Open Platform for Quality Methodologies: a Six Sigma
Framework for Competitiveness
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Emilio L. Cano1,2, , Javier M. Moguerza1 , Andres Redchuk1
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1. Univesity Rey Juan Carlos
2. University of Castilla-La Mancha
Contact author: emilio.lopez@urjc.es
Keywords: Six Sigma, Quality, Process Improvement, Competitiveness
The competitiveness of Industry is a great challenge in the globalization environment we are living in.
The implementation of systematic methods of process improvement is undoubtedly a way to improve the
competitiveness within an individual company. These methods are usually gathered into different ”Quality Methodologies”, and Six Sigma is one of them. Six Sigma has become one of the most successful
methodologies for process improvement. ISO standards [3, 4] have recently been published, and a number
of publications on this topic have appeared in the last decade. The essence of Six Sigma is the application
of the Scientific Method to process improvement and the key to its success is that Six Sigma translates
the scientific terminology into a simple way to apply science to process improvement through the DMAIC
strategy (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). Six Sigma needs statistical software for data
analysis and R can be the ideal choice for many reasons. In addition to be a stable and reliable statistical
software and programming language, it is Open Source. Though some sectors are yet reluctant to adopt
Open Source technologies, the fact is that it is being increasingly used in many activity sectors, going beyond its original environment: academia and research. With this aim, and after publishing a book on how
to tackle Six Sigma project with R [2] and the R package SixSigma [1], we present in this work a project
to develop a complete framework for applying Six Sigma using Open Technologies, where R is the main
protagonist. The project is focused in supporting specially, but not limited to, SMEs (Small and Medium
Size Companies). Simulation and efficiency are crossing topics that are taken into account throughout the
project development. The result of the project will be a platform that can be used independently within an
organization, or exploited as SaaS (Software as a Service) by third parties. Along with the improvements
achieved applying Six Sigma, the open nature of the platform allows to save money in software licences.
All in all, enhancing competitiveness.
References
[1] Cano, E. L., J. M. Moguerza, and A. Redchuk (2011). SixSigma: Six Sigma Tools for Quality Improvement. R package version 0.6.0.
[2] Cano, E. L., J. M. Moguerza, and A. Redchuk (2012). Six Sigma with R. Statistical Engineering for
Process Improvement, Volume 36 of Use R! New York: Springer.
[3] ISO (2011a). Iso 13053-1:2011 - quantitative methods in process improvement – six sigma – part 1:
Dmaic methodology.
[4] ISO (2011b). Iso 13053-2:2011 - quantitative methods in process improvement – six sigma – part 2:
Tools and techniques.