Strategic implementation of six sigma through readiness assessment in Chinese enterprise: Case studies

Six Sigma has been proven to be successful in many western companies but there is still limited case studies discussing the experiences of its implementation in China. In recent years, some enterprises in China employed Six Sigma but how to implement it effectively is still an interesting topic to study. Different backgrounds of the enterprises will affect the approach of Six Sigma implementation. This paper aims to present an assessment strategy for enterprise planning to implement Six Sigma. Case studies are presented for different status of enterprises to verify the model. The assessment model uses two aspects to measure the enterprise readiness for Six Sigma implementation. They are organizational and cultural readiness (O&C) and technological readiness (T). Organizational and cultural readiness includes such as reward and recognition system, process approach, data oriented approach and process management. Technological readiness covers tools and methodology. Tools includes, for examples, SPC, DOE, process capability, and statistical method. Methodology can be considered as a way to solve problem e.g. PDCA. Four different companies are studied and their status of readiness is mapped into the O&C-T map.