Book excerpt: Six Sigma Deployment provides a thorough understanding of the Six Sigma methodologies and its implementation in various industries. The authors offer practical information for successful implementation as well as what is needed to plan, monitor and steer this business strategy toward success. The authors begin with an introduction to the Six Sigma initiative by offering a chronology of events from the origin of Six Sigma to the present. This includes the changing view of quality and how companies have benefited. Readers are also introduced to the currently popular breakthrough strategy and learn how this compares to the original methodology. Along with this, the different belts are explained in detail as to what the variations are among various service providers. Some of the unique aspects of this book include the use of Six Sigma with the various quality standards that are being implemented today, the implementation of Six Sigma in supply chain management stream, and the analysis of different methods used by various companies, the strengths and weaknesses of each, results achieved and finally lessons learned. In addition, an appendix is provided that includes the various statistical or non-statistical tools employed during the implementation of Six Sigma.