"Making Six Sigma Last"

William Parr

Six Sigma Forum Magazine

February 2006, pp. 15-19

The author of this article categorizes the elements he feels are often missing from Six Sigma training into three major groups:

• Technical but not Statistical
  • Financial Analysis: This involves "the ability to do a precise and careful analysis of a project using the concepts of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR)."
  • Theory of Constraints: "The thinking processes developed by Eliyahu Goldratt are superb and should be a part of the portfolio of every BB [Black Belt] and GB [Green Belt]."
  • Lean: "There has been a trend in recent years to include more concepts and tools of Lean in the training of Black Belts and Green Belts, but there are still cases where Lean and Six Sigma compete for resources or are not integrated well."
  • Simulation: "Simulation can be a powerful tool for exploring the consequences of changes in line design."
• Nontechnical
  • The Soft Side of Change Management: Though Six Sigma training courses often cover such topics, failure to manage this aspect is still a major source of project failure.
  • Performance Based Management: "Good measurement system content and properly aligned objectives and behaviors to those systems is critical."
  • Customer Satisfaction Measurement: "Familiarity with state-of-the art methods for measuring customer satisfaction should be a requirement for BBs."
  • Selection and Management of BBs: The skills and personality mixes needed should be considered in selection, and career-tracking and mentoring are important aspects of BB management.
  • Broader Criteria for Project Selection: There has been too much emphasis on cost-cutting projects and not enough emphasis on longer-term projects related to strategic business objectives.
  • Design for Six Sigma (DFSS): The author proposes that as Six Sigma becomes more mature in an organization, the emphasis on DFSS should also grow. Therefore, Black Belts need some familiarity with DFSS in their training.
• Statistical
  • Core Concepts of Reliability
  • Data Mining
  • Sample Surveys
  • Forecasting
  • Use of Graphical Methods to Present Statistical Data

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