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Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. Releases Two New Sigma Books: Both Books Provide Proven Roadmaps to Drive Process Improvement

San Marcos, TX- November 16, 2006 – Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. has released two new books to help companies successfully apply Lean and Six Sigma methods to deliver results to businesses, addressing a wide range of problems with resulting solutions across industries.

The books are: Lean Sigma: A Practitioner’s Guide, authored by Dr. Ian D. Wedgwood; and Commercializing Great Products with Design for Six Sigma, authored by Randy C. Perry and David W. Bacon.

Six Sigma is a statistical measure of the performance of a process or product characteristic compared to a specification level. A Six Sigma level process would exhibit no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities, compared with most company processes which produce upwards of 6000 defects per million opportunities.

To achieve a Six Sigma level of performance, a systematic process-based methodology and project framework must be employed. These two new books from Prentice Hall Professional help to contribute to this knowledge base.

Wedgwood’s Lean Sigma uses practical tools and example projects to illustrate process improvement, filling what he considers a previously empty niche within the literature of Six Sigma. Tightly focused on walking readers through the problem-solving roadmap and associated tools, the book is organized into seven chapters, within three clear-cut sections: Part I- Project Roadmaps; Part II- Roadmaps to Find Projects; Part III- Roadmaps to Guide in the Practical Application of Each Lean Sigma Tool (55 tools are presented).

Design for Six Sigma helps companies identify the needs of customers and emerging product trends through the use of a well-defined, structured process. To place readers on the path to success, Authors Perry and Bacon deliver a start-to-finish case study, a practical roadmap, and easy-to-use templates. The book is organized into 38 chapters within five well-organized sections.

These two new books join Steve Zinkgraf’s Six Sigma—The First 90 Days (March 2006) as part of a library of Six Sigma books published by Prentice Hall Professional in partnership with Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. (SBTI).

“Einstein once said: "In theory, theory and practice are the same, in practice they are not." My book represents the practice of Lean Sigma, and my sincere wish is that professionals, whether novice or multiple project veterans, can use the tool and project roadmaps to accelerate their projects to gain better results sooner,” Wedgwood said.

“Our objective in writing this book has been to provide the reader with a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to utilizing DFSS in real-world product development. It is our hope that readers of Commercializing Great Products with Design for Six Sigma will see benefits from more effective business case development, the design of improved product concepts and more efficient product launches,” Perry said.

The series includes two Short Cuts, also authored by Perry and Bacon. Short Cuts are short, concise, PDF documents designed specifically for busy technical professionals. The Short Cut titles are: Statistical Tolerancing in Design for Six Sigma (Digital Short Cut) (August 2006) and The Business Case for Design for Six Sigma (Digital Short Cut) (September 2006). For more information on Short Cuts, please visit: www.informit.com/shortcuts

About The Authors
Wedgwood is an executive director of Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. (SBTI), an organization that drives business process excellence for companies around the world. Perry and Bacon are Master Consultants for SBTI.

About Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. (SBTI)
A corporation with 28 employees and over 50 expert consultants, SBTI is based in San Marcos, Texas. Specializing in Lean and Six Sigma deployments, the CEO and executive team has over 100 years of combined process-improvement and product-development expertise. SBTI has been delivering superior results through Six Sigma and Lean for customers since May 1997. SBTI executive directors and master consultants have a minimum of 10 years’ industry experience, but many have 25 years’ experience or more. SBTI has worked with over 65 corporate clients. Find out more about SBTI at www.sbtionline.com