3.2 Six Sigma implementation in SMEs vs
Big Companies (Group 3 and 4)
SMEs are much more flexible than large ones,
and hence changes can be introduced fairly quickly;
moreover, in SMEs there is a high visible top
management and managers are more likely to be
directly involved with customers; in SMEs there is
also a better predisposition to the final consumer,
that represent one of the fundamental basis of TQM;
as [16] affirm, “it is generally easier to introduce
radical change to smaller companies because there
are fewer organizational layers between the CEO
and the front line workers”. This close relationship
and the high degree of communication with key
customers appear to be significant advantageous for
SMEs in opposition to large corporations [3].
Nevertheless, SMEs also present particular needs
and limits, especially about the lack of financial
resources and consequently the impossibility to
carry on advanced methods for quality
management. The DMAIC procedure is still widely
used, although with some differences: as a matter of
fact, due to the impossibility to meet high costs and
the unavailability of full-time experts, SMEs are
often forced to use just simple statistical tools, like
process mapping, cause and effect analysis,
histograms and FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects
Analysis), missing out more complex techniques
(run charts, non-parametric tests..) that large
companies use instead. In addition, decisions are
generally made for short-term profitability and in
many cases there are no incentives or reward
programs due to budgets and resources constraints
[12]. Another typical lack of SMEs is the
unavailability of trained experts: for example, the
usual criterion for having a full-time Master Black
Belt is one per 1.000 employees; the cost for
extensive training may be prohibitive, and sparing
personnel to become Black Belts is often unrealistic
[17]. Actually, basing on the definition of SMEs
given by EC, it would not have sense to keep a
MBB, since the maximum number of employees for
a SME is 250; for this reason the attention for
training programs must be focused on BBs (one per
100 employees) and above all GBs, since their costs
are sensibly smaller and they are not full-time
working on a single projects as they have other
regular jobs inside the organisation. Six Sigma can
be also integrated with other quality management
models; in fact it is a quite common error
considering Six Sigma as a completely replacing
model: many companies are apathetic about Six
Sigma because they believe their existing culture
and system, such as ISO 9000 and continuous
improvement, are sufficient to meet their needs
[18]. Thus Six Sigma should not replace the already
existing quality management methods, but it could
improve them by getting into the organisation; final
result is a quality approach that includes both
traditional features of TQM both Six Sigma quality
philosophy.