Product Description

Stat Free Six Sigma has been written to ease implantation of Six Sigma by minimizing statistics, and to achieve great results through innovative application. Unique features of the book include 1. No cumbersome statistics, hypothesis testing, and statistics tables; 2 Stat Free DMAIC Tool Matrix; and 3. Key Executive Tools. The table of contents includes Introduction, Six Sigma Background, Understanding Six Sigma, Stat Free Six Sigma Tools, Stat Free Six Sigma Measurements, Six Sigma and Innovation, and Making Six Sigma Work. To order multiple copies, or receive bulk discount, please visit www.accelper.com.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #539077 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-14
• Released on: 2007-02-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 132 pages

Customer Reviews

Very well written 6 Sigma learing resource.
Very well written. It is a 'must have' for any one implementing 6Sigma. Even if you do not agree with the cocept of stats free 6 Sigma, you will still get some great insights in to the implentations of 6 Sigma by reading this book.

Six Sigma - Demystified
A basic no-frills, low jargon approach and explanation of Six Sigma.

An excellent attempt to demystify Six Sigma concepts based on a common sensical approach to business.

What I liked about the book was that it did not try to generate and perpetuate the common myth that Six Sigma was the one and only end game to cure all business problems!

The Number Jam
Following is a review by Professor Mitter Vedu who has 40 years of business and academic experience in India and worldwide. He is an American Society for Quality certified six sigma black belt.This review was published in Quality World (Feb. 2009).

Fact-based decision-making has been emphasized in all business improvement methodologies, but never as much as in recent six sigma practices. However, it need not be highbrow statistics, which deters beginners, contend the authors of this book.

The authors have gone back to the basics of the Motorola practice by emphasizing six sigma's nonstatistical intent as a philosophy for breakthrough improvement. The title is catchy and makes one first surmise that one is totally freed from data. However, `virtually' is added in small letters to the title.

The evolution of six sigma has grown to include sophisticated tools of statistics, so much so that a beginner now equates six sigma with complex statistics. This acts as an impediment to the widespread adoption of six sigma as an improvement methodology.
In this context, the book seeks to bring into focus the basic intent of the tool for quick results.

The most important intent of six sigma as a philosophy, the authors rightly observe, is to enable an organization to channel corporate energy into continually creating value and intellectually engaging employees by challenging them for dramatic improvement. This is what Motorola's `six steps to six sigma' sought to do in its initial phase with resounding success. In later phases, dramatic improvements in the bottom line created a focus on lean, which the book does not touch upon.

The authors have attempted to express in simple language many quantitative expressions. The definition of six sigma is simplified to `an approach to achieve virtual perfection fast, and be the best-in-class in everything we do'. Six sigma performance is expressed as `designed tolerance divided by a process range greater than or equal to two', leaving how 3.4 parts per million is arrived at unexplained.

The method of project selection based on a project prioritisation index is explained in simple terms with examples. The DMAIC (define-measure-analyse-improve-control) sequence and its importance in systematic problem-solving is also rightly emphasised. The key DMAIC tools with least statistics are mapped on to the DMAIC sequence and a stat-free DMAIC tool application matrix is also a useful addition.

The simplified approach to comparative tests of means and variances is interesting for a beginner. However, it is an open question whether anybody at that stage can avoid looking to the t-table or f-table. The authors hasten to add a note saying: `For finer improvement in critical processes, more rigorous statistical tests must be performed.' However, describing only a `factorial experiment' and avoiding mention of the advantages of `fractional factorial experiments' leaves the beginner unaware of the possibility of saving on experimentation.

The link between six sigma and innovation is well explained and the skills of effective leadership of time management, process thinking, statistical thinking and innovative thinking are explained in simple terms.

The book, by and large, reaches its objective of `helping readers implement a six sigma initiative without fear of statistics, as well as refocusing energies to achieve the intent of six sigma, which is a lot of improvement very quickly'. But I would only recommend it for beginners and would-be champions. Regular practitioners may not accept its claim of enabling stat-free six sigma. It is, however, a commendable effort to demystify six sigma.