SIX SIGMA - WHY QUALITY WON'T GO AWAY By Dale K. Mize Quality - those attributes of a product or service, that meet the needs and expectations of the user, as perceived by the user. It is not excellence or some level of goodness. In manufacturing, it is definitely not just making parts to spec. -Dale K. Mize A number of years ago, I visited the automotive store of a large national retailer to buy a tire. The auto store was located outside of the mall itself in the parking lot area. Plastered all over their large plate glass windows were posters stating "59 minute guarantee" on tires and batteries and such. I explained to the service representative that I wanted to buy a tire to match the new, unused tire in my trunk, and then have them mounted and balanced on my car. An hour and a half later, I approached the service desk to inquire about my car, which was still visible on the rack in the work area. I asked about the "59 minute guarantee." He responded with, "sorry, we're into this quality thing, here's a coupon for a 10% discount on an oil change since we didn't get it done on time." I never returned to that store again, …for anything, much less tires. And, I told other people about them. You see, they didn't get the concept! You cannot make up for poor quality. It's done. It's water over the falls. Obviously, when it happens in a business, it must be compensated, but what quality improvement is all about is keeping it from happening in the first place. Frank Caplan, one of the many authors who have written on the subject of quality, says that on average, a dissatisfied customer will tell thirty people of that dissatisfaction. We justify spending enormous sums of money in business to convince people to buy our products and services, yet dissatisfied customers can have a impact upon future sales perhaps far greater than all of our advertising put together. Quality is all about customer satisfaction. The definition I wrote and share with my classes is: Quality - those attributes of a product or service, that meet the needs and expectations of the user, as perceived by the user. It is not excellence or some level of goodness. In manufacturing, it is definitely not just making parts to spec. Many organizations embraced Total Quality Management (TQM) during the past twenty years or so. Many were very successful with it and saved a lot of money, gained customers or perhaps just managed to survive in a growing, competitive marketplace. Many other organizations failed with attempts at TQM. Enough of them failed, that the media, authors and consultants claimed what a failure TQM was. It was dead and buried, like all of the other business fads. The unfortunate facts are TQM wasn't a failure, as much as the management attempts at it were a failure. Depending upon the consultant or the employee's background who was named to lead TQM, it often became just another HR program, full of warm and fuzzes; just a bunch of coffee cups and tee shirts. Too many people did not understand what it really is and what it really takes to do it successfully. So now along comes Six Sigma; the next management fad. Or is it? How is Six Sigma different from TQM? Although many of the prominent authors out there are telling us it is totally different and that TQM was a dismal failure, I see that rhetoric as self serving in order to sell their latest book. The fact is, it's not radically different. Just like TQM, it is based upon the very true concept, that real quality improvement costs less, not more, because it pays for itself in reduced waste and increased customer satisfaction. It uses the same techniques and methods that are a part of, or should have been in proper TQM. Here are the real differences. IT IS PROJECT BASED. Instead of unfocussed, organization wide improvement efforts, the efforts are focused on the greatest opportunities for increased cost savings and increased customer satisfaction. This provides much greater visibility and hence greater scrutiny by management for payback. It also provides for greater support to ensure success. IT IS A PRESCRIBED METHODOLOGY, CALLED DMAIC. This stands for define, measure, analyze, improve and control. When teams follow this sequence, and management supports them, the results are achieved. It requires measurement and the use of appropriate statistical methods. The most important metric used is savings in dollars. Hidden costs within the organization are uncovered and vigorously attacked. It is not a criticism of the financial folks, but the traditional accounting methods companies use hide tremendous amounts of waste. The structure of DMAIC is to really "get at" those hidden costs. IT IS CUSTOMER FOCUSED. The customer needs and expectations are clearly identified and intensely focused upon. CTQ's or Critical To Quality metrics are measured aggressively. Goals for these are not just increased a little, but often set at an order of magnitude higher to leap frog competition. IT IS SYSTEM WIDE IMPROVEMENT. In too many TQM attempts, one person could improve their process and look like a winner at the expense of another person in another function who was impacted by the "improvement" by the "winner." A cornerstone of Six Sigma is the requirement that the organization be seen as a system. Barriers or silos within the organization are required to be broken in order for system wide improvement to occur. All of these differences will have zero effect, however, if management support falls short. One of the participants in our last Six Sigma Practitioner program showed how his project has saved $118k from March through June and their order cycle time was reduced from 18.5 days down to 8.0 days. The support he received from management for the project was absolutely essential. Organizations will fail with Six Sigma, just as quickly as they did with TQM if management is not fully committed to achieving an ROI on the effort. TQM is not dead. It is alive and well and has grown up to become Six Sigma. Oh yes, as for the auto store, I can now share the name publicly. It was Wards, and we all know what happened to them. Dale K. Mize Program Chair, Six Sigma The Management Center University of St. Thomas About the Author Dale K. Mize is the Program Chair for the Six Sigma Certificate Programs. He has over 13 years of experience consulting and training and 21 years of technical and managerial experience comprised of 4 years in customer service, 7 years in product engineering, and 10 years in manufacturing as a quality engineer, quality manager, corporate director of quality assurance. He is a senior member of the American Society for Quality, a Certified Quality Engineer, and Certified Quality Auditor. Comment on this article