The Lean Six Sigma Roadmap
How Can Lean Six Sigma Help?
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) was designed to drive continuous improvement. In short, Lean Six Sigma is a process improvement strategy that seeks to eliminate inefficiencies in a company’s process flow. It identifies the causes of waste and redundancy, and as a result, develops solutions to address them.
How Do We Accomplish This Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement Strategy?
The DMAIC Process!
The DMAIC Process is a strategy used for improving, optimizing, and stabilizing a wide variety of organizational and business processes, such as; software development, manufacturing, Customer service, financial, Parts Inventory, Health & Safety, and the list goes on.
Even though the DMAIC strategy is associated with Six Sigma, it can also be applied to lean and other process-improvement strategies.
The DMAIC Process is designed to identify defects and eliminate process inefficiencies.
In short, DMAIC is a data driven improvement cycle designed to be applied to business processes to find and resolve flaws or inefficiencies resulting in output defects.
The DMAIC Goal is to Improve, Optimize, Or Stabilize Existing Processes.
In This Article, We Will Provide an Overview of the DMAIC….
“DEFINE PHASE SECTION 1”
Prior to starting the DMAIC journey, selecting the right project to address the specific problem areas is a critical component of project success. A good Six Sigma project is connected to a company’s strategic goals and based on quantifiable metrics. Choosing a project based on quantifiable data, helps you to identify which project will provide the greatest savings relative to the time expended and cost of deployment.
What if I’ve identified several potential projects?
Which one should I select?
Like I said, we’ve got that covered!
There is a project selection tool provided in our training course that will identify the right project, while filtering out undesirable projects
The Benefit–Effort Matrix is a simple graph that provides a way of visually seeing all the projects and the value they bring based on their benefits versus the effort.
- Score each project as High / Med / Low for Benefit and Effort
- Fill in Benefit / Effort Matrix
- Review plotted results.
- Select highest priority opportunities for further analysis.
Once your project has been selected, the following tools will be used in the DMAIC DEFINE Phase Section #1 and #2:
Define Section #1
- Project Charter
- Gantt Chart
- PERT Chart
- RACI Diagram
- Stakeholder Analysis
- Communication Plan
- Project Charter Evaluation (SMART)
Define Section #2
- SIPOC
- Detailed Process Map
- Value Stream Map
- Swim Lane Map
- Customer Value Added Analysis
- Process Cycle Time
- Voice of the Customer
Define Section #2
- Voice of the Business
- Critical Customer Requirements (CCRs)
- Develop Critical Business Requirements (CBRs)
- Kano Model
- Affinity Diagram
- Define Gate Review
The Project Charter is a formal document created at the beginning of a project, which serves as a detailed road map for your project. It clearly describes your project objectives, as well as, providing guidance to those involve in the project.
Charter Content:
- Problem Statement: What “pain” are we or our customers experiencing?
- Business Impact: What is the benefit?
- Goal Statement: What is the objective?
- Project Scope: What are the boundaries of the initiative?
- Project Plan: How are we going to get this done?
- Team Selection: Who are the team members?
Each section of the Project Charter, as well as all Lean Six Sigma Training Topics contained in “The Journal Of Applied Business Statistics” are covered in detail, with examples, and easy to follow instructions.
The Gantt Chart is used for project scheduling and a visual overview of the project. This chart displays project-related activities, which facilitate quick, yet effective project planning and project monitoring. A Gantt Chart gives a pictorial overview of the workflow, the milestones achieved, the planning phases, and the associated bottlenecks and risks.
A PERT Charts is a helpful in identifying the critical path, and is a tool used to schedule, organize, analyze, and coordinate tasks within a problem-solving project. This chart visually maps out an entire project so you can easily see milestones, timelines, and who is responsible for what.
The RACI Diagram is a graphical display that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of key personal in a project. The RACI diagram assigns tasks to four responsibility types. The first letter of the responsibility type makes up the acronym RACI.
A RACI chart prevents confusion by assigning clear ownership for tasks and decisions.
- R – Responsible “The Doer”
- A – Accountable “The Buck Stops Here”
- C – Consulted “In the Loop”
- I – Informed “Keep in the Picture”
Two Simplified RACI Chart Examples:
A Stakeholder Analysis is a way to identify those individuals that may be involved or impacted by your project. These stakeholders are grouped according to their levels of participation, interest, and influence in the project.
Simple Stakeholder Analysis
A Communications Plan is used to consciously direct the flow of information about a project. When beginning a Six Sigma process improvement project everyone in all areas of the organization will need to know what is going on.
A Simple Communication Plan
HAS A GOOD PROJECT CHARTER BEEN DEVELOPED?
Have you answered all of the questions for each element of the Project Charter?
Check Out Several Organizations and Businesses that have Implemented LSS
This Concludes Define Section #1
Let me remind you, that the material we just covered was a very brief overview.
The material in our Lean Six Sigma Training Course is not only thorough, detailed, user-friendly, and easy to understand, but also includes several Plug and Play Automated Excel Tools for Quick Analysis.
We Also Provide On-Line Support If Required!
Your Subscription to the Journal of Applied Business Statistics comes with a Money Back Guarantee.
Coming Soon Is Define Section #2
By Subscribing to our product offering, you will be receiving:
- The Entire Lean Six Sigma Certifiable Training Course.
- How to Improve Business Performance using Data and Statistical Analysis.
- Automated and Downloadable Excel Tools (50++) and editable Templates
Any Questions, Give me a call!
Edward Florancic
(602) 617-9282
Co-owner/Publisher, The Journal of Applied Business Statistics
Edward ’Rick” Florancic is a highly trained statistician and Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Professional. Ed has been a Senior Manager for two Fortune 500 corporations for over 35 years, and a Lean Six Sigma Consultant over the past 15 years. As a Consultant, Ed has saved companies over $53M by driving improved profit, improved revenue, and cost reduction strategies.
