Yield and quality control

Which correctly describes the idea behind the quality management activity called 'Six Sigma'?

  1. AInspecting each product six times
  2. BDividing the process into six parts
  3. CReducing process variation so the margin to the specification limits is about six standard deviations, making defects extremely rare
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Answer: C. Reducing process variation so the margin to the specification limits is about six standard deviations, making defects extremely rare

Six Sigma aims to reduce process variation (σ) so that the distance from the mean to the specification limits is about 6σ. Allowing for mean shifts, the goal is to keep defects to a few per million. It is also widely used as a method of data-driven improvement.

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More Yield and quality control questions

  1. On the same wafer, why does making chip area smaller greatly increase the number of good chips per wafer?
  2. Which control chart is used to control the fraction defective?
  3. What is the purpose of inspecting for defects after each step and extracting only the defects newly added since the previous step?
  4. Which concept expresses, from particle size and wiring layout, the area in which a falling particle could cause a failure?
  5. Which technique digs into a problem by repeatedly asking 'why' to find its true cause?