Six Sigma: A product differentiator in the market for manufacturing industries

Global competitiveness has compounded pressure on a lot of organizations to perform in their own local markets as competitive products are landing in the markets with enhanced features and competitive prices. Many businesses embark on business improvement approaches to extricate themselves from the competitive jungle that they find themselves in, by deploying superior or cutting edge methodologies like Six Sigma. Six Sigma's success in saving companies millions of dollars has been proven for a very long time and its relevance as a product differentiator in the product market is still valid currently. The basic creeds of Six Sigma are able to carry an organization to competitive advantage if it is successfully implemented by an organization and the results are measured as per the methodology. This paper's aim is to unravel the product differentiation prowess of Six Sigma in the market and its capability to render competitive advantage to the business through its performance attributes. A comprehensive literature review was done pertaining to the basic tenets of Six Sigma and its applicability in the manufacturing industries. Published articles and recent books on Six Sigma were reviewed to extract the dominancy and relevance of Six Sigma as a business competitive tool. With many business improvement approaches at the disposal of manufacturing organizations, the literature review and case study sought to unveil the underlying advantages embedded in applying the Six Sigma approach and why it is still the option of choice. Organizational decision-makers are granted a platform to evaluate the Six Sigma practices and the limitations posed by ineffective implementation.