Six Sigma from products to pollution to people

Six Sigma innovation and design developed in manufacturing environments, but their deployment is rapidly expanding to applications in service areas including, perhaps most notably, health care. This paper discusses Six Sigma innovation and design as interdisciplinary strategies with the potential for boundary-crossing, and novel applications that are not strictly driven by technological advancement, but possibly also by ethical concerns. Included, in the discussion are military and defense applications as well as ones related to society, energy and natural resource conservation, and potential for applications in such ‘soft’ areas as entertainment, civil rights, and human performance.