Qualityworld

A passing fad or a sign of things to come?

We have been hearing a lot about the information age, the post-industrial age, the age of the service-oriented economy. As manufacturing technologies are increasingly automated and consumers expect high product quality, the market discriminator will become service, says Stanley Marash, trainer, chairman and CEO of the Sam Group

An example of service as a quality discriminator is the fast-growing and highly-competitive telecommunications industry. If the major service providers use the same hardware and software (the reliability and quality of which are high), developed and produced by the same suppliers, what makes a customer select one cellular phone service, long-distance carrier, internet provider or paging network over another? Cost is an obvious factor, but as the competition heats up, the pricing structures are such that there is very little difference. The key discriminator is becoming quality of service - a synthesis of hardware, software, service reliability and accessibility. The question is: how do we measure service quality? Six sigma, the quality philosophy developed in the 1980s by Motorola, offers a set of tools that apply equally to design, production and service.

In my 38 years in quality I have seen at least 40 'programmes du jour' - from zero defects to management by objectives to quality circles to TQM to re-engineering - each purporting to be the answer to industry's process management problems. What makes six sigma different?

Six sigma is a quality philosophy based on setting attainable short-term goals, while striving for long-range objectives, using customer-focused goals and measurements to drive continuous improvement at all levels. The long-term objective is to develop and implement processes, including administrative and service activities, which are so robust that defects are measured at levels of only a few per million opportunities.

Some may wonder how six sigma differs from 'zero defects'. Six sigma focuses on defining measures of customer satisfaction and using teams to continuously reduce the number of defects on each measure. While it may be 'virtual perfection' (3.4 defects per million opportunities) the fact that it is not zero will encourage people to work towards it. If executive staff, middle managers and others believe in this goal, and communicate that belief, then this approach has great potential for success. One of the major thrusts in six sigma companies has been to create highly-trained experts, assigned full-time (for an extended period) to organise teams for improvement projects. Motorola coined the terms 'black belt' and 'master black belt' to designate six sigma experts. These black belts achieve significant gains, leading project teams that produce measurable cost savings. Master black belts are those who have mastered the tools and applied them to a number of projects.

GE has fully embraced six sigma. Its 1997 annual report explains: 'There are nearly 4,000 fully-trained black belts and master black belts, six sigma instructors, mentors and project leaders. There are more than 60,000 green belts who have completed at least one six sigma project.' The report also states: 'Black belts and master black belts who are finishing six sigma assignments have become the most sought-after candidates for senior leadership jobs.'

Where six sigma will be in 20 or 50 years depends greatly on organisations' senior management understanding that merely creating teams is not sufficient, unless they adopt new targets and methodologies. To be successful, organisations will need to take a holistic approach and concentrate, not merely on training, but on defining operations that affect service quality, providing metrics for these operations and then trying to improve them, whether they call it six sigma or not. If they do, it will be one of the most significant changes in history of quality.

Stanley Marash conducts seminars for top management. Since founding STAT-A-MATRIX in 1968, he has lectured and conducted consulting throughout the world. Marash has a PhD in business administration. He is a fellow of ASQ, and founder and past chairman of the World Quality Council.