It may seem unrealistic to expect that any company can manufacture a product with Six Sigma efficiency (99.9997%) but it is definitely possible as countless successful companies have proven. In other words, the Six Sigma Process reduces defects to only 3.4 per million opportunities. Assessing performance and analyzing the data to make sure that the goal has both been achieved AND is being maintained are critical to the overall success of Six Sigma in Manufacturing. Once a process has been perfected with Six Sigma Methods, there are safeguards as well as checks and balances put into place to ensure that this efficiency continues through the life of that manufacturing process.
Companies that specialize in manufacturing often have an abundance of processes in place, which makes it even more critical to ensure there are as little defects as possible in each. Defects mean cost, and the more defects there are within products, the more they will affect a company’s overall profits. Six Sigma certification educates employees working as a successful team to not only identify the cause of defects within a process but also how to devise effective and statistically driven techniques to eliminate them. If you are a manufacturing company looking to minimize defects, then sending staff to Six Sigma courses for proper training can really help the bottom line – it should be considered a small investment for a large return when it comes to profitability.