Introduction To Six Sigma

Two types of measures are of importance to the team: input measures and output measures. Input measures relate to those things the team must have to do the things the team needs to do. This may be information from IT. It may be computer programs. The team should measure and record the flow in, as well as the flow out.

There are two major aspects to the Measure phase:

• Creating the data collection plan
• Implementing the data collection plan

Typical measures for processes are cycle time, cost, value and labor. But the most important measure of all is measuring how well you are meeting or exceeding the requirements of the customer.

Most of the time you should measure defects. A defect can be a product that does not meet specifications. It can be a medical error that places patients at risk, or simply an unhappy customer. In Six Sigma, defects are defined per million opportunities for the defect to occur. The calculation is simple:

Number of defects x 1,000,000 DIVIDED BY Number of units x Number of opportunities