If you are running a business in 2024, Six Sigma statistical tools can help you achieve much more than you are currently. As the name suggests, Six Sigma is a statistical process that uses data analytics and statistics to analyze and minimize errors and make sure the company’s performance improves.
Six Sigma comprises a set of statistical management techniques and tools designed to reduce the chances of any error and thus, improve the performance of the business. Six Sigma methods use data to minimize error rates, improve performance, and increase profit.
Since it has become such an important part of running a business in the last few years, a lot of people are going for Six Sigma Training Programs to increase their chances of getting hired by large businesses. In this article, we are going to talk about the 10 best statistical tools in Six Sigma.
Since Six Sigma helps businesses reduce errors, it also improves employee morale and the overall performance of the company. Six Sigma statistical analysis tools help the business enhance its performance by reducing errors and improving profit.
Six Sigma is a management process used for quality improvement through data accumulation and analysis. The process also helps increase customer satisfaction. Not only that, but the six sigma statistical tools also use a lean manufacturing system to rule out most unnecessary resource waste.
Six sigma tools help businesses turn a functional problem into a statistical problem so that it can be solved with ease. After that, the statistical results are used again in real life to rule out the problem altogether. Learning to apply six sigma methods by using the tools can help a business gain an excellent tactical advantage. That is why it is so important to learn six sigma analytical methods. You can always go for an LSS Green Belt Course to learn and apply six sigma to gain organizational success.
Lean Six Sigma statistical tools are used to change expensive business processes, reduce costs, increase profits, improve customer gratification and enhance the overall performance of the organization. Employees who know how to work the six sigma statistical tools become assets for the company.
While improving all aspects of the business, six sigma methods also enhance the partnerships the company has with its subsidiaries, as it can help them achieve strategic advantage. This improves the interpersonal relationships within the supply chain which in turn, makes it easy for the customer to trust the brand.
With the help of six sigma statistical tools, a business can also figure out the most cost-effective and efficient way to rule out a problem from the root. It grants a company an analytical advantage and improves customer relations as well. If you are running a business in 2024, it is important to have employees trained in Six Sigma to improve business performance.
It is important to follow a sequence while you are working with Six Sigma statistical tools. The sequence includes five phases - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control, also known as the DMAIC sequence. This implementation helps identify weaknesses and come up with statistical solutions easily and effectively.
1. Define Phase
The first step in the process is the Define phase. This phase is used to understand the problem the business is trying to solve and come up with the best outcome of the process. Identifying the issues that need to be solved is very important as it lays the groundwork for the next phases to come.
2. Measure Phase
The Measuring phase is comprised of collecting the necessary data that is needed in order to start the analytical phase. It includes establishing the metrics and obtaining baseline data that can help identify the problem areas of the business and come up with a set of statistical data for analysis.
3. Analyze Phase
In the Analyzing phase, the team identifies the problem areas in the obtained data and finds the cause of the problems that are negatively affecting the business process. Most of the critical and analytical tools are used in this phase to find the root cause. In the end, the team confirms the causes with the help of statistical tools and makes the base data structure for the next phase.
4. Improve Phase
In this phase, the team comes up with creative solutions to solve the problems that they identified in the previous phase. It includes coming up with methods that can improve business performance by making the processes cheaper and faster without losing quality. Productive maintenance, cellular manufacturing and other data-driven lean processes are used in order to assess the improvements that can be made in certain areas.
5. Control Phase
After coming up with creative solutions that can improve the business processes, this phase is used to implement necessary changes in the procedures. By modifying the pre-existing management systems and procedures, the team makes sure that the improvements are being correctly utilized in the system. After this, the change in performance is also monitored regularly in order to make sure that the changes are affecting the company’s performance positively.
Now that we have covered the bases of how to work the Six Sigma statistical tools by discussing all the phases, we can move on to the most effective statistical tools used in Six Sigma. Even if you are not well-versed in statistics, you can understand the basic functions of these most commonly used statistical tools in Six Sigma to understand better how you can implement them in making improvements in your business procedures.
1. Pareto Chart
This chart is based on the Pareto Principle, which states that about 20% of causes can result in 80% of outcomes. The basis of the principle is that 20% or a fraction of a cause usually brings in the lion’s share of results. A Pareto Chart will graphically show what part of the internal processes affects the output the most. This visualization helps you understand which part of the process is causing the most number of problems in the business operations so that you can fix it immediately. Instead of focusing on every little detail at once, you can identify the key source of the problem with this data visualization method and fix it urgently to get better results.
2. Histogram
If you want to visualize the data as a continuous flow and identify problem spots, then the Histogram Six Sigma tool is the best bet. Histograms can show you the spread and center of your data very fast. You can identify where most of the data concentrate and also the maximum and minimum values to discern outliers and the data points that are very unusual. From there, you can further investigate the causes of these anomalies and fix them as needed.
3. Gage R&R
The Gage R&R tool in Six Sigma is used for continuous measurement of numeric. It is used to keep track of diameter, weight and other measurements. This tells you when there is any anomaly in data when different people are doing the same tasks.
4. Attribute Agreement Analysis
Just like Gage R&R, Attribute Analysis is also a tool that can help you determine whether your data can be trusted in the long run. But unlike the previous one, where numeric measurements were the basis for the statistical analysis, in this case, this tool is ideal for categorical assessment.
5. Process Capability
Every process has an upper and lower limit when it comes to standards. For example, the specific parts that your company needs to make a certain product cannot go below or beyond certain size specifications or wait limits cannot be stretched beyond a certain point. With the help of this graphic visualization, you will be able to see how well your processes meet the specifications. And it will also help you understand how you can improve a process that is falling behind.
6. t-Tests
t-Tests are used to compare the averages of samples to one another or to a specific target. You can use this method to compare the volume and performance between your two suppliers and determine which one is the right fit for your company.
7. ANOVA
ANOVA and t-Tests are pretty similar in that they are both used to compare means. But whereas with t-Tests you can compare two means against each other, or one means against a target, ANOVA makes it possible for you to pitch three or more means against each other to determine the best.
8. Regression
If you want to visualize the relationship between one or more input variables to an output, then you should go with the regression visualization Six Sigma tools. If you determine from your analysis that a relationship exists between the two and the equation can be used to make changes in the output, you can change the input variables to see better results in the future.
9. DOE
DOE (Design of Experiments) is an efficient data-collecting tool that can be used to determine whether or not any relationship exists between variable inputs and outputs. But unlike ANOVA, which usually uses already-available data, in the DOE process, the inputs are adjusted simultaneously. This can help you identify all the important inputs and how the changes in them can affect the output, which you can then apply to the functional process.
10. Control Charts
Ideally, a predictable and stable process will always be present at a high-quality product manufacturer. But in a business, there are a lot of unpredictable variables that can, at any point, change the process. But these fluctuations are often natural and can be handled easily. But with the help of a control chart, you can distinguish between these naturally occurring variations or an unnatural or ‘special cause’ variation. These charts can identify problem points and anomalies over a long period of time and help you take action against the necessary ones that do not get dissolved and affect the business processes negatively.
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If you want a copy of Six Sigma statistical tools to always be available to you for reference, you can always download a Six Sigma statistical tools pdf. This will also help you understand the Six Sigma processes better.
Conclusion
In 2024, there are many ways to improve your business with the help of statistical data analysis, and Six Sigma is a prime example of that. It can improve business quality over time and save you a lot of expenditures as well. And if you are not familiar with the data analysis and statistical processes of Six Sigma, then you can always sign up for the KnowledgeHut Six Sigma Training Programs for a better understanding of the topic. This can help you understand how to implement these lean statistical methods in your business to improve performance.
