The Six Sigma Handbook (Hardcover)

by Thomas Pyzdek (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Six Sigma is a system for improving the quality of organizational processes and products to a level of 3 defects per million--the "six sigma" level of quality. It was originally developed at Motorola in the 1980's and has become one of the most widely discussed and reported trends in business over the past two years, thanks largely to the phenomenal successes of the Six Sigma program at GE, where CEO Jack Welch credits it with millions of dollars in annual cost savings and product quality improvements. Due to the widespread coverage of the Six Sigma program by the business press over the last two years, there is strong demand for books and information on how Six Sigma works and how to implement it. The Six Sigma Handbook is designed for the manager or quality professional who is already familiar with Six Sigma and wants a guide to the basic quality tools and statistics that are the foundation for Six Sigma. In addition to providing a brief overview of the management and organization of Six Sigma, and the underlying philosophy, the book explains in detail the problem-solving techniques and statistical tools most often used in Six Sigma.

From the Publisher
This edition has been replaced by the new edition, entitled "The Six Sigma Handbook". ISBN 0071372334 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 711 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1st edition (October 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071372334
• ISBN-13: 978-0071372336
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #916,061 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's great if you don't know any better, February 13, 2001

By	W. Dean (Sammamish, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a Master Black Belt, I am typically critical of books that are published on Six Sigma. This is no exception. The book is schizophrenic in that it doesn't quite know if it wants to be a technical reference or a management handbook. I think it fails at both. There is really nothing new in the management sections, and this book really lacks the depth required to be an effective handbook.

There are three books on Six Sigma that I recommend for the Green Belt or Black Belt (Implementing Six Sigma --Breyfogle, The Six Sigma Revolution--Eckes, The Six Sigma Way--Pande). The Breyfogle book is a good technical handbook, while both the Eckes and Pande books are fantastic for Managers,Champions, MBB's, BB's, GB's, and all other employees engaged in a Six Sigma program. Of course no book is going to tell you everything you need to know.....Experience will, of course, teach you the most, but the books I mentioned will get you going.

Good Luck!

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic Guide, May 17, 2002

By A Customer

The subtitle to Pyzdek's book is "A Complete Guide Greenbelts, Blackbelts ..." I think that is a bit of an overstatement. The book is a collection of snipets on managerial and technical issues. On the technical side, he covers a few pages here and few pages there on everything from control charts to design of experiments.

My view is that Pyzdek's book is a nice basic overview to six-sigma. Something for greenbelts but hardly the coverage necessary for blackbelts. Blackbelts, by definition, need in depth coverage with excellent software support. By the way, with the exception of a few figures of Excel output, software issues are pretty void in this book. And the use of Excel is questionable considering its accuracy problems (well documented).

For blackbelts, my advice is to pick up a management dedicated six-sigma book. Then for technical side, one is best served to arm themselves with authorative references. For ANOVA and DOE, consider Montgomery's "Design of Experiments" book and also consider Neter and Wasserman's "Applied Linear Models". For statistical process control, there is a gem of a book by Alwan titled "Statistical Process Analysis". Alwan's book covers basic SPC but takes process analysis to the next level by covering issues of nonnormality and time-series/SPC using a lot of Minitab (Pyzdek actually references his work). Armed with this collection of these basic references you will be no doubt have the technical skills of a master black belt or actually beyond.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Six Sigma Handbook - a 1 sigma value!!!!!, April 12, 2001

By A Customer

What a big, big, big disappointment! I purchased this book and it is just a collection of old materials by Mr. Pyzdek in a new packaging that has a six sigma theme. This book adds very little to the understanding of the six sigma methodolgy of business and quality improvement. If you have Tom's old exam refresher books then you have everything that this handbook offers - except for the cover. I wish I could get my $100.00 back?????