You and 10,000 other guys fighting over the same slice of the pie, thinking they can make a living as a Six Sigma consultant.
Beg your pardon, but Six Sigma is NOT dead. It is a valid, mathematically-based series of methods or analysis tools that identify the problems and inefficiencies in a manufacturing (or other) process. Properly implemented, it does this task with exceptional efficiency. Obviously I'm a believer, but this is because I've used it with great effect.
However, it "cures" nothing. Improvement comes from having the managerial- and company-culture discipline for taking the results of Six Sigma analysis and implementing changes that will correct those problems. Sometimes companies actually do this, sometimes they completely miss the boat.
"Six Sigma" comes and goes in cycles, whatever it may be called at the time. In the 80's when I was trained, we called it "Factory of the Future" or some such rot. The 90's called it something else. Doesn't matter, math is math. What changes are the economic cycles and the age/experience of the company managers that look for silver bullets and quick fixes before they move on to the next promotion.
IMHO, it boils down to this: when the economy is going great, there's no time or incentive to improve because there is easy money to be made. When the economy tanks, then business stop spending and hunker down because it's the easy thing to do.
Even the smart companies stumble sometimes when they adopt Six Sigma in a big way...Motorola is the #1 example of this phenomena.
What I have seen happen over the years is that there is a slow migration towards more efficient & effective manufacturing processes done by osmosis. But the "massive improvement in US manufacturing" promised by adoption of Six Sigma practices never really happened.
But a lot of consultants got filthy rich telling silly managers that it was possible. Good luck with that.
TygerDawg