Small Business, Big Gains

If you are one of those who thought that Six Sigmawas only for large corporations, you’re not alone. Many people believe that SixSigma process improvement results can only be achieved by huge organizations.What they don’t realize is that small businesses too can succeed inimplementing Six Sigma and reap the process improvement benefits of thisapproach.

Agreed, theimplementation and results may vary depending on the size of your organization.For instance a small business doesn’t have access to a large pool or resourceslike a big business firm. At the same time, the very nature of its business – small in size – will ensure thatthe process flows are flexible, and the decision-making chain is shorter.

Another thing asmall business cannot do is, undertake massive training programs for itsemployees. They also cannot afford to have full-time Master Black Belts onstaff and may not have the personnel with the skills and expertise to step intothe role of Black Belts without extensive training. In such a scenario, you canget a certified Six Sigma consultant to act as your Black Belt for the initialprojects. Once you have generated enough savings, you can use some of thisamount to train your own people. Financially, savings realized from the firstset of projects usually justifies the entire cost of the Six Sigma training.