Zero Defects vs. Six Sigma
by Dave Crosby

Zero Defects is an idea that was discovered in the early 1960’s, and enjoyed incredible success until the mid 1970’s. Discovered pretty much by Phil Crosby and first implemented at the Martin company in Orlando, Florida. Almost every major company and their suppliers had a formal Zero Defects program, as did the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Quality-type programs like Total Quality Management (TQM), Malcolm Baldridge, SPC, and the rush to ISO 9000 certification sucked up all the oxygen, and now Zero Defects is only practiced by a few smart companies who quietly profit from it greatly. Zero Defects is all but forgotten in the United States.

In the late 1980’s Six Sigma came along. It was an offspring of the capability study used in Statistical Process Control (SPC) work. It has taken on a life of it’s own, and is very popular. Legend has it that an engineer from Motorola came up with the idea that if a four sigma process capability was good, six sigma was even better. A friend of mine attended one of the early Motorola six-sigma training programs. Being a long-time quality control type, he questioned the idea, and was told, “It’s just a motivational gimmick.” No truer words have been spoken.

If you understnad Statistical Process Control, you're reject the six sigma idea.

The following little table points out some of the differences between Six Sigma and Zero Defects.

Zero Defects vs. Six Sigma

Category	Zero Defects	Six-Sigma
Purpose	Defects Prevention	Defect Management
Understanding	Everyone understands zero, and everyone knows what a defect is.	Not one person in a ten thousand can tell you what sigma means. Do you know?
Training	Only the normal job training for employees to do their job.	Extensive training for the non-productive technical six-sigma staff.
Manpower Required	In a large organization, perhaps one person as coordinator.	Added Black Belt, Green Belts, and other staff jobs.
Cost of operation	Very small cost just to communicate the performance standard.	Very high cost for training and added staff salaries.
Concept	Do work right the first time, and every time.	Three defects per million opportunities is okay.
Technology	Leadership	Standard quality control tools plus problem solving methods.
Performance Standard	No defects are acceptable	A few defects are okay.
Application	Applies to every job in an organization.	Limited to the quality of the product or service.
Employee Involvement	Employees can identify problems in their workplace..	No employee involvement.

To learn how Zero Defects can make your company a Quality Leader, Click Here.

Zero Defects vs. Six Sigma by Dave Crosby

Zero Defects vs. Six Sigma

To learn how Zero Defects can make your company a Quality Leader, Click Here.

Zero Defects vs. Six Sigma
by Dave Crosby