Resources for Six Sigma

Introduction to Six Sigma

• Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma Elevator Speech
• Business Profits Radio Interview Podcast
• More...

Six Sigma Projects

• The Roadmap to a Successful Six Sigma Project
• Getting Your First Six Sigma Gig
• More...

Six Sigma Tools

• American Kaizen
• The Roadmap to a Successful Six Sigma Project
• More...

Six Sigma Statistics

• Wikipedia Entry Quality Causes Assessed
• Carbon Cycle Feedback Effect Adjusted Downward
• More...

Six Sigma Videos (Requires QuickTime)

• How To Calculate Process Yields
• Hypergeometric probabilities using Minitab
• More...

Leading Six Sigma

• Toyota Announces Quality Committee
• The Toyota Media Feeding Frenzy
• More...

Healthcare Quality

• Does Six Sigma Apply to Healthcare?
• Healthgrades Identifies Best Hospitals
• More...

Process Excellence Podcasts

• Does Six Sigma Apply to Healthcare?
• Business Profits Radio Interview Podcast
• More...

Other Useful Links

Good books on Six Sigma and other topics

What is Six Sigma?

For Motorola, the originator of Six Sigma, the answer to the question "Why Six Sigma?" was simple: survival. Motorola came to Six Sigma because it was being consistently beaten in the competitive marketplace by foreign firms that were able to produce higher quality products at a lower cost. When a Japanese firm took over a Motorola factory that manufactured Quasar television sets in the United States in the 1970s, they promptly set about making drastic changes in the way the factory operated. Under Japanese management, the factory was soon producing TV sets with 1/20^th the number of defects they had produced under Motorola management. They did this using the same workforce, technology, and designs, making it clear that the problem was Motorola's management. Eventually, even Motorola's own executives had to admit "our quality stinks." Read More...