six sigma part 1 - 2018

Recommended Reading

This training includes everything you will need to study for

the certification exam. If you would like to further your

understanding of Six Sigma, we recommend these books:

• Michael L. George, John Maxey, David Rowlands, Mark Price (Sept 2004)

The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to 100

Tools for Improving Quality and Speed ISBN-13: 978-0071441193

• George Eckes (Jan 2003) Six Sigma for Everyone ISBN-13: 978-

0471281566

• Thomas Pyzdek (Mar 2003) The Six Sigma Project Planner : A Step-by-

Step Guide to Leading a Six Sigma Project Through DMAIC ISBN-13: 978-

0071411837

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Unit 1 - Introduction to ‘Six Sigma’

The purpose of this unit:

This first unit provides a general background and history

regarding the beginnings of Six Sigma, where it comes

from, why it is used, and the foundation concepts upon

which it is built. This unit also provides several terms and

phrases used within Six Sigma. It is designed to provide a

sound foundation to understand the units that follow.


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The Basics of Six Sigma

Six Sigma is an improvement methodology that uses the

following phases to make changes to any process:

Defining, Measuring, Analyzing, Improving, and Controlling.

“Six Sigma” measures the capability of a process to

perform defect-free work with a failure rate of 3.4 parts per

million or 99.9997%.


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma


The Six Sigma methodology uses proven strategies, tools,

and statistical methods to improve virtually any process.

The goal of Six Sigma is improved process performance

and increased customer satisfaction through variability and

defect reduction, resulting in consistently producing high-

quality services, products, or processes.


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Six Sigma reduces costs and waste by determining the

Cost of Poor Quality.

Reducing poor quality is accomplished by:

– Understanding who your customers are and what is

important to them

– Understanding customer feedback, called the Voice

of the Customer, and determining the necessary

requirements for your product

– Prioritizing issues related to your product- Continued on next slide


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_poor_quality


(Continued)

Reducing poor quality is accomplished by:

– Determining internal processes and what causes

variation

– Determining what causes defects

– Developing ways to address the defects

– Developing metrics to standardize and measure the

changes made in the process


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Copyright : Management and Strategy Institute

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Quiz

Click the Quiz button to edit this object


Although referred to regularly in today’s working world, the

Six Sigma methodology is a relative newcomer to the

landscape of theories and practices to work better.

In 1986, Bill Smith was the first person to introduce the

principle. He was working for Motorola at the time and had

been fascinated with ways to improve working practices.

This included making them more efficient and effective by

pushing ahead with quality improvements and trying to get

the most from a manufacturing production line.


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Mr. Smith came up with the idea to work on a way to

minimize defects in production through continuous

improvements.

He recognized that every manufacturing and business

process could be measured, analyzed, and improved upon

based on analysis and controlled to stay within that new

process.

Continuing to do this would reduce variations in process

and produce output much more effectively, meeting the

desires of the customer.


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Six Sigma focuses on measuring and quantifying the

impact of an improvement project. It requires buy-in across

the business for the project to make changes based upon

those measurements, irrespective of personal views.

Guesswork and assumptions have no place; it is a precise

process.


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Six Sigma designates clear roles for people within the

project, using “belts” to define each role and contribution as

well as recognizing Six Sigma “champions.”

Strong management to lead forward the required changes

is paramount to the process of a Six Sigma project and key

to the roles of black belts – who are the highest level belts,

akin to most martial arts. (unit 3 discusses the belt structure

in more detail).


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The term "Six Sigma" comes from statistics. A “sigma” is a

term used to denote variance from the mean average of an

event.

It is perceived that for any event or activity, 3 measures of

these variances on either side of the mean average will

include almost all potential activities. So, Six Sigma

originally referred to the ability of manufacturing processes

to produce a very high proportion of output within

specification.


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The Meaning of Six Sigma

Processes that operate with "six sigma quality" over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities. This is not strictly accurate as being within six standard deviations; only roughly 4.5 deviations cover this, but the accepted principle allowing for modifications over time is that Six Sigma will work to this level of accuracy. (For those in the Black Belt program, unit nine goes into greater detail on statistics).

Six Sigma's implicit goal is to improve all processes to that level of quality or better. Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola Inc.


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Sigma levels determine the rate of defects and are a

standardized measure of the error rate of a process, based

on the Defects per Million Opportunities (DPMO) estimate.

The Sigma Level estimate is a long-term estimate of the

process defect opportunities. At the Six Sigma level, a

business process produces only 3.4 defects per million

opportunities.


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• At the 5th Sigma level, 233 defective parts per million

occur.

• At the 4th Sigma level, 6,210 defective parts per million

occur.

• At the 3rd Sigma level, 66,807 defective parts per million

occur.

• At the 2nd Sigma level, 308,538 defective parts per

million occur.

• At the 1st Sigma level, 690,000 defective parts per million

occur.


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There are two common analogies you will see which help

to put Six Sigma into perspective. One deals with

surgeries, and the other deals with airplane crashes.

They both put the criticality of Sigma performance levels

into perspective. An example follows:


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If you have a surgeon who is performing your surgery, are

you comfortable with a surgical infection rate or negative

outcome rate at the 2nd sigma level using this chart?

Are you comfortable with an airline that has a crash rate at

the 3rd sigma level? Probably not.

We feel more comfortable with businesses and companies

functioning at the 5th or 6th level of sigma.


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General History of Six Sigma &

Continuous Improvement

The history of performance and process improvement

dates back to the late 1880’s. This was, in large part,

related to the industrial revolution.

With the invention of steam and the business need for new

manufacturing processes, companies noticed an increasing

need for standardization and later for reducing variability.

In 1789, Eli Whitney introduced mass production and

interchangeable parts, which was a pivotal point in the

emerging quality frontier.


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Since then, a multitude of quality control methods have

been developed. Some come and go, but each of them has

brought a new way of looking at what we do as a process.

Each of them has added some new tool, skill, or

improvement opportunity.

Total Quality Management (TQM) or (TQMS) provided a

good framework for continuous improvement in the late

1980s and early 1990s, but now industries rely more on

proven methodologies which rely on mathematical

substantiation and hypothesis testing.


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As we evolve in quality improvement, organizations such

as the International Standards Organization, develop

standards to further refine and provide a framework for

consistent quality management systems.

Examples are the ISO 9000 (Quality Management) or

9001 (Quality Management Systems) standards.


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As businesses move along the continuum of quality

improvement, they realize the value economically, socially,

and strategically for obtaining certifications such as Six

Sigma. For their organization and their employees, it is a

winning strategy.

Great companies today realize that the money invested in

performance enhancement is returned exponentially to the

organization.


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Six Sigma is the result of bits and pieces of many individual

contributions to the quality movement.

The word “sigma” has been used for years by

mathematicians and engineers as a symbol for a unit of

measurement of variation called the standard deviation.

Understanding deviation in a process is important to place

it under control.


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It is important to remember the Six Sigma methodology is

not a revolutionary way of thinking, but more of an

evolutionary development in the science of continuous

improvement.

Six Sigma uses the best elements from historical quality

initiatives to provide a process of managing quality using

credible experience and proven tools.

Business success depends on improving business

processes and results in combination with great customer

service.


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Here is a brief overview of some of the key contributions to

quality history and the quality movement over the last 100

years:

– In 1789, Eli Whitney introduced mass production and

interchangeable equipment parts. This led to

significant improvements in repair downtime.


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In 1913, Henry Ford began the moving automobile

assembly line. This further exemplified the need for part

consistency. If something broke, it needed to be repaired

rapidly to eliminate assembly line delay.

In the 1920’s, quality began to be driven by inspections.

In 1924, Walter Shewhart introduced process control charts

and methods to collect and analyze data in ways which

could be displayed so employees could more readily see

the changes they made.


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In the 1950’s, the U.S. military developed the military

standard MIL-STD-105A, and the U.S. government

required statistically-based levels of product quality from its

vendors.

In 1954, Joseph Juran began to introduce his concept of

integration known as “Big Q” in Japanese factories. The Big

Q involved quality through management’s active

involvement and ownership. This led to the Japanese

constantly improving quality and manufacturing capability in

the 1970’s. Ultimately, their capabilities became more

effective than those employed in the United States.


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The key focus became defect elimination and cycle time

reduction. Both of these improvements resulted in

improved productivity and true success for Japanese

companies such as Toyota.

By the 1980s, American manufacturers realized if

Japanese companies did it, why couldn’t they; and so they

did, with companies such as Motorola and GE leading the

way.


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In 1987, the International Organization for Standardization

(ISO) developed a series of quality standards that were

adopted by most of the industrialized world to serve as a

single global standard.

In 1987, the U.S. Government introduced the Malcolm

Baldrige National Quality Award, presented annually by the

president, and designed to provide an operational definition

of “business excellence.”


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In 1987, Motorola adopted the concepts of Six Sigma and

shared the new methodology and philosophy with their

suppliers, engineers, and managers. This resulted in

billions of tangible savings to Motorola.

Other corporations began to engage in Six Sigma such as

Honeywell, Ford Motor Company, and General Electric,

with the same results. They saved money by reducing

repair times, increasing customer satisfaction, reducing

order delays, reducing defects, increasing productivity, and

decreasing measurement error.


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Shewart and Deming helped develop some key process

improvement ideas and theories.

In 1920, Walter Shewart explained how three sigma or three

standard deviations is where a process needs to be

corrected. This is the point where a product will need to be

remade because it will not pass a quality inspection.

Dr. W. Edwards Deming (1900–1993) is best known for

reminding management that most problems are systemic

and that it is their (management's) responsibility to improve

the systems so that workers can do their jobs more

effectively.


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Deming's theories were taught as a part of his System of

Profound Knowledge. His knowledge system consists of

four interrelated parts:

(1) Theory of Optimization

(2) Theory of Variation

(3) Theory of Knowledge

(4) Theory of Psychology


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming



In the theory of optimization, the objective of an organization is the

optimization of the total system and not the optimization of individual

subsystems.

In the theory of variation, his philosophy focuses on improving the

product and service variability in design and manufacturing processes.

In the theory of knowledge, Deming emphasized that knowledge is not

possible without theory, and experience does not establish a theory by

itself. He says copying a best practice without understanding the theory

behind it could be devastating for an organization.

In the theory of psychology, he helped explain how to understand

people, interactions between people, and interactions between leaders

and employees in a system of management. Copyright: Management and Strategy Institute

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When developing better interactions between employees

and managers, he noticed that workers were responsible for

10 to 20 percent of the quality problems in a factory. The

remaining 80 to 90 percent was under management's

control. It was their responsibility to manage the programs

accordingly.

Deming knew higher quality leads to higher productivity, and

higher productivity leads to long term competitive strength

for businesses. Quality improvements result in less rework,

fewer mistakes, fewer delays, and better use of time and

materials. He taught quality and productivity improvement

for over fifty years. He also developed the Deming Cycle.


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The Deming Cycle is also known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act

(PDCA) Cycle or Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle. It was

invented by Walter Shewhart, but popularized by and

significantly enhanced by Deming.

PDCA and PDSA are cyclic processes for planning and

testing improvement activities prior to full-scale

implementation.


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDCA

The steps in the Deming PDCA or PDSA Cycle are:

1. Plan a change or test it (P).

2. Do it (D) by carrying out the change or test on a small

scale.

3. Check it (C) by observing the effects of the change or

test.

4. Study it (S) by reviewing what you have done or

changed.

5. Act on what you have learned (A).

6. Repeat and continuously evaluate the process.


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Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project

There are several key deliverables for a Six Sigma project.

It is important to remember that Six Sigma is not designed

to be a quick fix to mask a business problem.

Lean Six Sigma is more of a high level, intense system to

promote ongoing quality improvement. The ultimate goal is

continued improvement and sustained quality.


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Six Sigma focuses on reducing defects, preventing rework,

and eliminating waste in processes that produce a

customer’s product.

By using research and data collection, organizations can

discover internal problems that may or may not be

apparent, allowing them to take action to reduce errors and

rework, which cost time, opportunities, and money.

Businesses should use Six Sigma and quality management

system standards to ensure that they consistently produce

products and services to meet the critical to quality

standards of the customer.


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For organizations to meet their goals for quality

improvement and Lean Six Sigma, they must meet several

key deliverables along the way under the DMAIC model.

First, the deliverables for the Define phase will include:

– Developing a fully-trained project team who is

committed to the improvement and has the full

support of management, including necessary

resources.

– Identifying what characteristics are Critical to Quality

for the customer, developing a project charter, and

mapping the known business processes.


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The deliverables of the Measure phase include identifying

key measures, developing and deploying a data collection

plan, developing a baseline for performance, documenting

variation, and communicating it to team members and

stakeholders.

The deliverables of the Analysis phase involve a root cause

analysis for concerns, gap analysis, and a top-to-bottom

data and process analysis.


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The deliverables for the Improve phase involve developing

possible solutions, determining which one’s are the best

solutions, and then developing a subsequent

implementation plan.

The final deliverables in the Control phase include

standardizing processes, documenting procedures,

implementing the monitoring plan, and ultimately

transferring ownership of the project and closing the

project.


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Problem Solving Strategy Y=f(x)

The problem-solving strategy all begins with a simple

equation: y = f(x)

Although Six Sigma talks a lot about statistical analysis and

measurements and various other mathematical

applications, at the core of the process is one simple

equation:

y=f(x), or more accurately, y=f(x)+ Ɛ.


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https://www.dummies.com/careers/project-management/six-sigma/how-to-use-six-sigmas-breakthrough-equation-y-fx/

Problem Solving Strategy Y=f(x)

The core parts of this equation are described as followed:

– ‘y’ represents the desired outcome, result, or goal you

want to achieve.

– ‘x’ represents the input, factors, variables, or elements

required to create the outcome.

– ‘f’ represents the function or process applied to the

variables, by which they are modified, changed, or

altered – the transformation processor.

– ‘Ɛ’ represents some level of error or the amount of

difference due to uncertainty or predictability when the

process is applied and how near or far it is from the

desired outcome.


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Problem Solving Strategy Y=f(x) This is perhaps easier to see as an example:

When you bake a cake, you take a set number of ingredients,

combine them in a certain way, bake the mixture, and after a

period of time, you get a cake ready to eat.

– ‘y’ is the cake that you desire

– ‘x’ represents the ingredients

– ‘f’ represents the mixing and baking process that is applied

to the ingredients to create the cake

– ‘Ɛ’ – If you made this cake several times, the outcome may

not always be identical. You may use a slightly lower heat

setting in the oven, a slightly differing amount of an

ingredient, and you may cook it for a few minutes more or

less. The end result will be broadly the same, but each will

have some variance from the others. That difference is

represented by ‘Ɛ’, the Greek letter epsilon.Copyright: Management and Strategy Institute

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Quiz


Problem Solving Strategy

This is referred to as The Principle of Determinism. This

principle explains that every outcome is the result of a

process being applied to it or determined by the application

of a function.


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Problem Solving Strategy

The Principle of Determinism is a core belief running

through Six Sigma. All outcomes are determined by the way

inputs are transformed – according to some said process.

The cause and effect philosophy of Six Sigma means that

you look at a 'process' and see how the process allows for

variation. The inputs, process function, and errors within that

process all affect the outcome. They cause the outcome to

be a particular way – the cause and effect of Six Sigma.


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism#Mathematical_models

Voice of the Customer, Business, and Employee

Quite often, a customer is the person or group who drives

the project and is the focus of a project.

Customers define requirements, needs, or wants. They

have a vested interest in a project. They also pay for the

project, support resource needs, and evaluate and use the

results of the project. They provide the “Voice of the

Project” and are considered the “Voice of the Customer.”


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Defining the Voice of the Customer (VOC) includes what

the customers’ requirements are for products and services

and what their expectations are: both positive and negative,

including likes, dislikes, problems, and suggestions.

It helps determine core business processes involved in

their needs and helps the project team develop the Critical

to Quality elements (CTQs) and develop key process

metrics (KPOVs). The VOC asks what each customer

desires, specifically, what is important to them, and what do

they perceive is a defect in a quality or service.


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_the_customer


The purpose of the Voice of the Customer (VOC) survey is to

identify key business drivers of internal and external customer

satisfaction. The VOC is necessary to properly focus the Six

Sigma project and develop the right measures.

The VOC asks what each customer desires, specifically what is

important to them and what do they perceive is a defect in a

quality or service.

Once data is developed, it can be used to translate customer

feedback into project goals and objectives, including Critical to

Quality (CTQ) attributes and requirement statements.

Voice of the Customer analysis tools such as quality function

deployment (QFD) translate customer requirements into

performance measures.


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CTQ flow-down is used to convert the voice of the

customer to specific needs using a treemap, where the tree

map is the voice of the customer and the branches lead to

the specific features.

It helps determine the big Y’s and little y’s or the effects of

the causes.


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Several methods can be used to determine the voice of the employee, voice of the business, voice of the process, or voice of the customer.

To do so, you can use various methods to collect customer feedback, wishes, and desires for products and services. These include surveys, focus groups, interviews, or observation. You can identify the key elements that make these tools effective.

The collection of customer data through surveys, interviews, in-person, focus groups, email, or phone help determine the needs of the customer and the voice of the customer.


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VOC data can be developed in two forms: those which are

reactive in nature and those which are proactive in nature.

– Reactive examples include complaints, sales

reporting, or web page activity.

– Proactive examples include interviews, surveys,

market research, benchmarking, and quality

scorecards.


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The ‘what’ and ‘why’ indicate specifically what you want to

know about your customers.

The customer survey was designed with these factors in

mind:

– What don’t you like?

– What are your expectations?

– What’s important to you?

– What’s a defect?

– How do we compare to our competitors?

– How are we doing?

– What do you like?


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The voice of the customer determines what improvements

are desired and need to be made. All improvements are

done with the goal of increasing the quality of the business

output.

The three key input components of quality are the customer,

the employee, and the process. Once you determine the

customers’ requirements, you need to determine what data

is needed to make improvements. There are several ways

to display this data.

The Six Sigma project team will develop primary and

consequential metrics such as quality, cycle time, or cost

and establish key project metrics that relate to the voice of

the customer. Copyright: Management and Strategy Institute

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Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities

Six Sigma team formation typically consists of stakeholders,

executives, champions, and team members (yellow belts)

who are led by a green belt or black belt.

Project level membership may include master black belts,

black belts, green belts, or yellow belts who help in the

management of the improvement initiative.

Team members are obtained throughout the organization for

expertise and technical guidance.

Executives provide the strategic alignment within the

organization for initiatives and Six Sigma projects.


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• Champions guide the team through organizational

support and resources, removing roadblocks.

• Master black belts train black and greenbelts and

manage the strategic direction of the Six Sigma program.

• Black belts lead problem-solving Six Sigma teams.

• Green belts assist with data collection and analysis for

black belt projects.

• Yellow belts review overall activities and participate as

project team members and subject-matter experts

(SMEs) in their area of work.


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Position Role Action

Executive Management Champions Sponsor the project

Black Belts Consultants Provide Guidance

Green Belts Consultants Operations

Yellow Belts Consultants Identify processes that need improvement

Project team Process Execute the Actual Work

Subject Matter Experts Expertise Provide Guidance

Position Roles and Responsibilities


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This chart provides an “at a glance” overview of the

different positions and their roles in a project.


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Quiz


Six Sigma Terminologies

As you progress through the units, you will learn several

terms, words, and phrases that may be unfamiliar to you.

Some words you may know, but within a different context.

When a term is used for the first time, it will be highlighted

and an explanation will be given for it within the context of

that section.


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Six Sigma Terminologies

Throughout all units, you will need to be aware of some of the following terms and phrases. Understanding them now will help you as you build up your knowledge through the subsequent units.

– ‘function’ relates to a process or application – e.g., the manufacturing process is a function.

– ‘variation’ refers to a difference from the expected or likely outcome.

– ‘variance’ and ‘standard deviation’ are statistical terms of measuring such variations.

– ‘error’ refers to the amount of difference or variation from the perfect expected outcome.


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Unit Summary

In this unit, you have learned about:

• The historical context of Six Sigma being developed

• What Six Sigma as a term means and the levels of Sigma

• The y=f(x) + Ɛ function

• The Principle of Determinism

• Cause and Effect

• Deliverables of a Lean Six Sigma Project

• Voice of the Customer, Business, and Employee

• Six Sigma Roles and Responsibilities


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Six Sigma Opportunities

The purpose of this unit:

• This unit will look at quality appraisal tools and how they

relate to Six Sigma.

• It will also help you consider when Six Sigma projects

are appropriate and how to decide when to move

forward with the opportunity.


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Unit 2 - Fundamentals of Six Sigma

Fundamentally, the training and use of Six Sigma philosophies

and principles will allow employees and project teams to

understand how systems interrelate and how to use the

application of quality improvement methodologies that

complement Six Sigma, such as Lean.

Six Sigma relies on a Body of Knowledge (BOK) that contains

information on general content and topical areas users should

know and pursue in their initiatives. Key fundamentals are that

users should be able to:

• Master data collection techniques, project charter

development, and document usage

• Apply and use Six Sigma tools and process analysis

• Understand team dynamics and apply project

management skills


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Fundamentals of Six Sigma

There is no universal body for Six Sigma standards, so

individual companies and trade associations have stepped

in to fill this void.

The Management and Strategy Institute is a trade

association created specifically to meet the needs of

continuous improvement professionals. Our Six Sigma

standards are set through a program called:

• Six Sigma Quality Standards (SSQS)-BOK


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https://www.msicertified.com/blog/quality-standards

Fundamentals of Six Sigma

• Implement statistical process control (SPC).

• Strategically plan improvements.

• Understand tactical design principles for organizational application.

• Perform hypothesis testing.

• Perform statistical and process capability calculations.

• Perform and analyze the results of correlation and regression.

• Analyze and interpret risk studies and implement improvement processes.

• Deploy control plans and sustainment opportunities.


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_process_control

Managing Quality

Depending on what sort of business you work in or have

experience with, the nature of quality will be different. The

general assumption across all businesses is that quality

products are products meeting the needs or expectations of

the customer.

In effect, quality is not about what you produce being

accurate as you see it, but rather as the customer sees it.


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Managing Quality

The customer is the person receiving the output produced

from the product – the ‘y’ in the equation we discussed in

the previous unit.


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Managing Quality

How quality is achieved within the workplace is examined

by a raft of philosophies and practices, not least of which is

Six Sigma.

First, it’s worth looking at a few other approaches to quality:


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Managing Quality

ISO9000 series of certifications are governed by the

“International Standards Organization” – ISO. They cover a

range of methods for documenting quality standards and

approaches within the workplace.

The ISO certification only confirms correct and proper

documentation is maintained, kept accessible, and stored

properly by a business.


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Managing Quality

In itself, it does nothing to improve quality and in effect

gives quite a high-level approach to the documentation of a

process and practice within a business.

Certification can be obtained by any business that can

provide evidence of the required documentation. It does

nothing to improve quality.

ISO is however, a well-respected and acknowledged

business benchmark that demonstrates intent with regards

to quality production.


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Managing Quality

Lean Methodology works on the basis of improving quality

by eliminating waste within the business.

Credited with coming out of Toyota in the 1970s, it is

sometimes referred to by the term Muda, which is the

Japanese name for it.


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Managing Quality

• Three Forms of Waste


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Mura

Muri

Muda

Managing Quality

In Lean, you have three types of waste:

– Mura is unevenness in work demand or work flow.

– Muri is having a greater demand than capacity in any given time or overburdening the process, series of processes, or system. We can all relate to making mistakes when we are rushed or stressed; this is caused by Muri. We establish the capacity for work and then ensure we do not try and force more into the system than it can handle.

– Muda waste has two types:

• Muda Type I : non-value added activity, necessary for end customer.

• Muda Type II : non-value added activity, unnecessaryfor end customer.


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Managing Quality

Lean has some beneficial applications in reducing waste

and improving quality by reducing excess or ensuring that

the product meets the customer expectations without

wasting effort in exceeding that expectation.


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Managing Quality

Many tools within the Lean practice have moved across to

Six Sigma, and their correlations have become so

noticeable that ‘Lean Six Sigma’ has become a practice in

itself.

We will touch on this in a later unit for those studying to

Black Belt level. However, by itself, it has limitations in its

applications.


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Managing Quality

Total Quality Management – or TQM, is one of the most

popular quality methodologies around. Next to Six Sigma, it

is probably one of the most tool-driven methods, but does

not have the mathematical or statistical relations found

within Six Sigma.


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Managing Quality

TQM relies on examining problems and proposing solutions

that need to be accepted by the populous – in effect, a

democratized solutions process.

It identifies ‘good ideas’ but does not necessarily identify

the best.


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Managing Quality

That said, it will normally make improvements in quality as

part of its process of further reviews. Its cause and effect

analysis ensures that better-than-existing processes are

put forward at all times.

One issue is that its lack of measurement doesn’t indicate

how much better the new process is or if the best option is

being adopted.


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Starting Six Sigma

When thinking about Six Sigma in any business, it can be a

bit daunting. If you’ve been told that your business is going

to start adopting Six Sigma methodology and the business

will be better because of it, it can all feel a little

overwhelming.

How do you know when to consider a process for

improvement, how to identify it, and what to do?


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Starting Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a top-down methodology – that means that

the decision to implement comes from the top – whether

that is the top of the business, your division of the

business, or some other production unit.


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Starting Six Sigma

The decision to move forward with an improvement review

within any business must include executive buy-in.


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Starting Six Sigma

One of the key considerations of Six Sigma is the desire to

meet the needs of the customer. Consider the business

and its customers – and remember the definition of a

customer is someone who receives the product (the ‘y’).

They can be internal or external customers.

You’ll need to consider if there is any place where the

business is not meeting its customers’ needs. Or more

likely, where you think it is not meeting their needs.


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Starting Six Sigma

This is where you need to focus your opportunity for

deployment.

Deployment is the use of Six Sigma in examining the

quality of an area of the business. Six Sigma projects

should be selected based on their cost-benefit analysis.


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Starting Six Sigma

Every business has limited resources, and no matter how

many people you have trained within the business, and to

whatever level they are trained, there are only a finite

number of resources available to you.

You’ll need to learn to maximize their application.


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Starting Six Sigma

A simple method of evaluating projects uses the Pareto

Priority Index (PPI):

PPI = Savings ($) x Probability of Success

Cost x Completion Time


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Starting Six Sigma

The PPI increases as the probability of success or savings

value increases, but decreases as the cost to implement or

the completion time becomes greater.

How you calculate each of these values is open to

interpretation, but what is important is that no matter how

you choose to measure (as is evident through Six Sigma as

a whole), that measurement is accepted as accurate by the

business and is consistently applied.


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Starting Six Sigma

An example of comparisons between projects can be seen

in the table below:

Project | Savings ($,000) | Probability of Success | Cost ($,000) | Completion (months) | PPI

A 250 95% 25 4.5 2.1

B 400 75% 12 10 2.5

C 700 50% 8 6 7.3

D 1500 60% 42 9 2.4

In this table, the outcomes of the PPI for A, B & D are

broadly in line with each other, but Project C is significantly

higher. Therefore, Project C would be a first choice to

deploy.


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Starting Six Sigma

This is not the only method and is not infallible as it does

not consider a number of important variables that may be

considered when deploying a project.

Consideration of business reputations, customer or

stakeholder weight, supplier timing, or even staffing impact

are not taken into account here. Yet, these may all be valid

areas of consideration when deciding on a deployment.


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Starting Six Sigma

Applying a relatively simple formula like this can help to

focus opportunities of deployment and decision making on

which projects to fully deploy.


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Starting Six Sigma

When you have decided upon project deployment, it is worth your time to get a rough idea of what resources you need for the project. Then, recruit a deployment leader.

This scoping will put a very loose framework around the intended project. It need say nothing more than a few descriptive words (e.g., “Looking at the way we package our sandwiches,” “Should we consider emailing our customers,” or “Do customers need the tennis balls in a box?”). These may seem like strange questions on their own, but they start the process of focus prior to deployment.


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Starting Six Sigma

We will come back to the role of the deployment leader in

the next unit when we look at how the team is made up.

We will also look at focusing the deployment activity when

we look at the intrinsic principles of Six Sigma in later units.


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Quiz


Unit Summary

In this unit, you have learned about:

• Other Quality methodologies: ISO, Lean, and TQM

• What to consider before deploying a Six Sigma Project

• How to choose potential projects

• The Pareto Priority Index (PPI)

• Initial scoping questions of the project

• Managing Quality

• Please click the Black X in the top right corner of the

screen to close the presentation viewer and continue.


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Unit Summary

• Please click the Black X in the top right corner of the

screen to close the presentation viewer and continue.


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six sigma part 1 - 2018

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