Six Sigma process - a brief introduction
Motorola's 1986 initiative reduced product defects to 3.4 per million opportunities using statistical measurements. Most companies operate at 3 Sigma with 66,807 defects per million. Shifting just one Sigma level to 4 Sigma returns massive savings to bottom line, typically generating 20% profit margin growth annually through systematic DMAIC methodology identifying root causes.
Six Sigma methodology demands consistent process execution and measurement. Here is how we approach continuous process improvement.
Tallyfy is Process Improvement Made Easy
Summary
- Six Sigma targets 3.4 defects per million opportunities - Motorola’s 1986 initiative successfully reduced product defects to near-perfect levels using statistical measurements, later expanding across all business processes beyond just manufacturing
- DMAIC methodology provides systematic defect elimination - The five-step process (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) identifies root causes through data analysis rather than guessing, creating measurable improvements
- Most companies operate at 3 Sigma with 66,807 defects per million - Shifting just one Sigma level to 4 Sigma (6,210 defects) returns massive savings to the bottom line, typically generating 20% profit margin growth annually
- Controls fail when organizations cannot track adherence consistently - The biggest reason for Six Sigma failure is controls that don’t stick; process improvement only works when changes are monitored and enforced systematically. See how Tallyfy tracks process controls
Quality and compliance concerns appear in over 1,500 combined conversations we track with mid-market teams. In an ideal world, companies would be able to run their business with no waste and no buyer attrition. Without these bumps in the road, companies could significantly increase their profits.
Alas, the world is not ideal. But that doesn’t mean weighty waste reduction and improved customer retention isn’t a possibility. Enter the Six Sigma process.
Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you cannot measure something, you cannot understand it. If you cannot understand it, you cannot control it. And if you cannot control it, you cannot improve it.
— H. James Harrington (Author & Management Mentor)
In fact, in 1986, Motorola was so confident that they could make these changes to their production and buyer satisfaction that they designed an initiative to reduce their product defects down to 3.4 defects per million products. This initiative was so successful that Motorola expanded it to their other business processes and they branded it as their Six Sigma process.
What is the Six Sigma process?
In simplest terms, the Six Sigma process is a quality control program. When it was developed, its purpose was to reduce manufacturing defects and improve cycle time. Over the past few decades, the program was adapted to address a wider range of general business needs, such as sustaining and improving business products and services, improving customer retention, and better meeting customer requirements.
In more advanced terms, the goal of a Six Sigma process is to make statistical improvements to business processes. It reduces focus on qualitative markers, in preference of qualitative measurements of success - think project management, financial analysis, and statistics. Success is seen as efficiency, which is recognized as a business process that has less than 3.4 defects or problems, anything that does not satisfy the consumer, per one million chances. At its core, a Six Sigma process advocates the idea that all business processes can be optimized through measurement.
How does the Six Sigma process work?
A Six Sigma Process is a five-step process that goes by the acronym DMAIC. The “D” stands for define.
This first step is where a team of people, who are often led by a Six Sigma certified professional, define the fault. This is where their focus will be and it is landed on by analyzing the organization’s requirements and goals. During the define step, the team outlines the specific problem or fault, their goals, and the project deliverables.
The “M” stands for “measure.” During this step, the team takes a look at the current process and measures its initial performance. These measurements come from the list of inputs that are potentially causing the problem. They also enable the team to get a clear picture of the benchmark performance of the process.
One measurement that doesn’t get enough attention: figuring out your “beat” - the rhythm at which you need to complete work to keep up with customer demand. Think of it like a metronome for your process. If customers need 100 widgets per day and you have 8 hours of production time, you need to finish one widget every 4.8 minutes to stay in sync. Fall behind that beat, and backlogs pile up. Race ahead, and you’re building inventory nobody asked for yet. This pacing concept helps teams spot where they’re genuinely constrained versus where they just feel busy.
The “A” stands for “analyze.” The team isolates every input that could be causing the defect. They then test each input to see if it is the root of the problem and analyze the results. The team then identifies the problem input.
The “I” stands for “improve.” After identifying the problem input, the team makes a plan for improving the system performance and puts this plan into action.
Finally, the “C” stands for “controls.” The team creates controls and integrates them into the process. This ensures that the defect doesn’t become an issue again.
How does the Six Sigma process benefit organizations?
Employee and customer satisfaction
The benefits of a Six Sigma process go beyond increased profits and increased customer satisfaction. It helps to develop a more stable and strong organization as a whole.
One of the most surprising benefits of this method is increased employee satisfaction. This is mainly because Six Sigma processes can be applied to employee queries. Whether queries are about company regulations, terms of contracts or pay entitlements, they frustrate and confuse both employees and HR, as well as wasting time.
When the Six Sigma process is applied to this area of business, errors are removed, time is saved, and morale is boosted. Employees have a clear understanding of how much overtime they qualify for, how much vacation time they can have, and exactly how payroll works.
Increased productivity
A second potential benefit of a Six Sigma process is increased productivity. Using your staff to their full potential is a major challenge.
It can be difficult to pinpoint the root cause of low productivity, especially when you need to measure the time that is spent on both indirect and direct work activities. You might need to hire more staff. Or it could be that they just need more training.
Alternatively, the major issue might actually be with your supply chain. Six Sigma’s methodological process can provide clarity on what the real issue is and how you can address it.
Reduced waste
A third possible benefit that a Six Sigma process offers is the reduced waste. Resources can be severely drained by any work process that adds no value in the eye of the consumer.
And this doesn’t just mean overproduction or wasted materials, costs and time. It also includes waste such as untapped employee skills, ideas, and creativity or the unnecessary movement of products, people and information. A Six Sigma process probably helps an organization dig down deep into why this waste is occurring, understand how to cut the output of services or manufacturing of products that aren’t being immediately used, and implement controls that slim down unnecessary processes.
Here’s something that surprised me when I first looked at this data: in many business processes, only around 10-15% of the total time spent actually adds value from the customer’s perspective. The rest? Waiting. Handoffs. Approvals sitting in someone’s inbox. Items queued up in batches because “we’ve always done it that way.” When you process things in large batches rather than one at a time, most of those units just sit there doing nothing while they wait their turn. It’s like making everyone at a restaurant wait until all 50 orders are ready before serving anyone. Moving toward smaller batches - or even handling one thing at a time where possible - can slash that idle time dramatically. The math is brutal, but honest.
Improved market share
The fourth benefit of a Six Sigma process often offers businesses is the possibility of an improved market share. For every Sigma process shift, organizations that have implemented a Six Sigma process will often see about 20% profit margin growth annually.
Most companies sit around 3 Sigma or 66,807 defects per million opportunities. Even just one Sigma shift, to 4 Sigma, represents a serious amount returned to the organization’s bottom line - down to 6,210 defects per million opportunities. These type of improvements mean companies can invest that saved money into the creation of new services, products, features, and functions, which will, in turn, result in an even larger share of the market.
How can organizations make their Six Sigma process controls stick?
While the Six Sigma process can look like magic. It is not.
It is hard work. Really hard work. After an organization has finally isolated the causes of defects, they then have to figure out how to avoid those causes - and stick to it. One of the biggest reasons organizations fail to make a Sigma shift is that their controls aren’t adhered to.
In discussions we have had with large insurance companies implementing workflow standardization, lack of control adherence was the recurring theme. One organization with 10 different business units found that without trackable, enforced processes, their compliance and underwriting teams were essentially reinventing the wheel in each department - leading to inconsistent quality and missed approvals.
But this doesn’t have to be the case. Controls aren’t difficult to keep in place if they are implemented and tracked carefully.
In my experience, one of the most effective ways to keep controls in place is through the use of outside guidance, such as Tallyfy’s SaaS app for workflow. This app is ideal for a process that needs to be repeated over and over again.
It moves controls over from flimsy spreadsheets or paper to interactive software, which ensures that they are done on time, consistently and accurately. Tallyfy also allows for the process or control to be tracked and audited, whether it is a human-intensive process, internal support process, or customer-facing process. This means that not only can you improve the process, but you will be able to easily meet all compliance requirements as well.
The true beauty of Tallyfy’s workflow application is that it was built with the Six Sigma process in mind. If an organization doesn’t have the time to complete process mapping and improvement, Tallyfy has outsourcing services available to their Six Sigma partners and consultants.
This way companies can be sure that they have a clearly defined and communicated “who”, “what”, “when”, “how” and “why in their process mapping. In addition, the process maps are easy to follow, track, measure and improve. No more hoping that the final stage of your Six Sigma approach sticks.
Once you have it mapped out, you have all the accountability and clarity that everyone involved needs.
Quality control and process improvement templates
Is quality optional?
Are you hearing this at work? That's busywork
Enter between 1 and 150,000
Enter between 0.5 and 40
Enter between $10 and $1,000
Based on $30/hr x 4 hrs/wk
Your loss and waste is:
every week
What you are losing
Cash burned on busywork
per week in wasted wages
What you could have gained
160 extra hours could create:
per week in real and compounding value
Total cumulative impact over time (real cost + missed opportunities)
You are bleeding cash, annoying every employee and killing dreams.
It's a no-brainer
Related questions
What is 6 Sigma concept process?
The term “Six Sigma” has to do with a process that enables people to improve something they do by identifying and eliminating the causes of mistakes in the process. It is like the recipe for cooking the perfect thing: You give it a try, measure everything, figure out where you went wrong and try to do it better, bit by bit. The concept is to minimize errors in everything you do, whether that is making a product, or serving a customer.
What is the 6 Six Sigma process?
The Six Sigma method began with a method called DMAIC: Define (what is broken, that is), Measure (gather data on the problem), Analyze (look for the root cause of the problem), Improve (make it better), and Control (keep it working well). It is like being an investigator who solves problems with facts and digits instead of guessing for what he or she does not know.
What are the 5 steps of Six Sigma?
The five steps to Six Sigma are: Define what the problem is and find out what customers want Measure what is currently going on Analyze data to find the factors that causes things to happen Improve the process by making changes Control the new process to make sure it does not go wrong. One foot in front of the other, just like you climbing up stairs.
What is Six Sigma level process?
A six sigma process is statistically so predictable that you are pretty sure that no more than 3.4 defects will take place in million opportunities! Think about it if you made a million sandwiches and only 3 or 4 were bad. That is how much better a Six Sigma process is. Most companies are at about 3 or 4 Sigma - and that is a lot more errors.
Why is it called 6 sigma?
It is named Six Sigma because it uses statistics - sigma is a measure of how much something varies from perfect. Six Sigma describes how good that process is: The average is six standard deviations from the nearest point where things go seriously wrong. It is like a safety window that is a mere six times the size it typically is.
What is the difference between Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma?
With Six Sigma, it is about reducing errors and variation, and Lean Six Sigma couples that with reducing waste and time. It is like having the car in tip-top and efficient condition (Six Sigma), but also making sure it uses the least amount of gas and takes the most direct route (Lean Six Sigma).
What is continuous improvement?
Never learn to like something, or to be something from something that is premised on emptiness, because one day you will lose it. It is like gardening - you do not plant it once and leave it. But you keep watering and pruning and tending them so they will improve with age.
How long does it take to implement Six Sigma?
Six Sigma to institutionalize it in your organization may take from six months to a couple of years, depending on how large your organization is or how complex your processes are. Think of it as learning to play an instrument: You can begin to learn a couple of basic tunes quickly, but it takes time and practice to become a virtuoso.
What industries use Six Sigma?
Six Sigma started in manufacturing and is now used everywhere - in hospitals and banks and restaurants and tech companies. Six Sigma can be applied anywhere you want to increase the speed of a process because with more speed, you are minimizing defects and improving things. It is like a universal language for getting better.
What are Six Sigma certification levels?
Six Sigmas even have belts, like martial arts - White, Yellow, Green, Black and Master Black Belt. At every level, it seems, how good you are at problem-solving and driving improvements. A Yellow Belt will have basic knowledge, and a Master Black Belt is capable of teaching others and solving the most challenging problems.
How does Six Sigma save money?
Six Sigma saves money because it eliminates waste, errors, and re-dos. You are actually spending less money fixing problems since if that is done right the first time. It is like driving a car that never goes into the shop - you number one save on repairs, and secondly you are there less.
Can small businesses use Six Sigma?
Six Sigma for small business? Absolutely.
The principles are relevant to organizations of all sizes. You can start in a small way, one process at a time.
It is kind of like learning to drive by reading a map - the skills are the same, whether you are driving to the corner store or to a different state.
About the Author
Amit is the CEO of Tallyfy. He is a workflow expert and specializes in process automation and the next generation of business process management in the post-flowchart age. He has decades of consulting experience in task and workflow automation, continuous improvement (all the flavors) and AI-driven workflows for small and large companies. Amit did a Computer Science degree at the University of Bath and moved from the UK to St. Louis, MO in 2014. He loves watching American robins and their nesting behaviors!
Follow Amit on his website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, X (Twitter) or YouTube.
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