) for people with hands-on experience in completing at least one Six Sigma project.

Aside from Six Sigma training and project experience, companies have a preference for those with background experience (usually at least five years) in their particular industry or business. Management experience is another plus factor and this is usually a requirement by companies looking for a Six Sigma project team leader. Managing projects within structured environments, and proven management skills (as indicated by successful project implementation) will be a definite advantage in your favor, because companies in the initial stages of Six Sigma application will be looking for people who will lead and facilitate business teams as well as Black Belts and Green Belts through the process.

Other requirements

If you are applying for a Six Sigma position, you need to show that you have an excellent understanding of processes and quality methodologies as well as a willingness to grab the initiative and take the lead in making changes.

Another vital skill will be the ability to link strategy to execution. You need to show that you are able to look beyond surface issues and concerns: consider strategic business issues from a detached, clinical perspective, and use this as a springboard for developing and implementing creative and practical solutions to problems identified.

Although the program has proven wildly successful in many different cases, other companies have tried to implement the Six Sigma system with results that can best be described as mixed. A large part of the "mixed" (and you can read that as "negative"!) results can be attributed to an improper implementation of the Six Sigma process.

One way in which to avoid mixed results stemming from improper implementation is Six Sigma certification.

What is Six Sigma Certification?

Simply put, Six Sigma certification is an indication that an individual has received training in Six Sigma programs. It is usually issued after the successful completion of a training course at a certain level of the Six Sigma program (black belts, green belts, master black belts, and so on).

As with certification in many different areas, such as obtaining a driver's license, the certification comes not just after training, but after a student has demonstrated an understanding about that training. This understanding can be demonstrated both through class participation and the oral and written test portions of the program. It should be understood that this certification does not necessarily denote skill level within the area; there are different levels of proficiency across any classroom and Six Sigma is no exception.

In addition, many aspects of the training are not standardized, therefore some aspects demonstrated by employees with Six Sigma certification in one company will be different from those in another company.

Obtaining Six Sigma Certification

As you might have guessed from the last line above, there are several different ways in which an individual can gain Six Sigma certification. There are several Six Sigma training companies which provide the training necessary for companies wishing to implement the Six Sigma concept to eliminate defects within their processes. In addition, employees at companies with a long standing record of using the Six Sigma approach will probably receive some Six Sigma training of their own. Motorola and General Electric, for example, have developed their own in house training for Six Sigma principles which achieve the same results as the training companies.

You can probably infer from that that Six Sigma certification will not transfer as well from one company to another, generally speaking. Usually the companies wherein the Six Sigma concept originated (GE and Motorola as mentioned above) will have the most transferable value, with second tier training (training companies) coming in second and recent Six Sigma companies bringing up the rear as far as rock solid reliability in their training.

In short, it's important to understand that certification will not guarantee that an individual will be able to flawlessly perform the Six Sigma ideas. What it will do, however, is guarantee that assist in the proper implementation of the Six Sigma process, which will guarantee profit both to the individual (it's a good thing to have on a resume) and for the company that chooses to implement the process.

What is Six Sigma?
The concepts surrounding the drive to Six Sigma quality are essentially those of statistics and probability. In simple language, these concepts boil down to, “How confident can I be that what I planned to happen actually will happen?” Basically, the concept of Six Sigma deals with measuring and improving how close we come to delivering on what we planned to do.

Anything we do varies, even if only slightly, from the plan. Since no result can exactly match our intention, we usually think in terms of ranges of acceptability for whatever we plan to do. Those ranges of acceptability (or tolerance limits) respond to the intended use of the product of our labors–the needs and expectations of the customer.

Here’s an example. Consider how your tolerance limits might be structured to respond to customer expectations in these two instructions:

“Cut two medium potatoes into quarter-inch cubes.” and “Drill and tap two quarter-inch holes in carbon steel brackets.”

What would be your range of acceptability–or tolerances–for the value quarter-inch? (Hint: a 5/16” potato cube probably would be acceptable; a 5/16”threaded hole probably would not.)Another consideration in your manufacture of potato cubes and holes would be the inherent capability of the way you produce the quarter inch dimension–the capability of the process. Are you hand-slicing potatoes with a knife or are you using a special slicer with preset blades?
Are you drilling holes with a portable drill or are you using a drill press? If we measured enough completed potato cubes and holes, the capabilities of the various processes would speak to us. Their language would be distribution curves.

Distribution curves tell us not only how well our processes have done; they also tell us the probability of what our process will do next. Statisticians group those probabilities in segments of the distribution curve called standard deviations from the mean. The symbol they use for standard deviation is the lower-case Greek letter sigma.

For any process with a standard distribution (something that looks like a bell-shaped curve), the probability is 68.26% that the next value will be within one standard deviation from the mean. The probability is 95.44% that the same next value will fall within two standard deviations. The probability is 99.73% that it will be within three sigma; and 99.994% that it will be within four sigma.

If the range of acceptability, or tolerance limit, for your product is at or outside the four sigma point on the distribution curve for your process, you are virtually assured of producing acceptable material every time–provided, of course, that your process is centered and stays centered on your target value.

Unfortunately, even if you can center your process once, it will tend to drift. Experimental data show that most processes that are in control still drift about 1.5 sigma on either side of their center point over time.

This means that the real probability of a process with tolerance limits at four sigma, producing acceptable material is actually more like 98.76%, not 99.994%.

To reach near-perfect process output, the process capability curve must fit inside the tolerances such that the tolerances are at or beyond six standard deviations, or Six Sigma, on the distribution curve. That is why we call our goal Six Sigma quality.

Quality makes us strong
In the past, conventional wisdom said that high levels of quality cost more in the long run than poorer quality, raising the price you had to ask for your product and making you less competitive. Balancing quality with cost was thought to be the key to economic survival. The surprising discovery of companies which initially developed Six Sigma, or world-class, quality is that the best quality does not cost more. It actually costs less. The reason for this is something called cost-of-quality. Cost-of-quality is actually the cost of deviating from quality–paying for things like rework, scrap and warranty claims. Making things right the first time–even if it takes more effort to get to that level of performance–actually costs much less than creating then finding and fixing defects.

Shooting for Six Sigma:
An illustrative fable
The underlying logic of Six Sigma quality involves some understanding of the role of statistical variation. Here’s a story about that. Robin Hood is out in the meadow practicing for the archery contest to be held next week at the castle. After Robin’s first 100 shots, Friar Tuck, Robin’s Master Black Belt in archery, adds up the number of hits in the bull’s eye of each target. He finds that Robin hit within the bull’s eye 68% of the time.

Friar Tuck plots the results of Robin’s target practice on a chart called a histogram. The results look something like this. “Note that the bars in the chart form a curve that looks something like a bell,” says the friar. “This is a standard distribution curve. Every process that varies uniformly around a center point will form a plot that looks like a smooth bell curve, if you make a large enough number of trials or, in this case, shoot enough arrows.”

Robin scratches his head. Friar Tuck explains that Robin’s process involves selecting straight arrows (raw material); holding the bow steady and smoothly releasing the bowstring (the human factor); the wood of the bow and the strength of the string (machinery); and the technique of aiming to center the process on the bull’s eye (calibration and statistical process control).

The product of Robin’s process is an arrow in a target. More specifically, products that satisfy the customer are arrows that score. Arrows outside the third circle on these targets don’t count, so they are defects. Robin’s process appears to be 100% within specification. In other words, every product produced is acceptable in the eyes of the customer.

“You appear to be a three- to four-sigma archer,” the friar continues. “We’d have to measure a lot more holes to know for sure, but let’s assume that 99.99% of your shots score, that you’re a four sigma shooter.” Robin strides off to tell his merry men.

The next day, the wind is constantly changing directions; there is a light mist. Robin thinks he feels a cold coming on. Whatever the reason, his process doesn’t stay centered on the mean the way it did before. In fact, it drifts unpredictably as much as 1.5 sigma either side of the mean. Now, instead of producing no defects, after a hundred shots, Robin has produced a defect, a hole outside the third circle. In fact, instead of 99.99% of his shot scoring only 99.38% do.

While this may not seem as if much has changed, imagine that, instead of shooting at targets, Robin was laser-drilling holes in turbine blades. Let’s say there were 100 holes in each blade. The probability of producing even one defect-free blade would not be good. (Because the creation of defects would be random, his process would produce some good blades as well as some blades with multiple defects.)

Without inspecting everything many times over (not to mention spending an enormous amount for rework and rejected material), Robin, the laser driller, would find it virtually impossible to ever deliver even one set of turbine blades with properly drilled holes.

Not only would the four-sigma producer have to spend much time and money finding and fixing defects before products could be shipped, but since inspection cannot find all the defects, she would also have to fix problems after they got to
the customer. The Six Sigma producer, on the other hand, would be able to concentrate on only a handful of defects to further improve the process.

How can the tools of Six Sigma quality help? If Robin the archer were to use those tools to become a Six Sigma sharpshooter instead of a four-sigma marksman, when he went out into the wind and rain, he would still make every
shot score. Some arrows might now be in the second circle, but they would all still be acceptable to the customer, guaranteeing first prize at the contest. Robin the laser driller would also succeed; he would be making virtually defect free turbine blades.

The steps on the path to Six Sigma quality:
1. Measurement
Six Sigma quality means attaining a businesswide standard of making fewer than 3.4 mistakes per million opportunities to make a mistake.
This quality standard includes design, manufacturing, marketing, administration, service, support–all facets of the business. Everyone has the same quality goal and essentially the same method to reach it. While the application to engine design and manufacturing is obvious, the goal of Six Sigma performance–and most of the same tools–also apply to the softer, more administrative processes as well.

After the improvement project has been clearly defined and bounded, the first element in the process of quality improvement is the measurement of performance. Effective measurement demands taking a statistical view of all processes and all problems. This reliance on data and logic is crucial to the pursuit of Six Sigma quality.

The next step is, knowing what to measure. The determination of sigma level is essentially based on counting defects, so we must measure the frequency of defects. Mistakes or defects in a manufacturing process tend to be relatively easy to define–simply a failure to meet a specification. To broaden the application to other processes and to further improve manufacturing, a new definition is helpful: a defect is any failure to meet a customer satisfaction requirement, and the customer is always the next person in the process.

In this beginning phase, you would select the critical-to-quality characteristics you plan to improve. These would be based on an analysis of your customer’s requirements–(usually using a tool like Quality Function Deployment.) After you clearly define your performance standards and validate your measurement system (with gage reliability and repeatability studies), you would then be able to determine short-term and long-term process capability and actual process performance (Cp and Cpk).

2. Analysis
The second step is to define performance objectives and identify the sources of process variation. As a business, we have set Six Sigma performance of all processes within five years as our objective. This must be translated into specific objectives in each operation and process. To identify sources of variation, after counting the defects we must determine when, where and how they occur. Many tools can be used to identify the causes of the variation that creates defects.

These include tools that many people have seen before (process mapping, Pareto charts, fishbone diagrams, histograms, scatter diagrams, run charts) and some that may be new (affinity diagrams, box-and-whisker diagrams, multivariate analysis, hypothesis testing).

3. Improvement
This phase involves screening for potential causes of variation and discovering interrelationships between them. (The tool commonly used in this phase is Design of Experiment or DOE.) Understanding these complex interrelationships, then allows the setting of individual process tolerances that interact to produce the desired result.

4. Control
In the Control Phase, the process of validating the measurement system and evaluating capability is repeated to insure that improvement occurred. Steps are then taken to control the improved processes. (Some examples of tools used in this phase are statistical process control, mistake proofing and internal quality audits.)

Words of Wisdom about Quality
If you believe it is natural to have defects, and that quality consists of finding defects and fixing them before they get to the customer, you are just waiting to go out of business. To improve speed and quality, you must first measure it–and you must use a common measure.

The common business-wide measures that drive our quality improvement are defects per unit of work and cycle time per unit of work. These measures apply equally to design, production, marketing, service, support and administration.

Everyone is responsible for producing quality; therefore, everyone must be measured and accountable for quality. Measuring quality within an organization and pursuing an aggressive rate of improvement is the responsibility of operational management.

Customers want on-time delivery, a product that works immediately, no early life failures and a product that is reliable over its lifetime. If the process makes defects, the customer cannot easily be saved from them by inspection and testing.

A robust design (one that is well within the capabilities of existing processes to produce it) is the key to increasing customer satisfaction and reducing cost. The way to a robust design is through concurrent engineering and integrated design processes.

Because higher quality ultimately reduces costs, the highest quality producer is most able to be the lowest cost producer and, therefore, the most effective competitor in the marketplace.

A new job has emerged in recent years, the title of which more resembles a karate instructor than a business professional. It is called the Six Sigma Black Belt.

After years of use by major corporations, six sigma is being utilized by small and mid-size corporations. This has led to the proliferation of six sigma training of many types and depths.

There is training for six sigma green belts, yellow belts, black belts, and master black belts. Throw in the word lean and you have four more titles, such as Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

The karate lingo signifies the depth of training and skill. The green belt has some understanding of statistical tools and does a lot of the measurement and data collection for six sigma projects. The black belt is a mentor and coach to the green belt, utilizing their time for higher level and more complex analysis and working on the soft side such as influencing and driving change in the workplace.

The Master Black Belt coaches and trains other black belts. The Master Black Belt often helps guide the organization to develop the correct human resources and provides training for Six Sigma Black Belts.

The most common belt is the Six Sigma Black Belt, which has become known as the credentials necessary to lead six sigma projects.

Six sigma has been utilized as a business improvement tool for over two decades. However, it was primarily utilized at very few major corporations company wide, such as Motorola and GE.

As with most new business methods and approaches, six sigma has had growing pains. Some companies report huge successes, while others have abandoned the initiative entirely.

There are many reasons both for the successes and failures. The reason for either almost always boils down to management. If management has little commitment and only a vague understanding of six sigma, then chances are it will fail.

Another major problem is that six sigma training varies widely by training organization. Six sigma black belt training is conducted by hundreds of training companies, individual corporations, universities and colleges, and a few organizations such as ASQ and IQF.

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) has developed a “body of knowledge” and certification test for black belts. Corporations training their own black belts make up their own curriculum. Training organizations often determine what they believe is the best use of a shorter training time. Colleges and Universities also vary considerably in their training.

Many Six Sigma Black Belt courses are conducted over four weeks. While this may be sufficient time for an industrial engineer to grasp the tools, many students struggle to learn the material and ultimately have trouble applying six sigma.

Online six sigma training courses also vary. The advantages to an online course it there is no time constraint. The material is often more detailed and presented in depth. The student can continue to review the material until it is learned. The disadvantage is the same as all online courses, which is the personal commitment to self motivation.

It is best to determine the material that will be covered in the course. Any type of course format can work. Make sure it is consistent with the needs of the company and that it is presented in enough detail to learn six sigma well enough to apply in the field.

Beyond obtaining certification, it is important to have a variety of reference material. There are many good books written about six sigma. Most Six Sigma Black Belts have both technical and implementation books. There are simply too many six sigma and lean manufacturing tools to remember the proper application of each from memory.

Once certification is obtained, it is critical to keep in mind the reason corporations are utilizing six sigma. They are doing it for “impact”. They want business improvement, either through financial savings with cost reductions, additional output, better quality, more capacity, quicker throughput, or other metric.

Six Sigma Black Belt certification can be rewarding, gratifying, and worth the effort. Investing the time to thoroughly grasp the subject will ensure it.

Six Sigma is a program that deals with quality management and is designed to achieve an outstanding level of quality for products. Motorola was the first company to pioneer this process in the mid-eighties and since then it has been adopted by many other companies and manufacturers. Service companies, in order to enhance customer service and relations also utilize these strategies. 6 Sigma has evolved from a normal distribution curve where failures in quality and customer satisfaction arise after the sixth sigma of likelihood. Hence, the main idea is to reduce or lessen the defects per product or customer service.

Companies that make use of Six Sigma have proved the critics wrong by achieving the 6 levels of quality that were believed to be an impossible achievement. Going beyond Six Sigma is not been unheard of and has been achieved by many companies like GE Aircraft Engines that function at nine sigma levels of quality. It is highly convenient, as it reduces the amount of failures or errors in product quality and customer service. Not only does this help in increasing customer satisfaction and revenue but it also leads to an increase in the number of returning customers and the acquirement of new customers. Companies that employ this process successfully have higher quality standards and produce superior products and services.

Importance Of 6 Sigma

A fairly unknown fact about Six Sigma is that it relates to 3.4 defects per million. Most people do not know how quality is improved considerably by having 6 levels of sigma. Previously, most companies utilized less sigma, approximately three or four, but Motorola was the first company to use six levels of sigma. Four-sigma relates to only about 2.6 defects per thousand whereas 6 Sigma relates to 3.4 defects per million making it a perfect number. However, deviation proves to be a major problem. With Six Sigma, the defective rates are more sensible than with four-sigma.

Large and very profitable companies have also been using 6 Sigma as a tool to help their businesses run better. Since it's commencement, it has helped many companies save millions of dollars. Six Sigma can help any type of business and the concepts can be applied to any department of that business. Marketing, sales, production, design, administration and service are all the various departments in which 6 Sigma has been successfully used. Six Sigma uses business, statistic and engineering principles to help eliminate company defects. A 6 Sigma consultant or master can be hired to help the company adjust to the changes. Not only does Six Sigma improve quality, it also improves performance and delivery.

Conclusion

In a business, quality is valued above all other things by customers. Businesses that produce high quality goods and services will always attract more customers and will ensure that these customers return for more. 6 Sigma helps ensure that the quality of these products and services is nothing but the best. Six Sigma is very effective, when implemented correctly and this is the main reason why most companies utilize 6 Sigma. This process that was discovered more than 20 years ago has withstood all criticism and has proven it's lasting qualities in the business world. Companies should consider using Six Sigma as a means of gaining and retaining customers by producing superior quality products.

The size of the business is also not an issue anymore, as is evident from the ever-growing number of sole proprietorships and small and medium sized businesses that have successfully deployed Six Sigma. So, how is it that Six Sigma is so very versatile? Well, there are many reasons for this, but the main reason is that even after years of evolution, the basic characteristics of Six Sigma still remain the same.

Even basic objectives such as improving quality, increasing efficiency, and achieving a near-perfect defect rate that does not exceed 3.4 per million opportunities that might exist for such defects to occur, continue to remain the same. These objectives along with the basic characteristics form the core of Six Sigma deployments even today.

Businesses that want to ensure successful Six Sigma deployments will have to consider these factors before actually starting the deployment process. For better understanding, let us discuss some of the most prominent characteristics of Six Sigma deployments.

Data Driven Approach

Following a data-driven approach is inherent to all Six Sigma project deployments and is one the main factors responsible for Six Sigma's phenomenal success as a quality improvement methodology. It helps because when decisions are based on hard facts and statistics, the chances of errors and inaccuracies are reduced dramatically.

This is applicable even more so in high-tech industries, where business processes have become quite complex and managers just cannot afford to risk it all on their personal experience and gut feelings.

Continuous Quality Improvements

All Six Sigma deployments stress continuous quality improvements, something that makes them far more effective than any other type of quality improvement technique. It makes it possible for businesses to improve their product offerings in line with changing customer needs and requirements.

This in turn allows them to remain competitive in the marketplace, a prerequisite for ensuring success in the long run.

Communications

Since Six Sigma deployments involve all the various stakeholders such as employees, deployment team members, Black Belts and other Six Sigma professionals, departmental heads, senior managers, and top management, it becomes necessary for businesses to provide an effective communications platform that enables the free flow of information.

Businesses that emphasize communication during deployments find it easier to take timely decisions, a prerequisite for successful Six Sigma deployments. Effective communication also aids the timely procurement of men and material as might be required during the deployment process. Considering all these factors, it would not be wrong to say that effective communication is one of the most prominent characteristics of Six Sigma deployments.

Most Six Sigma deployments are quite complex, but if businesses concentrate on these basic characteristics, it would become easier for them to complete the deployments in a timely manner. Unleashing the full potential of Six Sigma will then no longer be a problem for these businesses.