A telecommunications company terminated a $15M/yr contract with a self-proclaimed “Six Sigma” vendor when it was statistically proven the vendor used biased and inconsistent methods to audit their customer service calls. The vendor’s inconsistent data collection methods meant their data and any analysis on their data were unreliable and irrelevant.

In February 2017, Amazon announced a “BIGTHANKS” coupon saving $8.62 on any order of $50 or more. Why such an odd amount? It’s because they ranked the highest in a “Reputation Quotient” from the Harris Poll of 86.2%. Amazon may be great, but are they statistically the highest?

The 1981 classic movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a reminder of the balance we need in understanding and applying both Lean and Six Sigma (LSS). We'll review a general introduction and distinction between Lean and Six Sigma are and dive briefly into the DMAIC method for Six Sigma.