Demystifying Six Sigma

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Larson, Alan.
Six sigma demystified : a company-wide approach to continuous
improvement / Alan Larson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8144-7184-6
1. Total quality management. 2. Six sigma (Quality control standard)
3. Customer services—Quality control. I. Title.
HD62.15 .L372 2003
658.4'013—dc21 2002152003

Preface ix
SECTION ONE: THE BASICS OF SIX SIGMA 1
Chapter 1 The Grass Roots of Six Sigma 7
Why It Had to Be Invented 7
The Birth of Six Sigma 9
Black Belts and Green Belts 13
The Required Components 17
Notes 18
Chapter 2 Creating the Cultural Structure 19
Senior Management Roles and Engagement 19
Organizational Development 23
Requirements for Change 27
Note 31
Chapter 3 Preliminary Tasks 32
What Do You Want? 32
Selecting Projects 34
Collecting Data 37
Identifying Required Teams 37
SECTION TWO: A SIX SIGMA CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT TEAMING MODEL 39
Chapter 4 Step 1: Create the Operational Statement
and Metric 49
Operational Statement 49
Internal and External Defects 53
Metric 57
Variable Data 58
Attribute Data 60
Creating the Metric 63
Chapter 5 Step 2: Define the Improvement Teams 68
Identifying the Required Teams 68
Pareto Diagram 69
Staffing the Teams 73
Determining Required Skills and Knowledge 78
Roles and Responsibilities 78
Rules of Conduct 82
Notes 86
Chapter 6 Step 3: Identify Potential Causes 87
Flowcharting 87
Brainstorming 99
Fishbone Diagram 103
Prioritizing 105
Chapter 7 Step 4: Investigation and Root
Cause Identification 108
Action Plan 108
Check Sheet 112
Stratification 122
Histogram 126
Scatter Diagram 130
Chapter 8 Step 5: Make Improvement Permanent 138
Institutionalization 138
Work Method Change 142
Physical Change 142
Procedural Change 145
Training 145
Notes 148
Chapter 9 Step 6: Demonstrate Improvement
and Celebrate 149
Back to Focused Metric 149
Success of the Enterprise 151
Team Recognition 153
SECTION THREE: GETTING STARTED 157
Chapter 10 Start Your Journey 159
Do Something 159
The Fallacy of Zero Defects 160
First Steps 163
Before and After 169
Chapter 11 Managing Change 170
Overview 170
Leadership 172
Participation 172
Training 175
A Six Sigma Change Management Model 175
Your Six Sigma Journey 181
Notes 181
Index 183

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