A company's quality mission of Six Sigma can be a noble pursuit of process perfection -- an achievement that can entail significant cost and performance benefits. But, in the Six Sigma world, there are levels of perfection. Belden Electronics, a unit of Belden Inc. (Richmond, IN), a manufacturer of specialty wire and cable products, operates in the Five Sigma category, while most companies operate at Three or Four Sigma quality levels. For Belden, this relates to a predicted cable production defect rate of 233 parts per million, whereas a Three Sigma cable company experiences roughly 66,800 parts per million.
This elevated level came about because Belden made a concerted effort to incorporate not only the tenets of Six Sigma, but also a mindset of zero defects throughout the organization. Using Belden's success as a template, other companies can do the same.