How does Six Sigma work?
The steps of Six Sigma are deceptively simple: Define: Begin at the beginning. What is the defect or problem you are trying to solve? Define the SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers), and define the process itself as best you can. Measure: Collect data (measurements) about the process to gain a better understanding of it. Analyze: Try to figure out what the data is telling you. Often, you will go back and forth between the Measure and the Analyze steps to clarify your understanding of how the process really works. This becomes is your hypothesis. It is essentially the expression of a theory of cause and effect for your process. One thing that distinguishes Six Sigma from other approaches is the genius of this insight: cause and effect can be expressed in terms of a mathematical equation: Y=f(x) Y (Output) is the F(function) of the X(process) Improve: After analyzing the process, you construct an experiment to prove your hypothesis. Your experiment will measurably chang
