Articles

Important Key Principles in Six Sigma

The reason Six Sigma works is because of its key principles. If every business followed these principles, there is no doubt that the number of business successes would dramatically rise.

Value

Customer focus and requirements: This is the main staple of business success, really understanding what is important to your customer/client and understanding what they expect and require from your establishment to make their experience with your product or service perfect. A great tool to use for this area would be VOC (Voice of Customer). Also, by focusing on your customer, this action alone will improve the quality and value of your products or services.

Value Stream

Know how the processes work in your business by creating a Value Stream Map (VSM) of the entire operation at your company or business. This would include marketing, ordering, delivery, logistics, technology involved and any part of the processes involved with the product or service. As this data is collected using a VSM, it is easy to see which tasks add value to the product and which don’t.

Work Flow

Flow of the processes with ease adds value to any business. All processes should flow into the correct amount of product, done right without pushing or forcing things through too early or late. This would be considered waste or non-value. For processes to be done correctly, there is an exact amount of time; too fast or too slow is waste.

Pull

Only produce what is needed. Overproduction is considered waste because your resources have already been used and you don’t know for sure if what has been produced might not be needed in the near future. Having too large of an inventory is always considered waste, since it takes up resources, valuable space and production costs. It is important to always maintain a good solid pull system.

Teamwork

Involve everyone in the organization into reaching a set goal, of working as a team for the united cause of the success of the organization. Cross training, continuous education, and encouraging and challenging employees to make them feel they are truly valued as an important part of the organization will create loyalty and a future for the organization.

For more information on our Six Sigma training courses or services, please visit 6sigma.us.