Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Preparatory Module

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benchmark six sigma
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
BlackBeltPreparatory
Module V12
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BENCHMARK SIX SIGMA
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Preparatory Module
Benchmark Six Sigma

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Table of Contents
What is Six Sigma? ................................................................................................... 1
History and Evolution of Lean Six Sigma ....................................................... 1
Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard ................................................................ 3
Understanding Lean ................................................................................................. 4
Why do we want to lose excess Fat?............................................................. 4
Simple Lean tools with extraordinary benefits.............................................. 5
Lean - Total Productive Maintenance ......................................................... 10
Statistics for Lean Six Sigma ................................................................................... 21
Elementary Statistics for Business .............................................................. 21
Types of Variables ...................................................................................... 24
Summary Measures .................................................................................... 26
Managing Six Sigma Projects .................................................................................. 38
Managing Projects ...................................................................................... 38
What is a Project? ....................................................................................... 38
Managing Teams ........................................................................................ 44
Managing Change ....................................................................................... 44
Define .................................................................................................................... 56
DefineOverview............................................................................................... 56
Step1-GenerateProjectIdeas ............................................................................... 58
Step 2- Select Project .................................................................................. 69
Step3- Finalize Project Charter and High Level Map .................................... 70
Define Phase Tollgate checklist ................................................................... 76
Measure ................................................................................................................ 77
Measure Phase Overview ........................................................................... 77
Step 4-Finalize Project Y, Performance Standards for Y............................... 77
Step 5- Validate measurement system for Y ............................................... 78
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Step 6- Measure current performance and Gap .......................................... 83

Measure Phase Tollgate checklist ............................................................... 86
Analyze .................................................................................................................. 87
Analyze Phase Overview ............................................................................. 87
Step 7- List all Probable Xs ......................................................................... 88
Step 8- Identify Critical Xs ..........................................................................111
Step 9- Verify Sufficiency of Critical Xs for project ....................................119
Analyze phase Tollgate checklist ................................................................119
Improve ................................................................................................................120
Improve Phase Overview ...........................................................................120
Step 10- Generate and evaluate Alternative Solutions ...............................120
Step 11-Select and optimize best solution .................................................129
Step 12- Pilot, Implement and Validate solution ........................................141
Improve Phase Tollgate Checklist ..............................................................143
Control ..................................................................................................................144
Control Phase Overview ............................................................................144
Step 13- Implement Control System for Critical Xs ....................................144
Step 14- Document Solution and Benefits..................................................148
Step 15-Transfer to Process Owner, Project Closure ..................................150
Control Phase Tollgate Checklist ................................................................151
Appendix ..............................................................................................................152
Acronyms ..................................................................................................153
Important Links for online Learning and Discussion ...................................156
References .................................................................................................157
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Preface
This preparatory module focuses on basic tools and technique that are most important
for Six Sigma Black Belts. The objective of this book is to familiarize readers with these
tools, and also in understanding the application of the tools and techniques during the
classroom training and also thereafter. In this preparatory module, we have provided
Elementary Statistics
Introduction of tools and techniques
Basics of Six Sigma Project Management
Six Sigma Glossary
Practice data files
Reference Study links
It is imperative for Black Belt participants to thoroughly study the preparatory module
before attending the workshop. You may list down your questions and share it with the
facilitator on the 1st day.
Benchmark Six Sigma has invested over 2400 hours of research in developing Lean Six
Sigma Black Belt Workshop and continues to invest 320-480 hours/ year of content
research and development exclusively for Black Belt workshop. We encourage you to
participate in this activity.
If you spot an error or would like to suggest changes, or want to share specific case
studies, articles, please e-mail us at sk@benchmarksixsigma.org
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Chapter
1
What is Six Sigma?
History and Evolution of Lean Six Sigma
Defining Six Sigma
Six Sigma has been labelled as a metric, methodology, a management and now a philosophy. Green Belts,
Black Belts, Master Black Belts, Champions and Sponsors have been trained on Six Sigma as a metric and
methodology, however very few have experienced or been exposed to Six Sigma as an overall management
system and a way of life. Reviewing the metric and the methodology will help create a context for
beginning to understand Six Sigma as a management system.
Six Sigma is a vehicle for strategic change ... an organizational approach to performance excellence. It is
important for business operations because it can be used both to increase top-line growth and also reduce
bottom line costs. Six Sigma can be used to enable:
Transformational change by applying it across the board for large-scale fundamental changes
throughout the organization to change processes, cultures, and achieve breakthrough results.
Transactional change by applying tools and methodologies to reduce variation and defects and
dramatically improve business results.
When people refer to Six Sigma, they refer to several things:

Table 1
It is a philosophy
It is based on facts & data
It is a statistical approach to problem solving
It is a structured approach to solve problems or

reduce variation
It refers to 3.4 defects per million opportunities
It is a relentless focus on customer satisfaction
Strong tie-in with bottom line benefits
Metric, Methodology, Management System
six Sigma as a methodology provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business
processes. For Six Sigma, a process is the basic unit for improvement. A process could be a product or a
service process that a company provides to outside customers, or it could be an internal process within the
company, such as a billing or production process. In Six Sigma, the purpose of process improvement is to
increase performance and decrease performance variation. This increase in performance and decrease in
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performance variation will lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, to employee morale, and
Quality of product, and eventually to business excellence.
The name Six Sigma derives from statistical terminology; Sigma(s) means Standard Deviation. In a
production process, the Six Sigma standard means that the defective rate of the process will be 3.4
defects per million units. Clearly Six Sigma indicates a degree of extremely high consistency and extremely
low variability. In statistical terms, the purpose of Six Sigma is to reduce variation to achieve very small
standard deviations.
When compared with other Quality initiatives, the key difference of Six Sigma is that it applies not only to
product Quality but also to all aspects of business operation by improving key processes. For example, Six
Sigma may help create well-designed, highly reliable, and consistent customer billing systems; cost control
systems; and project management systems.
History of Six Sigma

In the late 1970's, Dr. Mikel Harry, a senior staff engineer at Motorola's Government Electronics Group
(GEG), experimented with problem solving through statistical analysis. Using this approach, GE's products
were being designed and produced at a faster rate and at a lower cost. Subsequently, Dr. Harry began to
formulate a method for applying Six Sigma throughout Motorola. In 1987, when Bob Galvin was the
Chairman, Six Sigma was started as a methodology in Motorola. Bill Smith, an engineer, and Dr. Mikel Harry
together devised a 6 step methodology with the focus on defect reduction and improvement in yield
through statistics. Bill Smith is credited as the father of Six Sigma. Subsequently, Allied Signal began
implementing Six Sigma under the leadership of Larry Bossidy. In 1995, General Electric, under the
leadership of Jack Welch began the most widespread implementation of Six Sigma.
Mikel Harry
Bill Smith
Larry Bossidy Jack Welch
General Electric: It is not a secret society, a slogan or a clich. Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that
helps focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. Six Sigma has changed our
DNA it is now the way we work.
Honeywell: Six Sigma refers to our overall strategy to improve growth and productivity as well as a
Quality measure. As a strategy, Six Sigma is a way for us to achieve performance breakthroughs. It applies
to every function in our company and not just to the factory floor.
The tools used in Six Sigma are not new. Six Sigma is based on tools that have been around for centuries.
For example, Six Sigma relies a lot on the normal curve which was introduced by Abraham de Moivre in
1736 and later popularized by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1818.
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Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard was first developed in the early 1990s by two guys at the Harvard Business School:
Robert Kaplan and David Norton. The key problem that Kaplan and Norton identified in todays business
was that many companies had the tendency to manage their businesses based solely upon financial
measures that may have worked well in the past; the pace of business in todays world requires better and
more comprehensive measures. Though financial measures are necessary, they can only report what has
happened in the past, where your business has been and they are not able to report where it is headed.
Balanced Scorecard is a management system not a measurement system. Yes, measurement is a key
aspect of the Balanced Scorecard, but it is much more than just measurement: it is a means to setting and
achieving the strategic goals and objectives for your organisation. Balanced Scorecard is a management
system that enables your organisation to set, track and achieve its key business strategies and objectives.
Once the business strategies are developed, they are deployed and tracked through what we call the Four
Legs of the Balanced Scorecard. These four legs are made up of four distinct business perspectives: The
Customer Leg, the Financial Leg, the Internal Business Process Leg, and the Knowledge, Education, and
Growth Leg.
Customer scorecard: Measures your customers satisfaction and their performance requirements
for your organisation and what it delivers, whether it is products or services.
Financial scorecard: Tracks your financial requirements and performance.
Internal Business Process scorecard: Measures your critical to customer process requirements and
measures.
Knowledge, Education, and Growth scorecard: Focuses on how you train and educate your
employees, gain and capture your knowledge, and how Green Belt/Black Belt use it to maintain a
competitive edge within your markets
Six Sigma projects should positively impact these Key Performance Indicators; therefore Balanced
Scorecard is closely monitored. Six Sigma is Management System for executing business strategy. Six Sigma
is a solution to help organizations to:
Align their business strategy to critical improvement efforts

Mobilize teams to attack high impact projects
Accelerate improved business results
Govern efforts to ensure improvements are sustain
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Chapter
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Understanding Lean
Why do we want to lose excess Fat?
Defining Lean
Lean operation principles are derived from the Lean manufacturing practices. Lean manufacturing is a
very effective strategy first developed by Toyota. The key focus of Lean is to identify and eliminate
wasteful actions that do not add value to customers in the manufacturing process. Because Lean deals
with production system from a pure process point of view, and not a hardware point of view, it has
been found that the principles of Lean can be readily adopted in other types of processes, such as
office process and product development process. Therefore, Lean operation principles can be used to
greatly improve the efficiency and speed of all processes.
The strategy part of Lean looks at balancing multiple value streams (i.e., typically, a family of products
or services) and integrating the work done in operations and in the rest of the organisation (be it a
factory, a hospital, a software development company) with the customer in mind. The concept is
simple. "Lean" describes any process developed to a goal of near 100% value added with very few
waste steps or interruptions to the workflow. That includes physical things like products and less
tangible information like orders, request for information, quotes, etc.
Lean is typically driven by a need for quicker customer response times, the proliferation of product and
service offerings, a need for faster cycle times, and a need to eliminate waste in all its forms. The Lean
approach challenges everything and accepts nothing as unchangeable. It strives to continuously
eliminate waste from all processes- a fundamental principle totally in alignment with the goals of the
Six Sigma Management System. These methods are especially effective in overcoming cultural barriers
where the impossible is often merely the untried.
Lean, like any other major business strategy, is best if driven from the top, linked into the
organisation's performance measurement systems, and used as a competitive differentiator. This is
what we would like to do however sometimes reality differs. In most instances, the Champions driving
this approach should look for pilot areas in the organisation to test the concept and see if a business
case for Lean can be built over time. One cannot just flip a switch and get the whole organisation doing
this anyway, so starting small and building from there can be a valuable approach.
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Lean in the Office

Lean in an assembly manufacturing plant tends to focus on one-piece flow. In a process or job shop, it
tends to focus on eliminating wait time. The idea of eliminating wait time and defining "standard
work" also applies to the office and administrative environments. Most overhead departments and
activities do not have effective metrics. Standard work does not exist for most tasks. Most overhead
departments would score poorly in a 5S assessment (Sort, Set-order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain).
Many administrative or transaction type systems are typically designed to handle the most complex
transactions. These problems can cause excessive rework, delays in processing, and confusion. A few
examples:
An accounting close typically takes a long time to do because a flood of transactions take place
at the end of the period: journal entries, special analysis, allocations, report preparation, etc.
The excessive transactions cause accounting departments to be somewhat chaotic places at
the end of the period. Adopting Lean in this world is different from a factory, but the goal is
still stable amounts of work, flexible operations (within defined parameters), and pull from the
customers of the process.
Imagine a purchase order going through a process. Ninety-nine percent of its processing life is
going to be "wait" time. It may also have re-work problems as people try to get the
information right, and in terms of workload balance, some purchase orders are more difficult
to do than others. This is not so different from what goes on in the factory. Many of these
problems can be individually addressed using Kaizen and Lean Teams.
Multiple re-inputs of information into Excel spread sheet, Access database, requirements
generators, etc. Or the different languages used inside a business for the same physical
product. Purchasing has a different numbering scheme than engineering, which has a different
numbering scheme than accounting. And someone is supposed to keep a matrix up-to-date
that maps these relationships now there's a value adding activity from a customer perspective!
Simple Lean tools with extraordinary benefits

What is 5S?
5S is a process and method for creating and maintaining an organised, clean, and high performance
workplace. 5S enables anyone to distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions at a glance. 5S
is the foundation for continuous improvement, zero defects, cost reduction, and a safe work area. 5S is
a systematic way to improve the workplace, our processes and our products through production line
employee involvement. 5S can be used in Six Sigma for quick wins as well as control. 5S should be one
of the Lean tools that should be implemented first. If a process is in total disarray, it does not make
sense to work on improvements. The process needs to be first organised (stabilized) and then
improved.
The 5 Ss are:
Sort Clearly distinguish needed items from unneeded items and eliminate the latter.
Straighten / Stabilize / Set in Order Keep needed items in the correct place to allow for
easy and immediate retrieval.
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Shine Keep the work area clean.
Standardize Develop standardized work processes to support the first three steps.
Sustain Put processes in place to ensure that the first four steps are rigorously followed.
Figure1: 5S
Standard Work
Standard Work is a term used in 'Lean Production'. Standard work is work in which the sequence of job
elements has been efficiently organized and is repeatedly followed by a team member. It is an
important prerequisite for successful implementation of Kaizen and many other aspects of Six Sigma.
Clearly document steps in the process and include images if possible

Should be done by the persons responsible for the work
Audit the process to check this is being followed.
Standard Work is the most efficient method to produce a product (or perform a service) at a balanced
flow to achieve a desired output rate. It breaks down the work into elements, which are sequenced,
organized and repeatedly followed. Each step in the process should be defined and must be performed
repeatedly in the same manner. Any variations in the process will most likely increase cycle time and
cause quality issues. It typically describes how a process should consistently be executed and
documents current best practices. It provides a baseline from which a better approach can be
developed, allowing continuous improvement methods to leverage learning.
Benefits of Standardized Work
Ensures predictable output each time
Reduces process variation
Improves performance
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Stepping stone for future improvements

Employee involvement and empowerment,
Improved, consistent quality,
Work process stability,
Increased employee safety
Improved cost management as wastes are removed,
A great tool for staff training
Visual management-managers and supervisors can see when processes are not operating
normally.
What is Kaizen?
Kaizen is a Japanese word that means to break apart to change or modify (Kai) to make things better (Zen).
Kaizen is used to make small continuous improvements in the workplace to reduce cost, improve Quality
and delivery. It is particularly suitable when the solution is simple and can be obtained using a team based
approach. Kaizen assembles small cross-functional teams aimed at improving a process or problem in a
specific area. It is usually a focused 3-5 day event that relies on implementing quick and do-it-now type
solutions. Kaizen focuses on eliminating the wastes in a process so that processes only add value to the
customer.
The benefits of doing Kaizen are less direct or indirect labour requirements, less space requirements,
increased flexibility, increased quality, increased responsiveness, and increased employee enthusiasm.
Figure 2 shows a Kaizen team in action discussing improvements.
Figure 2: A Kaizen Team at Boeing in Action
Typical tools used:

7 Wastes, 5S, SOP
Spaghetti diagram
Pareto analysis, 5 Whys
PDCA
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Poka-Yoke (Mistake Proofing)

Poka-yoke is a structured methodology for mistake-proofing operations. It is any device or mechanism that
either prevents a mistake from being made or ensures that the mistakes dont get translated into errors
that the customers see or experience. The goal of Poka-Yoke is both prevention and detection: errors will
not turn into defects if feedback and action take place at the error stage. (Shigeo Shingo, industrial
engineer at Toyota. He is credited with starting Zero Quality Control). The best operation is one that both
produces and inspects at the same time.
There are three approaches to Poka-Yoke:
Warning (let the user know that there is a potential problem like door ajar warning in a car)
Auto-correction (automatically change the process if there is a problem like turn on windshield
wipers in case of rain in some advanced cars)
Shutdown (close down the process so it does not cause damage like deny access to ATM
machines if password entered is wrong 3 times in a row)
Figure 3: Poka-Yoke Example Possibility of

Parachute failing to open should not exist
Mistake- proofing is used to either detect or predict an error by either of the following techniques
Giving a warning,
Controlling automatically
Shutdown
Table 2: Example of Mistake-proofing
Technique
WARNING
CONTROL
Prediction
Detection
Smoke detectors provide warning that
Washing Machine will not spin clothes
smoke has been detected and that
till the cover of the tub is closed
there is a possible fire.
The tank hole for unleaded gas is
smaller than the one for leaded
1. Air conditioner does not cool

beyond the adjusted
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gasoline
SHUTDOWN
temperature
2. Speed governors in buses.
Camera will not click photograph in Iron automatically switches off when a
darkness
particular (high) temperature is reached
Mistake-Proofing: Principles
Mistake- proofing may be used to perform either of the following:
Mitigation : Minimize the impact of mistakes

Detection : Detect the mistakes before progressing further
Facilitation : Make the operation easy to perform
Replacement : Replace the operator with more reliable process
Elimination : Eliminate the chance of mistakes
Visual Standards
Visual Communication Visual signs used to give information
Visual Control Visual Signs used to Control mistakes
A visual control is any communication device used in the work environment that tells us at a
glance how work should be
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Generally applies to information which is critical to the flow of work activities such as equipment,
safety warnings, actions and procedures.
Standardization can be implemented in any situation in such a way that all standards are identified
by visual controls.
Production displays, Traffic signals are examples of visual controls.
Figure 4: Visual Control Chart
Lean - Total Productive Maintenance

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance program which involves a newly defined concept for
maintaining plants and equipment. The goal of the TPM program is to markedly increase production while,
at the same time, increasing employee morale and job satisfaction. TPM brings maintenance into focus as a
necessary and vitally important part of the business. It is no longer regarded as a non-profit activity. Down
time for maintenance is scheduled as a part of the manufacturing day and, in some cases, as an integral
part of the manufacturing process. The goal is to hold emergency and unscheduled maintenance to a
minimum.
A holistic system to maximize equipment efficiency by participation from all departments and through
autonomous small group activities, it Improves process control as team is trained and follows standards and
procedures established by the Six Sigma project.
Benefits of Lean Total Productive Maintenance
Increased productivity
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Reduced breakdown
Reduced defects
Reduction in maintenance cost
Reduced stock
Zero accidents
Improved morale
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Figure5: Elements of Total Productive Maintenance
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Autonomous Maintenance (Jishu Hozen)

This pillar is geared towards developing operators to be able to take care of small maintenance tasks, thus freeing
up the skilled maintenance people to spend time on more value added activity and technical repairs. The
operators are responsible for upkeep of their equipment to prevent it from deteriorating.
Involving operators in routine care and maintenance of critical plant assets offers three major benefits. The most
obvious is reduced maintenance labor cost. In addition, the proximity of the operator to the asset greatly reduces
or eliminates travel time, waiting for availability and other inefficiencies. Overall, autonomous maintenance
represents a much better use of resources. To be truly world-class, maintenance and production must function as
an integrated team. Involving the operators in routine care and maintenance of the plant's assets will begin to
crumble the traditional barriers between these two departments.
The ultimate reason for autonomous maintenance is simply that it saves money and improves bottom-line
profitability. Operators are typically under used and have the time to perform these lower-skilled tasks.
Transferring these tasks to operating teams, improves the payback on the burdened sunk cost of the production
workforce and at the same time permits more effective use of the maintenance crafts.
Kaizen
"Kai" means change, and "Zen" means good (for the better). Kaizen is the opposite of big spectacular
innovations. Kaizen is small improvements carried out on a continual basis and involves all people in the
organization. Kaizen requires no or little investment. The principle behind Kaizen is that a large number of
small improvements are more effective in an organizational environment than a few large-scale
improvements. Systematically using various Kaizen tools in a detailed and thorough method eliminates
losses. The goal is to achieve and sustain zero loses with respect to minor stops, measurement and
adjustments, defects, and unavoidable downtimes.
Kobetsu Kaizen uses a special event approach that focuses on improvements associated with machines and
is linked to the application of TPM. Kobetsu Kaizen begins with an up-front planning activity that focuses its
application where it will have the greatest effect within a business and defines a project that analyses
machine operations information, uncovers waste, uses a form of root cause analysis (e.g., the 5 Why
approach) to discover the causes of waste, applies tools to remove waste, and measures results.
The objective of TPM is maximization of equipment effectiveness. TPM maximizes machine utilization, not
merely machine availability. As one of the pillars of TPM activities, Kaizen activities promote efficient
equipment and proper utilization of manpower, materials, and energy by eliminating 16 major losses.
Examples of Kobetsu Kaizen to make machines easier to maintain include:
Relocating gauges and grease fittings for easier access.
Making shields that minimize contamination.
Centralizing lubrication points.
Making debris collection accessible.
Planned Maintenance
Planned maintenance, then, is a maintenance program designed to improve the effectiveness of maintenance
through the use of systematic methods and plans. The primary objective of the maintenance effort is to keep
equipment functioning in a safe and efficient manner. This allows production to meet production targets with
minimum operating cost.
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It is aimed to have trouble free machines and equipment producing defect free products for total customer
satisfaction. This breaks down maintenance into 4 "families" or groups which were defined earlier.
Preventive Maintenance
Breakdown Maintenance
Corrective Maintenance
Maintenance Prevention
With Planned Maintenance we evolve our efforts from a reactive to a proactive method and use trained
maintenance staff to help and train the operators to better maintain their equipment. Production
involvement is extremely important. Without this, any maintenance program will be
jeopardized. Commitment to the success of a maintenance program must extend from top production
management through the front-line supervisors. If production management is not committed to a
maintenance program, then unrealistically high or low requirements may be made of the maintenance
forces. Either situation can cause poor performance and low morale.
Quality Management
Quality Maintenance (QM) targets customer satisfaction through defect free manufacturing of the highest
quality products. The focus is on eliminating non-conformances in a systematic manner. Through QM we
gain an understanding of what parts of the equipment affect product quality, eliminate quality concerns,
and then move to potential quality concerns. The transition is from reactive to proactive (From Quality
Control to Quality Assurance).
Quality Management activities control equipment conditions to prevent quality defects, based on the
concept of maintaining perfect equipment to maintain perfect quality of products. These conditions are
checked and measured in time series to verify that measured values are within standard values to prevent
defects. The transition of measured values is trended to predict possibilities of defects occurring and to
take countermeasures before defects occur.
QM activities to support Quality Assurance through defect free conditions and control of equipment. The
focus is on effective implementation of operator quality assurance and detection and segregation of
defects at the source. Opportunities for designing Poka-Yoke (foolproof system) are investigated and
implemented as practicable.
Education and Training
The goal of training is to have multi-skilled revitalized employees whose morale is high and who are eager
to come to work and perform all required functions effectively and independently. The focus is on
achieving and sustaining zero losses due to lack of knowledge / skills / techniques. Ideally, we would create
a factory full of experts.
Operators must upgrade their skills through education and training. It is not sufficient for operators to
learn how to do something; they should also learn why they are doing it and when it should be done.
Through experience operators gain know-how to address a specific problem, but they do so without
knowing the root cause of the problem and when and why they should be doing it. Hence it becomes
necessary to train operators on knowing why. This will enable the operators to maintain their own
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machines, understand why failures occur, and suggest ways of avoiding the failures occurring again. The
different phase of skills are:
Phase 1: Do not know.
Phase 2: Know the theory but cannot do.
Phase 3: Can do but cannot teach
Phase 4: Can do and also teach.
Policy
Focus on improvement of knowledge, skills and techniques.

Creating a training environment for self-learning based on felt needs.
Training curriculum / tools /assessment etc conductive to employee revitalization
Training to remove employee fatigue and make work enjoyable.
Safety, Health and Environment

The focus is on creating a safe workplace and surrounding areas that are not damaged by our process or
procedures. This pillar plays an active role in each of the other pillars on a regular basis.
The target of the Safety, Health & Environment pillar is:
Zero accident
Zero health damage
Zero fires
Office TPM
Office TPM should be started after activating four other pillars of TPM (Jishu Hozen, Kobetsu Kaizen,
Quality Maintenance, and Planned Maintenance). Office TPM must be followed to improve productivity,
efficiency in the administrative functions, and identify and eliminate losses. This includes analyzing
processes and procedures towards increased office automation. Office TPM addresses twelve major losses:
Processing loss
Cost loss including in areas such as procurement, accounts, marketing, sales leading to high
inventories
Communication loss
Idle loss
Set-up loss
Accuracy loss
Office equipment breakdown
Communication channel breakdown, telephone and fax lines
Time spent on retrieval of information
Unavailability of correct on-line stock status
Customer complaints due to logistics
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Expenses on emergency dispatches/purchases.
Benefits
Involvement of all people in support functions for focusing on better plant performance
Better utilized work area
Reduce repetitive work
Reduced inventory levels in all parts of the supply chain
Reduced administrative costs
Reduced inventory carrying cost
Reduction in number of files
Reduction of overhead costs (to include cost of non-production/non capital equipment)
Productivity of people in support function
Reduction in breakdown of office equipment
Reduction of customer complaints due to logistics
Reduction in expenses due to emergency dispatches/purchases
Reduced manpower
Clean and pleasant work environment.
7 Waste in Lean
The 7 Wastes (also referred to as Muda) in Lean are:
Table 3: 7 Waste in Lean
Waiting
Over-Production
Rework
Motion
Over-processing
Inventory
Transportation
The underutilization of talent and skills is sometimes called the 8th waste in Lean.
Waiting is non- productive time due to lack of material, people, or equipment. This can be due to slow or
broken machines, material not arriving on time, etc. Waste of Waiting is the cost of an idle resource.
Examples are:
Processing once each month instead of as the work comes in
Waiting on part of customer or employee for a service input
Delayed work due to lack of communication from another internal group.
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Over-Production refers
to producing more than the next step needs or more than the customer buys.
Waste of Over-production relates to the excessive accumulation of work-in-process (WIP) or finished goods
inventory. It may be the worst form of waste because it contributes to all the others. Examples are:
Preparing extra reports
Reports not acted upon or even read
Multiple copies in data storage
Over-ordering materials
Rework or Correction or defects are as obvious as they sound. Waste of Correction includes the waste of
handling and fixing mistakes. This is common in both manufacturing and transactional settings. Examples
are:
Incorrect data entry
Paying the wrong vendor
Misspelled words in communications
Making bad product or materials or labour discarded during production
Motion is the unnecessary movement of people and equipment. This includes looking for things like
documents or parts as well as movement that is straining. Waste of Motion examines how people move to
ensure that value is added. Examples are:
Extra steps
Extra data entry
Search for something for approval
Over-Processing refers to tasks, activities and materials that dont add value. It can be caused by poor
product or process design as well as from not understanding what the customer wants. Waste of Overprocessing relates to over-processing anything that may not be adding value in the eyes of the customer.
Examples are:
Sign-offs
Reports that contain more information than the customer wants or needs
Communications, reports, emails, contracts, etc. that contain more than the necessary points (concise is
better)
Voice mails that are too long
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Duplication of effort/reports
Inventory is the liability of materials that are bought, invested in and not immediately sold or used. Waste
of Inventory is identical to over-production except that it refers to the waste of acquiring raw material
before the exact moment that it is needed. Examples are:
Transactions not processed
Bigger in box than out box
Over-stocking raw materials
Transportation is the unnecessary movement of material and information. Steps in a process should be
located close to each other so movement is minimized. Examples are:
Extra steps in the process
Moving paper from place to place
Forwarding emails to one another
Pull Systems
Traditional systems are based on Push keep making items even if not needed downstream. This causes
excess inventory, rework, scrap. In a Pull system, we pull work only when needed in the right Quantities.
Push systems can be summarized as Make a lot of stuff as cheaply as possible and hope people will buy
it. Pull systems can be summarized as Dont make anything until it is needed, then make it fast. A pull
system controls the low and quantity produced by replacing items when they are consumed. How do we
make value flow at the pull of the customer? Pull system requires overloading and flexible processes.
A pull system is exactly what it sounds like. The production of a product or system is varied depending
strictly on the demand from the customer or the market, not from forecasts or previous performance.
While most businesses strive to use a pull business model from end user to shop floor, it is rare for this to
happen, as there are usually some aspects of the supply chain that are push systems.
A pull system is one in which the supply chain sends a product through the supply chain because there is a
specific demand for that one product, as opposed to creating inventory and pushing the product out to
distributors, wholesalers, vendors, or customers so they have to keep inventory, or worse, the production
company has to keep inventory. A push supply chain is the exact opposite: they consist of many
warehouses, retail stores, or other outlets in which large amounts of inventory are kept to satisfy customer
demand on the spot.
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Figure 6: Push and Pull approach
Continuous Flow (for reducing Cycle Time)

In a continuous flow production process in which a unit undergoes each stage of production sequentially. The
unit remains at the first stage until that particular segment is complete; it is then sent to the next stage, where
the process is repeated. This method continues until the unit has completed all sequences of the production
process.
According to this tactic, it is important to go for improvement effort continuously something that calls for an
amalgamation of all the fundamentals that are involved in the process of manufacturing. By ensuring a minimum
level of wastage, error free production and cost saving approach, the Continuous Flow Manufacturing or CFM
process intends to obtain a balanced production line.
The CFM system is usually implemented in discrete manufacturing in an attempt to deal with the production
volumes comprising discrete units of production in a flow. It is to be mentioned that there is more possibility of
the discrete manufacturing to be performed in batches of product units that are moved from one process to
another inside the factory. During a work-time or run-time, each process is likely to add value to the batch.
A product that fails to satisfy the needs of a customer may turn out to be a product that has lacking in efficiency
and quality. Under the CFM system a manufacturer produces that product only which has demand in the market.
Some of the pros that are associated with CFM include more efficiency, flexibility, cost saving & greater
satisfaction of the customers.
One piece flow of work between process steps
Minimal or no inventory between steps
True continuous flow is hard to achieve (use supermarkets, pull signals)
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Figure 7: Batch & Queue Processing VS Continuous Flow Processing

In simple words, we can say that CFM is a particular process that is implemented to develop improved process
flow through diligent team work as well as combined problem solving.
Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)

SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies) is a system for dramatically reducing the time it takes to complete
equipment changeovers. The essence of the SMED system is to convert as many changeover steps as possible to
external (performed while the equipment is running), and to simplify and streamline the remaining steps. The
name Single-Minute Exchange of Dies comes from the goal of reducing changeover times to the single digits
(i.e. less than 10 minutes).
A successful SMED program will have the following benefits:
Reduce changeover time between making different products/services

Enables reduction in batch sizes & overall reduction in cycle time
Lower manufacturing cost (faster changeovers mean less equipment down time)
Smaller lot sizes (faster changeovers enable more frequent product changes)
Improved responsiveness to customer demand (smaller lot sizes enable more flexible scheduling)
Lower inventory levels (smaller lot sizes result in lower inventory levels)
Smoother startups (standardized changeover processes improve consistency and quality)
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Figure 8: SMED
SMED was developed by Shigeo Shingo, a Japanese industrial engineer who was extraordinarily successful
in helping companies dramatically reduce their changeover times. His pioneering work led to documented
reductions in changeover times averaging 94% (e.g. from 90 minutes to less than 5 minutes) across a wide
range of companies.
Changeover times that improve by a factor of 20 may be hard to imagine, but consider the simple example
of changing a tire:
For many people, changing a single tire can easily take 15 minutes.
For a NASCAR pit crew, changing four tires takes less than 15 seconds.
Many techniques used by NASCAR pit crews (performing as many steps as possible before the pit stop
begins; using a coordinated team to perform multiple steps in parallel; creating a standardized and highly
optimized process) are also used in SMED. In fact the journey from a 15 minute tire changeover to a 15
second tire changeover can be considered a SMED journey.
In SMED, changeovers are made up of steps that are termed elements. There are two types of elements:
Internal Elements (elements that must be completed while the equipment is stopped)
External Elements (elements that can be completed while the equipment is running)
The SMED process focuses on making as many elements as possible external, and simplifying and
streamlining all elements.
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Chapter
3
Statistics for Lean Six Sigma
Elementary Statistics for Business
The field of statistics deals with the collection, presentation, analysis, and use of data to make decisions, solve
problems, and design products and processes. Statistical techniques can be a powerful aid in designing new
products and systems, improving existing designs, and designing, developing, and improving processes.
Statistical methods are used to help us describe and understand variability. By variability, we mean that
successive observations of a system or phenomenon do not produce exactly the same result. We all
encounter variability in our everyday lives, and statistical thinking can give us a useful way to incorporate this
variability into our decision-making processes. For example, consider the gasoline mileage performance of
your car. Do you always get exactly the same mileage performance on every tank of fuel? Of course notin
fact, sometimes the mileage performance varies considerably. This observed variability in gasoline mileage
depends on many factors, such as the type of driving that has occurred most recently (city versus
highway),the changes in condition of the vehicle over time (which could include factors such as tire inflation,
engine compression, or valve wear), the brand and/or octane number of the gasoline used, or possibly even
the weather conditions that have been recently experienced. These factors represent potential sources of
variability in the system. Statistics gives us a framework for describing this variability and for learning about
which potential sources of variability are the most important or which have the greatest impact on the
gasoline mileage performance.
Descriptive statistics focus on the collection, analysis, presentation, and description of a set of data. For
example, the United States Census Bureau collects data every 10 years (and has done so since 1790)
concerning many characteristics of residents of the United States. Another example of descriptive statistics is
the employee benefits used by the employees of an organisation in fiscal year 2005.These benefits might
include healthcare costs, dental costs, sick leave, and the specific healthcare provider chosen by the
employee.
Inferential statistics focus on making decisions about a large set of data, called the population, from a subset
of the data, called the sample. The invention of the computer eased the computational burden of statistical
methods and opened up access to these methods to a wide audience. Today, the preferred approach is to use
statistical software such as Minitab to perform the computations involved in using various statistical methods.
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Basic terms and Sampling Methods

Now, in order to become familiar with sampling, you need to become familiar with some terms.
A population, also called a universe, is the entire group of units, items, services, people, etc., under
investigation for a fixed period of time and a fixed location.
A frame is a physical list of the units in the population.
The gap is the difference between the units in the population and the units in the frame.
If the units in the gap are distributed like the units in the frame, no problems should occur due to the gap. However,
if the units in the gap are not distributed like the units in the frame, a systematic bias could result from the analysis
of the frame. For example, if the frame of New York City residents over 18 years of age is the voter registration list,
then a statistical analysis of the people on the list may contain bias if the distribution of people 18 and older is
different for people on the list (frame) and people not on the list (gap). An example of where this difference might
have an impact is if a survey was conducted to determine attitudes toward immigration because the voter
registration list would not include residents who were not citizens.
A sample is the portion of a population that is selected to gather information to provide a basis for action on the
population. Rather than taking a complete census of the whole population, statistical sampling procedures focus on
collecting a small portion of the larger population. For example, 50 accounts receivable drawn from a list, or frame,
of 10,000 accounts receivable constitute a sample. The resulting sample provides information that can be used to
estimate characteristics of the entire frame.
There are four main reasons for drawing a sample.
A sample is less time-consuming than a census.
A sample is less costly to administer than a census.
A sample is less cumbersome and more practical to administer than a census.
A sample provides higher-quality data than a census.
There are two kinds of samples: non-probability samples and probability samples.
In a non-probability sample, items or individuals are chosen without the benefit of a frame. Because nonprobability samples choose units without the benefit of a frame, there is an unknown probability of selection (and in
some cases, participants have self-selected). For a non-probability sample, the theory of statistical inference should
not be applied to the sample data. For example, many companies conduct surveys by giving visitors to their web site
the opportunity to complete survey forms and submit them electronically. The response to these surveys can
provide large amounts of data, but because the sample consists of self-selected web users, there is no frame. Nonprobability samples are selected for convenience (convenience sample) based on the opinion of an expert
(judgment sample) or on a desired proportional representation of certain classes of items, units, or people in the
sample (quota sample). Non-probability samples are all subject to an unknown degree of bias. Bias is caused by the
absence of a frame and the ensuing classes of items or people that may be systematically denied representation in
the sample (the gap).
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Non-probability samples have the potential advantages of convenience, speed, and lower cost. However, they have
two major disadvantages: potential selection bias and the ensuing lack of generalize ability of the results. These
disadvantages more than offset the advantages. Therefore, you should only use non-probability sampling methods
when you want to develop rough approximations at low cost or when small-scale initial or pilot studies will be
followed by more rigorous investigations.
You should use probability sampling whenever possible, because valid statistical inferences can be made from a
probability sample. In a probability sample, the items or individuals are chosen from a frame, and hence, the
individual units in the population have a known probability of selection from the frame.
The four types of probability samples most commonly used are simple random, stratified, systematic, and cluster.
These sampling methods vary from one another in their cost, accuracy, and complexity.
Simple Random Sample
In a simple random sample, every sample of a fixed size has the same chance of selection as every other sample of
that size. Simple random sampling is the most elementary random sampling technique. It forms the basis for the
other random sampling techniques. With simple random sampling, n represents the sample size, and N represents
the frame size, not the population size. Every item or person in the frame is numbered from 1 to N. The chance of
selecting any particular member of the frame on the first draw is 1/N. You use random numbers to select items
from the frame to eliminate bias and hold uncertainty within known limits.
Two important points to remember are that different samples of size n will yield different sample statistics, and
different methods of measurement will yield different sample statistics. Random samples, however, do not have
bias on average, and the sampling error can be held to known limits by increasing the sample size. These are the
advantages of probability sampling over non-probability sampling.
Stratified Sample
In a stratified sample, the N items in the frame are divided into sub populations or strata, according to some
common characteristic. A simple random sample is selected within each of the strata, and you combine the results
from the separate simple random samples. Stratified sampling can decrease the overall sample size, and,
consequently, lower the cost of a sample. A stratified sample will have a smaller sample size than a simple random
sample if the items are similar within a stratum (called homogeneity) and the strata are different from each other
(called heterogeneity). As an example of stratified sampling, suppose that a company has workers located at several
facilities in a geographical area. The workers within each location are similar to each other with respect to the
characteristic being studied, but the workers at the different locations are different from each other with respect to
the characteristic being studied. Rather than take a simple random sample of all workers, it is cost efficient to
sample the workers by location, and then combine the results into a single estimate of a characteristic being
studied.
Systematic Sample
In a systematic sample, the N individuals or items in the frame are placed into k groups by dividing the size of the
frame N by the desired sample size n. To select a systematic sample, you choose the first individual or item at
random from the k individuals or items in the first group in the frame. You select the rest of the sample by taking
every kth individual or item thereafter from the entire frame.
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If the frame consists of a listing of pre-numbered checks, sales receipts, or invoices, or a preset number of
consecutive items coming off an assembly line, a systematic sample is faster and easier to select than a simple
random sample. This method is often used in industry, where an item is selected for testing from a production line
(say, every fifteen minutes) to ensure that machines and equipment are working to specification. This technique
could also be used when questioning people in a sample survey. A market researcher might select every 10th
person who enters a particular store, after selecting a person at random as a starting point; or interview occupants
of every 5th house in a street, after selecting a house at random as a starting point.
A shortcoming of a systematic sample occurs if the frame has a pattern. For example, if homes are being assessed,
and every fifth home is a corner house, and the random number selected is 5, then the entire sample will consist of
corner houses. Corner houses are known to have higher assessed values than other houses. Consequently, the
average assessed value of the homes in the sample will be inflated due to the corner house phenomenon.
Cluster Sample
In a cluster sample, you divide the N individuals or items in the frame into many clusters. Clusters are naturally
occurring subdivisions of a frame, such as counties, election districts, city blocks, apartment buildings, factories, or
families. You take a random sampling of clusters and study all individuals or items in each selected cluster. This is
called single-stage cluster sampling.
Cluster sampling methods are more cost effective than simple random sampling methods if the population is spread
over a wide geographic region. Cluster samples are very useful in reducing travel time. However, cluster sampling
methods tend to be less efficient than either simple random sampling methods or stratified sampling methods. In
addition, cluster sampling methods are useful in cutting cost of developing a frame because first, a frame is made of
the clusters, and second, a frame is made only of the individual units in the selected clusters. Cluster sampling often
requires a larger overall sample size to produce results as precise as those from more efficient procedures.
Types of Variables
Variable: In statistics, a variable has two defining characteristics:
A variable is an attribute that describes a person, place, thing, or idea.
The value of the variable can "vary" from one entity to another.
For example, a person's hair colour is a potential variable, which could have the value of "blonde" for one
person and "brunette" for another.
Data are classified into two types: attribute data and measurement data.
Attribute data (also referred to as categorical or count data) occurs when a variable is either classified into
categories or used to count occurrences of a phenomenon. Attribute data places an item or person into one
of two or more categories. For example, gender has only two categories. In other cases, there are many
possible categories into which the variable can be classified. For example, there could be many reasons for a
defective product or service. Regardless of the number of categories, the data consists of the number or
frequency of items in a particular category, whether it is the number of voters in a sample who prefer a
particular candidate in an election or the number of occurrences of each reason for a defective product or
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service. Count data consists of the number of occurrences of a phenomenon in an item or person. Examples
of count data are the number of blemishes in a yard of fabric or the number of cars entering a highway at a
certain location during a specific time period. The colour of a ball (e.g., red, Green, blue) or the breed of a dog
(e.g., collie, shepherd, terrier) would be examples of qualitative or categorical variables.
Examples of discrete data in nonmanufacturing processes include:
Number of damaged containers

Customer satisfaction: fully satisfied vs. neutral vs. unsatisfied
Error-free orders vs. orders requiring rework
Measurement data (also referred to as continuous or variables data) results from a measurement taken on
an item or person. Any value can theoretically occur, limited only by the precision of the measuring process.
For example, height, weight, temperature, and cycle time are examples of measurement data.
E.g. suppose the fire department mandates that all fire fighters must weigh between 150 and 250 pounds.
The weight of a fire fighter would be an example of a continuous variable; since a fire fighter's weight could
take on any value between 150 and 250 pounds.
Examples of continuous data in nonmanufacturing processes include:
Cycle time needed to complete a task
Revenue per square foot of retail floor space
Costs per transaction
From a process point of view, continuous data are always preferred over discrete data, because they are
more efficient (fewer data points are needed to make statistically valid decisions) and they allow the degree
of variability in the output to be quantified. For example, it is much more valuable to know how long it
actually took to resolve a customer complaint than simply noting whether it was late or not.
Variables can also be described according to the level of measurement scale.
There are four scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Attribute data classified into
categories is nominal scale datafor example, conforming versus nonconforming, on versus off, male versus
female. No ranking of the data is implied. Nominal scale data is the weakest form of measurement. An ordinal
scale is used for data that can be ranked, but cannot be measuredfor example, ranking attitudes on a 1 to 5
scale, where 1 = very dissatisfied, 2 = dissatisfied, 3 = neutral, 4 = satisfied, and 5 = very satisfied. Ordinal scale
data involves a stronger form of measurement than attribute data. However, differences between categories
cannot be measured.
Measurement data can be classified into interval- and ratio-scaled data. In an interval scale, differences
between measurements are a meaningful amount, but there is no true zero point. In a ratio scale, not only
are differences between measurements a meaningful amount, but there is a true zero point. Temperature in
degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius is interval scaled because the difference between 30 and 32 degrees is the
same as the difference between 38 and 40 degrees, but there is no true zero point (0 F is not the same as 0
C).Weight and time are ratio-scaled variables that have a true zero point; zero pounds are the same as zero
grams, which are the same as zero stones. Twenty minutes is twice as long as ten minutes, and ten minutes is
twice as long as five minutes.
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Summary Measures
Population: A population consists of the set of all measurements for which the investigator is
interested.
Sample: A sample is a subset of the measurements selected from the population.
Census: A census is a complete enumeration of every item in a population.
We use measures of central tendency (Mean, Median) to determine the location and measures of dispersion
(Standard Deviation) to determine the spread. When we compute these measures from a sample, they are
statistics and if we compute these measures from a population, they are parameters. (To distinguish sample
statistics and population parameters, Roman letters are used for sample statistics, and Greek letters are used
for population parameters.)
Central Tendency: The tendency of data to cluster around some value. Central tendency is usually expressed
by a measure of location such as the mean, median, or mode.
Measures of Central Tendency

Mean (Arithmetic Mean)
The mean of a sample of numerical observations is the sum of the observations divided by the number of
observations. It is the simple arithmetic average of the numbers in the sample. If the sample members are
denoted by x1, x2, ... , xn where n is the number of observations in the sample or the sample size, then the
sample mean is usually denoted by and pronounced "x-bar. The population mean is denoted by . The
arithmetic mean (also called the mean or average) is the most commonly used measure of central tendency.
You calculate the arithmetic mean by summing the numerical values of the variable, and then you divide this
sum by the number of values.
For a sample containing a set of n values, X1, X2. . .Xn, the arithmetic mean of a sample (given by the symbol X
called X-bar) is written as:
X
i 1
To illustrate the computation of the sample mean, consider the following example related to your Personal
life: the time it takes to get ready to go to work in the morning. Many people wonder why it seems to take
longer than they anticipate getting ready to leave for work, but very few people have actually measured the
time it takes them to get ready in the morning. Suppose you operationally define the time to get ready as the
time in minutes (rounded to the nearest minute) from when you get out of bed to when you leave your
home. You decide to measure these data for a period of 10 consecutive working days, with the following
results:
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Table 4
Day Time
10
Minutes
39
29
43
52
39
44
40
31
44
35
To compute the mean (average) time, first compute the sum of all the data values, 39 + 29 + 43 + 52 + 39 + 44
+ 40 + 31 + 44 + 35, which are 396. Then, take this sum of 396 and divide by 10, the number of data values.
The result, 39.6, is the mean time to get ready. Although the mean time to get ready is 39.6 minutes, not one
individual day in the sample actually had that value. In addition, the calculation of the mean is based on all
the values in the set of data. No other commonly used measure of central tendency possesses this
characteristic.
CAUTION: WHEN TO USE THE ARITHMETIC MEAN
Because its computation is based on every value, the mean is greatly affected by any extreme value or values.
When there are extreme values, the mean presents a distorted representation of the data. Thus, the mean is
not the best measure of central tendency to use for describing or summarizing a set of data that has extreme
values.
Median
It is the point in the middle of the ordered sample. Half the sample values exceed it and half do not. It is used,
not surprisingly, to measure where the center of the sample lies, and hence where the center of the
population from which the sample was drawn might lie. The median of a set of data is that value that divides
the data into two equal halves. When the number of observations is even, say 2n, it is customary to define
the median as the average of the nth and (n+ 1)st rank ordered values.
The median is the value that splits a ranked set of data into two equal parts. If there are no ties, half the
values will be smaller than the median, and half will be larger. The median is not affected by any extreme
values in a set of data. Whenever an extreme value is present, the median is preferred instead of the mean in
describing the central tendency of a set of data.
To calculate the median from a set of data, you must first rank the data values from smallest to largest. Then,
the median is computed, as described next.
We can use Equation to compute the median by following one of two rules:
Rule 1: If there are an odd number of values in the data set, the median is the middle ranked value.
Rule 2: If there is an even number of values in the data set, then the median is the average of the two values
in the middle of the data set.
Where n= the number of values
To compute the median for the sample of 10 times to get ready in the morning, you place the raw data in
order as follows:
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Table 5
29
31
35
39
39
40
43
44
44
52
10
RANKS
1
Median=39.5
Using rule 2 for the even-sized sample of 10 days, the median corresponds to the (10 + 1)/2 = 5.5 ranked
value, halfway between the fifth-ranked value and the sixth ranked value. Because the fifth-ranked value is 39
and the sixth ranked value is 40, the median is the average of 39 and 40, or 39.5. The median of 39.5 means
that for half of the days, the time to get ready is less than or equal to 39.5 minutes, and for half of the days,
the time to get ready is greater than or equal to 39.5 minutes.
Mode
The mode of a sample is that observed value that occurs most frequently.
Measures of Dispersion (Spread)

A second important property that describes a set of numerical data is variation. Variation is the amount of
dispersion, or spread, in a set of data, be it a sample or a population. Three frequently used measures of
variation are the range, the variance, and the standard deviation
The Range
The range is the simplest measure of variation in a set of data. The range is equal to the largest value minus
the smallest value. The smallest sample value is called the minimum of the sample, and the largest sample
value is called the maximum. The distance between the sample minimum and maximum is called the range of
the sample.The range clearly is a measure of the spread of sample values. As such it is a fairly blunt
instrument, for it takes no cognizance of where or how the values between the minimum and maximum
might be located.
Range = largest value smallest value
Using the data pertaining to the time to get ready in the morning
Range = largest value smallest value
Range = 52 29 = 23 minutes
This means that the largest difference between any two days in the time to get ready in the morning is 23
minutes.
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Inter-quartile Range
Difference between third and first quartile (Q3 - Q1) Quartiles divide the sample into four equal parts. The
lower quartile has 25% of the sample values below it and 75% above. The upper quartile has 25% of the
sample values above it and 75% below. The middle quartile is, of course, the median. The middle half of the
sample lies between the upper and lower quartile. The distance between the upper and lower quartile is
called the inter-quartile range. Like the range, the inter-quartile range is a measure of the spread of the
sample. It measures variability or dispersion.
The Variance and the Standard Deviation

Although the range is a measure of the total spread, it does not consider how the values distribute around the
mean. Two commonly used measures of variation that take into account how all the values in the data are
distributed around the mean are the variance and the standard deviation. These statistics measure how the
values fluctuate around the mean.
A simple measure around the mean might just take the difference between each value and the mean, and
then sum these differences. However, if you did that, you would find that because the mean is the balance
point in a set of data, for every set of data, these differences would sum to zero. One measure of variation
that would differ from data set to data set would square the difference between each value and the mean
and then sum these squared differences. In statistics, this quantity is called a sum of squares (or SS).This sum
of squares is then divided by the number of values minus 1 (for sample data) to get the sample variance. The
square root of the sample variance (s2) is the sample standard deviation (s). This statistic is the most widely
used measure of variation.
Sample Variance and Sample Standard Deviation
The standard deviation of a sample of numerical observations is a measure of the spread or range of the
sample values. It is derived from the distance of each point in the sample from the sample mean (positive
distance to the right, negative to the left). These distances are the deviations of the title - they are deviations
from the sample mean. If you sum the squared deviations, and then divide by one less than the sample size,
you get what is known as the sample variance. Typically this is denoted by s2. The sample variance is a useful
measure in itself of the variability in the sample values, but its units of measurement are the square of those
of the sample values themselves. The standard deviation of a sample is the (positive) square root of the
sample variance, and is usually denoted by s. It is a measurement on the same scale as that of the original
sample values.
The standard deviation cannot be less than zero. If the standard deviation of a sample is zero, then all sample
values are the same. If the sample values are not all the same then they must exhibit some form of variability.
How much variability the sample values exhibit is encapsulated by the standard deviation. If the standard
deviation is small, then the sample values cluster close to the sample mean. If the standard deviation is large
then the sample values are widely dispersed.
The steps for computing the variance and the standard deviation of a sample of data are
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COMPUTING s2 AND s
To compute s2, the sample variance, do the following:
1. Compute the difference between each value and the mean.
2. Square each difference.
3. Add the squared differences.
4. Divide this total by n 1.
To compute s, the sample standard deviation, take the square root of the variance.
Table6 illustrates the computation of the variance and standard deviation using the steps for the time to get
ready in the morning data. You can see that the sum of the differences between the individual values and the
mean is equal to zero.
Table 6
Time ( X )
Difference Between the X and

the Mean
Squared Difference Around the Mean
39
29
- 0.6
- 10.6
0.36
112.36
43
3.4
11.56
52
12.4
153.76
39
- 0.6
0.36
44
4.4
19.36
40
0.4
0.16
31
- 8.6
73.96
44
4.4
19.36
35
- 4.6
21.16
Mean
Difference =39.6
Sum of Differences = 0
Sum of Squared Differences = 412.4
You calculate the sample variance S2 by dividing the sum of the squared differences computed in step 3
(412.4) by the sample size (10) minus 1:
( )
Because the variance is in squared units (in squared minutes for these data), to compute the standard
deviation, you take the squared root of the variance. Thus:
( )
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As summarized, we can make the following statements about the range, variance, and standard deviation.
Characteristics of Range, Variance and Standard Deviation
The more spread out or dispersed the data are, the larger will be the range, the variance, and the
standard deviation.
The more concentrated or homogeneous the data are the smaller will be the range, the variance,
and the standard deviation.
If the values are all the same (so that there is no variation in the data), the range, variance, and
standard deviation will all be zero.
The range, variance, or standard deviation will always be greater than or equal to zero.
Equations for Sample Variance And Standard Deviation
X
n
s2
i 1
n 1
X
n
i 1
n 1
Where
= Sample Mean
n = Sample Size
Xi =ith Value of the Variable X
) = summation of all the squared differences between the X values and
X i X 2
s 2 i 1
n 1
= 45.82
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GRAPHICAL PLOT
Histogram:
A histogram (from the Greek histos meaning mast of the ship vertical bars of the histogram) of a sample of
numerical values is a plot which involves rectangles which represent frequency of occurrence in a specific
interval. A Histogram can be used to assess the shape and spread of continuous sample data.
Histogram of Transaction Time
10
Frequency
30
40
50
Transaction Time
60
Figure 9
Worksheet: Transaction.mtw
Box Plot
Box Plot can be used to show the shape of the distribution, its central value, and variability. The median for
each dataset is indicated by the black center line, and the first and third quartiles are the edges of the Green
area, which is known as the inter-quartile range (IQR). The extreme values (within 1.5 times the inter-quartile
range from the upper or lower quartile) are the ends of the lines extending from the IQR. We may identify
outliers on box plots by labeling observations that are at least 1.5 times the inter quartile range (Q3 Q1)
from the edge of the box and highlighting the data point as an asterisk. . These points represent
potential outlier.
Boxplot of Transaction Time
70
Transaction Time
60
50
40
30
20
Figure 10
Worksheet: Transaction.mtw
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Scatter Plot
A graph of a set of data pairs (x, y) used to determine whether there is a statistical relationship between the
variables x and y. In this scatter plot, we explore the correlation between Weight Gained (Y) and Calories
Consumed (X)
Scatterplot of Weight gained vs Calories Consumed
1200
1000
Weight gained
800
600
400
200
0
1500
2000
2500
3000
Calories Consumed
3500
4000
Figure 11
Worksheet: Calories Consumed.mtw
Recall Basic Probability Theory
Used whenever we deal with uncertainty. Probability lies between 0 and 1.

Larger the probability value, more likely it is to occur.
Total probability of all events occurring

Probability of A & B occurring together
(
)
)
If A and B are mutually exclusive, (
)
( )
( )
Sum Rule : (
(
)
Conditional Probability (
) Probability of A occurring given B has Occurred.
Multiplication Rule : (
)
(
) ( )
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Random Variable and Probability Distributions
A random variable is a variable whose value is determined by the outcome of a random experiment.
A discrete random variable is one whose set of assumed values is countable (arises from counting).
The probability distribution of a discrete random variable is a discrete distribution. E.g. Binomial,
Poisson
A continuous random variable is one whose set of assumed values is uncountable (arises
from measurement.). The probability of a continuous random variable is a continuous distribution.
E.g. Normal
Binomial distribution
Binomial distribution describes the possible number of times that a particular event will occur in a sequence
of observations. The event is coded binary; it may or may not occur. The binomial distribution is used when a
researcher is interested in the occurrence of an event, not in its magnitude. For instance, in a clinical trial, a
patient may survive or die. The researcher studies the number of survivors, and not how long the patient
survives after treatment. The binomial distribution is specified by the number of observations, n, and the
probability of occurrence, which is denoted by p. Other situations in which binomial distributions arise are
quality control, public opinion surveys, medical research, and insurance problems.
The following conditions have to be met for using a binomial distribution:
The number of trials is fixed

Each trial is independent
Each trial has one of two outcomes: event or non-event
The probability of an event is the same for each trial
Suppose a process produces 2% defective items. You are interested in knowing how likely is it to get 3 or
more defective items in a random sample of 25 items selected from the process. The number of defective
items (X) follows a binomial distribution with n = 25 and p = 0.02.
One of the properties of a binomial distribution is that when n is
large and p is close to 0.5, the binomial distribution can be
approximated by the standard normal distribution. For this graph, n
= 100 and p = 0.5.
Figure 12
Poisson Distribution
The Poisson Distribution was developed by the French mathematician Simeon Denis Poisson in 1837.The
Poisson distribution is used to model the number of events occurring within a given time interval. The Poisson
distribution arises when you count a number of events across time or over an area. You should think about
the Poisson distribution for any situation that involves counting events. Some examples are:
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the number of Emergency Department visits by an infant during the first year of life,
The number of white blood cells found in a cubic centimetre of blood.
Sometimes, you will see the count represented as a rate, such as the number of deaths per year due to horse
kicks, or the number of defects per square yard.
Poisson Distribution for Discrete Data type

For discrete data of the type defects probability of occurrence of r defects is given by:
Where,
m = Mean = defects per unit = dpu
Variance = dpu
Examples:
Number of accidents on roads per day in City C
Number of soldering defects per PCB
Number of machine A breakdowns in a month
Binomial or Poisson
If a mean or average probability of an event happening per unit time/per page/per mile cycled etc., is
given, and you are asked to calculate a probability of n events happening in a given time/number of
pages/number of miles cycled, then the Poisson Distribution is used.
If, on the other hand, an exact probability of an event happening is given, or implied, in the question,
and you are asked to calculate the probability of this event happening k times out of n, then the
Binomial Distribution must be used.
Four Assumptions
Information about how the data was generated can help Green Belt/Black Belt decide whether the Poisson
distribution fits. The Poisson distribution is based on four assumptions. We will use the term "interval" to
refer to either a time interval or an area, depending on the context of the problem.
The probability of observing a single event over a small interval is approximately proportional to the
size of that interval.
The probability of two events occurring in the same narrow interval is negligible.
The probability of an event within a certain interval does not change over different intervals.
The probability of an event in one interval is independent of the probability of an event in any other
non-overlapping interval.
The Poisson distribution is similar to the binomial distribution because they both model counts of events.
However, the Poisson distribution models a finite observation space with any integer number of events
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greater than or equal to zero. The binomial distribution models a fixed number of discrete trials from 0 to n
events.
Normal Distribution
The most widely used model for the distribution of a random variable is a normal distribution. Whenever a
random experiment is replicated, the random variable that equals the average (or total) result over the
replicates tends to have a normal distribution as the number of replicates becomes large. De Moivre
presented this fundamental result, known as the central limit theorem, in 1733. Unfortunately, his work was
lost for some time, and Gauss independently developed a normal distribution nearly 100 years later. Although
De Moivre was later credited with the derivation, a normal distribution is also referred to as a Gaussian
distribution.
A Normal distribution is an important statistical data distribution pattern occurring in many natural
phenomena, such as height, blood pressure, lengths of objects produced by machines, etc. Certain data,
when graphed as a histogram (data on the horizontal axis, amount of data on the vertical axis), creates a bellshaped curve known as a normal curve, or normal distribution.
Normal distribution is symmetrical with a single central peak at the mean (average) of the data. The shape of
the curve is described as bell-shaped with the graph falling off evenly on either side of the mean. Fifty percent
of the distribution lies to the left of the mean and fifty percent lies to the right of the mean. The spread of a
normal distribution is controlled by the standard deviation. The smaller the standard deviation, more
concentrated the data. The mean and the median are the same in a normal distribution. In a normal standard
distribution, mean is 0 and standard deviation is 1. For example, the heights of all adult males residing in the
state of Punjab are approximately normally distributed. Therefore, the heights of most men will be close to
the mean height of 69 inches. A similar number of men will be just taller and just shorter than 69 inches. Only
a few will be much taller or much shorter.
The mean () and the standard deviation () are the two parameters that define the normal distribution. The
mean is the peak or center of the bell-shaped curve. The standard deviation determines the spread in the
data. Approximately, 68.27% of observations are within +/- 1 standard deviation of the mean; 95.46% are
within +/- 2 standards deviations of the mean; and 99.73% are within +/- 3 standard deviations of the mean.
For the height of men in Punjab, the mean height is 69 inches and the standard deviation is 2.5 inches. For a
continuous distribution, like normal curve, the area under the probability density function (PDF) gives the
probability of occurrence of an event.
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Approximately 68.27% of men in Punjab are between 66.5 (m

- 1s) and 71.5 (m + 1s) inches tall.
Figure 13
Approximately 95.46% of men in Punjab are between 64 (m 2s) and 74 (m + 2s) inches tall.
Figure 14
Approximately 99.73% of men in Punjab are between 61.5 (m
- 3s) and 76.5 (m + 3s) inches tall.
Figure 15
A useful link for calculating probabilities: http://www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/probability1.cfm
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Chapter
4
Managing Six Sigma Projects
Managing Projects
Six Sigma is different than other quality or process improvement methodologies- IT DEMANDS RESULTS.
These results are delivered by PROJECTS that are tightly linked to customer demands and enterprise
strategy.The efficacy of Six Sigma projects is greatly improved by combining project management and
business process improvement practices.
What is a Project?
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary
nature of project indicates a definite beginning and end. The end is reached when the project's objectives
have been achieved or when the project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met, or
when the need for the project no longer exists. Temporary doesn't necessarily mean short in duration.
Temporary doesn't generally apply to the product, service, or result created by the project; most projects are
undertaken to create a lasting outcome.
The logical process flow
A logical process flow as explained by Thomas Pyzdek is as follows:
1. Define the projects goals and deliverables.
a. If these are not related to the organisations strategic goals and objectives, stop. The project
is not a Six Sigma project. This does not necessarily mean that it isnt a good project or that
the project shouldnt be done. There are many worthwhile and important projects that are
not Six Sigma projects.
2. Define the current process.
3. Analyze the measurement systems.
4. Measure the current process and analyze the data using exploratory and descriptive statistical
methods.
a. If the current process meets the goals of the project, establish control systems and stop,
else
5. Audit the current process and correct any deficiencies found.
a. If the corrected process meets the goals of the project, establish control systems and stop,
else
6. Perform a process capability study using SPC.
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7. Identify and correct special causes of variation.

a. If the controlled process meets the goals of the project, establish control systems and stop,
else
8. Optimize the current process by applying statistically designed experiments.
a. If the optimized process meets the goals of the project, establish control systems and stop,
else
9. Employ breakthrough strategy to develop and implement an entirely new process that meets the
projects goals.
10. Establish control and continuous improvement systems and stop.
Project Plan
Develop the Project Charter
Project charters (sometimes called project scope statements) should be prepared for each project and
subproject. The Project Charter includes the project justification, the major deliverables, and the project
objectives. It forms the basis of future project decisions, including the decision of when the project or
subproject is complete. The Project Charter is used to communicate with stakeholders and to allow scope
management as the project moves forward. The Project Charter is a written document issued by the Project
Sponsor. The Project Charter gives the project team authority to use organisational resources for project
activities.
Conduct a Feasibility Analysis- Is This a Valid Project?
Before launching a significant effort to solve a business problem, be sure that it is the correct problem and
not just a symptom. Is the defect Green Belt/Black Belt are trying to eliminate something the customer
cares about or even notices? Is the design requirement really essential, or can engineering relax the
requirement? Is the performance metric really a key business driver, or is it arbitrary? Conduct a project
validation analysis and discuss it with the stakeholders
Project Metrics
At this point Green Belt/Black Belt know have identified projects customers and what they expect in the way
of project deliverables. Now Green Belt/Black Belt must determine precisely how Green Belt/Black Belt will
measure progress toward achieving the projects goals.
What Is the Total Budget for This Project?
Projects consume resources, therefore to accurately measure project success, it is necessary to keep track of
how these resources are used. The total project budget sets an upper limit on the resources this project will
be allowed to consume. Knowing this value, at least approximately, is vital for resource planning.
How Will I Measure Project Success?
Green Belt/Black Belt should have one or more metrics for each project deliverable.
Metrics should be selected to keep the project focused on its goals and objectives.
Metrics should detect project slippage soon enough to allow corrective action to avert damage.
Metrics should be based on customer or Sponsor requirements.
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Financial Benefits
Preliminary estimates of benefits were made previously during the initial planning. However, the data
obtained by the team will allow the initial estimates to be made more precisely at this time. Whenever
possible, characteristics should be expressed in the language of management: dollars. One neednt strive
for to-the-penny accuracy; a rough figure is usually sufficient. It is recommended that the finance and
accounting department develop dollar estimates; however, in any case it is important that the estimates at
least be accepted (in writing) by the accounting and finance department as reasonable. This number can be
used to compute a return on investment (ROI) for the project.
How Will I Monitor Satisfaction with Project Progress?
Six Sigma projects have a significant impact on people while they are being conducted. It is important that the
perspectives of all interested parties be periodically monitored to ensure that the project is meeting their
expectations and not becoming too disruptive. The Green Belt/Black Belt should develop a means for obtaining this
information, analyzing it, and taking action when the results indicate a need. Data collection should be formal and
documented. Relying on gut feeling is not enough.
Means of monitoring includes but not limited to Personal interviews, Focus groups, Surveys, Meetings, Comment
cards. Green Belt/Black Belt may also choose to use Stakeholder analysis and Force Field analysis to proactively
assess change management challenges that lie ahead.
Work Breakdown Structures (WBS):
The creation of work breakdown structures involves a process for defining the final and intermediate products of a
project and their interrelationships. Defining project activities is complex. It is accomplished by performing a series
of decompositions, followed by a series of aggregations. For example, a software project to develop an SPC software
application would disaggregate the customer requirements into very specific engineering requirements. The
customer requirement that the product create charts would be decomposed into engineering requirements such
as subroutines for computing subgroup means and ranges, plotting data points, drawing lines, etc. Re-aggregation
would involve, for example, linking the various modules to produce an Xbar chart and display it on the screen.
Creating the WBS
The project deliverables expected by the projects sponsors were initially defined in the Project Charter. For most Six
Sigma projects, major project deliverables are so complex as to be unmanageable. Unless they are broken into
components, it isnt possible to obtain accurate cost and duration estimates for each deliverable. WBS creation is
the process of identifying manageable components or sub-products for each major deliverable.
Project Schedule Development
Project schedules are developed to ensure that all activities are completed, reintegrated, and tested on or
before the project due date. The output of the scheduling activity is a time chart (schedule) showing the start
and finish times for each activity as well as its relationship to other activities in the project and responsibility
for completing the activity. The schedule must identify activities that are critical in the sense that they must
be completed on time to keep the project on schedule.
The information obtained in preparing the schedule can be used to improve it. Activities that the analysis
indicates to be critical are prime candidates for improvement. Pareto analysis can be used to identify those
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critical elements that are most likely to lead to significant improvement in overall project completion time.
Cost data can be used to supplement the time data and the combined time/cost information can be analyzed
using Pareto analysis
Project Deadline
What is the latest completion date that allows the project to meet its objective?
What are the penalties for missing this date? Things to consider are lost market share, contract
penalties, fines, lost revenues, etc.
Activity Definition
Once the WBS is complete, it can be used to prepare a list of the activities (tasks) necessary to complete the
project. Activities dont simply complete themselves. The resources, time, and personnel necessary to
complete the activities must be determined. A common problem to guard against is scope creep. As activities
are developed, be certain that they do not go beyond the projects original scope. Equally common is the
problem of scope drift. In these cases, the project focus gradually moves away from its original Charter. Since
the activities are the project, this is a good place to carefully review the scope statement in the Project
Charter to ensure that the project remains focused on its goals and objectives.
Activity Dependencies
Some project activities depend on others: sometimes a given activity may not begin until another activity is
complete. To sequence activities so they happen at the right time, Green Belt/Black Belt must link dependent
activities and specify the type of dependency. The linkage is determined by the nature of the dependency. Activities
are linked by defining the dependency between their finish and start dates.
Estimating Activity Duration
In addition to knowing the dependencies, to schedule the project Green Belt/Black Belt also need estimates
of how long each activity might take. This information will be used by senior management to schedule
projects for the enterprise and by the project manager to assign resources, to determine when intervention is
required, and for various other purposes.
Identify Human Resources and other resources
Needed to complete the Project - All resources should be identified, approved, and procured. Green
Belt/Black Belt should know who is to be on your team and what equipment and materials Green Belt/Black
Belt are acquiring to achieve project goals. In todays business climate, its rare for people to be assigned to
one project from start to finish with no additional responsibilities outside the scope of a single project.
Sharing resources with other areas of the organisation or among several projects requires careful resource
management to ensure that the resource will be available to your project when it is needed.
Visualize Project plan using Gantt Charts
A Gantt chart shows the relationships among the project tasks, along with time estimates. The horizontal axis
of a Gantt chart shows units of time (days, weeks, months, etc.). The vertical axis shows the activities to be
completed. Bars show the estimated start time and duration of the various activities.
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Figure 16: Visualization of Project plan using Gantt chart

Analyze Network Diagrams
A project network diagram shows both the project logic and the projects critical path activities, i.e., those
activities that, if not completed on schedule, will cause the project to miss its due date. Although useful,
Gantt charts and their derivatives provide limited project schedule analysis capabilities. The successful
management of large-scale projects requires more rigorous planning, scheduling, and coordinating of
numerous, interrelated activities. To aid in these tasks, formal procedures based on the use of networks and
network techniques were developed beginning in the late 1950s. The most prominent of these procedures
have been PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method).
Critical Path Method systems are used to:
Aid in planning and controlling projects
Determine the feasibility of meeting specified deadlines
Identify the most likely bottlenecks in a project
Evaluate the effects of changes in the project requirements or schedule
Evaluate the effects of deviating from schedule
Evaluate the effect of diverting resources from the project or redirecting additional resources to the project.
Project scheduling by CPM consists of four basic phases: planning, scheduling, improvement, and controlling.
The planning phase involves breaking the project into distinct activities. The time estimates for these activities are
then determined and a network (or arrow) diagram is constructed, with each activity being represented by an
arrow.
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The ultimate objective of the scheduling phase is to construct a time chart showing the start and finish times for
each activity as well as its relationship to other activities in the project. The schedule must identify activities that are
critical in the sense that they must be completed on time to keep the project on schedule.
It is vital not to merely accept the schedule as a given. The information obtained in preparing the schedule can be
used to improve it. Activities that the analysis indicates to be critical are candidates for improvement. Pareto
analysis can be used to identify those critical elements that are most likely to lead to significant improvement in
overall project completion time. Cost data can be used to supplement the time data. The combined time/cost
information can be analyzed using Pareto analysis.
The final phase in CPM project management is project control. This includes the use of the network diagram and
time chart for making periodic progress assessments. CPM network diagrams can be created by a computer
program or constructed manually.
The Critical Path Method (CPM) calculates the longest path in a project so that the project manager can focus on
the activities that are on the critical path and get them completed on time.
Figure 17: Example Critical Path Method (CPM)

Procedure
Use sticky notes to individually list all tasks in the project. Underneath each task, draw a horizontal arrow
pointing right.
Arrange the sticky notes in the appropriate sequence (from left to right).
Between each pair of tasks, draw circles to represent events and to mark the beginning or end of a task.
Label all events, in sequence, with numbers. Label all tasks, in sequence, with letters.
For each task, estimate the completion time. Write the time below the arrow for each task.
Draw the critical path by highlighting the longest path from the beginning to the end of the project.
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Managing Teams
Stages of a Team - The four stages that all teams go through are shown below. In each phase, the project
leader has to use different techniques to push the team along.
Form
Storm
Norm
Perform
Identifying and informing members

Everyone is excited at the new responsibilities
Use Project Charter to establish a common set of expectations for all team members
Teams start to become disillusioned. Why are we here, is the goal achievable?
Identifying resistors, counselling to reduce resistance.
Help people with the new roles & responsibilities
Have a different person take meeting minutes, lead team meetings etc
Communication of norms (rules), building up of relationships amongst members.

Productivity of team is increasing
Help team push to the next stage
Contribution from the members- Ideas, innovation, creation.

All members contribute to the fullest.
Teams should reach this stage quickest for the best results.
Motivate team members by recognition, financial rewards, quick-win opportunities.
Some of the problems with teams are:

Groupthink which is the unquestioned acceptance of teams decisions
Feuding fighting between different team members
Floundering teams that take forever to reach a decision
Rushing teams that want to skip all steps and finish the project soon
Managing Change
We will discuss three change management tools: Force Field analysis, Stakeholder analysis, and Resistance
analysis.
Force Field Analysis

Force Field Analysis is a useful technique for looking at all the forces for and against a decision. It helps in
identifying the restrainers and drivers to change. In effect, it is a specialized method of weighing pros and
cons. By carrying out the analysis Green Belt/Black Belt can plan to strengthen the forces supporting a
decision, and reduce the impact of opposition to it. Figure 18 shows an example of Force Field analysis. In this
example, there are 4 forces for the change and 2 forces against the change. This indicates that there are more
forces for the change. Can Green Belt/Black Belt think of deploying some action items to further increase the
forces for change?
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Figure 18: Sample Force Field Analysis

Procedure of Force Field Analysis
Write the desired change or problem at the top of easel. Draw a vertical line underneath.
Brainstorm all the driving forces that support the change (or cause the problem to occur). Write these
on the left side of the line. Determine how strong each force is. In the area between the words and
the centerline, draw an arrow pointing to the centerline. The arrows length can be used to represent
the strength of each particular driving force. An alternative to different arrow lengths would be to
assign a score (between 1 and 5) to each force.
Brainstorm all the restraining forces that hinder the change (or prevent the problem from occurring).
Write these on the right side of the line. Determine how strong each force is. In the area between the
words and the centerline, draw an arrow pointing to the centerline. The arrows length can be used to
represent the strength of each particular restraining force. An alternative to different arrow lengths
would be to assign a score (between 1 and 5) to each force.
For a desired change, discuss various means to diminish or eliminate the restraining force. For a
problem, discuss various means to diminish or eliminate the driving forces. Focus on the strongest
forces.
Note: It is possible to have a one-to-many relationship between driving and restraining forces. For example
the driving force--control rising maintenance costs could have two restraining forces--cost and disruption.
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder Analysis is a technique that identifies individuals or groups affected by and capable of influencing
the change process. Assessment of stakeholders issues and viewpoints are necessary to identify the range of
interests that need to be taken into consideration in planning change and to develop the vision and change
process in a way that generates the greatest support. The following parameters are used to develop the
segmentation of the stakeholders:
Levels of Influence: High, Medium, Low

Level of Impact: High, Medium, Low
Minimum Support Required: Champion, Supporter, Neutral
Current Position: Champion, Supporter, Neutral, Concerned, Critic, Unknown
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Stakeholder Action Plan

o
o
o
o
o
The plan should outline the perceptions and positions of each Stakeholder group, including
means of involving them in the change process and securing their commitment
Define how Green Belt/Black Belt intend to leverage the positive attitudes of enthusiastic
stakeholders and those who own resources supportive of change
State how Green Belt/Black Belt plan to minimize risks, including the negative impact of those
who will oppose the change
Clearly communicate coming change actions, their benefits and desired Stakeholder roles
during the change process
Resistance Analysis
Technical Resistance:
Stakeholders believe Six Sigma produces feelings of inadequacy or stupidity on statistical and process
knowledge
Political Resistance:
Stakeholders see 6 Sigma as a loss of power and control
Organisational Resistance:
Stakeholders experience issues of pride, ego and loss of ownership of change initiatives
Individual Resistance:
Stakeholders experience fear and emotional paralysis as a result of high stress

Strategies to Overcome Resistance
Technical Resistance:
Focus on high level concepts to build competencies. Then add more statistical theorems as
knowledge base broadens
Political Resistance:
Address issues of perceived loss straight on. Look for Champions to build consensus for 6 Sigma and
its impact on change
Organisational Resistance:
Look for ways to reduce Resistance.
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Individual Resistance:
Decrease the fear by increased involvement, information and education
John Kotters 8 Step Change Management Plan

John Kotter considers lack of communication as one of the most common reasons for project failure.
According to John Kotter, the following eight steps can be followed to enable change within an organization.
Step 1: Increase Urgency
The data is clear that the rate of change in the world is increasing exponentially. Numerous factors indicate
that not only is the world moving more quickly, but that the rate of change may be the defining characteristic
of the business world for the foreseeable future.
Establishing a sense of urgency is necessary to gain the cooperation required to drive a significant change
effort. Most companies ignore this step - indeed close to 50% of the companies that fail to make needed
change make their mistakes at the very beginning. Leaders who understand the importance of a sense of
urgency are good at taking the pulse of their company and differentiating between complacency, false
urgency and true urgency
Tactics that can make this happen include:
Bringing the Outside In

Behaving with Urgency Every Day
Finding Opportunity in Crisis
Dealing with No Nos
Step 2: Build a Guiding Team

Successful transformation is driven through the power of a volunteer army made up of leaders from across
the enterprise who band together to knock down all the barriers to successful strategy implementation.
Putting together the right coalition of people to lead a change initiative is critical to its success. That
coalition must have the right composition, a significant level of trust, and a shared objective. In a rapidly
changing world, complex organizations are forced to make decisions more quickly and with less certainty than
they would like and with greater sacrifice than they would prefer. It is clear that teams of leaders and
managers, acting in concert, are the only effective way to make productive decisions under these
circumstances.
In putting together a Guiding Coalition, the team as a whole should reflect:
Position Power: Enough key players on board so that those left out cannot block progress.
Expertise: All relevant points of view should be represented so that informed intelligent decisions
can be made.
Credibility: The group should be seen and respected by those in the firm so that the groups
pronouncements will be taken seriously by other employees.
Leadership: The group should have enough proven leaders to be able to drive the change
process.
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This last point is particularly important. The Guiding Coalition should be comprised of both managers and
leaders who work together as a team. The managers keep the process under control while the leaders drive
the change.
Step 3: Get the Vision Right
A clear message that speaks to both the hearts and the minds of the organization will focus the energy of the
organization for the results that the leaders seek.
A clear vision serves three important purposes. First, it simplifies hundreds or thousands of more detailed
decisions. Second, it motivates people to take action in the right direction even if the first steps are
painful. Third, it helps to coordinate the actions of different people in a remarkably fast and efficient way. A
clear and powerful vision will do far more than an authoritarian decree or micromanagement can ever hope
to accomplish. Often the vision is part of a larger system that includes strategies, plans and budgets. Such
visions must be seen as strategically feasible. To be effective, a vision must take into account the current
realities of the enterprise, but also set forth goals that are truly ambitious.
Thus, effective visions have six key characteristics, They are:
Imaginable: They convey a clear picture of what the future will look like.
Desirable: They appeal to the long-term interest of employees, customers, shareholders and
others who have a stake in the enterprise.
Feasible: They contain realistic and attainable goals.
Focused: They are clear enough to provide guidance in decision making.
Flexible: They allow individual initiative and alternative responses in light of changing conditions.
Communicable: They are easy to communicate and can be explained quickly.
Step 4: Communicate for Buy-In

Successful transformation has little to do with competent project management. It's focus is not on
overcoming resistance to change. It is not about convincing or pushing people to do their part because they
have to. It goes way beyond "engaging" employees. It goes way beyond getting people to "buy in" to a plan. It
mobilizes an aligned army of people.
Gaining an understanding and commitment to a new direction is never an easy task, especially in complex
organizations. Under-communication and inconsistency are rampant. Both create stalled transformations. To
be effective, the vision must be communicated in hour-by-hour activities. The vision will be referred to in
emails, in meetings, in presentations it will be communicated anywhere and everywhere.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Even more important than what is said is what is done. Leaders who transform their organizations walk the
talk. They seek to become a living example of the new corporate culture that the vision aspires to. Nothing
undermines a communication program more quickly than inconsistent actions by leadership. Nothing speaks
as powerfully as someone who is backing up their words with behavior. When an entire team of senior
management starts behaving differently and embodies the change they want to see, it sends a powerful
message to the entire organization. These actions increase motivation, inspire confidence and decrease
cynicism.
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Step 5: Empower Action

Generated solutions should create people who more energized, more skilled, and wanting to help provide
initiative and leadership to handle future changes.
Typically, empowering employees involves addressing four major obstacles: structures, skills, systems and
supervisors. We will explore two of these here:
Structural Barriers
Often the internal structures of companies work as cross-purposes to the change vision. An organization that
claims to want to be customer focused finds its structures fragment resources and responsibilities for
products and services.
Many times, it is difficult to remove these barriers in the midst of the change process. However, some
obstacles are so disempowering that they must be changed. Typically, the most effective of these changes
can occur in the human resources area. Realigning incentives and performance appraisals to reflect the
change vision can have a profound effect on the ability to accomplish the change vision. Management
information systems can also have a big impact on the successful implementation of a change vision.
Troublesome Supervisors
Another barrier to effective change can be troublesome supervisors. Often these managers have dozens of
interrelated habits that add up to a style of management that inhibits change. They may not actively
undermine the effort, but they are simply not wired to go along with what the change requires. Often
enthusiastic change agents refuse to confront these people. While that approach can work in the early stages
of a change initiative, by Step 5 it becomes a real problem. Easy solutions to this problem dont
exist. Sometimes managers will concoct elaborate strategies or attempt manipulation to deal with these
people. If done skillfully this only slows the process and, if exposed, looks terrible sleazy, cruel and unfair
and undermines the entire effort. Typically, the best solution is honest dialogue.
Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins
Celebrate success visibly and reward those that have helped accomplish it. Maintaining the momentum for
change is critical to long term victory in implementing strategic initiatives.
For leaders in the middle of a long-term change effort, short-term wins are essential. Running a change effort
without attention to short-term performance is extremely risky. To ensure success, short term wins must be
both visible and unambiguous. The wins must also be clearly related to the change effort. Such wins provide
evidence that the sacrifices that people are making are paying off. This increases the sense of urgency and
the optimism of those who are making the effort to change. These wins also serve to reward the change
agents by providing positive feedback that boosts morale and motivation. The wins also serve the practical
purpose of helping to fine tune the vision and the strategies. The guiding coalition gets important
information that allows them to course-correct.
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Step 7: Dont Let Up

Ultimately, the 8-Step Process for Leading Change can lead to a sustained dual-operating organization that is
highly adaptive. This type of organization works in an aligned, urgent and accelerated manner, which creates
a significant competitive advantage for organizations of all types.
Resistance is always waiting in the wings to re-assert itself. Even if you are successful in the early stages, you
may just drive resistors underground where they wait for an opportunity to emerge when you least expect it.
The consequences of letting up can be very dangerous. Whenever you let up before the job is done, critical
momentum can be lost and regression may soon follow. The new behaviors and practices must be driven into
the culture to ensure long-term success. Once regression begins, rebuilding momentum is a daunting task.
In a successful major change initiative, by stage 7 you will begin to see:
More projects being added

Additional people being brought in to help with the changes
Senior leadership focused on giving clarity to an aligned vision and shared purpose
Employees empowered at all levels to lead projects
Reduced interdependencies between areas
Constant effort to keep urgency high
Consistent show of proof that the new way is working
Leadership is invaluable in surviving Step 7. Instead of declaring victory and moving on, these
transformational leaders will launch more and more projects to drive the change deeper into the
organization. They will also take the time to ensure that all the new practices are firmly grounded in the
organizations culture. Managers, by their nature, think in shorter timeframes.
Step 8: Make Change Stick
New practices must grow deep roots in order to remain firmly planted in the culture. Culture is composed of
norms of behavior and shared values. These social forces are incredibly strong. Every individual that joins an
organization is indoctrinated into its culture, generally without even realizing it. Its inertia is maintained by
the collective group of employees over years and years. Changes whether consistent or inconsistent with
the old culture are difficult to ingrain.
This is why cultural change comes in Step 8, not Step 1. Some general rules about cultural change include:
Cultural change comes last, not first
You must be able to prove that the new way is superior to the old
The success must be visible and well communicated
You will lose some people in the process
You must reinforce new norms and values with incentives and rewards including promotions
Reinforce the culture with every new employee
Return on Investment (ROI)

Return on Investment (ROI) analysis is one of several commonly used financial metrics for evaluating the
financial consequences of business investments, decisions, or actions. ROI analysis compares the magnitude
and timing of investment gains directly with the magnitude and timing of investment costs. To calculate ROI,
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the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a
percentage or a ratio.
The return on investment formula:
Table 7: Return on Investment Formulas
ROI Formula
Calculations
Demonstrates the benefits after considering the

cost
Net Benefit = Benefit - Cost
Net Benefit
Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)
BCR = Benefits/Costs
Demonstrates the return for every dollar invested

ROI %
ROI % = (Net Benefits/Costs) 100
Demonstrates the percentage of return for every

dollar invested when considering cost
For Example,
Ratio of money gained or lost divided by initial investment

Situation 1: A $1000 investment that results in interest of $50 has a 5% ROI
Situation 2: A $100 investment that results in interest of $20 has a 20% ROI
Calculation for return on investment, can be modified to suit the situation, it all depends on what you include
as returns and costs.
Net Present Value (NPV)

The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used
in capital budgeting to analyze the profitability of an investment or project. NPV analysis is sensitive to
the reliability of future cash inflows that an investment or project will yield. It is the total present value for a
series of cash flows that considers the time value of money. Usually used to appraise long-term projects.
NPV compares the value of a dollar today to the value of that same dollar in the future, taking inflation and
returns into account. If the NPV of a prospective project is positive, it should be accepted. However, if NPV is
negative, the project should probably be rejected because cash flows will also be negative.
Where,
CFt= the cash flow at time t and

r = the cost of capital.
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Example 1
The example below illustrates the calculation of Net Present Value. Consider Capital Budgeting
projects A and B which yield the following cash flows over their five year lives. The cost of capital for the
project is 10%.
Table 8
Project A
Cash Flow
$ -1000
500
400
200
200
100
Year
0
1
2
3
4
5
Project B
Cash Flow
$ -1000
100
200
200
400
700
Solution:
Project A
Project B
Thus, if Projects A and B are independent projects then both projects should be accepted. On the other hand,
if they are mutually exclusive projects then Project A should be chosen since it has the larger NPV.
If NPV >0, then the project would add value to the firm.
Example 2
A Present Value Table will allow you to look up Present Value Factors (PVF) for various combinations of n
(project year) and d (project discount rate). As an example, look at a CP investment with the following
parameters:
Table 9
Initial Investment
US $150,000
Future Savings (FV)
Year 1 US$ 45,000
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Year 2 US$ 45,000

Year 3 US$ 77,000
Discount Rate (d)
10%
Number of Years (n)
Using the Present Value table attached, look up the Present Value Factors (PVF) for a discount rate of 10%
and for project years 1,2, and 3.
Year 1 PVF: 0.9091 Year 2 PVF: 0.8264 Year 3 PVF: 0.7513
Using the PVFs shown above, the future cost savings for each year can be converted to their present value.
These values are then added together to estimate the project's Net Present Value. The initial investment
(which is already in present-day dollars) is subtracted from the sum. The result is the Net Present Value of the
project.
Table 10
Year
Future Savings
Present Value Factor (10%)
Present Value
$ 45000
0.9091
= $ 40910
$ 45000
0.8264
= $ 37188
$ 77000
0.7513
= $ 57850
$ 135948
Less: Initial Investment
$ 150000
Equals: Net Present Value
$ 14052
For this example, the NPV is calculated to be -$14,052 which means that the investment is not profitable
within three years. A positive value for NPV would indicate that the investment is profitable within three
years. Net Present Value can often be calculated using tables, and spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel.
Although net present value (NPV) analysis can vary by company, it commonly takes into account:
Net profit per year

Customer retention rates
Desired return on assets
Extensive customer segmentation can make this analysis more insightful since long-term customers tend to
spend more and have fewer bad debts, and new customers are often attracted by discounts. There are costs
associated with attracting new customers and retaining long-term customers, but generally the costs to retain
are lower than those to attract. The NPV of customers can be used to determine the cost of attracting new
customers and leverage customer satisfaction offers.
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Example 3
Calculating NPV
Pyzdek gives the following calculation for NPV:
Determine a meaningful period of time over which to do the calculation (e.g., a life insurer would
track decades, whereas a diaper manufacturer would track only a few years).
Calculate net profit (net cash flow) generated by customers each year. For the first year, subtract the
cost of attracting the pool of customers. Specific numbers, such as profit per customer in year one,
are more valuable because long-term customers tend to spend more.
Chart the customer "life expectancy" using samples to fine out how much the customer base erodes
each year. Again, specific numbers are more valuable. In retail banking, 26% of account holders
defect in the first year, while in the ninth year, the rate drops to 9%.
Pick a discount rate. If you want a 15% annual return on assets, use that. Costs that should be
considered when determining attraction and retention costs:
o Advertising
o Commissions
o Account set up
o Loyalty and customer satisfaction programs
Calculations
NPV1 = Profit / 1.15
NPV2 = (Year 2 profit x retention rate) / (1.15)2
Last year: NPVn = (Year n's adjusted profit) / (1.15)n
The sum of years 1 through n is how much your customer is worth. This is the NPV of all the profits
you can expect.
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

It is the effective compound rate of interest which can be earned on the invested capital. It is essentially equal
to the (annualized) interest rate a bank would have to pay you to duplicate the performance of your portfolio.
IRR, or Internal Rate of Return, is a special application of the logic behind NPV, or Net Present Value
calculations. It is a commonly-used concept in project and investment analysis, including capital
budgeting.
IRR takes into account the amount of time that has elapsed since making an investment.
The internal rate of return is compared to the company's required rate of return. The required rate of return
is the minimum rate of return that an investment project must yield to be acceptable. If the internal rate of
return is equal to or greater than the required rate of return, than the project is acceptable. If it is less than
the required rate of return, then the project is rejected. Quite often the company's cost of capital is used as
the required rate of return. The reasoning is that if a project cannot provide a rate of return at least as greater
as the cost of the funds invested in it, then it is not profitable.
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Formula:
IRR = lower discount rate + (NPV at lower % rate / distance between 2 NPV) (Higher % rate - Lower %
rate)
Example 1
A project is expected to have a net present value of $865 at a discount rate of 20% and a negative NPV of
$1,040 at a discount rate of 22%. Calculate the IRR.
Solution:
Distance between 2 NPV = 865 + 1040 = $1,905
IRR = 20% + (865 / 1905) (22% - 20%) = 20.91%
Example 2
The following information relates to Venture Ltd investment project:
Net Present Value (NPV) at 25% cost of capital: $1,714
NPV at 30% cost of capital: ($2,937)
Calculate the Internal Rate of Return.
Solution:
Distance between 2 NPV = 1714 + 2937 = $4,651
IRR = 25% + (1714 / 4651) (30% - 25%) = 26.84%
If the IRR is greater than alternate investment with similar risk, then it is a worthwhile project. Typical
hurdle rate is 12%.
However a major disadvantage of using the Internal Rate of Return instead of Net Present Value is that if
managers focus on maximizing IRR and not NPV, there is a significant risk in companies where the return on
investment is greater than the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) that managers will not invest in
projects expected to earn greater than the WACC, but less than the return on existing assets.
IRR is a true indication of a projects annual return of investment only when the project generates no
interim cash flows - or when those interim investments can be invested at the actual IRR.
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Chapter
5
Define
Define Overview
A Lean Six Sigma project starts out as a practical problem that is adversely impacting the business and
ultimately ends up as a practical solution that improves business performance. Projects state performance in
quantifiable terms that define expectations related to desired levels of performance and timelines.
The primary purpose of the define phase is to ensure the team is focusing on the right thing. The Define
phase seeks to answer the question, "What is important?" That is, what is important for the business? The
team should work on something that will impact the Big Y's - the key metrics of the business. And if Six Sigma
is not driven from the top, a Green/Black Belt may not see the big picture and the selection of a project may
not address something of criticality to the organisation.
The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are tracked by businesses to measure its progress towards
strategic objectives are usually displayed together on a scorecard. This scorecard is reviewed by management
on at least a monthly basis to identify problem areas and take corrective actions as needed. There are four
primary areas within a scorecard: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, and Learning & Growth.
Some indicators are lagging indicators in the sense that they talk about what has already occurred. An
example of a lagging indicator is revenue in the last quarter. It can be an important indicator for the business
to know about but it does not tell the full story of what is going to happen in the future. Hence, scorecards
must also contain indicators that predict future performance. These indicators are called leading indicators.
For example, if we know that all employees are trained 20 hours this year, this could be a leading indicator of
future employee performance. Following are some traditional KPIs that businesses track within their
scorecard:
Table 11
Financial Indicators
Revenue (amount of money collected by

selling products or services)
Cost of Goods Sold (amount of money
expended to produce products or services)
Gross Income (difference between
Revenue & Cost of Goods Sold)
Net Income (profitability of the company
after subtracting all expenses)
Percentage of Industry Sales (PINS
Customer Indicators
Customer Returns (Amount of $$ returned

by customers an indicator of how
satisfied
customers
are
with
products/services)
Warranty (More the money spent on
warranty, less satisfied are the customers)
Net Promoter Score (NPS will our
customers recommend us to others based
on survey results)
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indicator of market share)

Earnings per Share
Cash Flow (Amount of money earned vs.
spent during the indicated period)
On time delivery (% of products/services

delivered on time)
Number of Complaints Received
Customer Churn
Internal Business Process
Efficiency (Productivity indicator for key

resources)
New Product Introduction Time (Time
taken for development of new products)
Net Revenue by Product (Indicator of
which products contribute to revenue
Material or Production Costs
Quality Indicators (Re-work)
Production Cycle Time
Learning & Growth
Training duration per Employee

Labour Productivity
Staff Turnover
Pace of Promotion
Six Sigma or Lean Benefits
The objective is to identify and/or validate the improvement opportunity, develop the business processes,
define Critical Customer Requirements, and prepare an effective project team. The deliverables from the
Define phase include:
Identification of CTQ (Critical to Quality)/Output Measure

Project Charter
High Level Process Map
The three steps that enable us to do so are:
Step 1
Generate Project Ideas
Step 2
Select Project
Step 3
Finalize Project Charter and High level process map
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Step 1- Generate Project Ideas

Project ideas may be generated from (a) Voice of Customer, (b) Voice of Business and (c) Cost of Poor Quality.
The common sources of such Project ideas are
Table 12
Customer Dashboards
Surveys and Scorecards
Internal/External Audits
Financial Analysis of Business Units/ Center
Benchmarking Data
Focus Groups
VOC, VOB and COPQ data help us develop project themes which can help us understand the Big Y (output)
Some common Project themes are
Table 13
Product returns or High Warranty Cost
Customer Complaints
Accounts receivables or Invoicing issues
Cycle time, Lead time
Defective Services or Products
Yield Improvement, Re-work or Scrap

Reduction
Capacity Constraints, Inventory
Resource Utilisation
Post the team that has the pertinent VOC, VOB and COPQ data, they then need to translate this information
into Critical Customer Requirements (CCR's). A CCR is a specific characteristic of the product or service desired
by and important to the customer. The CCR should be measurable with a target and an allowable range. The
team would take all the data, identify the key common customer issues, and then define the associated CCR's.
The Critical Customer Requirements (CCR's) often are at too high a level to be directly useful to the team. So
the next step is to take the applicable CCR's and translate them into Critical to Quality (CTQ) measures. A CTQ
is a measure on the output of the process. It is a measure that is important to meeting the defined CCR's.
Table 14
Big Y
Reduce Operational Expenditure
Voice of Business
CCR
CTQ
Collection of accounts receivable is taking too long

Accounts Receivable to be closed within 60 days
Time to receive payments
Of course there are multiple alternative methods to drill down to an appropriate CTQ. Project team may also
choose to drill down to the Project CTQ from the Big Y.
Kano Model Analysis

The Kano Model of Customer (Consumer) Satisfaction classifies product attributes based on how they are
perceived by customers and their effect on customer satisfaction. These classifications are useful for guiding
design decisions.
Project activities in which the Kano Model is useful
o Identifying customer needs
o Determining functional requirements
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o
o
M O D U L E
Concept development
Analyzing competitive products
Other tools those are useful in conjunction with the Kano Model
o Eliciting Customer Input
o Prioritization Matrices
o Quality Function Deployment
Introduction
The Kano Model of Customer satisfaction (Figure 19) divides product attributes into three categories:
threshold, performance, and excitement. A competitive product meets basic attributes, maximizes
performances attributes, and includes as many excitement attributes as possible at a cost the market can
bear.
Figure 19: Kano Model
Threshold Attributes
Threshold (or basic) attributes are the expected attributes or musts of a product, and do not provide an
opportunity for product differentiation. Increasing the performance of these attributes provides diminishing
returns in terms of customer satisfaction, however the absence or poor performance of these attributes
results in extreme customer dissatisfaction. An example of a threshold attribute would be brakes on a car.
Threshold attributes are not typically captured in QFDs (Quality Function Deployment) or other evaluation
tools as products are not rated on the degree to which a threshold attribute is met, the attribute is either
satisfied or not.
Attributes that must be present in order for the product to be successful, can be viewed as a 'price of entry.'
However, the customer will remain neutral toward the product even with improved execution of these
aspects.
o Bank teller will be able to cash a check
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o
o
o
M O D U L E
Nurses will be able to take a patient's temperature

Mechanic will be able to change a tire
Keyboards will have a space bar
Customers rarely mention this category, unless they have had a recent negative experience, because it is
assumed to be in place.
Performance Attributes
Performance attributes are those for which more is generally better, and will improve customer satisfaction.
Conversely, an absent or weak performance attribute reduces customer satisfaction. Of the needs customers
verbalize, most will fall into the category of performance attributes. These attributes will form the weighted
needs against which product concepts will be evaluated.
The price for which customer is willing to pay for a product is closely tied to performance attributes. For
example, customers would be willing to pay more for a car that provides them with better fuel economy.
Excitement Attributes
Excitement attributes are unspoken and unexpected by customers but can result in high levels of customer
satisfaction, however their absence does not lead to dissatisfaction. Excitement attributes often satisfy latent
needs real needs of which customers are currently unaware. In a competitive marketplace where
manufacturers products provide similar performance, providing excitement attributes that address
unknown needs can provide a competitive advantage. Although they have followed the typical evolution to
a performance then a threshold attribute, cup holders were initially excitement attributes.
Increased functionality or quality of execution will result in increased customer satisfaction. Conversely,
decreased functionality results in greater dissatisfaction. Product price is often related to these attributes.
Examples are:
o
o
o
o
The shortest waiting time possible in the bank drive-up window

The shortest waiting time possible for the nurse to answer the patient call button
The auto mechanic performing the services on the car as efficiently and inexpensively as
possible
Tech support being able to help with a problem as quickly and thoroughly as possible
Customers give the most information on this category.
Other Attributes
Products often have attributes that cannot be classified according to the Kano Model. These attributes are
often of little or no consequence to the customer, and do not factor into consumer decisions. An example of
this type of attribute is a plate listing part numbers can be found under the hood on many vehicles for use by
repairpersons.
Customers get great satisfaction from a feature - and are willing to pay a price premium. However,
satisfaction will not decrease (below neutral) if the product lacks the feature. These features are often
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unexpected by customers and they can be difficult to establish as needs up front. Sometimes called unknown
or latent needs.
o
o
o
o
The drive-up bank teller greets you by name; remembers you from a previous visit
The nurse brings you a book that you mentioned you enjoy
The mechanic cleans and vacuums the car making it better than when you brought it in
The tech support individual emails you a $5 coupon to compensate for the issue
Customers rarely provide VOC on this category because they don't know to expect it. Innovation is needed to
provide this level of quality consistently.
Application of the Kano Model Analysis
A relatively simple approach to applying the Kano Model Analysis is to ask customers two simple
questions for each attribute:
o Rate your satisfaction if the product has this attribute?; and
o Rate your satisfaction if the product did not have this attribute?
Customers should be asked to answer with one of the following responses:

A. Satisfied
B. Neutral (Its normally that way)
C. Dissatisfied
D. Dont care
Basic attributes generally receive the Neutral response to Question 1 and the Dissatisfied
response to Question 2. Exclusion of these attributes in the product has the potential to severely
impact the success of the product in the marketplace.
Eliminate or include performance or excitement attributes that their presence or absence

respectively lead to customer dissatisfaction. This often requires a trade-off analysis against cost. As
Customers frequently rate most attributes or functionality as important, asking the question How
much extra would you be willing to pay for this attribute or more of this attribute? will aid in tradeoff decisions, especially for performance attributes. Prioritization matrices can be useful in
determining which excitement attributes would provide the greatest returns on Customer
satisfaction.
Consideration should be given to attributes receiving a Dont care response as they will not increase
customer satisfaction nor motivate the customer to pay an increased price for the product. However,
do not immediately dismiss these attributes if they play a critical role to the product functionality or
are necessary for other reasons than to satisfy the customer.
The information obtained from the Kano Model Analysis, specifically regarding performance and excitement
attributes, provides valuable input for the Quality Function Deployment process.
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Quality Function Deployment

In a few words: The voice of the customer translated into the voice of the engineer
To design a product well, a design teams needs to know what it is they are designing, and what the end-users
will expect from it. Quality Function Deployment is a systematic approach to design based on a close
awareness of customer desires, coupled with the integration of corporate functional groups. It consists in
translating customer desires (for example, the ease of writing for a pen) into design characteristics (pen ink
viscosity, pressure on ball-point) for each stage of the product development (Rosenthal, 1992).
Quality function deployment (QFD) is a system to assure that customer needs drive the product design and
production process. Ultimately the goal of QFD is to translate often subjective quality criteria into objective
ones that can be quantified and measured and which can then be used to design and manufacture the
product. It is a complimentary method for determining how and where priorities are to be assigned in
product development. The intent is to employ objective procedures in increasing detail throughout the
development of the product.
Quality Function Deployment was developed by Yoji Akao in Japan in 1966. By 1972 the power of the
approach had been well demonstrated at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard (Sullivan, 1986) and
in 1978 the first book on the subject was published in Japanese and then later translated into English in 1994
(Mizuno and Akao, 1994).
In Akaos words, QFD "is a method for developing a design quality aimed at satisfying the consumer and then
translating the consumer's demand into design targets and major quality assurance points to be used
throughout the production phase. ... [QFD] is a way to assure the design quality while the product is still in
the design stage." As a very important side benefit he points out that, when appropriately applied, QFD has
demonstrated the reduction of development time by one-half to one-third. (Akao, 1990) QFD is a crossfunctional planning tool which is used to ensure that the voice of the customer is deployed throughout the
product planning and design stages. QFD is used to encourage breakthrough thinking of new concepts and
technology. Its use facilitates the process of concurrent engineering and encourages teamwork to work
towards a common goal of ensuring customer satisfaction.
The basic concept of QFD is to translate the requirements of the stakeholders into product design or
engineering characteristics, and subsequently into process specications and eventually into production
requirements. It is a method that structures the translation of stakeholders requirements into technical
specications which are mainly understood by engineers.
Every translation involves a matrix. Through a series of interactive matrices, QFD can be employed to address
almost any business situation requiring decisions involving a multitude of criteria, requirements or demands.
This stems from QFD inherently employing and orchestrating many of the Total Quality Management tools
and processes in a rigorous and strategic fashion. When used in the evaluation phase of a project, QFD can
assure that all relevant issues have been addressed and can provide a new basis for prioritizing projects.
The 3 main goals in implementing QFD are:
Prioritize spoken and unspoken customer wants and needs.
Translate these needs into technical characteristics and specifications.
Build and deliver a quality product or service by focusing everybody toward customer satisfaction.
Since its introduction, Quality Function Deployment has helped to transform the way many companies:
Plan new products
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Design product requirements

Determine process characteristics
Control the manufacturing process
Document already existing product specifications
Application of QFD in various fields:

How a process/technique can become environmentally friendly, high quality products are still
maintained and technologies are available to curb the process emissions. Such as environmental
design, sustainable design, environmentally-conscious processes or products, clean technologies, and
green products or systems.
QFD can be effectively used are regulatory compliance, emission reduction, pollution and loss
prevention programmes, construction or operating permit acquisition, and equipment procurement
(equipment leaks).
The House of Quality
A house of quality (HOQ) involves the collection and analysis of the voice of the customer which includes
the customer needs for a product, customers perceptions on the relative importance of these needs and the
relative performance of the producing company and its main competitors on the needs. It also requires the
generation and analysis of the voice of the technician which includes the technical measures converted
from the customer needs, technicians evaluations on the relationship between each customer need and each
technical measure, and the performance of the relevant companies in terms of these technical measures.
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Figure 20: Quality Function Deployment Template

The HOQ Elements
A typical HOQ contains some of the following elements or concepts:
a- Customer needs (WHATs)
This is the generally the first portion of the House of Quality (HOQ) matrix to be completed and also the most
important. It documents a structured list of a products customers requirements described in their own words
(the voice of the customer). These are the requirements of customers for the product expressed in
customers language. The team then gathers information from customers on the requirements they have for
the product or service. The information gathered through conversations with the customer to describe their
needs and problems. In order to organize and evaluate this data, the team uses simple quality tools like
Affinity diagrams and Tree diagrams. The completed Affinity Diagram can then be used as the basis of a Tree
Diagram. This is constructed from the top down with each level being considered in turn for errors and
omissions. The result is a family tree type hierarchy of customer needs. If there are many customer needs,
grouping them into meaningful hierarchies or categories is necessary for easy understanding and analysis.
This structure is then documented in the customer requirement portion of the HOQ matrix.
b- Planning Matrix
This matrix contains the correlation between each pair of customer needs (WHATs) through empirical
comparisons. The information is provided by customers and usually is difficult to obtain since a lot of pair
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wise comparisons are needed. The purpose of completing this correlation matrix is for the company to
identify where trade-off decisions and further research may be required. Firstly it quantifies the customers
requirement priorities and their perceptions of the performance of existing products. Secondly it allows
these priorities to be adjusted based on the issues that concern the design team.
o
Importance Weighting
The first and most important measure in this section is the requirement Importance Weighting. This figure
quantifies the relative importance of each of the customer requirements (described in the left hand portion
of the HOQ matrix) from the customers own perspective. This measure is often shown in a column alongside
the customer requirement descriptions in the left section of the HOQ matrix.
A questionnaire is used to gather these importance weightings. In this a customer is asked to give importance
for each documented requirement. On a scale from 1 - 5, customers then rate the importance of each
requirement. A better but more involved approach is to use the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). This also
utilizes a questionnaire but offers the customer pairings of requirement to consider. They choose the most
important from this pair. These results are then interpreted into numerical weightings using a matrix.
The other measures which are determined by the design team can also be included in the planning matrix.
These can include:
o
Planned satisfaction Rating
The planned Satisfaction Rating quantifies the design teams desired performance of the envisaged product in
satisfying each requirement.
o
Improvement Factor
It can be then calculated by subtracting the performance score of the companys existing product from its
planned performance score i.e. the number of improvement points. This difference is multiplied by an
improvement increment (e.g. 0.2) and this is added to 1 to give the improvement factor.
o
Sales-point
A sales-point is a kind of possibility which will give your company a unique business position. This measure
can be used to a weight to those requirements which can be utilized to market the product (Usually between
1 and 1.5). A strong sales point is reserved for important WHATs where each comparing company is rated
poorly. A moderate sales point means the importance rating or competitive opportunity is not so great. And
a no sales point means no business opportunity. Numerically, 1.5, 1.25 and 1 are assigned to strong,
moderate and no sales point respectively. Additional measures (e.g. environmental impact, competitors
future actions etc.) can also be included where these are deemed useful by the team.
o
Overall Weighting
An Overall Weighting relating to each requirement can then be calculated by multiplying the importance
Weights by the improvement Ratio and the Sales Point.
c- Technical measures (HOWs) Voice of Company
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This section of the House of Quality (HOQ) matrix is also referred to as engineering Characteristics or the
Voice of the Company. It describes the product in the terms of the company. This information is generated by
the QFD design team who identify all the measurable characteristics of the product which they perceive are
related to meeting the specified customer requirements. These are design specifications, substitute quality
characteristics, engineering attributes or methods, which can relate to and measure customer needs. The
technical descriptors are attributes about the product or service that can be measured and benchmarked
against the competition. Technical descriptors may exist that your organization is already using to determine
product specification, however new measurements can be created to ensure that your product is meeting
customer needs.
In the same way that customer requirements are analyzed and structured, affinity and tree diagrams are
applied to interpret these product characteristics.
d - Interrelationship Matrix (of WHATs vs. HOWs)
This section forms the main body of the House of Quality matrix and can be very time consuming to
complete. Its purpose is to translate the requirements as expressed by the customer into the technical
characteristics of the product. Its structure is that of a standard two dimensional matrix with cells that relate
to combinations of individual customer and technical requirements. It is the task of the QFD team to identify
where these interrelationships are significant. Each combination of customer and technical is considered in
turn by the QFD team. E.g. How significant is Padding thickness is satisfying comfortable when hanging?
This matrix is a systematic means for identifying the level of relationship between each WHAT and each HOW.
The relationship matrix is where the team determines the relationship between customer needs and the
company's ability to meet those needs. The team asks the question, "what is the strength of the relationship
between the technical descriptors and the customers needs?" The level of interrelationship discerned is
weighted usually on a four point scale (High, Medium, Low, None) and a symbol representing this level of
interrelationship is entered into the matrix cell.
e- Roof / Correlation Matrix
The triangular roof matrix of the House of Quality is used to identify where the technical requirements that
characterize the product, support or impede one another. As in the interrelationship section, the QFD team
work through the cells in this roof matrix considering the pairings of technical requirements these represent.
For each cell the question is asked: Does improving one requirement cause a deterioration or improvement in
the other technical requirement? Where the answer is a deterioration, an engineering trade- off exists and a
symbol is entered into the cell to represent this (usually a cross or -). Where improving one requirement
leads to an improvement in the other requirement, an alternative symbol is entered into the cell (Usually a
tick or +). Different levels of such positive or negative interaction (e.g. Strong/Medium/ Weak) can be
indicated using different coloured symbols.
The information recorded in the roof matrix is useful to the design team in several ways. It highlights where a
focused design improvement cloud lead to a range of benefits to the product. Also focuses attention on the
negatives relationships in the design. These can represent opportunities for innovative solutions to be
developed which avoid the necessity for such compromises being made.
The correlation matrix is probably the least used room in the House of Quality; however, this room is a big
help to the design engineers in the next phase of a comprehensive QFD project. Team members must
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examine how each of the technical descriptors impact each other. The team should document strong
negative relationships between technical descriptors and work to eliminate physical contradictions.
f - Technical Priorities (Goals for the HOWs)
The producing company can set performance goals on each HOW to be more technically competitive. At this
stage in the process, the QFD team begins to establish target values for each technical descriptor. Target
values represent "how much" for the technical descriptors, and can then act as a base-line to compare
against.
The relative importance of each technical requirement of the product in meeting the customers specified
needs, can be simply calculated from the weightings contained in the planning and interrelationship
weighting is multiplied by Overall Weighting from the Planning matrix. These values are then summed down
the columns to give a score for each technical requirement.
g - Competitive Benchmarking
Each of the technical requirements that have been identified as important characteristics of the product can
be measured both for the companys own existing product and the available competitive products. This
illustrates the relative technical position of the existing product and helps to identify the targets levels of
performance to be achieved in a new product.
This is to technically evaluate the performance of the companys product and its main competitors similar
products on each HOW. To better understand the competition, engineering then conducts a comparison of
competitor technical descriptors. This process involves reverse engineering competitor products to determine
specific values for competitor technical descriptors.
h - Design Targets
The final output of the HOQ matrix is a set of engineering target values to be met by the new product design.
The process of building this matrix enables these targets to be set and prioritized based on an understanding
of the customer needs, the competitions performance and the organizations current performance. The QFD
team now need to draw on all this information when deciding on these values.
This is not necessarily the end of the QFD process. The output of this first HOQ matrix can be utilized as the
first stage of a four part QFD process referred to as the Clausing Four-Phase Model. This continues the
translation process using linked HOQ type matrices until production planning targets are developed. This
approach allows the Voice of the Customer to drive the product development process right through to the
setting of manufacturing equipment
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Figure 21: Completed Quality Deployment Matrix

In practice, it is both difficult and unnecessary to include all the HOQ elements described above. In fact,
different users build different HOQ models involving different elements from the above list. The most simple
but widely used HOQ model contains only the customer needs (WHATs) and their relative importance,
technical measures (HOWs) and their relationships with the WHATs, and the importance ratings of the HOWs.
Some models include further the customer competitive assessment and performance goals for the WHATs.
Some authors add one or both of the two correlation matrices into this simple model. Fewer models include
the technical competitive assessment since this information is difficult to deal with and, as such, goals and
probability factors for the HOWs appear seldom in HOQ studieseven if these are included, they are hardly
incorporated into the computation of the importance ratings of the HOWs, which are usually obtained by
formula (Importance rating of the Hows) that does not relate to technical competitive assessment at all.
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Step 2- Select Project

A good Six Sigma project should:
Impact a key business goal
Require analysis to uncover the root cause of the problem. The cause and solution of the problem
should be unknown or not clearly understood.
Address a source of customer pain or dissatisfaction
Focus on improving a key business process
Produce quantifiable results (e.g. financial savings, customer satisfaction)
Be able to be completed in time to make a difference to the business goal
Be scoped so that results can be achieved in reasonable timeframe, possible 2-3 months for Green
Belt projects, and 4-6 months for Black Belt.
Ideally, Green Belts and Black Belts are expected to work on projects and are not directly responsible for
generation or selection of Six Sigma projects. Six Sigma projects are selected by senior management on
certain criteria. These criteria include linkage between the proposed project and company strategy, expected
timeline for project completion, expected revenue from the projects, whether data exists to work on the
problem, whether the root cause or solution is already known. Table 15 shows a typical project selection
template used by management to pick projects. The projects that have the highest net score are the ones
that get picked for execution.
Table 15: Example Project Selection Template
Number
Sponsor
Project
Description
Costs
Benefits
Timeline
Strategy
Risk
Score
Job Smith
Reduce Inventory
levels for 123
series product
1,00,000
6 months
High
Low
4.4
Bob Bright
Improve efficiency
for machine 456 2333
5000
2,00,000
6 months
Medium
Low
5.0
John
Travolta
Improve employee
retention by 5%
40,000
3 months
High
Medium
4.0
Peter Hunt
Reduce cycle time

for making
products
1000
1,00,000
1 year
Medium
Low
3.4
Bill Richards
1 year
High
Low
2.8
Improve customer
satisfaction scores
Some basic guidelines that can be considered for selecting a project are:
Result
Does it have significant impact on customer satisfaction? Customer First (Customers are known to
be the lifeblood of every business and to support these vital resources, businesses spend a
significant amount of time and effort maintaining customer satisfaction)
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Does the project strongly relate to business goals? (Revenue Growth, Cost Reduction, Capital
Reduction, Key Business Objectives, On Time Delivery, Lead Time, Quality, Customer Satisfaction)
Effort
Can the project be completed in 3 to 6 months? - A Good Project Must Be Manageable. Prolonged
projects risk loss of interest and start building frustrations within the team and all the way
around. The team also runs the risk of disintegrating
What not to Select?
It should neither be a bean-sized project so that the improvements are too small to be
appreciated, nor a world-hunger project wherein implementing the solutions is beyond the
control of the stakeholders
What Problem to Select?
The cause of this problem should be unknown or not clearly understood .There shouldnt be any
predetermined or apparent optimal solution. If Green Belt/Black Belt already knows the answer,
then just go fix it!
Step3- Finalize Project Charter and High Level Map

Project Charter
The Project Charter is used to establish a clear understanding of the project amongst the team, the Project
leader, Champion, Sponsor and stakeholders. It is a written document and works as an agreement between
management and the team about what is expected. It includes a documented business case, opportunity for
improvement, goals, scope, timeline and members of the project team. The Project Charter is the key
document that defines the scope and purpose of any project. The Charter functions as the communication
vehicle for the team, the Sponsor, Process Owner, Champion, the Project leader, and all other team members
involved. It is used to assure that the team sees the vision of leadership, and understands what the project
opportunity and performance improvement goals are, what is expected of the team and keeps the team
focused and aligned on the organisational priorities. It transfers the project from the champion to the project
team.
One common misconception is that the Project Charter is written and then not touched again. The team should
refer to the Charter often to ensure that the project is staying on track. In addition, it should be considered a living
document that may be revised as the team learns more in the Define and the Measure phase.
Elements of a Project Charter

Table 16
Opportunity Statement
Pain or Problems
Business Case
Financial Benefits
Goal Statement
Success Criteria, usually a SMART statement
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Project Scope
Boundaries of the project, In and out scope list
Team Members
Who and What
Project Plan
Activities, Timelines, Critical Path, Review Schedule
Opportunity Statement
The opportunity statement describes the why of undertaking the improvement initiative. The problem
statement should address the following questions:
What is wrong or not working?
When and where do the problems occur?
How extensive is the problem?
What is the impact pain on our customers / business / employees?

Business Case
The business case describes the benefit for undertaking a project. The business case addresses the following
questions:
What is the focus for the project team?
Does it make strategic sense to do this project?
Does this project align with other business initiatives (Critical Success Factors)?
What benefits will be derived from this project?
What impacts will this project have on other business units and employees?
Goal Statement
The goal statement should be most closely linked with the Opportunity statement. The goal statement
defines the objective of the project to address the specific pain area, and is SMART (Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound). The goal statement addresses:
What is the improvement team seeking to accomplish?
How will the improvement teams success be measured?
What specific parameters will be measured? These must be related to the Critical to Cost, Quality, and/or
Delivery (Collectively called the CTQs).
What are the tangible results deliverables (e.g., reduce cost, cycle time, etc.)?
What is the timetable for delivery of results?
Project Scope
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The project scope defines the boundaries of the business opportunity. One of the Six Sigma tools that can be
used to identify/control project scope is called the In-Scope/Out-of Scope Tool. Project Scope defines:
What are the boundaries, the starting and ending steps of a process, of the initiative?
What parts of the business are included?
What parts of the business are not included?
What, if anything, is outside the teams boundaries?
Where should the teams work begin and end?
Team Roles & Responsibilities

Yellow Belt
Provide support to Black Belts and Green Belts as needed
May be team members on DMAIC teams
Supporting projects with process knowledge and data collection
Green Belt
Is the Team Leader for a Project within own functional area
Selects other members of his project team
Defines the goal of project with Champion & team members
Defines the roles and responsibilities for each team member
Identifies training requirements for team along with Black Belt
Helps make the Financial Score Card along with his CFO
Black Belt
Leads project that are cross-functional in nature (across functional areas)
Ends role as project leader at the close of the turnover meeting
Trains others in Six Sigma methodologies & concepts
Sits along with the Business Unit Head and helps project selection
Provides application assistance & facilitates team discussions
Helps review projects with Business Unit Head
Informs Business Unit Head of project status for corrective action
Master Black Belt:
Participates in the Reviews and ensures proper direction.
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Trains and coaches Process Owners on Process Management principles
Team Member:
A Team Member is chosen for a special skill or competence
Team Members help design the new process
Team Members drive the project to completion
Subject Matter Expert (SME):
Is an expert in a specific functional area
May be invited to specific team meetings but not necessarily all of them
Provides guidance needed to project teams on an as needed basis
Project Sponsor:
Acts as surrogate Process Owner (PO) until an owner is named
Becomes PO at Improve/Develop if PO is not named
Updates Tracker with relevant documents and pertinent project data
Part of senior management responsible for selection / approval of projects
Process Owner:
Takes over the project after completion
Manages the control system after turnover
Turns over PO accountability to the new Process Owner if the process is reassigned to another area or
another individual
Deployment Champion:
Responsible for the overall Six Sigma program within the company
Reviews projects periodically
Adds value in project reviews since he is hands-on in the business
Clears road blocks for the team
Has the overall responsibility for the project closure
Project Plan
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The project plan shows the timeline for the various activities required for the project. Some of the tools that
can be used to create the project timeline are the Network diagram or the GANTT chart. We may also like to
identify the activities on critical path, milestones for tollgate reviews to ensure that timely completion of the
project.*Please refer to Chapter 4 to learn more about Project Management practices
Project Charter sections are largely interrelated: as the scope increases, the timetable and the deliverables
also expand. Whether initiated by management or proposed by operational personnel, many projects initially
have too broad a scope. As the project cycle time increases, the tangible cost of the project deployment, such
as cost due to labour and material usage, will increase. The intangible costs of the project will also increase:
frustration due to lack of progress, diversion of manpower away from other activities, and delay in realization
of project benefits, to name just a few. When the project cycle time exceeds 6 months or so, these intangible
costs may result in the loss of critical team members, causing additional delays in the project completion.
These world peace projects, with laudable but unrealistic goals, generally serve to frustrate teams and
undermine the credibility of the Six Sigma program.
High Level Process Map

Process maps are graphical representations of a process flow identifying the steps of the process, the inputs
and outputs of the process, and opportunities for improvement. Process maps can cross-functional
boundaries if the start points and stop points are located in different departments or if several persons from
different departments are responsible for satisfying specific customer need. Process maps are applicable to
any type of process: manufacturing, design, service, or administrative. Process maps are used to document
the actual process and helps locate value and Non-Value added steps. These maps can be an excellent way to
communicate information to others and train employees.
It can be very useful to start with a high level process map of five to ten steps representing the sub-processes.
This helps to establish the scope of the process, identify significant issues and frame the more detailed map
later.
SIPOC is an acronym for Suppliers Inputs Process Outputs Customers. It is a high level process map
that describes the boundaries of the process, major tasks and activities, Key Process Input and Output
Variables, Suppliers & Customers. When we refer to customers, we usually talk about both internal and
external customers. It can be used to identify the key stakeholders and describe the process visually to team
members and other stakeholders. A Stakeholder is anyone who is either impacted by the project or could
impact the outcome of the project. Not everyone is a stakeholder but a project may have several stakeholders
including employees, Suppliers, customers, shareholders etc.
Suppliers: Provide inputs
Inputs: Data / unit required to execute the process
Process Boundary: Identified by the hand-off at the input (the start point of process) and the output
(the end point of the process)
Outputs: Output of a process creating a product or service that meets a customer need
Customers: Users of the output
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Table17: Shows a filled out SIPOC matrix

Suppliers
Inputs
Employees
Employee
Setup Data
Process
Output
Customer
Active Employee
Record
Project Manager and

Team
Set Up Resources
Contractors
Contractor
Setup Data
Active Contractor
Record
Project Manager and

Team
Employees &
Contractors
Planning
Meeting
Project Schedule
Project Manager and

Team
Contracting
Officer
Statement of
Work
Project Schedule
Project Manager and

Team
Payroll
Department
Employee
Pay Rates
Rate Table
System Administrator
Contractors
Contractor
Pay Rates
Rate Table
System Administrator
Employees
Timesheets
Labour Cost
Report
Project Manager and

Team
Labour Cost
Report
Project Manager and

Team
Contractor Cost
Report
Project Manager and

Team
Monthly
Performance
Reports
CIO, Program
Managers, VP Finance
Contractors (Time
& Materials)
Assign Activities
to Resources
Assign Rates to
Resources
Enter Time Sheets

Timesheets
Contractors
(Fixed Priced)
Invoices
Project
Management
System
Timesheet &
Invoices
Enter Vendor
Invoices
Summarize and
Report Costs
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Define Phase Tollgate checklist

Has the project been chosen because of its alignment with Organisation goals and the strategic direction of
the business?
What is the problem statement detailing (what) is the problem, (when) was the problem first seen,
(where) was it seen, and what is the (magnitude or extent) of the problem. Is the problem measured in
terms of Quality, Cycle Time, Cost Efficiency, net expected financial benefits? Ensure there is no mention or
assumptions about causes and solutions.
Does a goal statement exist that defines the results expected to be achieved by the process, with
reasonable and measurable targets? Is the goal developed for the what in the problem statement, thus
measured in terms of Quality, Cycle Time or Cost Efficiency?
Does a financial business case exist, explaining the potential impact (i.e. measured in dollars) of the project
on the organisation budgets, Net Operating Results, etc.?
Is the project scope reasonable? Have constraints and key assumptions been identified?
Who is on the team? Are they the right resources and has their required time commitment to the project
been confirmed by your Sponsor and team?
What is the high level Project plan? What are the key milestones (i.e. dates of tollgate reviews for DMAIC
projects)?
Who are the customers for this process? What are their requirements? Are they measurable? How were
the requirements determined?
Who are the key stakeholders? How will they be involved in the project? How will progress be
communicated to them? Do they agree to the project?
What kinds of barriers/obstacles will need assistance to be removed? Has the risk mitigation plan to deal
with the identified risks been developed?
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Chapter
6
Measure
Measure Phase Overview
The primary purpose of the Measure phase is to answer the question, "How are we doing?" In other words,
the team must baseline the current state of each CTQ or CTP. Many times in a project, the critical measure
identified by the team is not an already reported measure. Although the team may not think the measure is
meeting the goal, they need to collect data to verify the current performance level.
The deliverables from the Measure phase include:
Operational definition
Measurement system analysis
Data collection plan
Baseline Performance
define critical customer requirements, and prepare an effective project team. The three steps that enable us
to do so are:
Step 4
Finalize Project Y, Performance Standards for Y
Step 5
Validate Measurement System for Y
Step 6
Measure Current Performance and Gap
Step 4-Finalize Project Y, Performance Standards for Y

Data collection can be difficult. To help, the team should use operational definitions and data collection plans.
Operational definition has been constant source of worry for Measurement system reliability.
Operational Definition
An Operational Definition is a precise definition of the specific Y to be measured. The data collected using this
definition will be used to baseline the performance. The purpose of the definition is to provide a single,
agreed upon meaning for each specific Y. This help in ensuring reliability and consistency during the
measurement process although the concept is simple, the task of creating a definition should not be under
estimated. A clear concise operational definition will ensure reliable data collection and reduction in
measurement error.
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Table 18
CTQ Performance Characteristics
CTQ Measure
A
Data Type
B
Operational definition
c
LSL
USL
Target
d1
d2
d3
a: CTQ Measure is a measurable characteristic of output

b: Data type, whether it is continuous or discrete
c: A clear, concise detailed definition of a measure. Operational definitions should be very precise and
be written to avoid possible variation in interpretations.
d: Specification limits are usually derived from customer needs or stated by the customer
o USL- Upper Specification limit
o LSL- Lower Specification limit
Step 5- Validate measurement system for Y

Measurement System Analysis
One important step in the Measure phase, sometimes skipped by inexperienced Six Sigma teams, is
conducting a Measurement System Analysis (MSA). MSA is carried out to verify that the measurement system
produces valid data, before the team makes data-based decisions.
A measurement system is defined as the collection of operations, procedures, gauges and other equipment,
software, materials, facilities, and personnel used to assign a number to the characteristic being measured. A
good measurement system possesses certain properties. First, it should produce a number that is close to
the actual property being measured, that is, it should be accurate. Second, if the measurement system is
applied repeatedly to the same object, the measurements produced should be close to one another, that is, it
should be repeatable. Third, the measurement system should be able to produce accurate and consistent
results over the entire range of concern, that is, it should be linear. Fourth, the measurement system should
produce the same results when used by any properly trained individual, that is, the results should be
reproducible. Finally, when applied to the same items the measurement system should produce the same
results in the future as it did in the past, that is, it should be stable. In general, the methods and definitions
presented here are consistent with those described by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) MSA
Reference Manual (3rd ed.).
Properties of Continuous Measurement

Bias or Accuracy
The difference between the average measured value and a reference value is referred to as bias. The
reference value is an agreed-upon standard, such as a standard traceable to a national standards body (see
below). When applied to attribute inspection, bias refers to the ability of the attribute inspection system to
produce agreement on inspection standards. Bias is controlled by calibration, which is the process of
comparing measurements to standards. The concept of bias is illustrated in Fig.22.
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Figure 22: Bias Illustrated

Repeatability
AIAG defines repeatability as the variation in measurements obtained with one measurement instrument
when used several times by one appraiser, while measuring the identical characteristic on the same part.
Variation obtained when the measurement system is applied repeatedly under the same conditions is usually
caused by conditions inherent in the measurement system. ASQ defines precision as The closeness of
agreement between randomly selected individual measurements or test results. NOTE: The standard
deviation of the error of measurement is sometimes called imprecision. This is similar to what we are
calling repeatability. Repeatability is illustrated in Fig.23.
Figure 23: Repeatability Illustrated

Reproducibility
Reproducibility is the variation in the average of the measurements made by different appraisers using the
same measuring instrument when measuring the identical characteristic on the same part. Reproducibility is
illustrated in Fig.24.
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Figure 24: Reproducibility Illustrated

Stability
Stability is the total variation in the measurements obtained with a measurement system on the same master
or parts when measuring a single characteristic over an extended time period. A system is said to be stable if
the results are the same at different points in time. Stability is illustrated in Fig.25.
Figure 25: Stability Illustrated
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Linearity
The difference in the bias values through the expected operating range of the gage. Linearity is illustrated in
Fig.26.
Figure 26: Linearity Illustrated

Measurement System Discrimination
Discrimination, sometimes called resolution, refers to the ability of the measurement system to divide
measurements into data categories. All parts within a particular data category will measure the same. For
example, if a measurement system has an illustrated resolution of 0.001 inch, then items measuring 1.0002,
1.0003, 0.9997 would all be placed in the data category 1.000, that is, they would all measure 1.000 inch with
this particular measurement system. A measurement systems discrimination should enable it to divide the
region of interest into many data categories. In Six Sigma, the region of interest is the smaller of the tolerance
(the high specification minus the low specification) or six standard deviations. A measurement system should
be able to divide the region of interest into at least five data categories. For example, if a process was capable
(i.e., Six Sigma is less than the tolerance) and = 0.0005, then a gage with a discrimination of 0.0005 would
be acceptable (six data categories), but one with a discrimination of 0.001 would not (three data categories).
When unacceptable discrimination exists, the range chart shows discrete jumps or steps.
Measurement System Analysis is a critical part of any Six Sigma Project, regardless of the environment (e.g.
transactional, service, etc.). The philosophy behind this kind of study is applicable to all project types.
Depending on the type of data, the statistical analysis will be different. For a continuous measurement, there
are a variety of statistical properties that can be determined: stability, bias, precision (which can be broken
down into repeatability and reproducibility), linearity, and discrimination.
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For a discrete measurement, estimates of the error rates can be determined for within appraiser, each
appraiser versus standard, between appraisers, and all appraisers versus standard. The properties related to
both continuous and discrete measures are discussed below.
Gage repeatability and reproducibility study (Gage R&R Study)

A Measurement System Analysis (MSA) method which evaluates your measurement systems precision and
estimates the combined measurement system repeatability and reproducibility. A Gage R&R Study helps you
answer whether your measurement system variability is small compared with the process variability, how
much variability in the measurement system is caused by differences between operators, and whether your
measurement system is capable of discriminating between different parts.
For example, several inspectors measure the diameter of screws to make sure they meet specifications. You
want to make sure you trust your data so you examine whether the inspectors are consistent in their
measurements of the same part (repeatability) and whether the variation between inspectors is consistent
(reproducibility).
Although the number of inspectors, parts, and trials will change for your particular application, a general
procedure follows:
Step 1: Collect a sample of 15 screws that represent the entire range of your process.
Step 2: Randomly choose 3 inspectors from the regular operators of this process (they should be
trained and familiar with the process because you are trying to estimate the actual process, not the
best or worst case).
Step 3: It is best to randomize the order of the measurements, but sometimes this is not always
possible. An alternative could be to randomize the order of the operators then have each one
measure all 15 screws in random order. Record the data in a Minitab worksheet.
Step 4: Repeat step 3 for the second trial.
When all the trials have been completed, we can analyse the collected data. According to the Automobile
Industry Action Group (AIAG) you can determine whether your measurement system is acceptable using the
following guidelines.
If the Total Gage R&R contribution in the %Study Var column (% Tolerance, %Process) is:
Less than 10% - the measurement system is acceptable.

Between 10% and 30% - the measurement system is acceptable depending on the application, the
cost of the measuring device, cost of repair, or other factors.
Greater than 30% - the measurement system is unacceptable and should be improved.
Properties of Discrete Measurements

For discrete measurements, a blind study may be done. An expert would usually determine whether the
product is good or bad. Then, a variety of good and bad units is given to two or three appraisers. The
appraisers each then determine if they think the product is good or bad.
They are asked to look at the same unit more than once, without knowing that they had evaluated the unit
previously. This is called the "within appraiser" error rate. It can then be determined how well all the
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appraisers are able to get the same result on the same product, the "between appraiser" error rate. In
addition, it can be determined how well the appraisers agree with the expert, known as the "appraiser versus
standard" error rate.
Attribute Repeatability& Reproducibility (AR&R)

Attribute gauge studies are typically used when the measurement result is binary, such as defect/no defect or
successful/unsuccessful, although rating scales can also be validated with this method. Multiple measurement
system operators are chosen to measure a sample set two or more times. In this way, both repeatability
(variation within the operator) and reproducibility (variation between the operators) can be quantified. In an
attribute study, a standard can be used for comparison with the results from the measurement system
operators. The standard is the 'truth' and any discrepancy from truth due to the measurement system is
considered an error (or defect).
We use Attribute Agreement Analysis to answer:
Does the appraiser agree with himself on all trials?

Does the appraiser agree with the known standard on all trials?
Do all appraisers agree with themselves and others on all trials? (within and between appraisers)
Do all appraisers agree with themselves, others, and with the standard?
AR&R studies can be done using statistical software packages which provide graphical output and other
summary information; however, they are often done by hand due to the straightforward nature of the
calculations.
Step 6- Measure current performance and Gap

Data Collection Plan
Once Measurement system reliability has been established, team develops a data collection plan of Y
measure. It is a plan defining the precise data that will be collected, the amount of data that will be collected,
a description of the logistical issues - who, where, when data will be collected - and what will be done with
data collected.
Table 19
Y Measure
Operational
Definition
Cycle time
Difference
between the
barcode info on
receipt and
barcode on
customer
notification minus
nonworking hours
(holidays,
weekends)
Data
Source
IT System
Sample
Size
300
Who will collect the

data
Process
Representatives
When will the

data be
collected
First 21 days
of the month
How will data

be collected
X data that can be

collected at the
same time
Data
collection
form, IT
reports
Customer type;
application
method, day of the
week;
Representative
initiating call; IT
rep; wait time; rep
sending
notification,
process sub-step
cycle times
The Table 19 above shows an example data collection plan for a project focused on reducing cycle time.
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Collecting the Data

One major determinant of the duration of a Six Sigma project is the time required to collect the data. The
time required is dependent on how frequently the data are available in the process and the ease of collection.
The team needs to be involved in the data collection to make sure it is done right and that any anomalies or
problems are recorded and understood. This will make the analysis of the data in the Analyze phase easier.
Baseline Performance
Once the team collects the data, they must answer the question "How are we doing?" by base lining the Y
data. This is the final step in the Measure phase. The process baseline provides a quantifiable measure of the
process performance before any improvement efforts have been initiated. Process baselines are a critical part
of any process improvement effort, as they provide the reference point for assertions of benefits attained.
There are a variety of metrics that can be used to baseline these Ys. These metrics include Sigma Level, Cp &
Cpk, Pp & Ppk First time Yield and Rolled Throughput Yield. The team should select a metric that is
appropriate for their business.
Sigma Level
Sigma Level is a commonly used Metric for evaluating performance of a process. Sigma level can be computed
for continuous data, discrete data and yield; therefore can be computed for most Y measures. Sigma level
corresponds to a certain Defects per million opportunities (DPMO). Higher the Sigma Level (Z), lower is the
DPMO which simply means lower defect rate.
Table 20
Zlt(Sigma Level Long term)
Zst(Sigma Level Short term)
DPMO
2.5
158655.25
1.5
66807.20
3.5
22750.13
2.5
6209.67
4.5
1349.90
3.5
232.63
5.5
31.67
4.5
3.40
Capability Indices
Process capability is the ability of the process to meet the requirements set for that process. One way to
determine process capability is to calculate capability indices. Capability indices are used for continuous data
and are unit less statistics or metrics.
Cp
It is the potential capability indicating how well a process could be if it were centred on target. This is
not necessarily its actual performance because it does not consider the location of the process, only
the spread. It doesn't take into account the closeness of the estimated process mean to the
specification limits.
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Cp indices recognize the fact that your samples represent rational subgroups, which indicate how the
process would perform if the shift and drift between subgroups could be eliminated. Therefore, it
calculates process spread using within-subgroup variation.
Cpk
Measures of potential process capability, calculated with data from the subgroups in your study. They
measure the distance between the process average and the specification limits, compared to the
process spread:
o
o
o
CPL measures how close the process mean is running to the lower specification limit
CPU measures how close the process mean is running to the upper specification limit
Cpk equals the lesser of CPU and CPL.
Pp
It is the resultant capability indicating how well a process could be if it were centred on target. This is
not necessarily its actual performance because it does not consider the location of the process, only
the spread. It doesn't take into account the closeness of the estimated process mean to the
specification limits.
Pp ignores subgroups and considers the overall variation of the entire process. This overall variation
accounts for the shift and drift that can occur between subgroups; therefore, it is useful in measuring
capability over time. If your Pp value differs greatly from your Cp value, you conclude that there is
significant variation from one subgroup to another.
Ppk
Measures of overall process capability, calculated with overall process standard deviation. They
measure the distance between the process average and the specification limits, compared to the
process spread:
o PPL measures how close the process mean is running to the lower specification limit
o PPU measures how close the process mean is running to the upper specification limit
o Ppk equals the lesser of PPU and PPL.
If Ppk, PPU, and PPL are equal, the process is centered at the exact midpoint of the specification
limits.
Yield
Yield can be defined in multiple ways; traditionally it has been defined as the ratio of the total units
delivered defect-free to the customer over the total number of units that entered the system. However
this definition can obscure the impact of inspection and rework. Process Improvement experts usually are
more interested in evaluating yield without rework to understand the true capability of the process.
FTY (First time Yield a.k.a. First Pass Yield): It is the ratio of the units of a product that pass
completely through the process the first time without rework over the number of units entered
into the process.
RTY (Rolled Throughput Yield):The combined overall likelihood of an item passing through all
steps successfully first time
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Measure Phase Tollgate checklist

Has a detailed Process Map been completed to better understand the process and problem, and
show where in the process the root causes might reside?
Has the team identified the specific input (x), process (x), and output (y) measures needing to be
collected for both effectiveness and efficiency categories (I.e. Quality, Speed, and Cost Efficiency
measures)?
Has the team developed clear, unambiguous operational definitions for each measurement and
tested them with others to ensure clarity and consistent interpretation?
Has a clear, reasonable choice been made between gathering new data or taking advantage of
existing data already collected by the organization?
Has an appropriate sample size and sampling frequency been established to ensure valid
representation of the process we are measuring?
Has the measurement system been checked for repeatability and reproducibility, potentially including
training of data collectors?
Has the team developed and tested data collection forms or check sheets which are easy to use and
provide consistent, complete data?
Has baseline performance and process capability been established? How large is the gap between
current performance and the customer (or project) requirements?
Has the team been able to identify any Quick Wins?
Has the team completed the baseline savings documentation?
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Chapter
7
Analyze
Analyze Phase Overview
In the Analyze phase, the question to be answered is "What is wrong?" In other words, in this phase the team
determines the root causes of the problems of the process. The team identified the problems of the process
in the Define and Measure phases of the project. The key deliverable from this phase is validated root causes.
The team will use a variety of tools and statistical techniques to find these root causes. The team must choose
the right tools to identify these root causes as if there is no fixed set of tools for a certain situation. The tools
chosen are based on the type of data that were collected and what the team is trying to determine from the
data. The team usually would use a combination of graphical and numerical tools. The graphical tools are
important to understand the data characteristics and to ensure that the statistical analyses are meaningful
(e.g., not influenced by outliers). The numerical (or statistical) analyses ensure that any differences identified
in the graphs are truly significant and not just a function of natural variation.
The team should have already identified the process outputs - CTQ's and CTP's, or the little Y's - in the Define
phase. The X's are process and input variables that affect the CTQ's and CTP's. The first consideration in the
Measure phase is to identify the x data to collect while base lining these y variables. The y data are
needed to establish a baseline of the performance of the process. The x data are collected concurrently with
the Y's in this phase so that the relationships between the X's and Y's can be studied in the Analyse phase will
impact the Big Y's - the key metrics of the business. And if Six Sigma is not driven from the top, a Green/Black
Belt may not see the big picture and the selection of a project may not address something of criticality to the
organization.
define critical customer requirements, and prepare an effective project team. The three steps that enable us
to do so are:
Step 7
List All Probable Xs
Step 8
Identify Critical X's
Step 9
Verify Sufficiency of Critical X's for the project
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Step 7- List all Probable Xs

Most project executions require a cross-functional team effort because different creative ideas at different
levels of management are needed in the definition and the shaping of a project. These ideas are better
generated through brainstorming sessions.
Qualitative Analysis
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is used at the initial steps and during the Analyze phase of a Project to identify potential factors
that affect the output. It is a group discussion session that consists of encouraging a voluntary generation of
a large volume of creative, new, and not necessarily traditional ideas by all the participants. It is very
beneficial because it helps prevent narrowing the scope of the issue being addressed to the limited vision of a
small dominant group of managers. Since the participants come from different disciplines, the ideas that they
bring forth are very unlikely to be uniform in structure. They can be organized for the purpose of finding root
causes of a problem and suggest palliatives. If the brainstorming session is unstructured, the participants can
give any idea that comes to their minds, but this might lead the session to stray from its objectives.
Five Whys Analysis
Asking "Why?" may be a favourite technique of your three year old child in driving you crazy, but it could
teach you a valuable Six Sigma quality lesson. The 5 Whys is a technique used in the Analyze phase of the Six
Sigma DMAIC methodology. By repeatedly asking the question "Why" (five is a good rule of thumb),Green
Belt/Black Belt can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead to the root cause of a problem.
Although this technique is called "5 Whys," you may find that you will need to ask the question fewer or more
times than five before you find the issue related to a problem. The benefits of 5 Whys is that it is a simple
tool that can be completed without statistical analysis. Table 21 shows an illustration of the 5 Whys analysis.
Based on this analysis, we may decide to take out the non-value added signature for the director.
Table 21: 5 Why's Example
Customers are unhappy because they are being shipped products that
don't meet their specifications.
Why
Because manufacturing built the products to a specification that is

different from what the customer and the sales person agreed to.
Why
Because the sales person expedites work on the shop floor by calling the
head of manufacturing directly to begin work. An error happened when
the specifications were being communicated or written down.
Why
Because the "start-work" form requires the sales director's approval

before work can begin and slows the manufacturing process (or stops it
when the director is out of the office).
Why
Because the sales director needs to be continually updated on sales for

discussions with the CEO.
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Affinity Diagram
If the ideas generated by the participants to the brainstorming session are few (less than 15), it is easy to
clarify, combine them, determine the most important suggestions, and make a decision. However, when the
suggestions are too many it becomes difficult to even establish a relationship between them. An affinity
diagram or KJ method (named after its author, Kawakita Jiro) is used to diffuse confusion after a
brainstorming session by organizing the multiple ideas generated during the session. It is a simple and costeffective method that consists of categorizing a large amount of ideas, data, or suggestions into logical
groupings according to their natural relatedness. When a group of knowledgeable people discusses a subject
with which they are all familiar, the ideas they generate should necessarily have affinities. To organize the
ideas, perform the following:
a. The first step in building the diagram is to sort the suggestions into groups based on their relatedness
and a consensus from the members.
b. Determine an appropriate header for the listings of the different categories.
c. An affinity must exist between the items on the same list and if some ideas need to be on several
lists, let them be.
d. After all the ideas have been organized, several lists that contain closely related ideas should appear.
Listing the ideas according to their affinities makes it much easier to assign deliverables to members
of the project team according to their abilities.
Cause-and-Effect Analysis
The cause-and-effect (C&E) diagramalso known as a fishbone (because of its shape) or Ishikawa diagram
(named after Kaoru Ishikawa, its creator) is used to visualize the relationship between an outcome and its
different causes. There is very often more than one cause to an effect in business; the C&E diagram is an
analytical tool that provides a visual and systematic way of linking different causes (input) to an effect
(output). It shows the relationship between an effect and its first, second and third order causes. It can be
used to identify the root causes of a problem. The building of the diagram is based on the sequence of events.
Sub-causes are classified according to how they generate sub-effects, and those sub-effects become
the causes of the outcome being addressed.
The first step in constructing a fishbone diagram is to define clearly the effect being analyzed.
The second step consists of gathering all the data about the key process input variables (KPIV), the
potential causes (in the case of a problem), or requirements (in the case of the design of a production
process) that can affect the outcome.
The third step consists of categorizing the causes or requirements according to their level of
importance or areas of pertinence. The most frequently used categories are:
o Manpower, machine, method, measurement, mother-nature, and materials for
manufacturing
o Equipment, policy, procedure, plant, and people for services
Subcategories are also classified accordingly; for instance, different types of machines and computers can be
classified as subcategories of equipment.
The last step is the actual drawing of the diagram. The diagram is immensely helpful to draw a mind
map of the cause and effect relationship
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The fishbone diagram does help visually identify the potential root causes of an outcome. Further statistical
analysis is needed to determine which factors contribute the most to creating the effect.
Figure 27: Fishbone Diagram
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Figure 28: Cause and Effect Diagram Example
Figure 29: Cause and Effect Diagram Example
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C&E Matrix (Function Deployment Matrix)

The relationship between Key Input Process Variables (KPIV) and Key Output Process Variables (KPOV) is
ranked in a spread sheet to prioritize the x(s) which are listed from PFD, C&E or team inputs.
Activities to be performed:
The team should be assembled

Discuss KPIVs and KPOVs
Use the FDM worksheet to list KPOVs.
Give weights to KPOVs on the scale 1-10 (CPN)
List KPIVs
Rank the relationship between each KPIV with KPOV (1-10)
The product of this rank and CPN of KPOV decides the priority of the respective KPIV
Finally, a list of potential x(s) is obtained
Figure 30: Cause and Effect Matrix Example
Process Mapping
Many business processes are poorly defined or totally lacking in description. Many procedures are simply
described by word of mouth or may reside in documents that are obsolete. In process management, often by
simply trying to define and map the process, we provide a means for both understanding and communicating
operational details to those involved in the process.
It also provides a baseline, or standard, for evaluating the improvement. In many cases, merely
defining and charting the process as it is can reveal many deficiencies such as redundant and needless
steps and other non-value-added activities.
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Process mapping allows the team to represent the process associated with their problem in a way
that others find easy to understand, making the job of defining the current process easier
It also allows people to easily understand where waste exists in the process and where the process
has been poorly defined
Process maps can be analyzed for:
o Time-per-event (reducing cycle time)
o Process repeats (preventing rework)
o Duplication of effort (identifying and eliminating duplicated tasks)
o Unnecessary tasks (eliminating tasks that are in the process for no apparent reason)
o Identifying and segregating Value-added and non-value-added tasks
The Process Map should contain enough detail to enable effective analysis
It should illustrate both the work flow and the organizational interaction
It should use a common language (symbology) which is understood by everyone
It should capture all multiple paths, decisions, and rework loops
It should contain adequate detail
o Too much detail is incomprehensible
o Too little detail has no analytical value
The Process Map should address all types of tasks
Operation
Transportation
Storage
e.g. Prep patient for

surgery, type letter,
prepare bill
e.g., Move material by

messenger, move material
by cart, mail
e.g., Raw material in bulk

storage, filing of
documents
Delay
Inspection
e.g. Wait in line to be

serviced, papers waiting to
be filed and picked up
e.g., examine service for

quality, read gauge,
examine forms, proofread
Figure 31: Process Map Tasks
The first step in analyzing process map is developing detailed process maps. The initial AS-IS process maps
should always be created by cross functional team members and must reflect the actual process rather than
an ideal state of desired state.
Start with a high level map: It can be very useful to start with a high level process map of say five
to ten steps. Six Sigma team would have developed a High Level process map (SIPOC) in Define Phase.
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This helps to establish the scope of the process, identify significant issues and frame the more
detailed map.
Six Sigma team may choose a Top-Down Flow Chart describes the activities of the process in a
hierarchical order or Functional Deployment Flow Chart that shows the different functions that are
responsible for each step in the process flow chart.
Map the process like a flowchart detailing each activity, arrow and decision. For each arrow, boxes,
and diamond, list its function and the time spent (in minutes, hours, days).
Figure 32: Main Process Mapping Symbols
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Table 22: Typical Symbols used in Process Maps
Detailed Process Mapping

Mark the input and output parameters as C, N, X, SOP as below:
C (Constant) - Factor is a constant. It has a fixed value and cannot be changed to improve Y.
N (Noise) - The factor goes high or low randomly. It is uncontrollable though it may affect Y.
X (Variable) - Factors that affect project Y and can be controlled. Such variables should be considered
for improvement in project Y.
SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)-These are the Standard Operating Procedures which help in
defining input levels and conditions. These are the standards and generally not changed during a
project.
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Figure 33: Detailed Process Mapping Example
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Figure 34: Detail Process Mapping Example

Functional Deployment Flow Chart
A functional deployment flow chart shows the different functions that are responsible for each step in the
process flow chart. An example is shown below:
How to make a functional Deployment Flowchart
Step 1: List the major steps of the process in the order in which they occur. This might be the output
of your work with a top-down flowchart or you might use some other technique to create this list.
Step 2: Across the top of your board, flipchart or paper write the names of the people or
organizations involved in the process.
Step 3: Under the name of the person or organization responsible for the first step in the process,
draw a box and write that step in the box. If more than one person or group is responsible for a step,
extend the box so it is also under the name of that person or group.
Step 4: If any of the other people or groups help or advise the ones with primary responsibility for
that step, draw an oval under the names of those people or groups.
Step 5: Connect the ovals to the box with the process step in it.
Step 6: After the first step is complete, put the second step under the people responsible for it.
Step 7: Connect the first step to the second step, and then add ovals for any helpers or advisors in the
second process step. Keep going this way with all the steps in the process.
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Responsible
Steps
M O D U L E
Supervisor
Clerk
Materials
Management
Scheduler
Log-in Order
N
Prioritize Order
Review for
Specifications
Materials Explosion
Schedule Fabrication
Inspection
Distribution
Figure 35: Example Process Maps with Functions Shown
Functional Deployment Map is a chart which maps the process in relation to responsibilities (sole or
shared)
Useful for understanding processes with parallel operations
Applies well to both manufacturing and transactional processes
The second step is analysing the process map for:

Time: One of the most effective lean tools used in understanding waste in a process map is Value add/ NonValue add analysis. It assists in analyzing
Time-per-event (reducing cycle time)
Process repeats (preventing rework)
Duplication of effort (identifying and eliminating duplicated tasks)
Unnecessary tasks (eliminating tasks that are in the process for no apparent reason)
Identifying and segregating Value-added and non-value-added tasks
Risks: Process Maps can be analyzed to determine prevalent risks in the current process. Failure Mode and
Effects Analysis is a structured and systematic process to identify potential design and process failures before
they have a chance to occur with the ultimate objective of eliminating these failures or at least minimizing
their occurrence or severity. FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) can help us determine potential
failure modes, potential failure effects, severity rank of the failure effect, potential causes of failure,
occurrence rank of the failure, current process controls and the effectiveness of the control measures.
Identifying the areas and ways in which a process or system can fail (failure mode)
Estimating risk associated with specific causes
Identifying and prioritizing the actions that should be taken to reduce those risks
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Evaluating and documenting proposed process plans or current control plans
Lets review VA/NVA analysis and FMEA in detail
VA and NVA Analysis

The objective of non-value added analysis is to:
Eliminate the hidden costs that do not add value to the customer
Reduce unnecessary process complexity, and thus errors
Reduce the process cycle time
Reduce cost and increase capacity through better utilization of resources
Reduce inventory
Increase revenue (e.g., reduce development process cycle time to introduce new products to market
faster)
What are VA and NVA activities?
Value-Added Step:
Customers are willing to pay for it.
It transforms the product/ service.
Its done right the first time.
Non value-Added Step:
Is not essential to produce output.
Does not add value to the output.
Includes:
o Defects, errors, omissions.
o Preparation/setup, control/inspection.
o Over-production, processing, inventory.
o Transporting, motion, waiting, delays.
Non Value Added Steps can be further classified
Required NVA
o Business necessity (e.g. accounting)
o Employee necessity (e.g. payroll)
o Process necessity (e.g. inspection)
NVA - Waste
How do we carry out VA/NVA analysis?

VA / NVA Analysis Procedure
Step 1: Map the process like a flowchart detailing each activity, arrow and decision.
Step 2: For each arrow, box, and diamond, list its function and the time spent (in minutes, hours,
days) on the value-added check list
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Step 3: Now become the customer. Step into their shoes and ask the following questions:
o Is the customer not willing to pay for it?
o Is this inspection, testing, or checking?
o Is this just fix it error correction work or waste?
Step 4: If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the step may be non-value-added.
o If so, can we remove it from the process? Much of the idle, non-value-adding time in a
process lies in the arrows: Orders sit in in-boxes or computers waiting to be processed, calls
wait in queue for are representative to answer. How can we eliminate delay?
Step 5: How can activities and delays be eliminated, simplified, combined, or reorganized to provide a
faster, higher quality flow through the process?
o Investigate hand-off points: how can you eliminate delays and prevent lost, changed, or
misinterpreted information or work products at these points? If there are simple, elegant, or
obvious ways to improve the process now, revise the flowchart to reflect those changes.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

What is Risk?
Risk can be defined as the likelihood of occurrence of an undesirable event combined to the magnitude of its impact
What is Risk Assessment?
Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative and qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and
a recognized threat (also called hazard).
What does Risk Analysis include?
Risk analysis includes
Identification of risks
Estimation of their likelihood of occurrence
Estimation of their causes and the magnitude of their potential impact
Risk evaluation and Development of risk mitigation plan
Failure modes and effect analysis is a structured method to identify failure modes, determine the severity of the
failure, cause of the failure, frequency of the failure, current controls in place and efficiency of the controls. This
enables us to evaluate current risks in the process and thereafter developing action plan to mitigate risks.
FMEA Operating Definition
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is a structured and systematic process to identify potential design and process
failures before they have a chance to occur with the ultimate objective of eliminating these failures or at least
minimizing their occurrence or severity. FMEA helps in
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Identifying the areas and ways in which a process or system can fail (failure mode)
Estimating risk associated with specific causes
Identifying and prioritizing the actions that should be taken to reduce those risks
Evaluating and documenting proposed process plans or current control plans
What is Failure Mode?

A Failure Mode is:
The way in which the product, service, input, or process could:

o
Fail to meet requirements of the end user
Cause downstream operations to fail
Things that could go wrong:

o
Total failure
Partial failure (too much, too little, too fast, or too slow)
Unintended result
Best to be stated in terms of failing to perform a function
Combination of Failure Modes
Often, catastrophes are the result of more than one failure mechanism which occur in tandem.
Each individual failure mechanism, if it had occurred by itself, would probably have resulted in a far less
deadly outcome.
Cause and Effect
Effects are usually events that occur downstream that affect internal or external customers.
Root causes are the most basic causes within the process owners control. Causes, and root causes, are in
the background; they are an input resulting in an effect.
Failures are what transform a cause to an effect; they are often unobservable.
PFMEA (Process Failure Modes and Effect Analysis

How does PFMEA help?
The process FMEA supports processes in reducing risk of failures by:
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Identifying and evaluating process functions and requirements
Identifying and evaluating potential product and process related failure modes, and the effects of the
potential failures on the process and customers
Identifying potential manufacturing, assembly or service process causes
Identifying process variables on which to focus process controls for occurrence reduction or increased
detection of the failure conditions
Enabling the establishment of a priority system for preventive/corrective actions and controls
Process FMEA doesnt rely on design changes to overcome limitations in the process. PFMEA assumes the
product/service as designed will meet the design intent. Potential failure modes that can occur because of design
weakness may be included in PFMEA. Their effect and avoidance is covered by Design FMEA.
What about the Design issues?
During the development of a PFMEA, a team may identify design opportunities which if implemented, would either
eliminate or reduce the occurrence of a failure mode. Such information should be provided to Process
Improvement/ Design expert for consideration and possible implementation.
Who should develop PFMEA?
PFMEA is developed and maintained by multi-disciplinary (or cross functional) team typically led by the Green Belt/
Black Belt/Process Owner.
Developing PFMEA
The PFMEA begins by developing a list of what the process is expected to do and not do. It is also known as
the process intent
Identification of the product/service effects from the DFMEA should be included
A flow chart of the general process should be developed. It should identify the product/process
characteristics associated with each operation.
The process flow diagram is a primary input for development of PFMEA. It helps establish scope of the
analysis.
o
The initial flow diagram is generally considered a high level process map
A more detailed process map is needed for identification of potential failure modes
The PFMEA should be consistent with the information in the process flow diagram
Requirement(s) should be identified for each process/ function. Requirements are the outputs of each
operation/step and related to the requirements of the product/service. The Requirement provides a
description of what should be achieved at each operation/step. The Requirements provide the team with a
basis to identify potential failure modes
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Other sources of information may include but not limited to

o
Cause and Effect Matrix
Lesson learned from previous product or similar process
Known failure modes based on historical data
Performance indicators (Cp, Cpk, Sigma level, FTY, RTY) data of similar process
Once we have most of the required information, we can fill out the Process FMEA form
PFMEA Template
Process
or
Product
Name:
Prepared
by:
Responsib
le:
FMEA Date (Orig)

______________ (Rev)
_____________
d e
i j
Action Results
Responsibility
Recommende
and
Action
d
Completion
s
Action(s)
Date
Taken
RPN
DET
OCC
SEV
RPN
DET
a2
Current Process
Potential
Cause(s)/
Controls
Mechanis Controls
Preventio
Detectio
m(s) of
n
n
Failure
OCC
a1
Class
SEV
Process
Potential Potential
Requireme
Step /
Failure
Effects
nt
Function
Mode of Failure
Page ____ of
____
n n n n
Body of the PFMEA
a1- Process Step and Function: Process Step/Function can be separated into two columns or combined
into a single column. Process steps may be listed in the process step/function column, and requirement
listed in the requirements column
o
Enter the identification of the process step or operation being analyzed, based on the numbering
process and terminology. Process numbering scheme, sequencing, and terminology used should be
consistent with those used in the process flow diagram to ensure traceability and relationships to
other documents.
List the process function that corresponds to each process step or operation being analyzed. The
process function describes the purpose or intent of the operation.
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a2- Requirements: are the inputs to the process specified to meet design intent and other customer
requirements.
o
List the requirements for each process function of the process step or operation being analyzed.
If there are multiple requirements with respect to a given function, each should be aligned on the
form with the respective associated failure modes in order to facilitate the analysis
b- Potential Failure Mode is defined as the manner in which the process could potentially fail to meet the
process requirements (including the design intent). The team should also assume that the basic design
issues which result in process concerns, those issues should be communicated to the design team for
resolution
o
List the potential failure mode(s) for the particular operation in terms of the process
requirement(s).
Potential failure modes should be described in technical terms, not as a symptom noticeable by the
customer
c- Potential effect(s) of failure are defined as the effects of the failure mode as perceived by the
customer(s).
o
The effects of the failure should be described in terms of what the customer might notice or
experience, remembering that the customer may be an internal customer, as well as the End User.
For the End User, the effect should be stated in terms of product or system. If the customer is the
next operation or subsequent operation (s), the effects should be stated in terms of
process/operation performance.
A few questions we can ask to determine the potential effect of the failure
o
Does the potential failure Mode physically prevent the downstream processing or cause potential
harm to equipment or operators?
What is the potential impact on the End User?
What would happen if an effect was detected prior to reaching the End User?
d- Severity is the value associated with the most serious effect for a given failure. The team should agree
on evaluation criteria and a ranking system and apply them consistently, even if modified for individual
process analysis. It is not recommended to modify criteria for ranking values 9 and 10. Failure modes with a
rank of 1 should not be analyzed further.
e- Classification column may be used to highlight high priority failure modes or causes that may
requirement additional engineering assessment. This column may also be used to classify any product or
process characteristics (e.g., critical, key, major, significant) for components, subsystems, or systems that
may require additional process controls.
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f- Potential causes(s) of Failure Mode is defined as a indication of how the failure could occur, and is
described in terms of something that can be corrected or can be controlled. Potential causes of failure may
be an indication of a design or process weakness, the consequence of which is the failure.
o
Identify and document every potential causes for each failure mode. The cause should be detailed
as concisely and completely as possible.
There may be one or more causes that can result in the failure mode being analyzed. This results in
multiple lines for each cause in the table or form. Only specific errors or malfunction should be
listed.
g- Occurrence is the likelihood that a specific cause of failure will occur. The likelihood of occurrence
ranking has a relative meaning rather than an absolute value.
o
Estimate the likelihood of occurrence of a potential cause of failure on a 1 to 10 scale. A consistent

occurrence rank should be used to ensure continuity.
The occurrence ranking number is a relative ranking within the scope of FMEA and may not reflect
the actual likelihood of occurrence.
If statistical data are available from a similar process, the data should be used to determine the
occurrence ranking. In other cases, subjective assessment may be used to estimate the ranking.
h-Current process controls are descriptions of the controls that can either prevent to the extent possible,
the cause of failure from occurring or detect the failure mode or cause of failure should it occur. There are
two types of Process Controls to consider
o
Prevention: Eliminate (prevent) the cause of the failure or the failure mode from occurring, or
reduce its rate of occurrence
Detection: Identify (detect) the cause of failure or the failure mode, leading to the development or
associated corrective action(s) or counter-measures
The preferred approach is to first use prevention controls, if possible. The initial occurrence
rankings will be affected by the prevention controls provided they are integrated as part of the
process. The initial detection rankings will be based on process control that either detect the cause
of failure, or detect the failure mode
i-Detection is the rank associated with the best detection control listed in the detection controls column.
Detection is a relative ranking within the scope of the individual FMEA. Detection is relative ranking within
the scope of the individual FMEA. In order to achieve a lower ranking, generally the planned detection
control has to be improved.
o
When more than one control is identified, it is recommended that the detection ranking of each
control be included as part of the description. Record the lowest ranking in the detection column
Assume the failure has occurred and then assess the capabilities of all the Current Process
Controls to detect the failure
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Do not automatically presume that the detection ranking is low because the occurrence is low, but
do assess the ability of the process controls to detect low frequency failure modes and prevent
them from going further in the process.
Random quality checks are unlikely to detect the existence of an isolated problem and should not
influence the detection ranking.
j - RPN stands for Risk Priority Number which is the product of Severity, Occurrence and Detection
o
RPN = Severity (S) * Occurrence (O) * Detection (D)
Within the scope of the individual FMEA, this value can range between 1 and 1000
Determining action priorities Once the team has completed initial identification of failure modes and
effects, causes and controls, including rankings for severity, occurrence and detection, they must decide if
further efforts are needed to reduce the risk. Due to the inherent limitation on resources, time, technology,
and other factors they must choose how to best prioritize these efforts.
o
The initial focus of the team should be oriented towards failure modes with highest severity ranks.
When the severity is 9 or 10, it is imperative that the team ensure that the risk is addressed
through existing design controls or recommended actions.
For failure modes with severities of 8 or below the team should consider causes having the highest
occurrence or detection rankings. It is the teams responsibility to look at the information, decide
upon an approach, and determine how to best prioritize their risk reduction efforts which best
sever their organization and customers.
k- Recommended Action (s) In general, prevention actions (i.e. reducing the occurrence are preferable to
detection actions. The intent of any recommended action is to reduce rankings in the following order:
severity, occurrence, and detection. Example approaches to reduce these are explained below:
o
To reduce Severity(S) Ranking: Only a design or process revision can bring about a reduction in the
severity ranking.
To reduce Occurrence (O) Ranking: To reduce occurrence, process and design revisions may be
required. A reduction in the occurrence ranking can be effected by removing or controlling one or
more of the causes of the failure mode through a product or process design revision.
To reduce Detection (D) Ranking: The preferred method is the use of error/mistake proofing. A
redesign of the detection methodology may result in a reduction of the detection ranking. In some
cases, a design change in the process step may be required to increase the likelihood of detection
(i.e. reduce the detection ranking)
l - Responsibility and Target Completion data Enter the name of the individual and organization
responsible for completing each recommended action including the target completion date.
m- Action(s) Taken and Completion Date- After the action has been implemented, enter a brief description
of the action taken and actual completion date
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n- Severity, Occurrence, Detection and RPN After the preventive, correction action has been completed,
determine and record the resulting severity, occurrence, and detection rankings. Calculate and record the
resulting RPN
Severity
A numerical measure of how serious is the effect of the failure.
Table 22: PFMEA Severity Evaluation Criteria
Criteria :
Criteria :
Effect
Severity of effect on
Product (Customer Effect)
Potential failure affects safe

vehicle operation and/ or
involves noncompliance
with government regulation
Failure to meet
without warning
safety and or/
regulatory
Potential failure affects safe
requirements
vehicle operation and/ or
involves noncompliance
with government regulation
with warning
Loss or
Degradation of
Primary
Function
Loss or
Degradation of
Secondary
Function
Loss of primary function

(vehicle inoperable , does
not effect safe vehicle
operation)
Rank
10
Failure to meet
safety and or/
regulatory
requirements
9
Degradation of primary
function (vehicle operable,
but at reduced level of
performance)
Loss of Secondary Function

(vehicle operable , but
comfort/ convenience
functions inoperable)
Degradation of Secondary
Function (vehicle operable,
but comfort/convenience
functions at reduced level
Effect
May endanger operator

(machine or assembly) without
warning
May endanger operator

(machine or assembly) with
warning
Major
Disruption
100% of product may have to

be scrapped. Line shutdown or
stop ship.
Significant
Disruption
A portion of production run

may have to be scrapped.
Deviation from primary process
including decreased line speed
or added manpower.
Moderate
Disruption
5
Severity of effect on Process

(Manufacturing /Assembly
Effect)
100% of production run may

have to be reworked off line
and accepted.
may have to be reworked off
line and accepted.
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of performance)
Annoyance
No Effect
Appearance or Audible
Noise, Vehicle operable,
item does not conform and
noticed by most customers
(>75%)
noticed by many customers
(50%)
noticed by discriminating
customers (< 25%)
Minor
Disruption
Slight inconvenience to
process, operation or operator.
No discernible effect
No Effect
No discernible effect
100% of production run may

have to be reworked in station
before it is processed.
Moderate
Disruption
may have to be reworked in
station before it is processed.
Occurrence
Occurrence: A measure of probability that a particular failure will actually happen.
The degree of occurrence is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 signifies the highest probability of occurrence.
Table 23: PFMEA Occurrence Evaluation Criteria
Likelihood of
Failure
Criteria: Occurrence of Cause PFMEA (Incidents

per items/vehicles)
Rank
100 per thousand

Very High
10
1 in 10
50 per thousand
9
1 in 20
High
20 per thousand
8
1 in 50
10 per thousand
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1 in 100
2 per thousand
6
1 in 500
.5 per thousand
Moderate
5
1 in 2,000
.1 per thousand
4
1 in 10,000
.01 per thousand
3
1 in 100,000
Low
.001 per thousand
2
1 in 1,000,000
Very Low
Failure is eliminated through preventive control
Detection
A measure of probability that a particular failure or cause in our operation shall be detected in current operation
and shall not pass on to the next operation. (would not affect the internal/ external customer)
Table 24: Detection Evaluation Criteria
Opportunity for
Detection
Criteria:
Rank
Likelihood
of Detection
Likelihood of Detection by Process Control
No detection
Opportunity
No process control; cannot detect or is not analyzed
10
Almost
Impossible
Not likely to
detect at any
stage
Failure Mode and or/ Error (Cause) is not easily detected

(e.g. Random Audits).
Very
Remote
Failure Mode Detection Post Processing by operator

through visual/tactile/audible means.
Remote
Very Low
Problem
Detection Post
Processing
Problem
Detection at
Failure Mode detection in station by operator through

visual/tactile/audible means or post processing through use
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of attribute gauging (go/no-go, manual torque check/clicker

wrench etc).
Failure Mode post processing by operator through use of
variable gauging or in station by operator through use of
attribute gauging (go/no-go, manual torque check/clicker
wrench, etc).
Low
Failure Mode or Error (Cause) detection in -station by

operator through use of variable gauging or by automated
controls in-station that will detect discrepant part and notify
operator (light, buzzer, etc). Gauging performed on setup
and first-piece check (for set-up causes only).
Moderate
Failure Mode detection post-processing by automated

controls that will detect discrepant part and lock part to
prevent further processing.
Moderately
High
Failure Mode Detection in station by automated controls

that will detect discrepant part and automatically lock part
in station to prevent further processing.
High
Error Detection
and/or Problem
Prevention
Error (Cause) detection in-station by automated controls

that will detect error and prevent discrepant part from
being made.
Very High
Detection not
applicable; Error
Prevention
Error (Cause) prevention as a result of fixture design,

machine design or part design. Discrepant parts cannot be
made because item has been error proofed by
process/product Design.
Almost
Certain
Problem
Detection Post
Processing
Problem
Detection at
Source
Problem
Detection Post
Processing
Problem
Detection at
Source
Graphical Tools
Data displayed graphically helps us develop hypothesis and determine further analysis plans. We can use
Box Plot
Histogram
Pareto Plots
Pareto Plots
The Pareto chart is based on the Pareto principle. Vilfredo Pareto was an economist in the early 1900'swho
discovered that 80% of all the wealth was held by 20% of all the people. This became known as the 80/20 rule
and it was found to be applicable to more than the economy. Eighty percent of the warehouse space is taken
up by 20% of the part numbers. Eighty percent of the defects are caused by 20% of the defect types. The
Pareto chart is a bar chart. The height of the bars indicates the count, or frequency, of occurrence. The bars
represent one grouping of the data, such as defect type. The idea motivating this chart is that 80% of the
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count will be due to 20% of the categories. The bars are arranged in descending order, therefore the
dominant group can be determined and it will be the first bar on the left. This chart can be used in a variety of
places in a Six Sigma project.
400
100
300
80
60
200
40
100
0
Complaints
Percent
Frequency
Pareto Chart of Complaints
20
t
or
p
s
an
Tr
Frequency
Percent
Cum %
164
41.9
41.9
od
Fo
m
Te
90
23.0
65.0
ol
tr
n
Co
45
11.5
76.5
s
De
c
lo
Al
34
8.7
85.2
g
kp
Hs
22
5.6
90.8
e
El
rs
to
a
v
19
4.9
95.7
er
th
O
17
4.3
100.0
Figure 36: Worksheets: Complaints.mtw
Step 8- Identify Critical Xs

Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis testing is a statistical analysis where a hypothesis is stated, sample data are collected, and a
decision is made based on the sample data and related probability value. This testing can be used to detect
differences such as differences between a process mean and the target for the process, differences between
two suppliers, or differences between multiple employees.
To conduct a hypothesis test, the first step is to state the business question involving a comparison. For
instance, the team may wonder if there is a difference in variability seen in thickness due to two different
material types. Once the business question is posed, the next step is to convert the business language or
question into statistical language or hypothesis statements. Two hypothesis statements are written. The first
statement is the null hypothesis, H0. This is a statement of what is to be disproved.
The second statement is the alternative hypothesis, Ha. This is a statement of what is to be proved. Between
the two statements, 100% of all possibilities are covered. The hypothesis will be focused on a parameter of
the population such as the mean, standard deviation, variance, proportion, or median.
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The type of hypothesis test that could be conducted is based on the data type (discrete or continuous) of the
y data. For instance, if the data are continuous, the analysts may want to conduct tests on the mean, median,
or variance. If the data are discrete, the analysts may want to conduct a test on proportions.
Hypothesis Testing
A statistical hypothesis is an assumption about a population parameter. This assumption may or may not be
true. The best way to determine whether a statistical hypothesis is true would be to examine the entire
population. Since that is often impractical, researchers typically examine a random sample from the
population. If sample data are not consistent with the statistical hypothesis, the hypothesis is rejected.
Hypothesis Tests
Statisticians follow a formal process to determine whether to reject a null hypothesis, based on sample data.
This process, called hypothesis testing, consists of four steps.
o State the hypotheses: This involves stating the null and alternative hypotheses. The hypotheses
are stated in such a way that they are mutually exclusive. That is, if one is true, the must be false.
o Formulate an analysis plan: The analysis plan describes how to use sample data to evaluate the
null hypothesis. The evaluation often focuses around a single test statistic.
o Analyze sample data: Find the value of the test statistic (mean score, proportion, t-score, z-score,
etc.) described in the analysis plan.
o Interpret results: Apply the decision rule described in the analysis plan. If the value of the test
statistic is unlikely, based on the null hypothesis, reject the null hypothesis.
Null Hypothesis (Ho): It is a hypothesis which states that there is no difference between the procedures and is
denoted by Ho
Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): It is a hypothesis which states that there is a difference and is denoted by Ha
The Language of Hypothesis
The Null Hypothesis (H0)

o A statement of No difference
o It is a statement you are testing in order to determine whether or not that statement is true
o In other words, observations are the result purely of chance
o
An example expression isH0: A = B
Alternative Hypothesis (Ha)

o A statement of difference
o It is that there is a real effect and the observations are affected by the effect and some pure
chance variation
o It depends on the direction of the effect we are looking for. For example,
o For Example: Ha: AB or Ha: A>B or Ha: A<B
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Decision Errors
There is always possibility of errors in the decisions we make. Two types of errors can result from a
hypothesis test. They are:
o
Type I error. A Type I error occurs when the researcher rejects a null hypothesis when it is true.
The probability of committing a Type I error is called the significance level. This probability is also
called alpha, and is often denoted by .
Type II error. A Type II error occurs when the researcher fails to reject a null hypothesis that is
false. The probability of committing a Type II error is called Beta, and is often denoted by . The
probability of not committing a Type II error is called the Power of the test.
Steps of Hypothesis testing using the p-value approach
State the null hypothesis H0, and the alternative hypothesis Ha.
Choose the level of significance () and the sample size, n.

Determine the appropriate test statistic and sampling distribution.
Collect the data and compute the sample value of the appropriate test statistic.
Calculate the p-value based on the test statistic and compare the p-value to .
Make the statistical decision. If the p-value is greater than or equal to , we fail to reject the null
hypothesis. If the p-value is less than , were reject the null hypothesis.
Express the statistical decision in the context of the problem.
Parametric Hypothesis tests

F-test
A fast food chain may want to evaluate variation in cutlet diameter across two units, and therefore carry out
F-test to compare variances of two groups
o
o
F-test is used compare variances of two groups. It tests the hypothesis whether there is any
difference between two population variances
F-test results help us determine whether we should assume equal variances or not while carrying
out 2-independent sample t test
Bartlett/Levene test
Consider the same fast food has more than two units to compare the diameter of the cutlet. F-test is limited
to two groups. Therefore Bartlett/Levene test should be used to compare variances of multiple groups
o
o
Levene and Bartlett tests can be used to test variances of several groups.
Bartlett test for variances assumes that the data follows normal distribution however Levene
tests doesnt make any such assumption. Levene test for variances is a non-parametric equivalent
of Bartlett test.
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Test for equal variances is carried out to satisfy assumption of homoscedasity (equal variances)
for ANOVA-One way
2-sample t test
An assembly operation requires a 6-week training period for a new employee to reach maximum efficiency. A
new method of training was proposed and an experiment was carried out to compare the new method with
the standard method. A group of 18 new employees was split into two groups at random. Each group was
trained for 6 weeks, one group using the standard method and the other the new method. The time (in
minutes) required for each employee to assemble a device was recorded at the end of the training period.
Here the X is the training method and the Y is the assembly time. The two levels of the factor training method
are standard and new. The analyst may carry out 2-sample t test to compare the time required to
assemble a device for two levels of training.
o
o
o
o
2- independent sample t-test compares and tests the difference between the means of two
independent populations
2 independent sample t- test are of two types and we choose one of them depending on F-test
results
2-independent sample t-test assuming equal variances
2-independent sample t-test assuming unequal variances
ANOVA-One Way: Testing for differences among mean of multiple groups
Sometimes, a hypothesis test involves testing for differences in the mean level of a Y for an X with three or
more levels. A factor (X), such as baking temperature, may have several numerical levels (e.g., 300 degrees,
350 degrees, 400 degrees, 450 degrees) or a factor such as preferred level may have several categorical levels
(low, medium, high).This type of hypothesis test is called a completely randomized design.
When the numerical measurements (values of the CTQ) across the groups (levels of the [X]) are continuous
and certain assumptions are met, you use the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare the population
means of the CTQ for each level of X. The ANOVA procedure used for completely randomized designs is
referred to as a one-way ANOVA and is an extension of the t test for the difference between the means.
Although ANOVA is an acronym for analysis of variance, the term is misleading because the objective is to
analyze differences among the population means, not the variances. However, unlike the t test, which
compares differences in two means, the one-way ANOVA simultaneously compares the differences among
three or more population means. This is accomplished through an analysis of the variation among the
populations and also within the populations. In ANOVA, the total variation of the measurements in all the
populations is subdivided into variation that is due to differences among the populations and variation that is
due to variation within the populations. Within-group variation is considered random or experimental error.
Among-group variation is attributable to treatment effects, which represent the effect of the levels of X,
called a factor, used in the experiment on the CTQ or Y.
Simply Analysis of Variances- One Way tests to determine whether means of several groups are equal or not
Underlying Assumptions of ANOVA- One way
o Within each sample, the values are independent
o The k samples are normally distributed
o The samples are independent of each other
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The k samples are all assumed to come from populations with the same variance
2 proportion test
A hypothesis test for two population proportions to determine whether they are significantly different. This
procedure uses the null hypothesis that the difference between two population proportions is equal to a
hypothesized value (H0: p1 - p2 = P0), and tests it against an alternative hypothesis, which can be either lefttailed (p1 - p2 < P0), right-tailed (p1 - p2 > P0), or two-tailed (p1 - p2 P0 ).
Chi-Square test of association
A hypothesis tests to test the independence between categorical variables. For example, a manager of three
customer support call centers wants to know if a successful resolution of a customer's problem (yes or no)
depends on which branch receives the call. The manager tallies the successful and unsuccessful resolutions
for each branch in a table, and performs a chi-square test of independence on the data. In this case, the chisquare statistic quantifies how the observed distribution of counts varies from the distribution you would
expect if no relationship exists between call center and a successful resolution.
Non-parametric tests
The most commonly used statistical tests (t-tests, Z-tests, ANOVA, etc.) are based on a number of
assumptions. Non-parametric tests, while not assumption-free, make no assumption of a specific distribution
for the population. The qualifiers (assuming) for non-parametric tests are always much less restrictive than
for their parametric counterparts. For example, classical ANOVA requires the assumptions of mutually
independent random samples drawn from normal distributions that have equal variances, while the nonparametric counterparts require only the assumption that the samples come from any identical continuous
distributions.
Also, classical statistical methods are strictly valid only for data measured on interval or ratio scales, while
non-parametric statistics apply to frequency or count data and to data measured on nominal or ordinal
scales. Since interval and ratio data can be transformed to nominal or ordinal data, non-parametric methods
are valid in all cases where classical methods are valid; the reverse is not true. Ordinal and nominal data are
very common in Six Sigma work. Nearly all customer and employee surveys, product quality ratings, and many
other activities produce ordinal and nominal data.
So if non-parametric methods are so great, why do we ever use parametric methods? - When the
assumptions hold, parametric tests will provide greater power than non-parametric tests. That is, the
probability of rejecting H0 when it is false is higher with parametric tests than with a non-parametric test
using the same sample size. However, if the assumptions do not hold, then non-parametric tests may have
considerably greater power than their parametric counterparts.
It should be noted that non-parametric tests perform comparisons using medians rather than means, ranks
rather than measurements, and signs of difference rather than measured differences. In addition to not
requiring any distributional assumptions, these statistics are also more robust to outliers and extreme values.
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Table 25: Non Parametric Tests

Minitab NonParametric Test
What It Does
1 sample sign
Performs a one-sample sign test of the median and

calculates the corresponding point estimates and
confidence interval.
1-sample Z-test
1-sample t-test
1-sample Wilcoxon
Performs a one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test

of the median and calculates the corresponding
point estimate and confidence interval
1-sample Z-test
1-sample t-test
Mann-Whitney
Performs a hypothesis test of the equality of two

population
medians
and
calculates
the
corresponding point estimate and confidence
interval.
2-sample t-test
Kruskal-Wallis performs a hypothesis test of the

equality of population medians for a one-way
design (two or more populations). This test is the
generalization of the procedure used by the ManWhitney test.
One-Way
ANOVA
One-way
ANOVA
Two-way
ANOVA
Paired sign test
None
Bartletts test
Kruskal-Wallis
Parametric Analogs
See also: Moods median test.
Moods Median test
Performs a hypothesis test of the equality of

population medians in a one way design.
Sometimes called a median test or sign scores test.
Moods median test is more robust against outliers
than the Kruskal-Wallis test, but is less powerful
(confidence interval is wider, on the average) for
analysing data from many distributions, including
data from the normal distribution.
See also: Kruskal-Wallis test.
Friedman
Performs a non-parametric analysis of a

randomized block experiment. Randomized block
experiments are generalization of paired
experiments. The Friedman test is a generalization
of the paired sign test with a null hypothesis of
treatments having no effect. This test requires
exactly one observation per treatment-block
combination.
Runs tests
Test whether or not the data order is random. Use

Minitabs stat > Quality Tools > Run Chart to
generate a run chart
Levenes test
Test for equal variances. This method considers the

distances of the observations from their sample
median rather than their sample mean. Using the
sample median rather than the sample mean
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makes the test more robust for smaller samples.
Correlation and Regression

Lets take a look a few scenarios.
Administrative A financial analyst wants to predict the cash needed to support growth and
increases in capacity.
Market/Customer Research The marketing department wants to determine how to predict a
customers buying decision from demographics and product characteristics.
Hospitality Food and Beverage manager wants to see if there is a relationship between room
service delays and order size.
Customer Service - GB is trying to reduce call length for potential clients calling for a good faith
estimate on a mortgage loan. GB thinks that there is a relationship between broker experience and
call length.
Hospitality - The Green Belt suspects that the customers have to wait too long on days when there
are many deliveries to make at Six Sigma Pizza.
In the scenarios mentioned here, there is something common, i.e. we want to explore the relationship
between Output and Input, or between two variables. Correlation and Regression helps us explore statistical
relationship between two continuous variables.
Correlation
Correlation is a measure of the relation between two or more continuous variables. The Pearson correlation
coefficient is a statistic that measures the linear relationship between the x and y. The symbol used is r. The
correlation value ranges from -1 to 1. The closer the value is to 1 in magnitude, the stronger the relationship
between the two.
A value of zero, or close to zero, indicates no linear relationship between the x and y.
A positive value indicates that as x increases, y increases.
A negative value indicates that as x increases, y decreases.
The Pearson correlation is a measure of a linear relationship, so scatter plots are used to depict the
relationship visually. The scatter plot may show other relationships.
The figure 37 below shows a scatter plot with correlation coefficient r=0.982.
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Scatterplot of Weight gained vs Calories Consumed

1200
1000
Weight gained
800
600
400
200
0
1500
2000
2500
3000
Calories Consumed
3500
4000
Figure 37: Worksheet: Calories Consumed.mtw

Regression
A natural extension of correlation is regression. Regression is the technique of determining a mathematical equation
that relates the x's to the y. Regression analysis is also used with historical data - data where the business already
collects the y and associated x's. The regression equation can be used as a prediction model for making process
improvements.
Simple Linear Regression
Simple linear regression is a statistical method used to fit a line for one x and one y. The formula of the line is
where b0 is the intercept term andb1is the slope associated with x. These beta terms are called the
coefficients of the model. The regression model describes a response variable y as a function of an input
factor x. The larger the b1 term, the more change in y given a change in x.
In Simple Linear Regression, a single variable X is used to define/predict Y
e.g.; Wait Time = b0+ (b1) x (Deliveries) + E (error)
Simple Regression Equation: Y = b0 + (b1) * (X) + E (error)
Y = mx+c+e
o m= slope, c= constant/intercept, e= error
Regression terms
Types of Variables
Input Variable (Xs): These are also called predictor variables or independent variables. It is best if the
variables are continuous
Output Variable (Ys): These are also called response variables or dependent variables (what were
trying to predict). It is best if the variables are continuous.
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R-squared-also known as Coefficient of determination- The coefficient of determination (r2) is the ratio of the
regression sum of squares (SSR) to the total sum of squares (SST). It represents the % variation in output
(dependent variable) explained by input variables/s or Percentage of response variable variation that is
explained by its relationship with one or more predictor variables.
Prediction and Confidence Interval: These are types of confidence intervals used for predictions in regression
and other linear models.
Prediction Interval: It represents a range that a single new observation is likely to fall given
specified settings of the predictors.
Confidence interval of the prediction: It represents a range that the mean response is likely to
fall given specified settings of the predictors.
The prediction interval is always wider than the corresponding confidence interval because of the added
uncertainty involved in predicting a single response versus the mean response.
Step 9- Verify Sufficiency of Critical Xs for project

Although a statistical analysis may show that there is a statistically significant difference, there may not be a
practical difference. In other words, the difference may not be big enough to be of importance to the
business. The bigger the sample size used in an analysis, the smaller the deviation from the null hypothesis
that may be detected. Always remember to check for outliers that may be influencing results. And finally, ask
whether this difference means anything practically.
Analyze phase Tollgate checklist

Has the team conducted a value-added and cycle time analysis, identifying areas where time and
resources are devoted to tasks not critical to the customer?
Has the team examined the process and identified potential bottlenecks, disconnects, and redundancies
that could contribute to the problem statement?
Has the team analyzed data about the process and its performance to help stratify the problem,
understand reasons for variation in the process, and generate hypothesis as to the root causes of the
current process performance?
Has an evaluation been done to determine whether the problem can be solved without a fundamental
white paper recreation of the process? Has the decision been confirmed with the Project Sponsor?
Has the team investigated and validated (or revalidated) the root cause hypothesis generated earlier, to
gain confidence that the vital few root causes have been uncovered?
Does the team understand why the problem (the Quality, Cycle Time, or Cost Efficiency issue identified in
the Problem Statement) is being seen?
Has the team been able to identify any additional Quick Wins?
Have learnings to-date required modification of the Project Charter? If so, have these changes been
approved by the Project Sponsor and the Key Stakeholders?
Have any new risks to project success been identified, added to the Risk Mitigation Plan, and a mitigation
strategy put in place?
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Chapter
8
Improve
Improve Phase Overview
In the Improve phase, the team has validated the causes of the problems in the process and is ready to
generate a list of solutions for consideration. They will answer the question "What needs to be done?" As the
team moves into this phase, the emphasis goes from analytical to creative. To create a major difference in the
outputs, a new way to handle the inputs must be considered. When the team has decided on a solution to
present to management, the team must also consider the cost/benefit analysis of the solutions as well as the
best way to sell their ideas to others in the business. The deliverables from the Improve phase are:
Proposed solution(s)
Cost/benefit analysis
Presentation to management
Pilot plan
Step 10
Generate and Evaluate Alternative Solutions
Step 11
Select and Optimize best solution
Step 12
Pilot, Implement and Validate the Solution
Step 10- Generate and evaluate Alternative Solutions

The first task in the Improve phase is to develop ideas for improving the process. The traditional method for
developing improvement ideas is to use conventional brainstorming however Green Belt/Black Belt may also
choose alternative ways to generate creative ideas in a team. Lets explore few of those techniques in the
following section.
Ideation Techniques
Brainstorming (Round-Robin)
Most project executions require a cross-functional team effort because different creative ideas at
different levels of management are needed in the definition and the shaping of a project. These ideas
are better generated through brainstorming sessions. Brainstorming is a tool used at the initial steps
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or during the Analyze phase of a project. It is a group discussion session that consists of encouraging a
voluntary generation of a large volume of creative, new, and not necessarily traditional ideas by all
the participants. It is very beneficial because it helps prevent narrowing the scope of the issue being
addressed to the limited vision of a small dominant group of managers. Since the participants come
from different disciplines, the ideas that they bring forth are very unlikely to be uniform in structure.
They can be organized for the purpose of finding root causes of a problem and suggest palliatives.
Brainstorming using De-Bono Six Thinking Hats
Dr. Edward de Bono developed a technique for helping teams stay focused on creative problem
solving by avoiding negativity and group arguments. Dr. Bono introduced Six Thinking Hats which will
represent different thought processes of team members, and also discussed how we can harness
these thoughts to generate creative ideas. These hats are:
The White Hat thinking requires team members to consider only the data and information at hand.
With white hat thinking, participants put aside proposals, arguments and individual opinions and
review only what information is available or required.
The Red Hat gives team members the opportunity to present their feelings or intuition about the
subject without explanation or need for justification. The red hat helps teams to surface conflict and
air feelings openly without fear of retribution. Use of this hat encourages risk-taking and right-brain
thinking.
The Black Hat thinking calls for caution and critical judgment. Using this hat helps teams avoid
groupthink and proposing unrealistic solutions. This hat should be used with caution so that
creativity is not stifled.
The Blue Hat is used for control of the brainstorming process. The blue hat helps teams evaluate the
thinking style and determine if it is appropriate. This hat allows members to ask for summaries and
helps the team progress when it appears to be off track. It is useful for thinking about thinking.
The Green Hat makes time and space available for creative thinking. When in use, the team is
encouraged to use divergent thinking and explore alternative ideas or options.
The Yellow Hat is for optimism and a positive view of things. When this hat is in use, teams look at
the logical benefits of the proposal. Every green hat idea deserves some yellow hat attention.
This technique is called the Six Thinking Hats. It can be used to enhance team creativity and evaluate
ideas. This technique can be applied during solution or idea generation and also can assist in building
consensus. This technique has been used world-wide, in a variety of corporations. During the Green
Belt training, we will discuss how we can utilize this concept to generate creative ideas and also to
build consensus on generated ideas.
Creative Thinking using Probing Methods
Structured Probing methods are extremely helpful in lateral thinking and problem solving
approaches. Process Improvement experts also consider challenging an idea, or disproving an idea to
be an initiation point for creative ideas. Most scientists, innovators will like to probe to understand
the existence, validity and feasibility of an idea and this helps in improving and optimizing the idea,
and may also trigger a new idea.
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Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a popular method for developing requirements and setting goals. In more conventional
terms, benchmarking can be defined as measuring your performance against that of best-in-class companies,
determining how the best-in-class achieve those performance levels, and using the information as the basis
for your own companys targets, strategies, and implementation.
Benchmarking involves research into the best practices at the industry, firm, or process level. Benchmarking
goes beyond a determination of the industry standard it breaks the firms activities down to process
operations and looks for the best-in-class for a particular operation. For example, to achieve improvement in
their parts distribution process Xerox Corporation studied the retailer L.L. Bean.
Benchmarking must have a structured methodology to ensure successful completion of thorough and
accurate investigations. However, it must be flexible to incorporate new and innovative ways of assembling
difficult-to-obtain information. It is a discovery process and a learning experience. It forces the organization
to take an external view, to look beyond itself. The essence of benchmarking is the acquisition of information.
The process begins with the identification of the process that is to be benchmarked. The process
chosen should be one that will have a major impact on the success of the business.
Once the process has been identified, contact a business library and request a search for the
information relating to your area of interest. The library will identify material from a variety of
external sources, such as magazines, journals, special reports, etc. Internet, organizations internal
resources, Subject Matter experts in key department and of course network of contacts is immensely
helpful in this research.
Look for the best of the best, not the average firm. One approach is to build a compendium of
business awards and citations of merit that organizations have received in business process
improvement. Sources to consider are Industry Weeks Best Plants Award, National Institute of
Standards and Technologys Malcolm Baldrige Award, USA Today and Rochester Institute of
Technologys Quality Cup Award, European Foundation for Quality Management Award, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Federal Quality Institute, Deming Prize, Competitiveness
Forum, Fortune magazine, United States Navys Best Manufacturing Practices, to name just a few.
Green Belt/Black Belt may wish to subscribe to an exchange service that collects benchmarking
information and makes it available for a fee. Once enrolled, Green Belt/Black Belt will have access to
the names of other subscribersa great source for contacts. Dont overlook your own suppliers as a
source for information. If your company has a program for recognizing top suppliers, contact these
suppliers and see if they are willing to share their secrets with you. Suppliers are predisposed to
cooperate with their customers; its an automatic door-opener. Also contact your customers.
Customers have a vested interest in helping you do a better job. If your quality, cost, and delivery
performance improve, your customers will benefit. Customers may be willing to share some of their
insights as to how their other suppliers compare with you. Again, it isnt necessary that you get
information about direct competitors. Which of your customers suppliers are best at billing? Order
fulfilment? Customer service?
Another source for detailed information on companies is academic research. Companies often allow
universities access to detailed information for research purposes. While the published research
usually omits reference to the specific companies involved, it often provides comparisons and
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detailed analysis of what separates the best from the others. Such information, provided by experts
whose work is subject to rigorous peer review, will often save Green Belt/Black Belt thousands of
hours of work.
After a list of potential candidates is compiled, the next step is to choose the best three to five
targets. As the benchmarking process evolves, the characteristics of the most desirable candidates
will be continually refined. This occurs as a result of a clearer understanding of your organizations
key quality characteristics and critical success factors and an improved Knowledge of the marketplace
and other players. This knowledge and the resulting actions tremendously strengthen an
organization.
Benchmarking is based on learning from others, rather than developing new and improved approaches. Since
the process being studied is there for all to see, benchmarking cannot give a firm a sustained competitive
advantage. Although helpful, benchmarking should never be the primary strategy for improvement.
Competitive analysis is an approach to goal setting used by many firms. This approach is essentially
benchmarking confined to ones own industry. Although common, competitive analysis virtually guarantees
second-rate quality because the firm will always be following their competition. If the entire industry employs
the approach hit will lead to stagnation for the entire industry, setting them up for eventual replacement by
outside innovators.
Pugh Matrix
Pugh Matrix was introduced by Stuart Pugh. Pugh Matrix Concept Selection is a quantitative technique used
to rank the multi-dimensional options of an option set. It is frequently used in engineering for making design
decisions but can also be used to rank investment options, vendor options, product options or any other set
of multidimensional entities.
Pugh Matrix refers to a matrix that helps determine a solution from a list of potential solutions. It is a scoring
matrix used for concept selection, in which options are assigned scores relative to some pre-defined criteria.
The selection is made based on the consolidated score. The Pugh matrix is a tool to facilitate a methodical
team based approach for the selection of the best solution. It combines the strengths of different solutions
and eliminates the weaknesses. This solution then becomes the datum of the base solution against which
other solutions are compared. The process is iterated until the best solution or concept emerges.
The basic steps of the Pugh Concept Selection Process are
Develop a list of the selection criteria. For evaluating product designs, list VOC requirements; for
evaluating improvement proposals, list customer requirements or organizational improvement goals.
Develop a list of all potential improvement solutions or all product designs to be rated.
Select one potential improvement or product design as the baseline - all other proposals are
compared to the baseline.
o For product designs, the baseline is usually either the current design or a preferred new
design.
o For improvement proposals, the baseline is usually the improvement suggested by the team
or an improvement that has strong management support.
o The current solution in place may also be used as a baseline
Enter the baseline proposal in the space provided.
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Enter the selection criteria along the left side of the matrix and the alternative product or
improvement proposals across the top of the matrix.
Apply a weighting factor to all the selection criteria. These weights might not be the same for all
projects, as they can reflect localized improvement needs or changes in customer requirements. A 1to-9 scale or 1-to-5 scale can be used for weighting the importance of the selection criteria, using 1
for the least important criteria and 5 or 9 for the most important criteria.
Based on team input, score how well the baseline proposal matches each of the selection criteria. Use
a 1-to-9 or 1-to-5 scale for scoring the baseline, using 5 or 9 for very strong matches to the criteria,
and 1 for very poor matches to the criteria. We may also
For each alternative proposal, the team should determine whether the alternative is Better, the
Same, or Worse than the baseline, relative to each of the selection criteria:
o Better results in a +1 score
o Same results in a 0 score
o Worse results in a -1 score.
Multiply the scores by the criteria weights and add them together to obtain the weighted score.
Table 26: Example Pugh Matrix
Evaluation Criteria
Imp
Datum
Ease of guests finding the lobby for check - in
Minimum weight times for check in the process
Minimum errors in the room assignment
Appearance of the lobby area cleanliness
Sum of Same
Sum of Positives
Sum of Negatives
Weighted Sum of Positives
Weighted Sum of Negatives
14
Scoring the Proposed Solutions

Each Proposed Solution is rated on how well it addresses a selection criterion compared with the Baseline
Solution. For each Proposed Solution, select whether it is Better than the Baseline Solution, the Same as the
Baseline Solution (default), or Worse than the Baseline Solution.
Solution Scores
Based on your choice of Better, Same or Worse for each Proposed Solution (relative to the Baseline Solution),
three scores are calculated:
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Weighted Score: Each Better rating receives a raw score of 1, each same rating receives a raw score of
0, and each Worse rating receives a raw score of -1. The raw scores are multiplied by the Importance
of Selection Criteria, and the sum of the raw scores times the Importance is the Weighted Score. A
higher Weighted Score is better.
Worse/ Weighted Negative Score: Tracks the number of times that a Proposed Solution is rated worse
than the Baseline Solution. The lower the Worse Score, the better a proposed solution is relative to
the Baseline Solution.
Better/Weighted Positive Score: Tracks the number of times that a Proposed Solution is rated better
than the Baseline Solution. The higher the Better Score, the better a Proposed Solution is relative to
the Baseline Solution.
Risk Analysis
Project leader may choose to carry out FMEA to analyze the risks the solution. Solutions are not devoid of
risks, and therefore analyzing the potential impact of the solution on the risk parameter is important.
Consensus Building tools

Multi- voting
By design, brainstorming generates a long list of ideas. However, also by design, many are not realistic or
feasible. The Multi-voting activity allows a group to narrow their list or options into a manageable size for
sincere consideration or study. It may not help the group make a single decision but can help the group
narrow a long list of ideas into a manageable number that can be discussed and explored. It allows all
members of the group to be involved in the process and ultimately saves the group a lot of time by allowing
them to focus energy on the ideas with the greatest potential.
When to use Multi-voting
When the group has a long list of possibilities and wants to narrow it down to a few for analysis and
discussion and or when a selection process needs to be made after brainstorming.
Guidelines for Conducting the Multi-voting Activity
Brainstorm a list of options: Conduct the brainstorming activity to generate a list of ideas or options.
Review the list from the Brainstorming activity: Once Green Belt/Black Belt have completed the list,
clarify ideas, merge similar ideas, and make sure everyone understands the options. Note: at this
time the group is not to discuss the merits of any idea, just clarify and make sure everyone
understands the meaning of each option.
Participants vote for the ideas that are worthy of further discussion: Each participant may vote for
as many ideas as they wish. Voting may be by show of hands or physically going to the list and
marking their choices or placing a dot by their choices. If they so desire, participants may vote for
every item.
Identify items for next round of voting: Count the votes for each item. Any item receiving votes from
half the people voting is identified for the next round of voting. For example, if there are 12 people
voting, any item receiving at least six votes is included in the next round. Signify the items for the next
vote by circling or marking them with a symbol, i.e., all items with a star by the number will be voted
on the next round.
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Vote again: Participants vote again, however this time they may only cast votes for half the items
remaining on the list. In other words, if there are 20 items from the last round that are being voted
on, a participant may only vote for ten items.
Repeat steps 4 and 5: Participants continuing voting and narrowing the options as outlined in steps 4
and 5 until there is an appropriate number of ideas for the group to analyze as a part of the decisionmaking or problem solving process. Generally groups need to have three to five options for further
analysis.
Discuss remaining ideas: At this time the group engages in discussing the pros and cons of the
remaining ideas. This may be done in small groups or the group as a whole.
Proceed with appropriate actions: At this point the group goes to the next steps. This might be
making a choice of the best option or identifying the top priorities.
Item
Number of Votes
1. Have a meeting agenda

2. Inform participants why they have to
attend meeting
3. Have someone take notes at the meeting
4. Have a clear meeting objective
5. Reduce the number of topics to be
discussed at each meeting
6. Start and end meetings on time
Figure 38: Multi-Voting Activity
Nominal Group Technique
A technique that Supplements Brainstorming. Structured approaches to generate additional ideas, surveys
the opinions of a small group, and prioritize brainstormed ideas. Nominal (meaning in name only) group
technique (NGT) is a structured variation of a small-group discussion to reach consensus. NGT gathers
information by asking individuals to respond to questions posed by a moderator, and then asking participants
to prioritize the ideas or suggestions of all group members. The process prevents the domination of the
discussion by a single person, encourages all group members to participate, and results in a set of prioritized
solutions or recommendations that represent the groups preferences. The nominal group technique is a
decision making method for use among groups who want to make their decision quickly, as by a vote, but
want everyone's opinions taken into account. First, every member of the group gives their view of the
solution, with a short explanation. Then, duplicate solutions are eliminated from the list of all solutions, and
the members proceed to rank the solutions, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on. The numbers each solution receives
are totalled, and the solution with the lowest (i.e. most favoured) total ranking is selected as the final
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decision. Figure 39 shows results of the nominal group technique. Each idea was ranked by several team
members. The idea with the lowest total score is selected as the winner. In this example (Idea N).
Structured to focus on problems, not people. To open lines of communication, tolerate conflicting
ideas.
Builds consensus and commitment to the final result. Especially good for highly controversial
issues
Nominal Group Technique is most often used after a brainstorming session to help organize and
prioritize ideas
1 Item Number
Card Rating Value 6
Idea Scores
Idea 1
Totals
8,8,6,7,8,2
6/39
Idea 2
6,5,4,7,3
5/25
Idea N
3,2,2,1
4/8
Figure 39: Example of Nominal Group Technique with ideas rated

The Four Step Process to Conduct Nominal Group Technique:
Generating Ideas: The moderator presents the question or problem to the group in written form and
reads the question to the group. The moderator directs everyone to write ideas in brief phrases or
statements and to work silently and independently. Each person silently generates ideas and writes
them down.
Recording Ideas: Group members engage in a round-robin feedback session to concisely record each
idea (without debate at this point). The moderator writes an idea from a group member on a flip
chart that is visible to the entire group, and proceeds to ask for another idea from the next group
member, and so on. There is no need to repeat ideas; however, if group members believe that an
idea provides a different emphasis or variation, feel free to include it. Proceed until all members
ideas have been documented.
Discussing Ideas: Each recorded idea is then discussed to determine clarity and importance. For each
idea, the moderator asks, Are there any questions or comments group members would like to make
about the item? This step provides an opportunity for members to express their understanding of
the logic and the relative importance of the item. The creator of the idea need not feel obliged to
clarify or explain the item; any member of the group can play that role.
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Voting on Ideas: Individuals vote privately to prioritize the ideas. The votes are tallied to identify the
ideas that are rated highest by the group as a whole. The moderator establishes what criteria are
used to prioritize the ideas. To start, each group member selects the five most important items from
the group list and writes one idea on each index card. Next, each member ranks the five ideas
selected, with the most important receiving a rank of 5, and the least important receiving a rank of 1
(Green Belt/Black Belt may change the rank i.e. rank 1 can be the best and rank 5 can be the worst).
After members rank their responses in order of priority, the moderator creates a tally sheet on the
flip chart with numbers down the left-hand side of the chart, which correspond to the ideas from the
round-robin. The moderator collects all the cards from the participants and asks one group member
to read the idea number and number of points allocated to each one, while the moderator records
and then adds the scores on the tally sheet. The ideas that are the most highly rated by the group are
the most favoured group actions or ideas in response to the question posed by the moderator.
When to Use NGT

NGT is a good method to use to gain group consensus, for example, when various people (program staff,
stakeholders, community residents, etc.) are involved in constructing a logic model and the list of outputs for
a specific component is too long and therefore has to be prioritized. In this case, the questions to consider
would be: Which of the outputs listed are most important for achieving our goal and are easier to measure?
Which of our outputs are less important for achieving our goal and are more difficult for us to measure?
Disadvantages of NGT
Requires preparation.
Is regimented and lends itself only to a single-purpose, single-topic meeting.
Minimizes discussion, and thus does not allow for the full development of ideas, and therefore
can be a less stimulating group process than other techniques.
Advantages of NGT
Generates a greater number of ideas than traditional group discussions.
Balances the influence of individuals by limiting the power of opinion makers (particularly
advantageous for use with teenagers, where peer leaders may have an exaggerated effect over
group decisions or in meetings where established leaders tend to dominate the discussion).
Diminishes competition and pressure to conform, based on status within the group.
Encourages participants to confront issues through constructive problem solving.
Allows the group to prioritize ideas democratically.
Typically provides a greater sense of closure than can be obtained through group discussion.
Delphi Technique
Delphi Technique is a method of relying on a panel of experts to anonymously select their responses using a
secret ballot process. After each round, a facilitator provides the summary of the experts opinions along with
the reasons for their decisions. Participants are encouraged to revise their answers in light of replies from
other experts. The process is stopped after pre-defined criteria such as number of rounds. The advantage of
this technique is that if there are team members who are boisterous or overbearing, they will not have much
of an impact on swaying the decisions of other team members.
The Delphi technique, mainly developed by Dalkey and Helmer (1963) at the Rand Corporation in the 1950s, is
a widely used and accepted method for achieving convergence of opinion concerning real-world knowledge
solicited from experts within certain topic areas.
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The Delphi technique is a widely used and accepted method for gathering data from respondents within their
domain of expertise. The technique is designed as a group communication process which aims to achieve a
convergence of opinion on a specific real-world issue. The Delphi process has been used in various fields of
study such as program planning, needs assessment, policy determination, and resource utilization to develop
a full range of alternatives, explore or expose underlying assumptions, as well as correlate judgments on a
topic spanning a wide range of disciplines. The Delphi technique is well suited as a method for consensusbuilding by using a series of questionnaires delivered using multiple iterations to collect data from a panel of
selected subjects. Subject selection, time frames for conducting and completing a study, the possibility of low
response rates, and unintentionally guiding feedback from the respondent group are areas which should be
considered when designing and implementing a Delphi study.
Delphi techniques application is observed in program planning, needs assessment, policy determination,
resource utilization, marketing & sales and multiple other business decision areas.
Fowles (1978) describes ten steps for the Delphi method:
Formation of a Delphi team to undertake a Delphi on a subject.
Selection of expert panel(s).
Development of the first round questionnaire
Testing the questionnaire for proper wording.
Transmission to the panel lists.
Analysis of 1st responses
Preparation of 2nd round.
Transmission of 2nd round questionnaires to the panel lists
Analysis of the 2nd round responses (7 to 9 may be repeated to get consensus)
Preparation and presentation of report
Organizations do customize these steps to meet their requirements, as they may have time constraints and
large number of iterations may not be possible.
Step 11-Select and optimize best solution

Experiments
Designed experiments play an important role in quality improvement. While the confidence intervals and
hypothesis tests previously discussed are limited to rather simple comparisons between one sample and
requirements or between two samples, the designed experiments will use ANOVA (analysis of variance)
techniques to partition the variation in a response amongst the potential sources of variation.
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The traditional approach, which most of us learned in high school science class, is to hold all factors constant
except one. When this approach is used we can be sure that the variation is due to a cause and effect
relationship or so we are told. However, this approach suffers from a number of problems:
It usually isnt possible to hold all other variables constant.

There is no way to account for the effect of joint variation of independent variables, such as
interaction.
There is no way to account for experimental error, including measurement variation.
The statistically designed experiment usually involves varying two or more variables simultaneously and
obtaining multiple measurements under the same experimental conditions. The advantage of the statistical
approach is threefold:
Interactions can be detected and measured. Failure to detect interactions is a major flaw in the OFAT
approach.
Each value does the work of several values. A properly designed experiment allows Green Belt/Black
Belt to use the same observation to estimate several different effects. This translates directly to cost
savings when using the statistical approach.
Experimental error is quantified and used to determine the confidence the experimenter has in his
conclusions.
Black belts use Design of Experiments (DOE) to craft well-designed efforts to identify which process changes
yield the best possible results for sustained improvement. Whereas most experiments address only one
factor at a time, the Design of Experiments (DOE) methodology focuses on multiple factors at one time. DOE
provides the data that illustrates the significance to the output of input variables acting alone or interacting
with one another.
"A branch of applied statistics dealing with planning, conducting, analyzing and interpreting controlled tests
to evaluate the factors that control the value of a parameter or group of parameters."
DOE provides these advantages over other, more traditional methods:
Evaluating multiple factors at the same time can reduce the time needed for experimentation.
Some well-designed experiments do not require the use of sophisticated statistical methods to
understand the results at a basic level. However, computer software can be used to yield very precise
results as needed.
The costs vary depending on the experiment, but the financial benefits realized from these
experiments can be substantial.
The figure below depicts an example of a relationship between the components that DOE examines:
Process input variables, normally referred to as x variables and as factors in DOE terminology.
Process output variables, normally referred to as y variables and as responses in DOE terminology.
The relationship between input variables and output variables.
The interaction, or relationship, between input variables as it relates to the output variables.
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Figure 40: Example of relationship between components that DOE examines

DOE Terminology
Certain terms are frequently used with DOE that need to be defined clearly.
Factor: A predictor variable that is varied with the intent of assessing its effect on a response
variable. Most often referred to as an "input variable."
Factor Level: A specific setting for a factor. In DOE, levels are frequently set as high and low for each
factor. A potential setting, value or assignment of a factor of the value of the predictor variable. For
example, if the factor is time, then the low level may be 50 minutes and the high level may be 70
minutes.
Response variable: A variable representing the outcome of an experiment. The response is often
referred to as the output or dependent variable.
Treatment: The specific setting of factor levels for an experimental unit. For example, a level of
temperature at 65 C and a level of time at 45 minutes describe a treatment as it relates to an output
of yield.
Experimental error: An error from an experiment reveals variation in the outcome of identical tests.
The variation in the response variable beyond that accounted for by the factors, blocks, or other
assignable sources while conducting an experiment. Certain terms are frequently used with DOE that
need to be defined clearly.
Experimental run: A single performance of an experiment for a specific set of treatment conditions.
Experimental unit: The smallest entity receiving a particular treatment, subsequently yielding a value
of the response variable.
Predictor Variable: A variable that can contribute to the explanation of the outcome of an
experiment. Also known as an independent variable.
Repeated Measures: The measurement of a response variable more than once under similar
conditions. Repeated measures allow one to determine the inherent variability in the measurement
system. Repeated measures are known as "duplication" or 'repetition."
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Replicate: A single repetition of the experiment. See also replication.
Replication: Performance of an experiment more than once for a given set of predictor variables.
Each of the repetitions of the experiment is called a "replicate." Replication differs from repeated
measures in that it is a repeat of the entire experiment for a given set of predictor variables, not just
repeat of measurements of the same experiment. Note: Replication increases the precision of the
estimates of the effects in an experiment. Replication is more effective when all elements
contributing to the experimental error are included. In some cases replication may be limited to
repeated measures under essentially the same conditions. In other cases, replication may be
deliberately different, though similar, in order to make the results more general.
Repetition: When an experiment is conducted more than once, repetition describes this event when
the factors are not reset. Subsequent test trials are run again but not necessarily under the same
conditions.
DOE Applications
Planning the experiment is probably the most important task in the Improve phase when using DOE. For
planning to be done well, some experts estimate that 10-25% of your time spent should be devoted to
planning and organizing the experiments.
The purpose of DOE is to create an observable event from which data may be extracted and decisions made
about the best methods to improve the process. DOE may be used most effectively in the following
situations:
o
o
Identifying factors that produce a specific response or outcome

Selecting between alternative approaches to effect the best outcome
In DOE, a full factorial design combines levels for each factor with levels for all other factors. This basic design
ensures that all combinations are used, but if factors are many, this design may take too much time or be too
costly to implement. In either case, a fractional factorial design is selected as the number of runs is fewer with
fewer treatments.
DOE Planning Process
The project team decides the exact steps to follow in the Improve phase. Steps to include in the Improve
phase may actually be identified in the Measure and Analyze phases and should be noted to expedite later
planning in the Improve phase. What follows is a suggested guide for planning the experiment(s) to be
conducted in the Improve phase. The suggested process may be modified depending on the exact situation.
To use DOE, follow these steps:
1. Establish experiment objectives: Objectives differ per project, but the designs typically fall into three
categories to support different objectives:
Screening used to identify which factors are most important.
Characterization used to quantify the relationships and interaction between several factors.
Optimization used to develop a more precise understanding of just one or two variables.
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2. Identify factors to be considered

Label both input variables (x factors) and output variables (y responses) in the experiment.
Use information collected in prior phases to assist in the identification process.
3. Finalize an experiment design
Select a design for the experiment.
Choose a design type (full factorial, fractional factorial, or others) that meets the experiments
objectives.
Determine how the factors are measured.
Consider the resources needed and determine whether a practice run or pilot experiment may be
needed.
4. Run the experiment
Run the experiment and collect the data. Place initial data in the results column of a design array, a
graphical representation of the experiment factors and results. Roll over Page Resources and click on
Design Array for an example.
Minimize chance for human error by carefully planning where human error could occur and allow for
the possibility in the planning process.
Randomize the runs to reduce confounding (defined later in this topic).
Document the results as needed depending on the experiment.
5. Analyze the results of the experiment
Review the results of the experiment(s).
Examine the relationships among input variables (factors) acting together and with regards to the
output variable(s) (responses).
6. Make decisions on next steps
Based on the results, determine next steps.
Are additional runs of the experiment needed?
Do the levels need to be modified prior to conducting the experiment again?
If the results point to an optimal solution, implement the factors and the levels of choice and look at
the Control phase to sustain the desired improvements.
Design Array
Table 27: Example of Design of Array
A: TEMPERATURE
-
B: TIME
-
C: CATALYST VOLUME
-
RESULTS (YEILD %)
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Barriers to the Planning Process

In all projects, barriers present themselves as obstacles to the projects successful completion. The Improve
phase of DMAIC is no exception. The following are examples of the types of barriers to watch for during
planning for an experiment:
Objectives or purpose are unclear the objectives are not developed and fully understood.
Factor levels are either set too low or too high factor levels set inappropriately can adversely affect
the data and understanding of the relationships between factors.
Unverified or misunderstood data from previous phases may lead to errors in planning and
assumptions.
Experimentation is a cost, although DOE is more cost effective than some other options like OFAT
(one-factor-at-a-time) experiments, the costs can be too expensive and need to be considered
carefully.
Lacks of management support Experiments require the full support of management in order to
effectively use the resources required.
Selecting Experiment Factors

Identifying process variables, both inputs/factors and outputs/responses, is an important part of the planning
process. While the selection process varies based on the information gathered in the Analyze phase and the
objectives of the experiment, variables should be selected that have the following basic characteristics:
Important to the process in question Since many inputs and output variables may exist for a
process, most experiments focus on only the most critical inputs and outputs for a process. Such
emphasis makes it more likely to successfully improve the most relevant parts of a process and, on a
practical level, limits the number of variables and the cost of conducting the experiment.
Identifiable relationships to the inputs and the outputs If relationships are already evident based
on prior information gathered, the design of the experiment can be more focused on those factors
with the most positive impact on outputs.
Not extreme level values The information related to the level values for the factors should not be
extreme. Values that reflect a reasonable range around the actual performance of the factors usually
yield the best results.
There is no magic formula or equation for selecting the factors. The guidelines listed above and a review of
the analysis work done in previous phases should provide a good basis for selection. Remember, the goal of
Improve is to model the possible combination of factors and levels that yield valid and necessary results. We
recommend the use of process experts for selecting experimental factors and levels based on prior analysis.
The prior analysis should suggest what the critical factors are and where the levels should be set for a first run
in the experiment.
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Other Planning Considerations

The DOE planning phase may include other considerations for the project team.
Iterative process: One large experiment does not normally reveal enough information to make final
decisions. Several iterations may be necessary so that the proper decisions may be made and the
proper value settings verified.
Measurement methods: Ensure that measurement methods are checked out prior to the experiment
to avoid errors or variations from the measurement method itself. Review measurement systems
analysis to ensure methods have been reviewed and instruments calibrated as needed, etc.
Process control and stability: The results from an experiment are more accurate if the process in
question is relatively stable.
Inference space: If the inference space is narrow, then the experiment is focused on a subset of a
larger process such as one specific machine, one operator, one shift, or one production line. With a
narrowed or focused inference space, the chance for noise (variation in output from factors not
directly related to inputs) is much reduced. If the inference is broad, the focus is on the entire process
and the chances for noise impacting the results are much greater.
Types of Experiment Designs: Part of planning an experiment is selecting the experiment design.
o
2-level, 2 factor: The simplest of design options, the 2-level, 2-factor design uses only four
combinations or runs. The number in the first column represents the run number. The "+"
symbol represents the high level; the "" symbol represents the low level.
Table 28: Example of 2 level, 2 factor
1
2
3
4
o
Factor A
+
+
-
Factor B
+
+
-
Full Factorial
Table 29: Example of Full Factorial
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A: Temperature
+
+
+
+
B: Time
+
+
+
+
C: Catalyst Volume
+
+
+
+
Results (Yield %)
72
90
79
89
78
88
81
85
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This design option includes all levels and all factors for a given process. The advantage of a
full factorial design is that all factors and levels are part of the experiment, thus ensuring the
most complete data.
If there are 2 levels and 6 factors (26), then there are 64 possible runs for the experiment. A
common description of factorial experiments is the designator Lf where f is the number of
factors in the experiment and L is the number of levels.
o
Fractional Factorial: This design is best used when you are unsure about which factor
influences the response outcome or when the number of factors is large (usually considered
to be 5 or more). A fractional factorial uses a subset of the total runs. For example, if there
are 2 levels and 6 factors (26), then there are 64 possible runs for the experiment. For a
fractional factorial, the experiment could be reduced to 32 runs or perhaps even 16 runs. An
example of this may be viewed later in this topic.
Design Principles: Black Belts adhere to a set of design principles to assist in the proper experiment design.
Power: The equivalent to one minus the probability of a Type II error (1-). A higher power is
associated with a higher probability of finding a statistically significant difference. Lack of power
usually occurs with smaller sample sizes.
The Beta Risk (i.e., Type II Error or Consumers Risk) is the probability of failing to reject the null
hypothesis when there is significant difference (i.e., a product is passed on as meeting the acceptable
quality level when in fact the product is bad). Typically, () = 0.10%. This means there is a 90% (1-)
probability you are rejecting the null when it is false (correct decision). Also, the power of the
sampling plan is defined as 1-, hence the smaller the , the larger the power.
Sample Size: The number of sampling units in a sample.

Determining sample size is a critical decision in any experiment design. Generally, if the experimenter
is interested in detecting small effects, more replicates are required than if the experimenter is
interested in detecting large effects. Increasing the sample size decreases the margin of error and
improves the precision of the estimate. There are several approaches to determining sample size
including, but not limited to: Operating Characteristic Curves, Specifying a Standard Deviation
Increase, and Confidence Interval Estimation Method.
Note: In a multistage sample, the sample size is the total number of sampling units at the conclusion
of the final stage of sampling.
Balanced Design: A design where all treatment combinations have the same number of observations.
If replication in a design exists, it would be balanced only if the replication was consistent across all
the treatment combinations. In other words, the number of replicates of each treatment combination
is the same.
Replication: Performance of an experiment more than once for a given set of predictor variables.
Each of the repetitions of the experiment is call a replicate. Replication differs from repeated
measures in that it is a repeat of the entire experiment for a given set of predictor variables, not just a
repeat of measurements for the same experiment.
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Replication involves an independent repeat of each factor combination in random order. For
example, suppose a metallurgical engineer is interested in studying the effect of two different
hardening processes: oil quenching and saltwater quenching on an aluminum alloy. If he has five alloy
specimens and treats them in each of the hardening processes, we will make ten observations. These
should be done in random order to maintain the properties of replication. First, the experimenter can
obtain an estimate of the experimental error which becomes a basic unit of measurement for
determining whether observed differences in the data are really statistically different. Second, if the
sample mean is used to estimate the true mean response for one of the factor levels in the
experiment, replication permits the experimenter to obtain a more precise estimate of this
parameter.
Repetition: When an experiment is conducted more than once, repetition describes this event when
the factors are not changed or reset. Subsequent test trials are run again but not necessarily under
the same conditions.
Efficiency: In experimental designs, efficiency refers to an experiment that is designed in such a way
as to include the minimal number of runs and to minimize the amount of resources, personnel, and
time utilized.
Randomization: The process used to assign treatments to experimental units so each experimental
unit has an equal chance of being assigned a particular treatment. Randomization validates the
assumptions made in statistical analysis and prevents unknown biases from impacting conclusions. By
randomization we mean that both the allocation of the experimental material and the order in which
the individual runs or trials of the experiment are to be performed are arbitrarily determined.
For example, suppose the specimens in a metallurgical hardness experiment are of slightly different
thicknesses and the effectiveness of the quenching medium may be affected by the specimen
thickness. If all the specimens subjected to the oil quench are thicker than those subjected to the
saltwater quench, systematic bias may be introduced into the results. This bias handicaps one of the
quenching media and consequently invalidates our results. Randomly assigning the specimens to the
quenching media alleviates this problem.
Blocking: The method of including blocks in an experiment in order to broaden the applicability of the
conclusions or to minimize the impact of selected assignable causes. The randomization of the
experiment is restricted and occurs within blocks.
Order: The order of an experiment refers to the chronological sequence of steps to an experiment.
The trials from an experiment should be carried out in a random run order. In experimental design,
one of the underlying assumptions is that the observed responses should be independent of one
another (i.e., the observations are independently distributed). By randomizing the experiment, we
reduce bias that could result by running the experiment in a logical order.
Interaction effect: The interaction effect for which the apparent influence of one factor on the
response variable depends upon one or more other factors. Existence of an interaction effect means
that the factors cannot be changed independently of each other.
Confounding: Indistinguishably combining an effect with other effects or blocks. When done, higherorder effects are systematically aliased so as to allow estimation of lower-order effects. Sometimes,
confounding results from poor planning or inadvertent changes to a design during the running of an
experiment. Confounding can diminish or even invalidate the effectiveness of the experiment.
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Alias: An alias is a confounded effect resulting from the nature of the designed experiment. The
confounding may or may not be deliberate.
Types of Design
Experiments can be designed to meet a wide variety of experimental objectives. A few of the more common
types of experimental designs are defined here.
Fixed-effects model: An experimental model where all possible factor levels are studied. For example,
if there are three different materials, all three are included in the experiment.
Random-effects model: An experimental model where the levels of factors evaluated by the
experiment represent a sample of all possible levels. For example, if we have three different materials
but only use two materials in the experiment.
Mixed model: An experimental model with both fixed and random effects.
Completely randomized design: An experimental plan where the order in which the experiment is
performed is completely random, for example,
Table 30: Example of Completely Randomized Design

Level
A
Test Sequence Number

7,1,5
2,3,6
8,4
Randomized-block design
When focusing on just one factor in multiple treatments, it is important to maintain all other conditions as
constant as possible. Since the number of tests to ensure constant conditions might be too large to practically
implement, an experiment may be divided into blocks. These blocks represent planned groups that exhibit
homogeneous characteristics. A randomized block experiment limits each group in the experiment to exactly
one and only one measurement per treatment.
For example, if an experiment is going to cover two shifts, then bias may emerge based on the shift during
which the test was conducted. A randomized block plan might measure each item on each shift to reduce the
chance for bias.
A randomized block experiment would arbitrarily select the runs to be performed during each shift. For
example, since the coolant temperature in the example below is probably the most difficult to adjust, but
may partially reflect the impact of the change in shift, the best approach would be to randomly select runs to
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be performed during each shift. The random selection might put runs 1, 4, 5 and 8 in the first shift and runs 2,
3, 6 and 7 in the second shift. Another approach that may be used to nullify the impact of the shift change
would be to do the first three replicates of each run during the first shift and the remaining two replicates of
each run during the second shift.
Table 31: Example of Randomized Block Design
Run #
Feed
Speed
C Temperature
Average Surface Finish Reading
.01
1300
100
10
.01
1300
140
.01
1800
100
.01
1800
140
.04
1300
100
.04
1300
140
.04
1800
100
.04
1800
140
For example, assume we are conducting a painting test with different materials, material A and material B.
We have four test pieces of each material. Ideally we would like to clean all of the pieces at the same time to
ensure that the cleaning process doesnt have an effect on our results; but what if our test requires that we
use a cleaning tank that cleans two test pieces at a time? The tank load then becomes a blocking factor. We
will have four blocks, which might look like this:
Table 32
Material
A
Tank Load
1
B
B
1
2
A
B
5
2
A
B
Test Piece Number

7
3
6
4
8
Since each material appears exactly once per cleaning tank load we say the design is balanced. The material
totals or averages can be compared directly.
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Latin-square designs
A Latin square design involves three factors in which the combination of the levels of any one of them and the
levels of the other two appear once and only once. A Latin square design is often used to reduce the impact
of two blocking factors by balancing out their contributions. A basic assumption is that these block factors do
not interact with the factor of interest or with each other. This design is particularly useful when the
assumptions are valid for minimizing the amount of experimentation.
1. The Latin square design has two limitations: The number of rows, columns, and treatments must all
be the same (in other words, designs may be 3X3X3, 4X4X4, 5X5X5, etc.).
2. Interactions between row and column factors are not measured.
Table 33: Example of Latin Square Design (3x3)
Engine configuration
II
Aircraft
III
Three aircraft with three different engine configurations are used to evaluate the maximum altitude when
flown by three different pilots (A, B, and C). In this case, the two constant sources are the aircraft (1, 2, and 3)
and the engine configuration (I, II, and III). The third variable the pilots is the experimental treatment and
is applied to the source variables (aircraft and engine). Notice that the condition of interest is the maximum
altitude each of the pilots can attain, not the interaction between aircraft or engine configuration. For
example, if the data shows that pilot A attains consistently higher altitudes in each of the aircraft/engine
configurations, then the skills and techniques of that pilot are the ones to be modeled. This is also an
example of a fractional factorial as only nine of the 27 possible combinations are tested in the experiment.
Suppose we wish to compare four materials with regard to their wearing qualities. Suppose further that we
have a wear-testing machine which can handle four samples simultaneously. Two sources of variation might
be the variations from run to run, and the variation among the four positions on the wear machine. The Latin
square plan is as in Table 34 (the four materials are labelled A, B, C, D).
Table 34
Position Number
Run
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
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Since each material appears exactly once per cleaning tank load we say the design is balanced. The material
totals or averages can be compared directly.
Simulation
Simulation is a means of experimenting with a detailed model of a real system to determine how the system
will respond to changes in its structure, environment, or underlying assumptions. A system is defined as a
combination of elements that interact to accomplish a specific objective. A group of machines performing
related manufacturing operations would constitute a system. These machines may be considered, as a group,
an element in a larger production system. The production system may be an element in a larger system
involving design, delivery, etc.
Simulations allow the system or process designer to solve problems. To the extent that the computer model
behaves as the real world system it models, the simulation can help answer important questions. Care should
be taken to prevent the model from becoming the focus of attention. If important questions can be answered
more easily without the model, then the model should not be used. The modeller must specify the scope of
the model and the level of detail to include in the model. Only those factors which have a significant impact
on the models ability to serve its stated purpose should be included. The level of detail must be consistent
with the purpose. The idea is to create, as economically as possible, a replica of the real world system that
can provide answers to important questions. This is usually possible at a reasonable level of detail. Welldesigned simulations provide data on a wide variety of systems metrics, such as throughput, resource
utilization, queue times, and production requirements.
While useful in modelling and understanding existing systems, they are even better suited to evaluating
proposed process changes. In essence, simulation is a tool for rapidly generating and evaluating ideas for
process improvement. By applying this technology to the creativity process, Six Sigma improvements can be
greatly accelerated.
Predicting CTQ Performance
A key consideration for any design concept is the CTQ that would result from deploying the design. It is often
very difficult to determine the overall result of a series of process steps, but relatively easy to study each step
individually. Software can then be used to simulate the process a number of times and calculate the
performance of CTQ at the end of the series.
Step 12- Pilot, Implement and Validate solution

Pilot
A pilot is a test of a proposed solution. This type of test has the following properties:
Performed on a small scale, usually on a subset of the target population
Used to evaluate both the solution and the implementation of the solution
Purpose is to make the full scale implementation more effective
Provides data about expected results and exposes issues/ challenges in the implementation plan
Pilot Study helps to
Identify previously unknown performance problems, improve the solution and understand risks of the
solution
Validate expected results and facilitate buy-in from stakeholders, cross-functional team.
Smooth implementation with limited or no teething issues
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Full Scale Implementation

The team first develops a plan to implement the one or more solutions selected in the Improve phase.
It is important to create a solution implementation plan based on the results from the pilot plan and pilot
implementation. A big piece of the solution implementation plan is to leave tools to help the owner manage
the process after the team has gone on to other projects. A large-scale project may require dealing with
multiple processes and sub-processes, multiple implementation locations, a large number of implementation
teams and several different disciplines and methodologies.
Full Scale Implementation should be treated as a project in itself, and project management practises should
not be ignored.
That plan should include but not limited to:
Potential Risk analysis Failure Modes and Effect Analysis
Solution Implementation Schedule
Training Plan
Communication Plan
Cost and Benefit Analysis
Improvement Validation
Once full scale implementation has been successfully completed, Green Belt/Black Belt should
Revalidate the measurement system to ensure that data collected post improvement is reliable
Collect data for Output (Y) to evaluate performance post full scale implementation
o Sigma level - Sigma level computed during the Measure phase acts as a baseline and can be
compared with Sigma level computed in Improve phase
o Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk - Similarly process capability indices can also be compared post
improvement versus baseline
o Hypothesis tests - If sample data are collected post improvement, Hypothesis test should be
carried to ascertain whether the improvement is observed for the population process
performance
o FMEA - Process FMEA may also be revised to cover the new changes in the process. It will
help in ascertaining whether the solution and changes induced by solution have affected the
risk parameters of the process.
The main deliverable of Improve phase is Selected Solution.
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Improve Phase Tollgate Checklist

What techniques were used to generate ideas for potential solutions?
What narrowing and screening techniques were used to further develop and qualify potential solutions?
What evaluation criteria were used to select a recommended solution?
Do the proposed solutions address all of the identified root causes, or at least the most critical?
Were the solutions verified with the Project Sponsor and Stakeholders? Has an approval been received to
implement?
Was a pilot run to test the solution? What was learned? What modifications were made?
Has the team seen evidence that the root causes of the initial problems have been addressed during the pilot?
What are the expected benefits?
Has the team considered potential problems and unintended consequences (FMEA) of the solution and
developed preventive and contingency actions to address them?
Has the proposed solution been documented, including process participants, job descriptions, and if applicable,
their estimated time commitment to support the process?
Has the team developed an implementation plan? What is the status?
Have changes been communicated to all the appropriate people?
Has the team been able to identify any additional Quick Wins?
Has learning to-date required modification of the Project Charter? If so, have these changes been approved by
the Project Sponsor and the Key Stakeholders?
Have any new risks to project success been identified and added to the Risk Mitigation Plan?
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Chapter
9
Control
Control Phase Overview
In the Control phase, the emphasis is on maintaining the gains achieved. The question the team is trying to
answer is, "How can we guarantee performance?". In the Improve phase, the team had a successful pilot and
also got an opportunity to tweak the solution. They used this information to plan the solution implementation
and carried out full scale implementation. It is time now to ensure that, when they finish the project, the
success that they have observed will be sustained. This involves transferring the responsibility to the process
owner.
The deliverables in the Control phase are:
Process Control Plan
Solution documentation and Validation of Benefits
Successful transfer to Process Owner
Step 13
Implement Control System for Critical Xs
Step 14
Document Solution and Benefits
Step 15
Transfer to Process Owner, Project Closure
Step 13- Implement Control System for Critical Xs

Control System is the complete strategy for maintaining the improved process performance over time. It
identifies the specific actions and tools required for sustaining the process improvements or gains.
The objective is
To ensure sure that the process stays in control after the solution has been implemented.
To quickly detect the out of control state and determine the associated special causes so that actions
can be taken to correct the problem before non-conformances are produced.
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Green Belt/Black Belt will develop a control plan which the process owner will use as a guideline for
sustaining the gains. Control plan provides a written summary description of the systems used in
minimizing process and service variation
Control plans do not replace information contained in detailed instructions

In a grand sense the control plan describes the actions that are required at each phase of the
process including receiving, in-process, outgoing, and periodic requirements to assure that all
process outputs will be in a state of control
Ultimately, the control plan is a living document reflecting current methods of control and measurement
systems used
What is the process that is being controlled?

What measures (numbers) are we monitoring?
For each measure, what are the trigger point values where action should be taken?
What action should be taken when a trigger point is reached? Who is responsible for taking
action?
A control plan includes but not limited to

Table 35
Control Plan
Process Documentation
Data Collection Plan
Mistake Proofing System
Response/Reaction Plan
Communication Plan
Audit/Inspection Plan
Risk Mitigation System
Statistical Process Control
Mistake Proofing (Poka Yoke)

Mistake Proofing is a method for avoiding errors in a process. The simplest definition of "Mistake Proofing
is that it is a technique for eliminating errors by making it impossible to make mistakes in the process. It is
often considered the best approach to process control.
A Poka-Yoke device is any mechanism that either prevents a mistake from being made or makes the
mistake obvious at a glance. The ability to prevent mistakes is essential because the cause of defects lies in
errors committed due to imperfect processes. Defects result from either being unaware of the errors or
neglecting to do anything to correct them.
Inspection/Audits
Inspection isnt the most likely control method however they may be only option left if we were unable to
identify a suitable mistake proofing measure. We can classify inspection as
Source Inspection: Inspection carried out at source or as close to the source of the defect as
possible. Mistakes detected close to source can reworked or corrected before it is passed.
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Informative Inspection: Inspection carried out to investigate the cause of any defect found, so
action can be taken. It only provides information on defect after it has occurred.
Judgment Inspection: Inspection carried out to separate good units from bad units once
processing has occurred. It doesnt decrease the defect rate
Statistical Process/ Quality Control

Common Cause and Special Cause
Common Cause Variation
In any process, regardless of how well-designed or carefully maintained it is, a certain amount of inherent
or natural variability will always exist. This natural variability or background noise is the cumulative effect
of many small, essentially unavoidable causes. In the framework of statistical quality control, this natural
variability is often called a stable system of chance causes (common causes). A process that is operating
with only chance causes of variation present is said to be in statistical control. In other words, the chance
causes (common causes) are an inherent part of the process.
Special Cause Variation
In a process, other kinds of variability may occasionally be present. This variability in key quality
characteristics can arises from sources like improperly adjusted machines, operator errors, defective raw
materials, untrained resources, system outage etc. Such variability is generally large when compared to the
background noise, and usually stands out. We refer to these sources of variability that are not part of the
chance cause pattern as assignable causes or special causes. A process that is operating in the presence of
assignable causes is said to be out of control. Production processes will often operate in the in-control
state, producing acceptable product for relatively long periods of time. Occasionally, however, assignable
causes will occur, seemingly at random, resulting in a shift to an out-of-control state where a large
proportion of the process output does not conform to requirements. A major objective of statistical
process control is to quickly detect the occurrence of assignable causes or process shifts so that
investigation of the process and corrective action may be undertaken before many nonconforming units
are manufactured. The control chart is an online process-monitoring technique widely used for this
purpose.
Types of Control Charts
Control charts may be classified into two general types.
Attribute Control Charts

Many characteristics are not measured on a continuous scale or even a quantitative scale. In these
cases, we may judge each unit of product as either conforming or nonconforming on the basis of
whether or not it possesses certain attributes, or we may count the number of nonconformities
(defects) appearing on a unit of product. Control charts for such quality characteristics are called
attributes control charts. We will explore the following charts
o Area of opportunity charts for count data:
Number of defects charts for constant areas of opportunity c chart
Number of defects per unit charts for variable areas of opportunity u chart
o Proportion nonconforming charts (p-charts) for classification data:
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Proportion of nonconformities for constant subgroup size- np chart

Proportion of nonconformities for variable subgroup size p chart
Variable Control Charts:
Many characteristics can be measured and expressed as numbers on some continuous scale of
measurement. In such cases, it is convenient to describe the quality characteristic with a measure
of central tendency and a measure of variability. Control charts for central tendency and variability
are collectively called variables control charts. The chart is the most widely used chart for
monitoring central tendency, whereas charts based on either the sample range or the sample
standard deviation are used to control process variability.
o Charts based on individual measurements for subgroups of n = 1 Individual and moving
range chart
o Charts based on subgroups of n>=2:
Subgroups of 2 n 10: Mean and range chart
Subgroups of n> 10: Mean and standard deviation chart
Computing control limits
Process mean of the statistic 3 standard deviations of the statistic so that
o Upper control limit (UCL) = process mean of the statistic + 3 standard deviations of the
statistic
o Lower control limit (LCL) = process mean of the statistic 3 standard deviations of the
statistic
I Chart of pH
1
6.50
UCL=6.430
6.25
Individual Value
_
X=6.015
6.00
5.75
LCL=5.601
5.50
1
11 13
15
Observation
17
19
21
23
25
Figure 41: Worksheet: Detergent.mtw
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A typical control chart is shown in Figure 41, which is a graphical display of a quality characteristic that has
been measured or computed from a sample versus the sample number or time. Often, the samples are
selected at periodic intervals such as every hour. The chart contains a center-line (CL) that represents the
average value of the quality characteristic corresponding to the in-control state. (That is, only chance
causes are present.) Two other horizontal lines, called the upper control limit (UCL) and the lower control
limit (LCL) are also shown on the chart.
There is a close connection between control charts and hypothesis testing. Essentially, the control chart is a
test of the hypothesis that the process is in a state of statistical control. A point plotting within the control
limits is equivalent to failing to reject the hypothesis of statistical control, and a point plotting outside the
control limits is equivalent to rejecting the hypothesis of statistical control.
The most important use of a control chart is to improve the process. We have found that, generally
Most processes do not operate in a state of statistical control.
Consequently, the routine and attentive use of control charts will identify assignable causes. If
these causes can be eliminated from the process, variability will be reduced and the process will be
improved.
The control chart will only detect assignable causes. Management, operator, and engineering
action will usually be necessary to eliminate the assignable cause. An action plan for responding to
control chart signals is vital.
In identifying and eliminating assignable causes, it is important to find the underlying root cause of the
problem and to attack it. A cosmetic solution will not result in any real, long-term process improvement.
Developing an effective system for corrective action is an essential component of an effective SPC
implementation.
Step 14- Document Solution and Benefits

Solutions should be documented for review and replication in other processes in the organization. It also
acts a lessons learnt document for other Green Belts and Black Belts.
Standardization and Solution Replication
One of the powerful aspects of Six Sigma is to take successful implementations and expand them across
the organization. This is accomplished with replication and standardization.
Replication is taking the solution from the team and applying it to the same type or a similar type
of process.
Standardization is taking the lessons/solutions from the team and applying those good ideas to
processes that may be dissimilar to the original process improved.
The team should consider standardization and replication opportunities to significantly increase the impact
on the sigma performance of processes to far exceed the anticipated results by the pilot and solution
implementation.
As the implementation expands to other areas, four implementation approaches can be combined or used
independently. The appropriate approach will depend on the resources available, the culture of the
organization and the requirements for a fast implementation. The four approaches are:
A sequenced approach is when a solution is fully implemented in one process or location;
implementation begins at a second location.
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A parallel approach is when the solution is implemented at two or more locations or processes
simultaneously.
A phased approach is when a pre-determined milestone is achieved at one location; the
implementation at a second location begins.
A flat approach is when implementation is done at all target locations, companywide.
Project Benefits
The results of the improvement and financial benefits need to be monitored (generally) for one year.
The project leader should prepare a Project Closure Document. A Project Closure document displays the
results of the project, control activities, status of incomplete tasks, approval of key stakeholders (for
example, the process owner, finance, quality systems, and environmental) to confirm that the project is
complete. This document is often used as the formal hand-off of the project to the process owner. It
provides a formal place to record final project results, document key stakeholder approvals and a record of
the status of the improved process at the completion of the project. This record may be the basis for
ongoing auditing.
A Project Closure document should examine the following:
Record all pertinent performance and financial data.
Reference controls (or the control plan).
Review and resolve any incomplete tasks.
Obtain signatures (varies by project and organization).
Finance Are financial benefits valid?
Process owners Do they accept the controls and do they agree the project is complete?
Environmental, health, and safety Do they agree that all procedures and policies have been
followed?
Quality systems Have sufficient verifiable controls been instituted to ensure project success?
Have all procedures and policies been followed?
Project technical support (for example, Master Black Belt) Does the project meet the
requirements of the process improvement model that is used?
Management (for example, Champion) Does management agree that the project is completed?
Green Belt/Black Belt should first obtain the signature of an independent quality group to confirm
that controls are: (1) in place, (2) verifiable, and (3) sufficient to ensure the project benefits will
continue to accrue. Without such controls, the project should not be approved for closure.
Financial benefits may be soft, which can be difficult to measure (for example, improved product
lets us keep a key customer, reduced order to delivery time, reduced environmental emissions,
improved ergonomics, and standardization of product/process).
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Step 15-Transfer to Process Owner, Project Closure

In the Control phase, the team needs to ensure that when they finish the project, the success that they
have seen in implementation will continue. This involves transferring the responsibility to the process
owner. This may require:
Process control plan
Review meetings to communicate the state of the process.
Updated flowcharts, procedures and statement of work
Statistical Process/Quality Control measures including control plan
Out-of-Control Action Plans, Response Plans to define how irregularities in the process are handled
As the project wraps up, a couple of additional activities may be appropriate:
The team might consider evaluating how the team worked together
Management may devise rewards to recognize the work and success of the team
Recognition and celebration of a successful Six Sigma drives process excellence philosophy within the
organization and managing change becomes simpler
A Six Sigma project does not really "end" at the conclusion of the Control phase. There should be
opportunities to extend the success of this project team in other areas. The team and champion may share
the knowledge gained with others, replicate the solution in other processes, and develop standards for
other processes based on what they learned from their solution implementation. The team may continue
to examine the process to look for opportunities for continuous process improvement.
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Control Phase Tollgate Checklist

Has the team prepared all the essential documentation for the improved process, including revised/new
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), a training plan, and a process control system?
Has the necessary training for process owners/operators been performed?
Have the right measures been selected, and documented as part of the Process Control System, to monitor
performance of the process and the continued effectiveness of the solution? Has the metrics briefing
plan/schedule been documented? Who owns the measures? Has the Process Owners job description been
updated to reflect the new responsibilities? What happens if minimum performance is not achieved?
Has the solution been effectively implemented? Has the team compiled results data confirming that the
solution has achieved the goals defined in the Project Charter?
Has the Financial Benefit Summary been completed? Has the Resource Manager reviewed it?
Has the process been transitioned to the Process Owner, to take over responsibility for managing continuing
operations? Do they concur with the control plan?
Has a final Storyboard documenting the project work been developed?
Has the team forwarded other issues/opportunities, which were not able to be addressed, to senior
management?
Have lessons learned been captured?
Have replication opportunities been identified and communicated?
Has the hard work and successful efforts of our team been celebrated?
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Appendix
Acronyms
Important Links for Online Learning and Discussions
References
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Acronyms
AAA
Attribute Agreement Analysis
Population Arithmetic Mean
5S
Sort Set-order Shine Standardize and Sustain
AIAG
Automotive Industry Action Group
ANOVA
Analysis of Variance
AR&R
Attribute Repeatability and Reproducibility
BCR
Benefit Cost Ratio
C&E
Cause and Effect
CCR
Critical Customer Requirement
cdf
Cumulative distribution function
CFM
Continuous Flow Manufacturing
CL
Centre Line
COPQ
Cost of Poor Quality
CP, CPk
Process Capability Indices (Short Term)
CPM
Critical Path Method
CTP
Critical to Process
CTQ
Critical to Quality
DFSS
Design for Six Sigma
DMADV
Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Validate/Verify
DMAIC
Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
DOE
Design of Experiments
DPMO
Defects per Million Opportunities
DPU
Defects per Unit
FMEA
Failure Modes & Effects Analysis
FTY
First time Yield / First pass Yield
Ha
Alternate Hypothesis
HACCP
Hazard Analysis and Critical control points
Ho
Null Hypothesis
HOQ
House of Quality
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IDOV
Identify, Design, Optimize, Validate/Verify
IQR
Inter Quartile Range
IRR
Internal Rate Of Return
Kaizen
Continuous Improvement
KPI
Key Performance Indicator
KPIV
Key Process Input Variables
KPOV
Key Output Process Variables
LCL
Lower Control Limit
MSA
Measurement Systems Analysis
Muda
Waste
NGT
Nominal Group Technique
NPS
Net Promoter Score
NPV
Net Present Value
NVA
Non-Value Added
OFAT
One factor at a time
OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PDCA
Plan Do Check Act
pdf
Probability density function
PERT
Program Evaluation and Review Techniques
PINS
Percentage of Industry Sales
pmf
Probability mass function
PO
Process Owner
PP, PPK
Process Capability Indices (Long Term)
PVF
Present Value Factor
QFD
Quality Function Deployment
QM
Quality Management
R&R
Repeatability and Reproducibility
ROI
Return On Investment
RPN
Risk Priority Number
RTY
Rolled Throughput Yield
Sample Standard Deviation
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s2
Sample Variance
SIPOC
Suppliers Input Process Output Customer
SMART
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time bound
SME
Subject Matter Expert
SMED
Single minute exchange of die
SPC
Statistical Process Control
TPM
Total Productive Maintenance
UCL
Upper Control Limit
USL
Upper Specification Limit
VA
Value Added
VOB
Voice of Business
VOC
Voice of Customer
WACC
Weighted Average Cost of Capital
WBS
Work Breakdown Structure
Zlt
Sigma level long term
Zst
Sigma Level short term
(Alpha)
Probability of type I error
(Beta)
Probability of type II error
Population standard deviation
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For answers to these questions, please use the following link

http://www.benchmarksixsigma.com/content/global-news
Important Links for online Learning and Discussion
1. How does Six Sigma apply in various Industries and Functional Areas?
2. What is the role of Lean Six Sigma in business or career growth?
3. What are the useful globally available insights for Six Sigma Black Belts? Are there any
example Black Belt projects that I can refer?
4. What are the success stories of people who have benefited a lot from Six Sigma?
5. How can I network with professionals who have been trained at Benchmark Six Sigma?
6. What is the post training support provided by Benchmark Six Sigma?
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References
Gitlow,H. S., and D. M. Levine, Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions
Berenson, M. L.,D. M. Levine, and T.C. Krehbiel. Basic Business Statistics: Concepts and
Applications,
Issa Bass, Barbara Lawton, Ph.D. Lean Six Sigma Using SigmaXL and Minitab
Theodore T. Allen, Introduction to Engineering, Statistics and Lean Sigma
Kai Yang, Basem S. El-Haik, Design for Six Sigma, A Roadmap for Product Development
Thomas Pyzdek, Paul A. Keller The Six Sigma Handbook
Thomas Pyzdek, The Six Sigma Project Planner
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Benchmark Six Sigma

Step 6- Measure current performance and Gap .......................................... 83

When people refer to Six Sigma, they refer to several things:

It is based on facts & data

It is a statistical approach to problem solving

It is a structured approach to solve problems or

It refers to 3.4 defects per million opportunities

It is a relentless focus on customer satisfaction

Strong tie-in with bottom line benefits

Metric, Methodology, Management System

History of Six Sigma

Larry Bossidy Jack Welch

Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard

Financial scorecard: Tracks your financial requirements and performance.

Align their business strategy to critical improvement efforts

Lean in the Office

Simple Lean tools with extraordinary benefits

Shine Keep the work area clean.

Clearly document steps in the process and include images if possible

Stepping stone for future improvements

Figure 2: A Kaizen Team at Boeing in Action

Typical tools used:

Poka-Yoke (Mistake Proofing)

Figure 3: Poka-Yoke Example Possibility of

1. Air conditioner does not cool

Mitigation : Minimize the impact of mistakes

Visual Control Visual Signs used to Control mistakes

Production displays, Traffic signals are examples of visual controls.

Figure 4: Visual Control Chart

Lean - Total Productive Maintenance

Reduction in maintenance cost

Figure5: Elements of Total Productive Maintenance

Autonomous Maintenance (Jishu Hozen)

Focus on improvement of knowledge, skills and techniques.

Safety, Health and Environment

Expenses on emergency dispatches/purchases.

Processing once each month instead of as the work comes in

Waiting on part of customer or employee for a service input

Delayed work due to lack of communication from another internal group.

Preparing extra reports

Reports not acted upon or even read

Multiple copies in data storage

Incorrect data entry

Paying the wrong vendor

Misspelled words in communications

Making bad product or materials or labour discarded during production

Extra data entry

Search for something for approval

Voice mails that are too long

Transactions not processed

Bigger in box than out box

Over-stocking raw materials

Extra steps in the process

Moving paper from place to place

Forwarding emails to one another

Figure 6: Push and Pull approach

Continuous Flow (for reducing Cycle Time)

One piece flow of work between process steps

Minimal or no inventory between steps