Chemical giants Dow and DuPont are the premier Six Sigma examples for the Chemical industry.As the early adopters in 1998, they continue to lead the industry today with innovative Six Sigma projects and deployment approaches.Many of the Fortune 1000 chemical companies employ Six Sigma:
| Air Products & Chemicals | FMC |
| Albemarle | Great Lakes Chemical |
| Ashland | H.B. Fuller |
| Avery Dennison | Monsanto |
| Borden Chemical | PPG Industries |
| Cabot | Praxair |
| Crompton | Rohm & Haas |
| Cytec Industries | Sherwin-Williams |
| Dow Chemical | Valspar |
| DuPont | W.R. Grace |
| Eastman Chemical |
A process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. A defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications. An opportunity, then, is the total quantity of chances for a defect.