Thursday, March 14, 2013

We are doing a 4.5 Sigma program?

Dr. Bill Latzko has published a very short and informative paper on the ideas underlying the Six Sigma program. Advocates of Six Sigma often talk about achieving Six Sigma quality meaning 3.4 parts per million. Latzko discusses this and the assumptions in this great paper:

http://www.latzko-associates.com/Publications/SIX_Sig.pdf

Dr. Taguchi idea of reducing variation around a target should be studied and understood by those who are interested improvement. Focusing on meeting specifications has been a step backward that Deming warned us about in his last book: “Conformance to specifications, zero defects, Six Sigma Quality, and all other (specification-based) nostrums all miss the point.”

We can do better.