The 6 Sigma Proposition

All to often businesses base their performance on an average and average-based measures of the recent past. However, customers don’t judge businesses on averages; they feel the variance in each and every transaction. Customers value consistent, predictable business processes and products that deliver world-class levels of quality. Six Sigma focuses first on reducing variation and then on improving process capability
A common goal with a Six Sigma program is to minimize variation within all of our critical processes. Examples of key processes include: Invoicing/Billing customers; new product development; processing customer orders; Managing human resources (including payroll, holiday applications, etc.); Hiring employees; Budgeting; paying bills; Evaluating vendors.
Quantitatively, this means working towards Six Sigma quality, or fewer than 3.4 defects per million “opportunities.” An opportunity is defined as a “chance for non-conformance” (or put another way not meeting required specifications).