At the end of each phase of the DMAIC process, the Black Belt should report to the executive leaders on the status of the project. This phase-gate review (also known as a Six Sigma review) will give you, the Executive Leader, the chance to ask questions, make suggestions, address any problems, allocate additional resources, etc. It is also an opportunity for you to provide sup- port and emphasize your commitment to the project. This review will ensure that the team stays focused and the project stays on track.
Conclusion
At the end of the Define phase, you should have the following:
1. A documented project defined with a clear goal and objective 2. Resources identified (the team)
3. A sense of direction to focus the project team 4. A basic plan
5. CTQs
6. A problem statement for each problem
7. A clear understanding of the adverse effect of the defect to the cus- tomer
Summary of the Major Steps in the Define Phase
1. Identify the problems in the process.
2. Identify the process owner/sponsor.
Keep Presentations Short
A good method for conducting these reviews is to restrict the presentation to 15 minutes: ten minutes to report on the project and five minutes to answer questions. Usually, information provided in the report answers most questions, so five minutes should be sufficient. If the Black Belt’s presenta- tion is mainly a story line with few graphs and charts, this is an indication that he or she wasted time and did not put effort into the project.
3. Begin the project charter.
4. Assemble the project team.
5. Build a RACI chart.
6. Collect customer data and identify the customers who will be affected by the project.
7. Translate VOC into CTQs.
8. Develop problem statement(s). Problem statements should answer the following questions:
• What is the problem?
• What is the current status of the process?
• What needs to be done to change the process?
• How long will it take to make the necessary changes?
• How much money will it save?
9. Establish the project metrics.
10. Focus on the vital few factors.
11. Identify necessary resources.
12. Create a project plan.
13. Conduct a phase-gate review (Six Sigma review).
Ido take action, but the measurements I use are full of errors! My name is Richard Wise, and I am the president of a medium-size heating, ventilation, and air conditioning business in the Northwest United States. We took many new actions on data that was not valid. I was read- ing about Six Sigma and decided to consult with an expert to assess our situation.
After the assessment, I was shocked to find our operations were full of unrecognized defects, resulting in too many wasted dollars. Our expert called it the “hidden factory” or the inherent waste that we basically con- sidered just part of the way our processes work. I knew at that moment we had to make changes. The Measure phase was very enlightening for me. It’s hard to share the dirty laundry we uncovered. It is this phase that changed my attitude about the necessity of making decisions with valid data before taking any new actions.
Your Six Sigma Project:
The Measure Phase 6 σ
SB
Remember, a real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.
—Anthony Robbins
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To make the point, here is an example of some real dirty laundry. We scheduled our production based on orders from the field and worked overtime to ensure that our installation met the contractors’ move-in dates. Our measure of success was on-time delivery to the field-requested order. We were 93 percent successful as measured by the field, but only 73 percent on time according to our contractors. Why? We did not meas- ure returns from the field due to damaged parts, wrong parts, missing parts, special kits missing, or wrong parts built. There was 15 to 23 days of inventory in our outside scrap area, which did not include on-site stor- age scrap areas. The field-request data was not valid from the contractors’
point of view, and they were requesting rework of parts that had already been manufactured and delivered because we did not measure our returns!
To make a point to our company, I stated that we were basically manufacturing three weeks straight for the waste disposal facility. Our measurement of on-time delivery needed to include scrap and rework for the field request. The cost of three weeks of production and materials was well over $1.5 million in pure profit. This cost of the waste was 18 per- cent of our total profit. What Six Sigma taught me was that all measure- ments mustfirst be valid prior to using the data for any decisions and to set a baseline for the problem.
This is a typical story and the problem is common in businesses of all sizes and in all types of industries. Companies need to validate measure- ments for data to be used in making decisions. The Measure phase ensures you have a good working measurement system, so you can trust the data that you are going to analyze. What Richard was measuring as a key busi- ness metric was fine, but the basis of the measurement and the error or variation in the measurement from the two perspectives were wrong!
The Measure phase of Six Sigma has two components:
1. Validate the measurement system (making sure you can trust the numbers).
2. Collect new data.
I’ll outline a specific series of steps for Measure later in this chapter, but first I want to talk about what it means to validate a measurement sys- tem and why it’s so important.
Can You Trust Your Data?
The goal of this first part of the Measure phase is to make sure you have valid data. What does it mean to be valid?
Suppose you were to measure your height at home and then again at the doctor’s office. You get different results. Which measurement would you trust? Why? When you check out at the grocery store, do you trust the cash register to give you an accurate total? The receipt you get is a measurement, but is it valid? These are simple things that we assume are correct.
However, you are about to be sensitized to a new reality that will shock you—many measurement systems don’t produce good data.