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Total Quality Management has been around for longer than Six Sigma. They both deal with improving quality, but TQM focuses on the problem by approaching it collaboratively while Six Sigma deals with it statistically.
(Edit by LUMINIS India, follows)
TRUE DIFFERENCE from practical point of view of business
TQM was the flavor of the day in years 1970-1980s in western industrial world and had varying degrees of success and was built upon the fundamentals of scientific management. However, Six Sigma originated in late 1980s at Motorola, but it gain popularity & momentum, after it was given a robustness at GE under the guidance of Jack Welch in 1995-96. Six Sigma went on to acquire all the 'good' of TQM and presented itself as a very powerful & practicable (STRUCTURED) methodology to bring about the serious reduction in defects & variation in the process outputs.
Does it all give answer to the original question asked here?
No. Let's see what is the biggest & most profound difference between TQM & Six Sigma.
Promises were not realised, high profile organisations that had claimed to be practising Quality Programs (Read: TQM), went into decline, and staff had seen slogans and Mission Statements published with each TQM initiative, which focused on customer service and people; at the same time with these Quality Programs, they had seen being followed by redundancies and drastic cuts in training budgets. There were some success stories but there were also many failures with TQM.
Therefore it was not surprising that a CEO could actually draw very little comfort from the writings of quality gurus in order to select an appropriate quality program (Read: TQM) in their organisation. There was little doubt that managers were confused too by the variety of advice available.
It all changed drastically when Six Sigma emerged at the horizon. Because it was Six Sigma (at General Electric/Honeywell), which DIRECTLY connected the BOTTOM-LINE (monetary) benefits to each improvement project undertaken in the name of Quality. As they said, "No Black Belt Project would be approved, if its expected monetary benefits (results) are less than $250000. Six Sigma brought in the language & terminology, which every CEO wanted (wants today) to hear from his/her quality implementations.
Thus, it is, Direct linkage with bottom-line, which is the biggest difference between TQM & Six Sigma. It is where Six Sigma scored heavily over the TQM.
With thanks,
LUMINIS INDIA
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When going from a three sigma quality level to a six sigma quality level?
The number of defects is reduced exponentially.
What is the purpose of Six Sigma?
The purpose of Six Sigma is to improve the quality of outputs by identifying and removing any defects or errors in a process. Six Sigma strives to improve quality within an organization which strives for perfection.
Which is a better certification PMP or six sigma?
Both have their own importance and usage. PMP is for people who are project managers while Six Sigma is for people who are quality oriented
To what statistical quantity does the term six sigma refer?
the term six sigma is a strategy that is used by business organisations to improve the quality of goods produced by identifying and removing defects. It is based on the statistical term Standard deviation (mathematically represented as sigma). Basically, Six sigma says that if one has six sigmas between mean of the process and the closest specification limit, then the chance for a defective item or good produced is very minimal.
Why use six sigma?
Six Sigma mean reduce variation and it is one of the core parts for determining the quality and the best result of a business product or service. In short, by using six sigma a business could filter its own lacunas and improvise its service or product. For that, a six sigma expert is required who can manage six sigma work in proper way.
