Six Sigma: The Advantage

SIX SIGMA: THE ADVANTAGE

I. INTRODUCTION

In a capitalist market, businesses are always competing against each other to gain more market share and profits. Obtaining the competitive edge in the market place is the aspiration for great companies and extremely necessary for the company’s survival. In most companies, upper management usually creates a strategy, such as a low cost strategy or a differentiation strategy, to maximize its profit in the market place. Through the implementation of these different strategies, various methods of quality control have been developed. Six Sigma is the newest of these quality control mechanisms.

Six Sigma’s main objective is to develop a “measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction” (Antony, 2004: 2) in producing a product or service. In fact, when using Six Sigma, the target goal for high quality is near 100% perfection. To understand Six Sigma, it is important to know what it is, the keys of implementation, and the advantages it brings to the company.

II. WHAT IS SIX SIGMA?

Tadikamalla (1994) describes