Created by Bill Smith, an engineer at Motorola in the 1980s, “Six Sigma” is a set of practices aimed at reducing instabilities in a company’s processes and procedures.
Its main characteristic is the continuous pursuit of improvement, achieved by decreasing the standard deviation—a measure that indicates the degree of variation of a set of values relative to their mean.
In this way, processes become more uniform, reducing the likelihood of defects and consequently increasing customer satisfaction.
Moreover, implementing Six Sigma boosts productivity, improves profit margins, and helps reduce various costs in the production process. This methodology also fosters a culture of continuous improvement that benefits all sectors of a company.
Difference Between “Six Sigma” and the “Lean” Methodology
The main difference between Six Sigma and Lean lies in the practices used to increase a company’s profitability and productivity.
While Lean targets all forms of waste, Six Sigma focuses on reducing standard deviation to minimize defects and variations in services, processes, and products.
Although they share the same ultimate goal, the approaches differ because each methodology relies on different types of information to achieve results.
Beyond the objective, both methodologies are similar in that they can be adopted by professionals from any area and hierarchical level within a company, proving highly effective when centered on customer needs. In both cases, the recommended approach is to foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Source: RD Station
