Six Sigma: Continuous Improvement Toward Excellence

Manufacturing and service organizations attempt to improve their products and processes by decreasing variation, because the competitive global market leaves little room for error. Variation is the biggest enemy of quality that is defined and evaluated by customers. The traditional concept of quality is based on average measures of the process/product and their deviation from the ideal target value. However, customers evaluate the quality of a process/product not only on the basis of the average but also by the variance in each transaction or use of the product. Customers want consistent, reliable, and predictable processes that deliver the best-in-class level of quality.