Martin Brenig-Jones - Lean Six Sigma For Dummies

Don’t fall into the trap of explaining the cause of the problem here, or what you think might be the solution. The DMAIC approach will lead you to the right conclusions. As they say, let DMAIC do DeMAgIC!

One of the most important things to have in place when starting a project is a clear scope. Without a clear scope, it can be very difficult to manage the improvement (how will you know when you’ve finished?), and it can also be difficult for project stakeholders to understand what will be affected by the project, the effort involved, the timescales, and the results that can be expected. Managing expectations is vital.

The tool used, which is shown in Figure 2-3, is very simple:

1 Draw a picture frame onto a flipchart, large sheet of paper, or online collaboration tool. Label the area inside the frame as “In.” Label the area outside of the frame as “Out.” Label the frame itself as “Up for discussion.”

2 Brainstorm various issues and write them on sticky notes. These could be related to customers or market segments in or out of scope, products, services, geographical regions, people affected, systems involved, and so on. The 5Ws and 1H mentioned in the preceding section might be useful here.

3 Place the sticky notes in what appears to be the most appropriate position.

4 Review and discuss all of the items with stakeholders.

5 Following the review and decisions made, seek to move all of the “Up for discussion” items either In or Out.

© Martin Brenig-Jones and Jo Dowdall

FIGURE 2-3:Framing the scope of your improvement project.

It can be very easy to grow the scope of an improvement project. As you learn more about the process and its issues, you might be tempted to take on further aspects of the problem. You might also have stakeholders who want you to “solve everything” in one go. Our advice is always to manage and control the scope of the project and take everything in bite-size chunks.

Throughout your project, developing a storyboard summary of the key decisions and outputs helps you review progress and share what you’ve learned. A storyboard builds up as you work your way through your project by capturing the key outputs and findings from the DMAIC phases. A storyboard would include, for example, your improvement charter and process map (see Chapter 5) as well as other tools you’ll use in your DMAIC journey and the conclusions they help you to reach. The storyboard also helps your communication activities. Developing and reviewing a communication plan is an essential activity. You really need to keep your team and the people affected by your project informed about the progress you’re making. Communication begins on day one of your project.

After you’ve defined the problem, at least based on your current understanding, you need to clarify how, and how well, the work gets done. To understand the current situation of your process, knowing what it looks like is the best starting point. You need to know what’s currently happening, step by step, and how the process supports the delivery of the customer’s CTQ requirements.

Knowing the current performance of your process is essential because this knowledge becomes your baseline. Measure what’s important to the customer, and remember also to measure from the perspective of the customer. Gathering this information can help focus your improvement efforts in the areas that matter most and prevent you from going off in the wrong direction. Using graphs and charts (which we cover in Chapter 8) can help you make better sense of the data, as they provide a visual picture that demonstrates performance and can show you, among other things, the variation within the process. You can also calculate the Process Sigma using the method described in Chapter 1.

If you asked your customers to measure the process, would they measure it in the same way that you do? Use the CTQs as the basis for getting the right process measures in place. Understanding how well you meet the CTQs is an essential piece of management information. Chapter 7provides more detail on getting the right measures.

Lean Six Sigma projects can take longer than you might like because the right data isn’t in place in the day-to-day operation. So often, organizations have data coming out of their ears — but not the right data. You need to develop the right measures and start collecting the data you do need.

In the Measure phase, you discovered what’s really happening in your process. Now you need to identify why it’s happening, and determine the root cause(s). You need to manage by fact, though, so you must verify and validate your ideas about possible suspects. Jumping to conclusions is all too easy.

Carrying out the Analyze phase properly helps you determine the right solution(s) when you get to the Improve phase. Clearly, the extent of analysis required varies depending on the scope and nature of the problem you’re tackling, and, indeed, what your Measure activities have identified. Essentially, though, you’re analyzing the process and the data that the process produces.

Checking the possible causes of your problem using concrete data to verify your ideas is crucial. You may find the “usual suspects” aren’t guilty at all! Identifying and removing the root causes of a problem prevents it happening again.

Now you’ve identified the root cause of the problem, you can begin to generate improvement ideas to help solve it. Improve, however, involves three distinct phases:

1 Generate ideas about possible solutions.The solution may be evident from the work done in the previous two steps. Make sure that your proposed solutions address the problem and its cause.

2 Select the most appropriate solution.Take account of the results from any testing or piloting, and the criteria you’ve identified as important, such as customer priorities, cost, speed, or ease of implementation. Ensure your solution addresses the problem and that customers will see a difference if you adopt it.

3 Plan and test the solution.This step seeks to ensure the smooth implementation of your chosen solution. Focus on prevention here can help you to avoid implementing a solution that causes problems elsewhere. Carrying out a pilot or a test is likely to be helpful.

After the Improve phase, you need to implement the solution in a way that ensures you make the gains you expected and hold onto them. If you’re to continue your efforts in reducing variation and cutting out waste, the changes being made to the process need to be consistently deployed and followed.

If the improvement team is handing over the “new” process to the process team, the handover needs to ensure that everyone understands who’s responsible for what and when. Misunderstandings are all too easy, and a clear cut-off point must exist signaling the end of the improvement team’s role. A control plan should be developed to ensure that the gain is secured and the new process effectively deployed.