The Use of 6Sigma in Manufacturing Engineering
6 Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by
6 Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising variability in the manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organisation ("Black Belts", "Green Belts" etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each 6 Sigma project carried out within an organisation, follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or velocity increases), although its use is not without controversy.
Juran, Joseph M states that 6 Sigma is merely a basic form of quality improvement, with nothing new or ground-breaking other than flamboyant terms. He also asserts that the majority of people do not fully understand what it means.
Ahmed, Yousuf claims that 6 Sigma is groundbreaking and it makes sense to at the very least evaluate its use within business. He says the use of 6 Sigma tools offer a pioneering way to reducing defects and increasing customer satisfaction.
George (2003) argues that 6 Sigma’s main strengths are its combined approaches to lean manufacturing. He states that the approaches compliment each other in no other way that has been carried out before, with the use of Just in Time and Lean practices.
Cusumano, (1994) counters this with the argument that Just in Time practices can hold up the supply chain, lead to a shortage of workers and ultimately lead to customer deadlines being missed.
Demming (Dr) argues that 6 Sigma’s cold hard bottom line focused stance can lead to the business strategy becoming unstable, and functions of the business focussing on inappropriate things. He argues that a business cannot be run by figures and must not substitute business strategy planning for 6 Sigma
