What Is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is a widely accepted quality methodology that strives for near perfection. It has been used successfully by companies like Motorola and General Electric to significantly improve quality and reduce costs.
Six Sigma is a disciplined and data driven approach designed to systematically drive defects from any process. It can be used to improve any process – from transactional to manufacturing, from product to service.
The term “Six Sigma” is a statistical phrase that refers to six standard deviations from the mean. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Defects are defined as anything outside customer specifications. Customers are defined as any external or internal users of the process.
How Does Six Sigma Work?
The Processes
The Six Sigma processes used by quality improvement teams are called DMAIC and DMADV.
DMAIC
DMAIC refers to the process steps of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, And Control. This process is used to achieve incremental improvement in any targeted process.
DMADV
DMADV refers to the process steps of Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, And Verify. This process is used to develop new processes, products, or services at Six Sigma quality levels.
TFane and Six Sigma
At TFane, Six Sigma methods are employed at all points during the outsourcing process.
When a new process is taken on, TFane business process analysts, search for Six Sigma process improvement opportunities while documenting the process. With client permission, process improvements are implemented during the transition phase.
Once the process has been transferred to the outsourcing Business Center, Six Sigma quality improvement projects can be initiated. Using the DMAIC and DMADV processes, TFane works to bring about process improvements resulting in greater efficiency and/or effectiveness.
But that is not all. Whenever a problem in a process is uncovered, TFane initiates a Six Sigma response. The problem is documented, then Six Sigma tools are used to identify, quantify, and eliminate the problem. At TFane, we take process quality seriously. Six Sigma methods ensure that defects are systematically removed from every process outsourced.
What Are the Expected Benefits?
The benefits resulting from Six Sigma projects are limited only by the creativity of the team members involved. Using Six Sigma quality improvement process, any reasonable project can be attempted. Below are some possibilities sorted by various business disciplines.
Transaction Processing
•
Improvement in cross-selling
Improvement in cross-selling•Improvement in sales conversion process cycle time
Improvement in sales conversion process cycle time•Increase in repeat orders
Increase in repeat orders•Reduction in bad deals processed
Reduction in bad deals processed•Reduction in credit approval cycle time
Reduction in credit approval cycle time•Reduction in sales order entry time
Reduction in sales order entry time•Reduction in sales order errors
Reduction in sales order errorsCustomer Care
•Decrease in average talk time
Decrease in average talk time•Increase in average talk time
Increase in average talk time•Improvement in employee knowledge
Improvement in employee knowledge•Identification of missed, abandoned, and busy calls
Identification of missed, abandoned, and busy calls•Reduction in number of times client is put on hold
Reduction in number of times client is put on hold•Call source data by number, and geography
Call source data by number, and geography
