Every business owner wants greater efficiency. With Six Sigma, business owners can streamline business procedures to improve outcomes and reduce operational errors. Six Sigma has gained significant popularity over the past few decades and has even been used by the United States government.

image credit: Six Sigma Institute / CIO Wiki

The methodology can be applied to a wide variety of industries and is often considered a business initiative that improves quality and lowers costs.

Let’s look at some of the benefits you can reap when you use Six Sigma with your organization.

Customer Retention

6 Sigma has been used by people in the banking world to streamline customer banking services and optimize business processes that were causing customer dissatisfaction and lost accounts. By using 6 Sigma processes, banks have been able to look at the problem from the customer’s perspective and modify their processes to meet customers’ needs. Using Six Sigma improves customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased market share.

Lower Production Costs

The U.S. Army reportedly saved $2 billion by implementing Six Sigma processes across several units. This was done by focusing on task management, improving communication at all levels, and optimizing scheduling. The U.S. Army continues to implement Six Sigma principles, which leads to increased cost savings and improved performance.

More Efficient Resource Use

Six Sigma can help organizations minimize the use of costly resources and reduce wastage. By following the methodology of Six Sigma, you can ensure that all your valuable resources are used properly and that your growth moves in the right direction.

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Improved Timelines And Efficiency

Six Sigma aims at improving the overall efficiency of all organizational processes. It can streamline the process of getting products out, or shorten the timeline for delivering the process output.

Six Sigma can be implemented to shorten machine set up time in a manufacturing process, improving automation and the productivity of assembly lines.

Before implementing a Six Sigma plan, make sure to study all data, information, facts, and figures regarding the defect in the process in question. Before starting, be sure to define all areas of timelines and efficiency.

Reduced Output Errors

Six Sigma looks to reduce errors by looking at metrics, methodology, and philosophy.

Through metrics, you can evaluate levels of production and output to find process areas that might be at risk of causing errors. The methodology aims to look at how a process delivers goods or services to a client base. Six Sigma uses DMAIC methodology to improve existing processes, and the DMADV methodology to start new processes.

Six Sigma also employs a customer-focused philosophy to help organizations reduce variation by making better decisions.

Improved Customer Relations

A company is largely created by how it interacts with customers. Logically, any company would want this connection to be as stable as possible. The reason is simple; disappointed customers are often the most vocal. Six Sigma can help identify any variations in customers’ experiences, find out what is driving that variation, and ultimately reduce the number of dissatisfied customers.

The Bottom Line

Obtaining a Six Sigma qualification can be both beneficial to your career and your employer. You can apply Six Sigma to any industry and improve the quality of the processes at the heart of the business model. It works by analyzing data and improving outputs and eliminating defects in processes that prove costly in the long run.

Anyone looking to streamline their core business processes, improve efficiency, and their numbers can turn to the Six Sigma process.