Isn’t Six Sigma simply a performance target?
The Six Sigma can help you to approach perfection. The title, “Six Sigma”, comes from a statistically derived performance target of only 3.4 defects per million activities or “opportunities”. The unit of measure commonly used is “Defects Per Million Opportunities” (DPMO). The term “defect” means the occurrence of a product or a service that does not meet customer requirements. In normal quality terminology, it is often called a nonconformity. So, DPMO simply indicates how many defects are likely to occur if the activity is performed a million times. Each sigma value equates to a certain DPMO. The higher the sigma value, the less variation there will be and hence the probability of defects will be reduced. In simple terms, as the measured sigma value increases, defects, costs and cycle time reduce and customer satisfaction increases.
