IS 16123 : Part 1 : 2013/ISO 13053-1 : 2011 Quantitative Methods in Process Improvement Six Sigma Part 1 the Dmaic Methodology

Reaffirmed 2022

NATIONAL FOREWORD

This Indian Standard (Part 1) which is identical with ISO 13053-1 : 2011 ‘Quantitative methods in process improvement - Six Sigma - Part 1: The DMAIC methodology’ issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was adopted by the Bureau of Indian Standards on the recommendation of the Statistical Methods for Quality and Reliability Sectional Committee and approval of the Management and Systems Division Council.

This standard is published in two parts. Other part of this standard is:

Part 2 Tools and techniques

The purpose of Six Sigma is to bring about improved business and quality performance and to deliver improved profit by addressing serious business issues that may have existed for a long time. The driving force behind the approach is for organizations to be competitive and to eliminate errors and waste. A number of Six Sigma projects are about the reduction of losses. Some organizations require their staff to engage with Six Sigma and demand that their suppliers do as well. The approach is project based and focuses on strategic business aims.

There is little, that is, new within Six Sigma from the point of view of the tools and techniques utilized. The method uses statistical tools, among others, and, therefore, deals with uncertain events in order to provide decisions that are based on uncertainty. Consequently, it is considered to be good practice that a Six Sigma general program is synchronized with risk management plans and defect prevention activities.

A difference, from what may have gone before with quality initiatives, is every project, before it can begin, must have a sound business case. Six Sigma speaks the language of business (value measurement throughout the project), and its philosophy is to improve customer satisfaction by the elimination and prevention of defects and, as a result, to increase business profitability.

Another difference is the infrastructure. The creation of roles, and the responsibilities that go with them, gives the method an infrastructure that is robust. The demand that all projects require a proper business case, the common manner by which all projects become vetted, the clearly defined methodology (DMAIC) that all projects follow, provides further elements of the infrastructure.

The scope of this part of the standard limits the document to only cover the improvement of existing processes. It does not go into the realm of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) or the re-engineering of a process where the DMAIC methodology is not fully suitable, nor does it cover the issue of certification. There will also be situations where any further work on an existing process is not possible, either technically, or in a financially justifiable sense. This standard together with other standards dealing with these circumstances will form a cohesive set of standards ranging from improving existing processes to the development of new ones to deliver Six Sigma levels of performance, and beyond.

The text of ISO Standard has been approved as suitable for publication as an Indian Standard without deviations. Certain conventions are, however, not identical to those used in Indian Standards. Attention is particularly drawn to the following:

a) Wherever the words ‘International Standard’ appear referring to this standard, they should be read as ‘Indian Standard’.

b) Comma (,) has been used as a decimal marker while in Indian Standards, the current practice is to use a point (.) as the decimal marker.