SIX SIGMA: WHERE THE
CONCEPT HAS GENERATED
Some researchers have claimed
that Six Sigma quality initiative was started in the mid-1960s. Historically, the roots of
Sigma as a measurement standard can be traced to Carl Fredrick Gauss
(1777-1855), who introduced the concept of normal curve. Walter Shewart
introduced 'three sigma' as a measurement of output variation in 1922 and
stated that process intervention was needed when the output went beyond this
limit. The 'three sigma' concept is related to a process yield of 99.973% and
represents a defect rate of 2,600 per million which was adequate for most
manufacturing organizations until the early 1980s. Henderson and Evans (2000)
have found that Motorola first embarked on its Six Sigma quality initiative in
the mid-1960s and the concept of implementing Six Sigma processes was pioneered
at Motorola in the 1980s. In addition, Dedhia (2005) and Park (2002) have
claimed that Bill Smith at Motorola, during the late 1970s developed the Six
Sigma approach with an objective to control defects at parts per million levels
instead of percentage. Harry and Schroeder (2000) state that Six Sigma had its
birth at Motorola in 1979, when executive Art Sundry stood up at a management
meeting and proclaimed, “The real problem at Motorola is that our quality
stinks!”. Sundry’s proclamation sparked a new era with in Motorola and led to
the discovery of the crucial correlation between higher quality and lower
development costs in manufacturing products of all kinds.
Few
authors are of the opinion that Six Sigma was started in the 1980s without
being specific about the year of inception (Poole, 2000; Wyper and Harrison, 2000;
Hammer and Goding, 2001; Banuelas and Antony, 2003 and Baetke et al., 2002). According to Kumar (2002) and
Antony (2006) Bill Smith,
a senior engineer and scientist at Motorola’s communication division,
introduced the concept of Six Sigma in 1986. Antony
(2007) claimed that the first generation of Six Sigma lasted for a period of 8
years (1987-1994) and the focus was on reduction of defects. Motorola was a
great example of a successful first generation company. The second generation
of Six Sigma spanned the period from 1994 to 2000 and the focus was on cost
reduction. General Electric, Du Pont and Honeywell are good examples of
successful second generation companies. A majority of the authors
mentioned that Six Sigma emerged as a distinct approach to TQM in 1987 at
Motorola (Klesjö et
al., 2001; Caulcutt, 2001;
Wiklund and Wiklund, 2002; Dasgupta, 2003; Pande et al., 2002; Black and Revere,
2006; Schroeder et al., 2008; Hekmatpanah et al., 2008; Prabhushankar, 2008). Motwani et
al. (2004) has stated that
the Six Sigma approach was first introduced and developed at Motorola in the
early 1990s. According to Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park (2006), the Six Sigma
methodology was first introduced in the USA in 1985 at Florida Power and Light (FPL),
when the company decided to apply for the Deming Prize whereas Gutierrez et al. (2009) and Abdelhamid (2003) have stated that the concept of Six sigma originated in Motorola
in the USA around 1985. This shows that there is no consensus on even the place
of origin of Six Sigma.
During the initial period of
implementation, the concentration was mainly on the statistical aspects of Six
Sigma. Some executives at Motorola, like Mikel Harry and Richard Schroeder,
were responsible for the creation of the unique combination of change
management and data-driven methodologies that transformed Six Sigma from a
simple quality measurement and process improvement tool to what it is perceived
today: a breakthrough business excellence philosophy. They developed strategies
and deployment guidelines that will work in a variety of industries. They
elevated Six Sigma from shop floor to boardroom. For his contribution to Six
Sigma, Harry has been credited as the father of Six Sigma (Dedhia, 2005). Until
1994, Six Sigma remained a closely guarded secret at Motorola which the outside
world knew about, but not how to use it. In 1995, however, CEO Gary L. Tooker
decided to throw open the source code. One of the earliest to pick it up was
Allied Signal, where CEO Lawrence Bossidy led the conversion (Lahiri, 1999). GE
began its Six Sigma program in 1995 and has achieved remarkable results since
then. The speech that was delivered by CEO John F. Welch, Jr. on 24 April 1996
at the GE annual meeting that declared Six Sigma as the company’s quality
culture is regarded as a milestone in Six Sigma history. An exponentially
growing number of global firms have launched Six Sigma programs after GE
announced its results in 1996 (Prabhushankar et
al., 2008).
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