Application of Six Sigma in Supply Chain Management Abstract: This paper hypothesizes that although Six Sigma as a change and improvement strategy is delivering significant business benefits to professional organizations, has not been successfully adapted to deliver similar benefits across supply chains. It demonstrates by referring to the literature that most of the published Six Sigma applications in supply chains are related to the application of traditional internal Six Sigma methodologies to the internal processes of a supplier of the “Six Sigma Organization”. This article discusses particular issues relating to the application of Six Sigma in a broader supply chain context, with reference to specific supply chain issues. It is concluded that Six Sigma has something new to offer organizations beyond the contribution of existing approaches to supply chain improvement, and a conceptual model is proposed that is consistent with the literature and has the potential to support such an introduction. Although rooted in the supply chain space, SCOR adherents see the methodology as a gatekeeper, identifying projects that are most likely to generate ROI using SCOR, Lean or Six Sigma. There is already a natural link between Lean and Six Sigma at the program and project execution level. The model integrates the Balanced Scorecard, the SCOR model (supply chain reference model) and the Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze and improve) methodology into a two-tier framework. This is a strategic-level cycle, which develops focused projects to generate maximum business benefit, and an operational-level cycle, which applies Six Sigma and lean tools in a DMAIC cycle to deliver supply chain improvements. Caveats and requirements for success in practice of such a model are discussed and it is concluded that the model should be tested in practice to validate and further develop the methodology. Keywords: Six Sigma; Supply chain improvement; Hang; SCOR model; Reducing Variability1.0 INTRODUCTION1.1 General IntroductionSix Sigma process improvement is a rigorous approach to improving business processes by addressing the underlying causes of variation that lead to poor performance experienced by the "customer", who is the recipient of the outputs. The first exponents were Motorola and GE in the 1980s. Since then, many organizations, from manufacturing to services across all industries, have successfully implemented Six Sigma to deliver measurable improvements based on cost, quality and time. 2.0 LEAN - SIX SIGMA In the past, Lean and Six Sigma have sometimes been seen as almost rival methodologies, with some companies choosing one or the other as the primary vehicle for improvement.