Strengthening Six Sigma

摘要

A recent special issue of the Journal (Quality and Reliability Engineering International 2007; 23(1): 1-154) contained selected papers from the Fourth International Conference on Quality and Reliability. A paper in this issue by Tang et al. discussed the importance of enhancing and increasing the usefulness of Six Sigma by incorporating new techniques into the familiar DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) problem-solving framework. Many of these techniques are from the operations research/management science fields. The authors argue convincingly that Six Sigma and DMAIC cannot remain static if they are to sustain the value proposition for business and industry. I think that this is particularly true as Six Sigma moves beyond the traditional manufacturing and engineering applications into transactional and service industries. I would like to suggest that there are other techniques that need to be included in the Six Sigma practitioner's