199 Questions: Where do I start with Six Sigma?

We're still working through questions that came up in our Global QC Survey results webinar.

Question: What's your advice to labs new to Sigma metrics? How to gradually transition?

We're at an interesting time in the evolution of analytical Six Sigma metrics. Many of the major control vendors have built analytical Sigma metric calculations right into their software packages. So it's more possible than ever to have the calculations done for you, quickly, and at scale.

But just being able to make those calculations doesn't mean the laboratory is ready for the outputs or the consequences.

Start in the performance sweet spot. Biochemistry analyzers are in their 6th or 7th generation of engineering. They've improved precision and accuracy for decades. This is the low hanging fruit. Most of the major diagnostic manufacturers have boxes with lots of Six Sigma performance. So by starting with Sigma metrics on those boxes, labs can make early, easy wins. Abandon the wasteful 1:2s rule, both for warning and for rejection, and switch to the 1:3s rule. That can deliver a 90% reduction in false rejections.

Once you've got those changes implemented, and you're enjoying the reduction in costs, in outliers, in control repeats, in calibrators, and time wasted chasing ghosts. You can consider looking at more challenging performance.

The transition can be as gradual as you want it to be. The data is already there, the calculations are probably already available. If you want to try changing one method at a time, that's up to you. One box at a time, one section at a time, you are in control of the pace. This is all voluntary, there is no regulation or inspector mandating you implement at a certain pace.

The challenge of doing it slow is that you maintain your bad habits on some methods while adopting better habits on other methods – you've got to support two different schemes in your head. It might be easier for your cognitive workload to make a hard cutover on an entire box.

The easiest time to make a change in QC is when you switch from an old box to a new one. Adopting new habits on a new box is easier than giving up old bad habits on an existing box.