ABSTRACT
The pre-history is an example of how earlier actions taken influenced and enabled the deployment of Six Sigma. All organizations have a pre-history of things that came before regardless of the organization’s age. The pre-history story begins in the late 1970s as Cummins began to focus on quality in an organized way. This early quality journey sets up a set of conditions which were beneficial in a variety of ways to the launch and maturity of Six Sigma over 16 years and forms an important backdrop to the transformation of this global company. Each of the efforts listed became part of the company’s cultural fabric and contributed to the success of Six Sigma. Generally, their contributions included structure, discipline and activities that Six Sigma would build on during deployment and use to make important improvements for Cummins’ customers and business results.
