Quality Assurance in Six Sigma Explained

The idea of maintaining the highest degree of quality throughout the process was revolutionised by the Six Sigma concept. Usually, quality might be limited to a single area, and Quality Assurance and testing would be one of the last steps before releasing the final product. 

However, in order to meet technological and customer-centric objectives, it was necessary to transform quality testing into Quality Assurance based on a new set of principles. Six Sigma met the criteria and paved the way for every industry that was searching for the solution to change and assist in bringing their processes up to par with international standards. 

Investing in a skill set that might soon be replaced by technology could be a challenging job given how quickly technologies are evolving. Fortunately, certain core talents haven't changed at all. Maintaining the highest level of quality throughout the process to provide greater value to customers and businesses is one of those skills that will always be in demand. Employers value these abilities along with a plethora of others. 

You've found the perfect place if you've been looking for certifications that could help you develop these meta-abilities and have run across Six Sigma certification. 

We recognise that before you decide to invest your time and money in a certification, you need to be very certain. We will therefore try to provide you a better understanding of how Six Sigma Training certification might enhance your career. Find out by reading on! 

Also, Check out our Six Sigma Yellow Belt Course Now!  

Table of Contents

1) What is Six Sigma? 

2) What is Quality Assurance?  

3) How does Quality Assurance Process Work?  

4) What is Six Sigma Quality Assurance?  

5) Six Sigma Methodologies 

6) Essential Characteristics of Six Sigma Quality Assurance  

7) Benefits of Quality Assurance  

8) Why is Quality Assurance Standard Important to Understand? 

9) Quality Assurance Planning 

10) Six Sigma Implementation Roles 

11) How can the Six Sigma Quality Assurance approach Bring Results?  

12) Conclusion  

What is Six Sigma?  

By identifying and removing faults, the Six Sigma quality management methodology aids firms in improving their current procedures, products, or services. The aim is to minimise or eliminate variation throughout manufacturing or business operations by streamlining quality control.  

It gives businesses the tools they need to make their business processes more effective. This improvement in performance and decrease in process variance contributes to the reduction of errors as well as an improvement in revenue, employee morale, and product or service quality. 

Six Sigma is specifically designed to help large organizations with quality management. In 1998, Jack Welch, CEO of GE, helped thrust Six Sigma into the limelight by donating upwards of $1 million as a thank you to the company, recognizing how Six Sigma positively impacted GE’s operations and promoting the process for large organizations. After that, Fortune 500 companies followed suit and Six Sigma has been popular with large organizations ever since.  

Large enterprises can use Six Sigma to assist with quality management. In 1998, Jack Welch, CEO of GE, contributed to Six Sigma's rise to prominence by making a donation to the company of up to $1 million in appreciation. Jack Welch recognised that Six Sigma companies soon followed suit, and Six Sigma has since gained popularity among big businesses. 

What is Quality Assurance?  

A systematic procedure used to verify whether a process or service complies with quality standard requirements is known as Quality Assurance (QA). 

QA creates and upholds standards for creating or delivering reliable products. A Quality Assurance system allows a business to compete more effectively with rival businesses by enhancing work processes and efficiency, as well as client confidence and the company's credibility. 

How does Quality Assurance Process Work?  

In order to eliminate the errors found in the existing procedures, the Six Sigma approach has changed so many aspects of quality management, including Quality Assurance. Eliminating the elements that hinder any improvement in the end product's Quality Assurance planning is necessary. To ensure that there would be little or no variation throughout the processes, the concept placed a strong emphasis on creating a pattern for the operations. 

Six Sigma not only benefits big businesses but also smaller businesses by reducing capital losses and improving time management. The quality approach that Six Sigma has been able to deliver throughout the years is the first advantage of Six Sigma for Quality Assurance because no methodology has been able to match it in terms of results. 

By raising the bar in a way that can be used to execute Quality Assurance management, the Six Sigma Quality Assurance methodology has established the benchmark for excellence. 

Want to know how Quality Assurance works in detail? Check out our Six Sigma Green Belt Course today! 

What is Six Sigma Quality Assurance?

The Six Sigma green belt works on Quality Assurance. There is quality control testing right from the production and continues until delivering the final product to the customer.  

The desired standards with consistent quality are what keeps the promise of excellence with industry approved testing techniques. It will definitely help the Quality Assurance officer to use up the methodology and improve product development. 

Six Sigma Methodologies  

DMAIC and DMADV are the two sub-methodologies that Six Sigma uses in practice. 

DMAIC Six Sigma 

Five steps make up the Six Sigma DMAIC project methodology, and each phase is denoted by a different letter in the acronym DMAIC. These consist of- 

1) Define the issue, the client, the project specifications, and the client's ultimate objectives and expectations. 

2) Measure the performance of the current process, by developing a data collection plan to identify flaws and collect metrics. 

3) Analyse the procedure to determine the underlying causes of variations and flaws to spot problems with the current plan that get in the way of the objective. 

4) Improve the process by eradicating the underlying causes of problems. 

5) Control the new procedure to keep it on course and prevent it from developing old habits. 

DMADV Six Sigma 

The Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), commonly known as the Six Sigma DMADV, consists of five stages- 

1) Define attainable objectives that are in line with the needs of the consumer or the company's strategy. 

2) Measure, identify, and convert into distinct project plans the customer's critical to quality (CTQ) requirements. 

3) Analyse various alternatives and solutions for the customer in addition to the anticipated overall project life cycle. 

4) Design the process at a greater extent, before moving on to a more intricate version that will serve as the prototype to find flaws and make changes. 

5) Verify that all users of the product or process, both internal and external, have approved the final iteration. 

Learn more about Six Sigma methodologies from our DMAIC Training course. Check out now!  

Essential characteristics of Six Sigma Quality Assurance   

The approach and procedures used in Six Sigma Quality Assurance have established the bar for excellence. Simply raising the bar for quality through the application of a methodical quality management methodology has accomplished this. The Six Sigma-recommended Quality system has generated a lot of excitement in practically every sector, including healthcare, retail, BPO, etc. Such innovative techniques are created with the sole purpose of testing essential goods and services. to confirm that they are successfully meeting the requirements of intended standards and customers' expectations for the items. Six Sigma quality management has emerged as the top concern for enterprises worldwide for survival and profitability due to the rising demand for high-quality products. 

The Six Sigma Green Belt strategy focuses on promising and delivering excellence in addition to ensuring product quality. Assuring the crucial clients that the services and goods being offered are of the highest calibre is the essence of promising quality. It is crucial to adapt to the testing processes and techniques that have been accepted by the industry in order to produce quality consistently. The Quality Assurance officer's responsibility is to oversee all of these components of product development and provide excellence. 
 

Benefits of Quality Assurance   

Having a consistent Quality Assurance strategy for your company has three main advantages: 

1) Customer satisfaction- A Quality Assurance programme helps a business deliver goods and services that live up to customers' needs and expectations. 

2) Faith and loyalty- Implementing Quality Assurance enables a business to produce high-quality products and services that increase consumer loyalty and trust. 

3) Recognizing errors- A Quality Assurance program's established standards and processes aid in spotting errors before they cause problems. 

Why is Quality Assurance Standard Important to Understand?  

Understanding Quality Assurance is crucial for your company for several reasons- 

1) It is usually necessary- In most firms, having established Quality Assurance standards is a prerequisite. 

2) Cost cutting- A thorough understanding of Quality Assurance can help your business reduce costs over time. 

3) A substantial number of resources are needed- The fact that Quality Assurance is worthwhile when done properly is one of the reasons it is crucial to understand it. Both processes and people must be heavily invested in. Being unprepared could cost you money. 

Quality Assurance planning  

There must be certain requirements that would assist and be able to fit into the plans if you ever wanted to apply the Six Sigma technique and Quality Assurance principles to the project. For it to function in accordance with the Six Sigma methodology processes, various methods of Quality Assurance must also be used.  

Here are some tips for using Quality Assurance techniques efficiently. 

1) There needs to be a clear understanding of the inputs and outputs for projects and procedures that call for laboratory Quality Assurance 

2) There cannot be a preconceived solution for a project, and this way of thinking will impede it from the beginning 

3) The operators who will actually be carrying out the project will find it challenging with too many variables in the operation, therefore it would be a wonderful idea to keep it simple going ahead for them to flow effortlessly 

4) To ensure that the variations are implemented correctly, any flaws can be fixed, and the process can be managed, the person enforcing the variations must have a thorough understanding of them 

Six Sigma Implementation Roles 

A company can implement quality management using the Six Sigma implementation technique. 

1) Higher-level management must be prepared to bring about the change required for Quality Assurance and create a vision that will effectively support the Six Sigma technique. They must support creative ideas for quality control and make the necessary resources available so that they may be implemented. 

2) In order to properly execute the processes required for Quality Assurance according to the Six Sigma principles, you will need individuals who will act as advocates in implementing the vision and coaching the black belts. 

3) In order to achieve Quality Assurance and maintain consistency in the Six Sigma plan that is being worked on, the master black belts would be fostering the black belts, green belts, and champions in addition to the black belts or green belts. 

4) In the presence of master black belts, the black belts can assist in carrying out the designated tasks. 

5) Along with performing their assigned tasks, the green belts have the ideal opportunity to study the Six Sigma technique for quality management and Quality Assurance. 

6) The white, yellow, and orange belts would have some knowledge of Quality Assurance and the Six Sigma technique, but they aren't fully participating in the project until they are finishing in line with the six sigma workings. 

The Six Sigma certification programmes offer the requisite skills in the Six Sigma technique to the candidate enrolling for training. This guarantees that Quality Assurance is unmatched at every stage of the process and that there are no or few flaws in the finished product. 

How can the Six Sigma Quality Assurance approach Bring Results?  

For the methodological training, a number of Six Sigma accrediting centres offer suitable training and certification. The data-driven methodology of Six Sigma can elevate the project to a completely new level.  

With these measurements, you will be able to manage product quality effectively and predict process performance. The Six Sigma deployment will examine the quality variation down to the smallest degree and its relevancy to the project's final cost. 

The ability to produce elevated levels of quality and significantly reduce costs with no flaws in the process or most definitely in the final product can be built on when inefficient processes are improved. The Six  Sigma methodology's interrelated phases will- 

Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control

It will aid in the on-time delivery process, which is hindered while attempting to fix and rectify the flaws and re-establish the process using the standard methods of quality management. 

By attempting to identify the processes, you will be able to map the specifics and determine how they should flow to get the desired outcomes. If you follow this pattern, the client's expectations can be clearly understood, and the boundaries provided will aid them in knowing when to start and stop the activities.

Conclusion 

With barriers, advancing technology, and raised customer expectations, controlling the factors is challenging. All of this makes organisations or enterprises to employ approaches like six sigma to develop solutions capable of meeting all requirements, bringing out the best in them, and boosting sales and revenue. 

Therefore, sign up for one of our Six Sigma Certification courses right away if you want to add one to your resume.