They were the ones whose vision pushed them into uncharted land, whose spirit could not be contained by convention.

These are the expedition teams, the early explorers and pioneers who forsook the past to seize the future. At the same time, Six Sigma has evolved in terms of scope and depth as it has been implemented in manufacturing-, engineering-, service- and transaction-based businesses.Īlong the way, new modes have been explored and formed by key people and companies, the Lewis and Clarks of Six Sigma, if you will. We would like to point out, however, that it has generally progressed from PFSS to DFSS, as unified by MFSS. We do not intend here to provide a complete history of Six Sigma or a detailed description of how it has moved from a statistical measure to a management system. When we consider the formation of these modes, we see that they have been developed and exploited at different times by different people and companies, beginning in 1985 with the late Motorola engineer Bill Smith. The first is design for Six Sigma (DFSS), the second is processing for Six Sigma (PFSS) and the third is managing for Six Sigma (MFSS). To understand the relative scope and depth of Six Sigma, we can decompose it into three different yet highly related modes of practice. Third, it is a scientific approach for minimizing the forms of risk commonly associated with the lifecycle of a product or service. Second, it is a tactical system of management that optimizes the control function of a commercial or industrial enterprise. First, it is a strategic vision that epitomizes business success. With this in mind, we can view Six Sigma on three levels. In its purest form, Six Sigma is about leveraging the principles and tools of science to abate risk in business.

Six sigma history and success stories