Top Ten Critical Success Factors for Six Sigma

The root causes of the problems should be addressed, not the symptoms of them.

A successful Six Sigma program should include a root cause analysis. The purpose of a root cause analysis is to answer the question of WHY the process or product is defective. By repeatedly asking the question "Why", you can peel away the layers of symptoms, which can lead to the root cause of a problem. In Key Concepts of Six Sigma I discuss the Six Sigma methodology (DMAIC), which includes an Analyze Phase.

It is the responsibility of everyone in the organization to ensure that quality is built in at the source.

It would be great if every organization had senior management fully on board from the start of a Six Sigma program. But not every organization is so lucky; many improvement efforts start at middle or lower levels. In order for a Six Sigma program to be successful, deployment must begin at the top-level of a organization. Without top-level acceptance and support, a Six Sigma program will ultimately fail.

An environment must be developed that encourages the constant improvement of products and services.

One chief danger that can occur with a Six Sigma implementation is alienation of the process owners. Many front-line and area managers have displayed frustration when unsolicited help is offered to solve a problem in their area of expertise. Strangers from “quality” or a Black Belt swoop down from on high, put together a team, find a solution (for which they get the primary reward and recognition), and swoop away to work on another project regardless of the long-term viability of their solution. In turn, local process owners begin to feel alienated. Sometimes these feelings of alienation are partially related to envy of the Black Belts’ task of working on the interesting, big-ticket problems, while the local workers run the process on a daily basis. By not involving the entire workforce in continuous improvement and relying solely on Black Belts, a company will eventually lose its competitive edge.

Defective products and services must be considered unacceptable.

When would a product be acceptable to a customer? As stated by Philip B. Crosby in his book, Quality is Free, “The quality manager must be clear, right from the start, that zero defects is not a motivation program. Its purpose is to communicate to all employees the literal meaning of the words ‘zero defects’ and the thought that everyone should do things right the first time.” In all industries, defects cost money, waste time, and frustrate managers. “It’s important to create a culture of prevention, which causes people to prevent defects and nonconformities,” says Kevin Weiss, CEO of The Capability Group and Philip Crosby Associates. “The message is clear: if you build and sustain a prevention-oriented culture, both defects and non-conformances are driven out of the organization.”

The customer requirements must be fully understood to provide good quality.

Six Sigma places the highest priority on customer input, providing much-needed insight into what customers need. The design team needs to understand the requirements of the customer and predict whether the proposed (or the existing) design meets customer expectations. The objectives of the project should focus on critical issues, which are aligned with the company’s business strategy and the customer’s requirements. Explicit customer requirements in Six Sigma are called Critical-to-Quality (CTQ) characteristics.

The second article in this series, will conclude with the remaining Success Factors of Lean Six Sigma, and in the third article I will wrap up the series with a top five list of Six Sigma tools. The final article will provide a list of helpful Six Sigma tools that are critical to the success of a Six Sigma program.