Six Sigma, a data-driven method for improving business and quality performance, has been published as a two-part standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Six Sigma was originally developed by Motorola in 1986 to ameliorate manufacturing processes with the goal of 99.99966 percent of products free of defects (i.e., 3.4 errors per million). Today, the methodology is applied in many sectors of activity by organizations large and small for all types of process and services to:
• Drive process improvement and make statistically based decisions
• Measure business results with a level of reliance
• Prepare for uncertainty
• Combine high returns and benefits in the short, medium, and long term
• Remove waste, defects, and errors

“Six Sigma can be used to effectively address serious chronic business issues,” says Michèle Boulanger, president of JISC-Statistics and co-chair of the subcommittee that developed the standard.

 …