Six Sigma

"[The fundamental principle of six sigma is to] take an organization to an improved level of sigma capability through the rigorous application of statistical tools and techniques."

"The six sigma method is a project-driven management approach to improve the organization’s products, services, and processes by continually reducing defects in the organization. It is a business strategy that focuses on improving customer requirements understanding, business systems, productivity, and financial performance. Dating back to the mid 1980s, applications of the six sigma methods allowed many organizations to sustain their competitive advantage by integrating their knowledge of the process with statistics, engineering, and project management."

"Six Sigma is really a cultural thing—a way of behavior."

"Six Sigma is an organized and systematic method for strategic process improvement and new product and service development that relies on statistical methods and the scientific method to make dramatic reductions in customer defined defect rates."

"Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining and maximizing business success. Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close understanding and customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business process."

"Six Sigma has forever changed GE. Everyone—from the Six Sigma zealots emerging from their Black Belt tours, to the engineers, the auditors, and the scientists, to the senior leadership that will take this Company into the new millennium—is a true believer in Six Sigma, the way this Company now works."

"The best Six Sigma projects begin not inside the business but outside it, focused on answering the question—how can we make the customer more competitive? What is critical to the customer’s success?... One thing we have discovered with certainty is that anything we do that makes the customer more successful inevitably results in a financial return for us."