Application of the Six Sigma methodologies to enterprise resource planning implementation

The increasing application of Six Sigma methodologies in areas not restricted only to manufacturing industries, but also in the service and process industries, has given opportunity for lot of study in this area. Application of Six Sigma in the service sector is relatively unexplored. The DMAIC cycle is one of the most frequently used techniques in establishing Six Sigma standards in any industry. Define, measure, analyse, improve and control are the five stages of this cycle which when categorically applied to the subject of study helps in reviewing the process in its entirety and determining its sigma levels under current and improved circumstances. It is almost a definitive way of improving the subject of study (product, service or process). The improvement process in any industry directly reflects in the satisfaction of the customer. Customer satisfaction is one of the most primary reasons for an industry looking at establishing Six Sigma standards. Using the above concepts of DMAIC technique and rating scale measures of customer satisfaction, in this project we have calculated the sigma levels of the ERP package with customer satisfaction being the critical-to-quality characteristic.