Six Sigma in the Activities of the Intermediary Companies as a Factor of Improving Performance

Abstract

The article is aimed to determine the merits of the Six Sigma strategy and the peculiarities of its use by the intermediary enterprises, as well as to suggest a certain classification of logistic business processes and services, their content and purposes. It investigates the initial conditions of the Six Sigma emergence and modern interpretations of the strategy by organizations. It also suggests using the core aspects of Six Sigma strategy in the activities of the intermediary enterprises. The article systemizes the logistic business processes, subprocesses, operations, and other services provided by the intermediary enterprise. The analysis of the peculiarities of the intermediary enterprise reveals its logistic business processes and services, their types and content. The Six Sigma strategy in the activities of the intermediary companies is supposed to be based on 6 main issues. They are as following: defining services and products mostly needed by customers, achieving one of the six σ!levels according to the customers' complaints about the quality of the received services; understanding and organizing the key business processes satisfying the customers' demands towards the services and products; termination of the activities consuming resources but for forming values; measuring (quite thoroughly) of the processes performance; training the staff to concentrate on the key competencies, improving the enterprise performance in general; strategic management of the enterprise (the choice of the strategy connected with its market share). The article defines those types of the intermediary enterprises' activities, which consume the resources, but do not add any value to their production.