The Tactical Guide to Six Sigma Implementation

Books in the Quality and Business Excellence series can help readers enhance customer value and satisfaction by integrating the customer’s voice into design, manufacturing, supply chain, and field processes. Although there are many Six Sigma books on the market, few clarify the essential aspects of its implementation across various industries. The Tactical Guide to Six Sigma Implementation fills this need.

Simplifying a complex subject and removing the intimidation of using statistics, the book takes readers through the five phases of the Six Sigma methodology―Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC). In ten clearly written and easy-to-understand chapters, readers learn the purpose of each phase and what activities must be performed in each phase.

The book illustrates the layout of the interaction of organizational processes―defining product and information flows separately such that each process receives product or information and, after completion of the process, supplies the output to the next process.

The author identifies organizational processes through turtle and SIPOC diagrams, defining the process owner, inputs and outputs, and process customer for each process. He also explains how to determine the measures and goals of the process, and how to document the process so that further process improvements can be implemented through management reviews.

The text presents a comprehensive process control plan assessment to comply with automotive, aerospace, and all types of manufacturing and service processes. It details 17 global quality management system processes covering management responsibility, resource management, product realization policies, and management analysis and improvement policies. It also provides comprehensive root cause analysis and problem solving techniques.

Numerous figures, charts, formulae and forms are included throughout the book and all statistics are described to the exact level of understanding required. Books in this series are suitable for use as basic textbooks for Green Belt, Black Belt, BBA, and MBA courses in global quality, Lean Six Sigma, and business excellence.

Suresh Patel is a former Technical Director and Operations Excellence Executive. He earned his BE degree in electrical engineering from M.S. University of Baroda, India, his master’s degree in production technology from South Bank University, London, and an MBA degree from the University of Texas at Brownsville. He is qualified as a Certified Reliability Engineer, Certified Quality Engineer, and Certified Management Systems Auditor by the American Society for Quality.

In his long career spanning more than four decades, he has developed a wide range of products/processes and has helped in establishing six manufacturing plants in India and five US plants in Mexico. Starting with India, his career path has enabled him to work in industries in the UK, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, USA, China, Mexico, and Chile. His career has been enriched through holding key positions with such multinational corporations as Gestetner, Motorola, United Lighting Technologies, Eaton Corporation, and Fiat Global.