10/11/2017 Which are the most used tools in Lean Six Sigma projects?

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Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB 102 15 36

1950 Japan

Which are the most used tools in Lean Six

Sigma projects?
Published on September 16, 2015

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Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB 102 15 36

THE MOST USED LEAN SIX SIGMA TOOLS?

We recently conducted a survey Here is what it says.

Terms: LSS-Lean Six Sigma, GB-Green Belt, BB-Black Belt, MBB-Master Black
Belt.

Very few projects have a charter that explains their objective, scope and investment.

Representing processes visually through process maps is a generalized practice.

Initial (visual) performance analysis through charts is widely popular among

practitioners.
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Non-quantitative methods like the fishbone and Pareto diagrams are the preferred Try Premium
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analytical tools.
Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB 102 15 36
Few practitioners use quantitative techniques like gage r&r, hypothesis testing and
DOE.

There is not a clear favorite Improve tool, reflecting a variety in approaches and
skills.

Very few tools were identified to improve or control processes. Meaning is unclear.

Using this and other feedback our team designed a new way of teaching Six Sigma,
blending Deming principles and project management. Find about the program that has
certified 350 green belts in 2016 in Chicago alone. www.fkiquality.com

Most LSS projects use visual tools but are light on quantitative methods.

The positive here is that visual tools like process maps, run charts, histograms,
fishbones and paretos, which are more accessible to more practitioners given their
simplicity, are being used widely to measure and analyze the current situation.

The challenge, however, is that few projects benefit from the additional knowledge
possible by using more advanced tools like gage r&r, hypothesis testing and design of
experiments. Is possible that limited use of quantitative tools be driven by lack of data
on which to apply them. Another, less likely explanation may be that most practitioners,
even experienced practitioners (BBs, MBBs), reported on rather simple projects which
could be completed successfully without use of quantitative tools.

Another difficulty is the sparse use of project and change management tools. Less than
25% of respondents mention using a project charter to explain the project objective,
scope and investment. This could influence the success of many projects see below
that there is little mention of tools used in the later phases of most projects (Improve,
Control) it makes wonder whether the projects were even completed.

>>> See figure 1 above. <<<

Most reported projects do not use project management tools.

Lean Six Sigma is best implemented company-wide as a collection of projects, that is, a
program. Each of the projects must be aligned to the needs of the company, strengthen
existing processes and ensure the satisfaction of customer needs.

Once this significant goal is achieved, each project must be run skillfully by its lead
with the support of the champion, coordinating project direction periodically based on
discoveries along the way.

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Thus, successful LSS projects incorporate many project management methods and tools Try Premium
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such as a clear project definition in the form of a project charter, an effective team,
Francisco
milestone reviewsPulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB
called tollgates. 102 15 36

This survey shows that few projects invest in writing a project charter, manage and
adjust the team along the way, or review progress at the end of each phase to decide
future direction. Not even one-quarter of all respondents include the charter among
frequently used tools, one or two refer to stakeholder management and no one reflects
on the critical success factors of their project.

Solutions are designed without using very many tools.

The tools used most often in the Improve phase of DMAIC include Lean tools such as
5S and kaizen, as well as harder Six Sigma tools like design of experiments. In
addition, respondents list an assortment of tools that includes brainstorming,
benchmarking, bottleneck analysis, SMED and prioritization matrices.

However, the number of Improve tools for creating solutions mentioned in the survey
(29) was one-half or less than the tools used to measure the problem (77) or analyze it
(61). Many practitioners seem to not follow any method at the Improve stage of their
projects.

>>> See figure 2 above. <<<

There are several possible reasons for this: wonderfully, the solution is obvious after a
rigorous analysis; horribly, the organization has lost patience, there is no time for more
tools and the team needs to produce anything urgently; more likely, the team lacks
redesign knowledge and simply brainstorm or do something hoping for the best.

I suspect that the wonderful situation rarely happens. Given the scarce use of project
management tools especially for keeping abreast of stakeholder sentiment, the
horrible scenario is more likely due to failures along the life of the project from both
project lead and champion.

A more important reason for the short list of used Improve tools is lack of redesign
knowledge. This is not too surprising, given that traditional bodies of knowledge
(universities, consultancies, ASQ-type) are light in the Improve phase, focusing mainly
on creativity tools, prioritization and risk reduction and Lean tools explained very
lightly. The only true redesign tools is design of experiments, which unfortunately is
largely out of reach for most practitioners for its more advanced nature and the need for
software tools to use it in practice.

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In this situation, teams must resort to brainstorming, benchmarking or trying to do Try Premium
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some Lean as the main way to produce a solution.
Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB 102 15 36

Several things are missing here. Most important, LSS teams should have a systemic
view to create a complete solution, instead of thinking narrowly that just a better
procedure or a new technology or a new role are sufficient. Also missing is a balanced
view that the solution must include a strong human component to ensure its
sustainability. Importantly, process redesign principles are usually absent in popular
versions of the LSS methodology, so practitioners suffer gaps in their knowledge.
Additionally, proven methods like QFD and process simulation are unknown or touched
very lightly. Finally, there is no sense that practitioners pilot their solutions and use a
learning method like PDSA (or PDCA) to verify the fitness of the solution to the
original problem this would be like publishing software without testing it.

The control phase seems to not happen too often or be tools-light.

At 6% of responses, there was almost no mention of Control tools besides statistical

process control (SPC). So, projects make little provisions to help organizations
implement or sustain the solutions produced after so much effort. This severely
overlooks the purpose of the Control phase of DMAIC, which exists to support the
long-term implementation of the solution through monitoring and planned responses, as
well as appropriate communication and training.

>>> See figure 3 above. <<<

The most important omissions are a system for ongoing measurement and process
control, plus plans for implementation and replication, including budgeting and staffing.

These omissions ignore that variation is ever-present and will challenge a static
solution, organizations like all systems do not perform predictably, and that people
change jobs and have a tendency to do things the way they always did before.

In summary,

Based on this survey, the current state of the practice of Lean Six Sigma indicates that
most practitioners use the visual, non-quantitative tools in the body of knowledge to
produce solutions that may or may not work, and which lack sustaining plans for the
long-term.

In response to this, I propose a more balanced, managed LSS method that leverages the
right tools for each phase and seeks to supplement current bodies of knowledge with a

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systemic view of improvement. Try Premium
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SurveyFrancisco Pulgar-Vidal,
participants MBA, Lean
got a poster Sixmethodology.
of this Sigma MBB If you wish to get
102 the poster,
15 join 36

the survey to share your most used LSS tools and help paint a more complete picture.
Find the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QJCM8XZ

Best regards,

Francisco Pulgar-Vidal

President, fkiQuality

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Ryan Bird, LSSBB 1y

Project Manager at GE Global Operations

Well done Francisco. Process Mapping, Pareto, and Fishbone diagrams weren't a surprise that
were high on the list; I thought Kaizen would be up there as well.
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Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB 1y

fkiQuality President, Chicago Deming Assoc Director, Lean Six Sigma deployment expert. Author.

Thanks for your comments Ryan Bird, it's possible that kaizen wasn't viewed as a tool
of LSS but rather as an alternative way to run projects of improvement.
Francisco
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Ryan Bird, LSSBB 1y

Project Manager at GE Global Operations

Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB I can understand that. Its certainly not a
chart, graph, or diagram like most of the others.
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Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB

fkiQuality President, Chicago Deming Assoc Director, Lean Six Sigma deployment expert. Author. Speaker.

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Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sigma MBB 102 15 36

In memoriam of Deming the PDSA, not PDCA - A tool for learning PDSA, not PDCA - A tool for learning PDSA, not PD
humanist by doing, part 3 by doing, part 2 by doing, part
Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sig Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sig Francisco Pulgar-Vidal, MBA, Lean Six Sig Francisco Pulga

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