'Six Sigma' techniques improve the quality of e-learning

By applying ‘Six Sigma’ techniques to its development and production processes, TATA Interactive Systems (TIS) has achieved a remarkable 70 per cent reduction in product ‘defects’ from 44 per thousand to just 18 per thousand within the first quarter of 2002.

“Six Sigma, a management philosophy originally developed by the Motorola organisation, sets extremely tough objectives for the collection of data and the analysis of results,” explained TIS’s chief executive, Sanjaya Sharma. “Many companies that use Six Sigma techniques are fortunate to reduce product defects by some 35 per cent a year, but TIS has reduced its defect rate by 70 per cent in only one quarter.”

Sambit Mohapatra, the head of TIS in the UK, commented: “The ‘defects’ refer to such things as spelling mistakes, the style and ‘look’ of ‘screens’ in an e-learning programme and so on, rather than major problems.“

TIS, which has one of the world’s largest teams for the design and development of custom-built e-learning solutions, is committed to achieving the most exacting quality standards. Sanjaya Sharma explained: “We believe that the fewer ‘defects’ there are in our work, the less ‘re-working’ we have to do and the higher our productivity. “We finish our work quicker; there are fewer ‘hassles’ for the client, and the client is able to use the courseware that we produce on their behalf sooner and to greater effect. This becomes a virtuous circle – of which our clients heartily approve!”

Towards the end of last year, TIS became the first company providing custom-built e-learning solutions to be assessed at level five on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) scale.

“The CMM is the most rigorous quality standard worldwide and encompasses leading companies such as Boeing, Raytheon, IBM, NASA and Motorola. Customers of companies that are assessed at CMM level five can have increased confidence over project outcomes. Companies that are assessed at CMM level five also tend to have higher productivity and fewer costs – and can pass these benefits to the customer,” Sharma said.

August 1st, 2002