Lecture 12

Question 1

DMAIC cycle

Answer 1

Define - identify problem and define requirements, set goal
Measure - Gather data
Analyse - develop hypothesis, find root causes and validate hypothesis
Improve - develop and test improvement ideas
Control - establish standards and deal with problems

Question 2

Roles in six sigma

Answer 2

White/Yellow belt - Understands the basics of Lean Six Sigma. Passes process problems to Green & Black Belts.

Yellow/Orange belt - Can apply the basic principles of Lean Six Sigma in a practical way. Ability to lead small improvement projects.

Green belt - Start and manage Lean Six Sigma projects. Has Lean Six Sigma expertise but in less detail than Black Belts. Provides JIT (just-in-time) training to others.

Black belt - Reports directly to a Master Black Belt. Has advanced expertise in Lean Six Sigma. Acts as a project leader for project teams.

Master black belt - Works with leaders to identify gaps and select (improvement) projects. Provides coaching. Responsible for Lean Six Sigma implementation and culture change in a company.

Question 3

Improvement technique types

Answer 3

1. Flow charts - attempt to describe the nature of information flow and decision-making within operations
2. Scatter diagrams - attempt to identify relationships and influences within processes
3. Cause-effect diagrams - structure the brainstorming that can help to reveal the root causes of problems
4. Pareto diagrams - attempt to sort out the ‘important few’ causes from the ‘trivial many’ causes
5. Why-why analysis - pursues a formal questioning to find root causes of problems

Question 4

Types of benchmarks

Answer 4

Internal - A comparison between operations or parts of operations which are within the same total organisation

External - A comparison between an operation and other operations which are part of a different organisation

Non-competetive - Benchmarking against external organisations which do not compete directly in the same markets

Competetive - A comparison directly between competitors in the same, or similar, markets, etc.

Performance - A comparison between the levels of achieved performance in different operations

Practice - A comparison between an organisation’s operations practices and those adopted by another operation

Question 5

5 dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility CSR

Answer 5

1. Environmental
2. Social
3. Economic
   ^^^ Triple P - Planet, people, profit
4. Stakeholder
5. Volunariness