Six Sigma Values, Tried and True

Making the Case for Cheeseburgers

So, imagine going to your favorite drive-through restaurant (we will call it CheeseBurger on the Go for purposes of this blog) and ordering your favorite cheeseburger, fries and soft drink.

Then, you go park your car in a nice shady spot with a cool breeze and take out that delicious cheeseburger. You take that first bite…but…it doesn’t taste the same!

Then, you take another bite and think…no, this cheeseburger is not the same!

The value of the constant flavor of that cheeseburger is enormous. It is the reason people have been flocking to CheeseBurger on the Go for years.

Now, business is down and complaints have been coming in from customers as well as staff. If something isn’t done soon, management is talking about downsizing.

Apply the Data-Driven Principles

Let’s apply some Six Sigma principles to this fast food dilemma. We’ll simplify what generally goes into a Six Sigma project that would help fix this problem. First, understand what the practical problem is — state what is impacting your business.

Then from there, you launch the Six Sigma project. State what the problem is in noticeable terms with obvious expectations. Outline the following:

Statistical Problem
Here, the practical problem is defined in statistical language, using data and statistical verbiage.

Statistical Solutions
Here you state data-driven solutions that are known with confidence and risk levels.

Control Plan
A plan to assure the long-term fix to the problem will be sustained.

Practical Solutions
The solution is not complex and is easily implemented.

Results
Tangible results that are measurable in the language of mathematics that have financial or statistic value.

The process above is done for each Six Sigma project that is created to tackle a practical problem that is currently affecting your business. The end result is a practical solution that will increase business performance.

Using only data-driven facts and figures will leave gut feelings or intuition out of the equation.

Two Data-Driven Burgers to Go

As for the CheeseBurger on the Go dilemma: why did their cheeseburgers taste differently and cause customers to complain? It was discovered that the supplier who makes the dressing that goes on the cheeseburgers had cut the amount of sugar in the original recipe of the dressing, causing the taste difference.

With Six Sigma, CheeseBurger on the Go was able to fix some other issues that were discovered, so now their business is thriving! In an established business big or small, consistency in product or service is the name of the game.

Six Sigma has a specific definition of quality — quality is on target with very little variation. Learn more information about 6Sigma.com’s Lean Six Sigma training coursework, available as classroom, onsite, or online options.