Six Sigma Measurement Units / Methodology

[Mick Ferry]

I am new to Six Sigma and have a "dumb" question. When developing measures, why aren't the measures expressed simply as a % of opporutunities (realitive to perfection-100%). Speaking with some in the field/shop floor, they seem to have a tough time grasping the idea when all the statistical manipulations are made.

Thanks,

mick

[SteelMaiden]

Mick, Welcome to the Cove, there are no dumb questions, but if you get a reply from me, I won't vouch for answers!!!

Being new to the whole 6s thing myself, I sometimes feel that our "trained" personnel does tend to confuse the issue with jargon when speaking to the uninitiated. Now, I've been in quality so long that I dream in stats, but not everyone in a manufacturing environment has the education to immediately grasp the concepts.

The 6s folks aren't doing anything that I haven't pushed to have done, but somehow, IMHO, sending them to classes and telling them they are certified sometimes seems to make them forget WHY (continual improvement) we are adopting the program, and cause them to focus on their newfound identity (black belt, green belt, etc.) I finally brought in my collection of "belts" (all my karate belts are in a case with a glass front) and hung it on my office wall. So now when I ask someone why or how they have come to their conclussion and they tell me it is because they know because THEY are a black belt, I say "Really, so am I, I didn't realize we had so much in common."

Anyhoo, I have offered you no help at all, but I believe that as your program matures, (as I am sure ours will), the newness will wear off, the "belted" folks will learn to communicated (or get belted?), and the average production employee will begin to pick up the lingo through osmosis.

Good luck on your journey, I am sure that we have some much more experienced folks who will weigh in shortly.

[Marc]

Anyone have anything to add to this?

[e006823]

Originally Posted by Mick Ferry

I am new to Six Sigma and have a "dumb" question. When developing measures, why aren't the measures expressed simply as a % of opporutunities (realitive to perfection-100%). Speaking with some in the field/shop floor, they seem to have a tough time grasping the idea when all the statistical manipulations are made.

Thanks,

mick

I'm going to assume the Mick was questioning the use of the DPMO instead of a % of opportunities. Two reasons that I’m aware of for the use of the DPMO metric are:
1) Comparison of dissimilar processes and the subsequent allocation of resources.
2) DPMO is a metric that focuses on the process instead of the product: i.e. a circuit board soldering process, typically has many different part numbers pass thru the process, by using a defect opportunity count of components + solder joints, we will be focusing on the defects produced by the process which should lead to a more effective process improvement activity.

However, you should always keep in mind that the metric/measurement used on the process should be one that makes sense for the business and not one that is artificially forced on the process.


Bob