How does Six Sigma define "quality"?

Six Sigma defines "quality" as the degree to which a product meets customer requirements. This focus on customer needs underscores the core philosophy of Six Sigma, which emphasizes understanding and fulfilling customer expectations to enhance satisfaction. By prioritizing how well a product aligns with what customers want and need, Six Sigma aims to eliminate defects and variations in processes, leading to higher quality outputs. The ultimate goal is to create products and services that consistently meet or exceed customer specifications, thus driving improvements in performance and efficiency.

In contrast, while factors like cost-effectiveness, compliance with regulations, and speed of delivery are certainly important aspects of a business’s operations, they do not directly capture the essence of what quality means within the Six Sigma framework. Quality is fundamentally about meeting or exceeding the expectations of the end-user, making it a central tenet of Six Sigma methodologies.