dc.description.abstract | In 1984, Motorola found that in their internal operating process, there were 66,800 defects in average. They reviewed and improved the related process when the defects were over 3 “Sigma”. However, this kind of quality management didn’t help much to improve their operational performance. In order to pursue the higher quality, Motorola promoted and implemented “6 Sigma” internally to advance their performance, which means only less than 3.4 defects are allowed among 1 million opportunities.
Another successful story; the former CEO of GE, Jack Welch aggressively implemented “6 Sigma” within GE organization and he finally transformed GE into the most profitable and valuable corporation in the world. GE’s outstanding performance confirmed the benefit of the implementation of “6 Sigma” and it also proved “6 Sigma” was one of the best management mechanisms to advance company’s competitiveness in the extremely competitive market.
This study was focusing on one of the “6 Sigma” activities proceeded at researched company; “Inventory Management Improvement”. It analyzed this project’s method and the process, and tried to verify the benefit and the affect to the company.
According to the observation of this research, a company needs to create an environment which is good for “6 Sigma” to thrive. Only under some certain circumstance, could the effect and benefit of a project be generated as expected and continuous improved. However, if a company over-emphasizes the effect of the “6 Sigma” or implements “6 Sigma” without an appropriate planning and arrangement, the outcome might not be as favorable to the stakeholders as expected.
In conclusion, whether you consider “6 Sigma” is a quality improvement tool or a best management mechanism, itself is merely a theory, a framework, a set of process. The key successful criteria are the favorable environment, open mindset and the determination to succeed constructed by the organization.
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