Six Sigma - Origin and Meaning of The Term "six Sigma Process"

Origin and Meaning of The Term "six Sigma Process"

The term "six sigma process" comes from the notion that if one has six standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit, as shown in the graph, practically no items will fail to meet specifications. This is based on the calculation method employed in process capability studies.

Capability studies measure the number of standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit in sigma units. As process standard deviation goes up, or the mean of the process moves away from the center of the tolerance, fewer standard deviations will fit between the mean and the nearest specification limit, decreasing the sigma number and increasing the likelihood of items outside specification.

Read more about this topic:  Six Sigma

Famous quotes containing the words origin, meaning, term and/or process:

    “Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. They give us, now and then, some of those luxurious sterile emotions that have a certain charm for the weak.... They are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”
    —Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    “The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live—moreover, the only one.”
    —E.M. Cioran (b. 1911)

    “Here the term ‘language-game’ is meant to bring into prominence the fact that the speaking of language is part of an activity, of a form of life.”
    —Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)

    “In contrast to revenge, which is the natural, automatic reaction to transgression and which, because of the irreversibility of the action process can be expected and even calculated, the act of forgiving can never be predicted; it is the only reaction that acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a reaction, something of the original character of action.”
    —Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)