A Case Study Displaying Results of Using Six Sigma

Many people who are considering implementing Six Sigma in their companies are curious as to how it has been used in larger corporations. One example of Six Sigma training success is General Electric, which went from a wasteful, bureaucratic conglomerate to a lean, streamlined business through the Six Sigma training process. For GE, Six Sigma certification has made the difference between success and failure.

GE was the average American company, run by a bureaucratic board and line of corporate management. This was their downfall, and they needed a major change to keep them from becoming a company defined by waste and greed. The first thing they did was Six Sigma training. Corporate levels went through the black belt certification while the lower levels went through Six Sigma training. Once that was done, they went on to apply the six Sigma principles to the business.

Processes were evaluated until they could be reduced to quantifiable steps. This left no room for waste. Executive level workers learned to ask for input from employees in all levels. Lines of communication became more open, which left room for better efficiency, customer service and boosted morale and productivity. This is what has made GE different in their field.

The process through which Six Sigma delivers such excellent results is quite simple. The employees who have passed the Six Sigma black belt training now identify the aspects that are Critical to Quality (CTQ’s). Identifying defects, and measuring the process capabilities is then performed.

After the data is gathered, Six Sigma then teaches people to identify variation- which is the time when a process doesn’t deliver what was desired of it. Then a process is redesigned and controlled to prevent variation. This is what Six Sigma is all about.

If higher efficiency and better customer service sounds good to you, then Six Sigma can be the single most important thing to help change your company. You might just found you cannot afford not to use Six Sigma.

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