Lean Six Sigma

• Six Sigma focuses on reducing process variation and enhancing process control,
whereas lean drives out waste (non-value added processes and procedures) and
promotes work standardization and flow.

• Lean Six Sigma is a fact-based, data-driven philosophy of improvement that values defect
prevention over defect detection. It drives customer satisfaction and bottom-line results by
reducing variation, waste, and cycle time, while promoting the use of work standardization
and flow, thereby creating a competitive advantage. It applies anywhere variation and
waste exist, and every employee should be involved.
 Project Viability Model
• 1. Customer impact – Will the successful outcome of the project have a material impact on customers’ (internal or external)
perceptions of quality? A voice-of-the-customer (VOC) analysis with actual customer input would be beneficial in answering this
question.

• 2. Process stability – Is the process relatively stable? If the process is new, has it reached a stable level of performance? Note
that “stable” does not necessarily mean that the process is performing as desired (i.e., as per customer specifications). Also, is
the process likely to undergo major structural or design changes in the near future? Process stability is important in accurately
assessing the impact of improvements without the “noise” created by changes within the process.

• 3. Defect definition – Is the process defect well defined? If the project does not have a specific element that needs to be fixed, it
could become a victim of scope-creep and lose its focus. Avoid making the final output (the “big Y‘s”) the measure of defect. For
example, high costs, poor customer satisfaction rates or not achieving revenue targets can work as high-level problems to tackle,
but are not ideal “defect metrics.” The defect metrics should be operational in nature. Examples of appropriate defect metrics
include cycle time, error rates, rework rates, first-time call handling percentage, straight-through processing rates, lead times and
complaint rates (all “little y’s”).
 Project Viability Model
• 4. Data availability – Is data available around the process metrics? If not, is it attainable? Rarely will all the data
needed for a proper process improvement study be waiting around to be analyzed, but it is important that key
required data can at least be collected without having to spend an unreasonable amount of time, resources and
effort.

• 5. Solution clarity – Is the solution already known? If so, just do it and skip going through the DMAIC motions.
Keep in mind, however, that lots of people may have lots of good solution ideas, and it still may be worth going
through the effort of identifying the true underlying root causes, rather than risk simply fixing symptoms.

• 6. Benefits – An appropriately vetted cost-benefit analysis should demonstrate the value of the project, ideally
using a discounted cash-flow model to calculate the net present value or similar cash-flow analysis of the
project. Do not forget to include the soft benefits such as customer satisfaction and how that translates into
improved retention and higher sales.
 Project Viability Model
• 7. Impact on service quality – Will the project contribute to enhancing overall service quality along the delivery value

chain? It is not enough that end customers are satisfied, if the process has become more complex and unwieldy.

• 8. Project sponsorship – The level of project sponsorship is often the difference between project success and failure.

Strong sponsorship at an appropriately high level cannot be underestimated and is a prerequisite for all Six Sigma

projects.

• 9. Project alignment – Does the project align with corporate strategic objectives? If not, the likelihood of the project not

getting appropriately funded and resourced increases (assuming it even gets the green light to proceed).

• 10. Project timeline – Can the project be completed within a reasonably short time period? A good benchmark to use in

most Six Sigma projects is completion in six months. If the project cannot be successfully completed within six months,

the chances of it being a viable DMAIC project diminish.

 Project Viability Model
• 11. Probability of implementation – Practitioners should consider the probability of actually implementing a
solution to the problem (assuming a correct solution will be identified), taking into account the level of
acceptance or resistance by the organization or department. High cultural or organizational resistance means
the probability of implementation is low. Probability of implementation also will be influenced by other factors,
such as competing initiatives, significant organizational changes or changes in strategic objectives.

• 12. Investment – Will the costs to fix the problem likely include large cash outlays or capital investment? If so,
the odds of meeting the requirements of a good Six Sigma process improvement project diminish because
gaining the investment may be difficult.

• 13. Team availability – This takes into account the amount of time key team members have to support this
project, especially if they are also responsible for other day-to-day functions. Dedicated Green Belts and Black
Belts are essential to keep the project moving forward
Project Viability Model
• 14. Controllability of inputs – Although this may not be uncovered until at least some data

has been collected, practitioners should make an assessment as to whether there are

likely to be sufficient inputs (i.e., contributors to the output to be improved) that are both

measurable and controllable. If there is little or no control over the inputs to the process,

achieving the project objectives becomes daunting.

• 15. Process redesign – Because these criteria are designed to limit project options to

those that can be improved through DMAIC, project viability is low if the process being

examined cannot be improved much further without redesigning it.

 Phase 1: Define
Define the problem, improvement activity,
opportunity for improvement, the project goals,
and customer (internal and external)
requirements.
The Project Charter is a living document that
outlines a process improvement project for Project Charter
both the team as well as leadership. Teams
use the charter to clarify the process issue
being addressed, the reason for addressing it
and what “success” looks like for those
working on it. It’s also used to clarify what’s not
being addressed
The CTQ Tree is a visual
diagram a company can use
to understand the voice of
customer and integrate those
parameters into processes in
order meet the needs and
wants of the customer.
Value stream mapping (VSM) is a lean manufacturing technique to analyze, design, and manage the
flow of materials and information required to bring a product to a customer.
In practical terms, SIPOC is a process mapping and
improvement method that summarizes the inputs and
outputs of one or more processes
 Phase 2: Measure

Measure process performance.

 Process Maps

Process mapping is a technique

used to visually map out
workflows and processes.
 Control Charts

Tool for monitoring and controlling

production processes. It involves the use of
statistical techniques, such as control charts
and process capability indices, to monitor
process performance.
Process Capability
• Specifications or tolerances are established by engineering design or
customer requirements. They indicate a range of values in which
individual units of output must fall in order to be acceptable.

• Process variability reflects the natural or inherent (i.e., random)

variability in a process. It is measured in terms of the process standard
deviation
 The output of a process may or may not conform to
specifications, even though the process may be statistically in
control.

Process capability refers to the inherent variability of process

output relative to the variation allowed by the design
specifications.
• Nearly all of the process output can be expected to meet the specifications.

• 100% percent of the output are accepted.

• A higher percentage of the output will fail to meet the specifications

A manager has the option of using any one of three
machines for a job. The processes and their standard
deviations are listed below. Determine which machines are
capable if the specifications are 10.00 mm and 10.80 mm.
To assess the capability of a machine or
process, a capability index can be
computed using the following formula:

Used to assess the ability of a process to meet specifications.

Determine the capability index for each process.
If a process is not centered, a slightly different measure is used to compute
its capability. This index is represented by the symbol Cpk . It is computed
by finding the difference between each of the specification limits and the
mean, identifying the smaller difference, and dividing that difference by three
standard deviations of the process. Thus, Cpk is equal to the smaller of
Problem: A process has a mean of 9.20 grams and a standard
deviation of 0.30 gram. The lower specification limit is 7.50 grams
and the upper specification limit is 10.50 grams. Compute Cpk .
 Pareto Chart

Check sheet
 Phase 3: Analyze

Analyze the process to determine root causes of

variation, poor performance (defects).
 Fishbone Diagram

Why-why Analysis
Hypothesis Testing

First, we need to state the null hypothesis.

Second, we need to state the alternative hypothesis.
Third, we need to determine the critical value.
Fourth, we need to calculate the test statistic.
Fifth, we need to make a statistical decision.
Sixth, we need to make a conclusion.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a structured way to
identify and address potential problems, or failures and their
resulting effects on the system or process before an adverse
event occurs.
 Phase 4: Improve

Improve process performance by

addressing and eliminating the root causes.
A Gantt chart, commonly used in project management, is
one of the most popular and useful ways of showing
activities (tasks or events) displayed against time.
For projects, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the
tool that utilizes this technique and is one of the most
important project management documents.
 Phase 5: Control

Control the improved process and

future process performance.
Additional Notes

DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify) is a data-

driven quality strategy that focuses on the development of new
products or services compared to existing ones. The DMADV
method or approach is often used when implementing new
strategies because of its basis in data, its ability to identify
success early, and its method, which requires thorough analysis.