2.1. SIX SIGMA AS A STATISTICAL MEASURE

If you haven't heard the term "sigma" before, don't worry. Until recently, the term has not been used much in ordinary conversation. The lowercase Greek letter sigma—σ—stands for standard deviation.

Standard deviation is a statistical way to describe how much variation exists in a set of data, a group of items, or a process. For example, if you weigh potato chips of many different sizes, you'll get a higher standard deviation than if you weigh potato chips of all the same size.

As another example, suppose that you run a business that delivers pizzas to nearby offices. You make pretty good pizzas and have lots of customers.

According to your contract with your customers, pizzas will be delivered fresh and ...

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