What is SiGMA?
At its core, Six Sigma is a method of achieving process improvement by eliminating defects as well as the opportunity for defects. The idea is that if you can measure how many defects you have in a process or procedure, you can figure out how to eliminate those defects. The word “sigma” is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. The number six indicates the “level of sigma,” or the closeness to perfection. For example, two sigma would indicate a process that is perfect 69.1% of the time. A three sigma process is perfect 93.32% of the time. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must be perfect 99.99966% of the time. However Six Sigma is more than an abstract statistical concept. For example, a municipal water utility operating at 3.8 sigma would produce unsafe drinking water for 15 minutes each day. Operating at Six Sigma, the occurrence of unsafe drinking water would drop to one minute every seven months. Adopting Six Sigma means training your emplo
