Lecture 17 Flashcards
Six-Sigma Metrics
Defect
Defects per unit
Defects per million opportunities
Defect
Any mistake or error that is passed on to a customer
Defects per unit (DPU)
Number of defects discovered / number of units produced
Defects per million opportunities (dpmo)
DPU * 1,000,000 / opportunities for error
Allows us to define quality broadly.
Six sigma represents a quality level of…
At most 3.4 defects per million opportunities
Key Six Sigma Metrics in Services
Accuracy
Cycle Time
Cost
Customer satisfaction
Six-Sigma Quality
Ensuring that process variation is half the design tolerance (Cp = 2.0) while allowing the mean to shift as much as 1.5 standard deviations, resulting in at most 3.4 dpmo.
Six Sigma Project Problems
Conformance Problems Unstructured performance problems Efficiency Problems Product design problems Process design problems
Drivers for Six Sigma Process Involvement
Customer expectations for higher quality.
Competition for scarce resources; potential for cost reduction.
New business models enabled by advances in information technology.
Key Factors in Six Sigma Project Selection
Financial return, as measured by costs associated with quality and process performance, and impacts on revenues and market share
Impacts on customers and organizational effectiveness
Probability of success
Impact on employees
Fit to strategy and competitive advantage
DMAIC
Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Purpose of Define
Establish a clear and compelling reason for improving the process or product, based on:
Voice of Customer
Stakeholder requirements
Gap in current process capability
Deliverables of Define
Charge that includes the current observable problems, goals for the project and information that will guide the team.
Outline of customer expectation/failure data, performance gap; clear statement of the perceived problem.
Written using SMART language.
SMART
Specific Measurable Attainable Results-Oriented Timely
Purpose of Measure
To factually understand the problem;
Collection of data;
Use later in the Analyze step
Deliverables of Measure
Flow chart
Data collection completed
Key Metrics established
Performance Matrix
Purpose of Analyze
To make sense of all the data gathered.
To identify the ‘root cause’ of a problem.
Deliverables of Analyze
List of problems, Fishbone
Root cause analysis
Pareto of root causes
Root Cause Analysis: The five Whys
Identifying the root cause of a problem.
Determining the relationship(s) between different root causes of a problem.
Purpose of Improve
To generate, pilot and implement viable solutions that address the root causes.
Solutions to root causes
Effective in performing corrective action
Financially feasible
Acceptable by other parts of the organization
Deliverables of Improve
Alternative solutions and cost benefit analysis.
Testing of ‘high impact’ ‘cost-efficient’ solutions.
A “should be” process map/flow and cost model based on a pilot.
Types of Improvements
Simplification of process
Changes in staffing schedules
Improved
Purpose of Control
To sustain and control future process performance.
Deliverables of Control
A documented measuring/monitoring plan for maintaining standardized process and procedures and reduced costs.
A documented transfer of ownership to the process owner and management team.
Why customers can expect reliability and how the improvement will be sustained over time.
Control Hand-offs Document the following:
New Quality Standards
Responsibility and timeline for full implementation
Methods to measure customer satisfaction
Methods to measure process control and capability
Expectations for Progress Reports
All Six Sigma projects have three key characteristics
A problem to be solved,
A process in which the problem exists,
And one or more measures that quantify the gap to be closed and can be used to monitor progress.
