In this post we discuss how you can begin setting up Six Sigma processes to your company’s way of working.

First, you need to assess whether you are really ready for Six Sigma. This is because, though it seems easy and commonsensical, Six Sigma is a very demanding methodology, demanding commitment, talent, infrastructure, the right culture and accountability.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Is my organization taking this seriously? Will they have the stamina to see it through to the end?

Do I have pre-trained people to do this? Do I need to train them first?

Do I have the necessary resources to carry it through?

Have my people got the right attitude to this? Do I need to change their thinking?

Does everyone accept the accountability and responsibility that it demands?

This done, you will need to get some quick education in place so that everyone understand the jargon used, as well as is able to understand whether DMAIC, DFSS or Lean Six Sigma is required.

Then you organize your team and assign key responsibilities, according to competencies. Set the framework for communications within the team. Begin rolling out your plan, with set timelines and goals firmly in place.

Choose the set of tactics you are going to utilise to achieve your goal. Constantly keep assessing what is working, and what is not.

And finally, keep the define-measure-analyze-implement-control methodology in mind, never failing to measure everything, analyze everything before you act.

Each of these five steps has been very carefully studied by us. We have thus created a set of five templates – one for each – which we together call the Copesetic Six Sigma Framework. Each template comes with a detailed questionnaire that will help you assess – qualitatively and quantitatively – where you stand, as well as help you chart out the way forward.

In the next post, we can begin with knowing how to assess your company’s Six Sigma readiness.