6 Sigma DMAIC

Submitted by admin on Sun, 05/06/2012 - 08:40
English
Body: 

DMAIC is a structured problem-solving methodology widely used in business. The letters are an acronym for the five phases of Six Sigma improvement: Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. These phases lead a team logically from defining a problem through implementing solutions linked to underlying causing, and establish best practices to make sure the solutions stay in place. The structure of DMAIC encourages creative thinking within boundaries such as keeping the basic process, product, or service. If your process is so badly broken that you need to start over from scratch or if you’re designing a new product, service, or process, use Design for Lean Six Sigma (DMEDI).  

 

Define

 

Measure

 

Analyze

 

Improve

 

Control

Project charter

 

Detailed value stream

 

Decide key process, input and output

 

Potential solutions

 

Mistake proofing

Target review

 

Identify key input ,process, output

 

List potential root cause

 

Best practices

 

SOP

Customer feedback

 

Operational definitions

 

Reduce list of potential root causes

 

Develop to be value stream map.

 

Process control and condition management

Financial benefit

 

Data collection plan

 

Confirm root cause effect on output

 

Pilot implementation

 

Implementation solutions and measuring

High level value stream map and scope

 

Validate measurement system

 

Estimate impact of root causes on key outputs

 

Confirm attainment of project goal

 

New opportunities

Communication plan

 

Collect baseline data

 

Prioritize root causes

 

Rollout plan

 

Lessons learnt

Team building

 

Process capability

 

 

 

 

 

Skill matrix

General plan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gate summary

 

Gate summary

 

Gate Summary

 

Gate summary

 

Gate summary

        Two primary options for implementing DMAIC：

  • Project-team approach

Black Belts deployed full-time to projects

Team members work on the project part-time-work on the project is interspersed with regular work.

Full involvement by all team members in all phases of DAMIC

Duration can be 1 to 4 months depending on scope

  • Kaizen approach

Rapid (1 week or less), intense progress through all of DMAIC except full-scale implementation

Preparatory work on Define, and sometimes on Measure, done by a subgroup (team leader and a Black belt, for instance)

Rest of work done by the full group during several days or a week when they work ONLY on the project (Participants are pulled off their regular jobs)

        Two indicators that you should follow all of DMAIC:

  1. Problem is complex: Need to involve different people in different level or departments.
  2. Solution risks are high：May affect current process, customer, product or service.

It is human nature to want to jump to solutions and quickly make the improvement. If you think you have an obvious solution with minimal risks, you can try skipping some of the DMAIC steps. But before you do so, ask:

  1. What data do I have to show that this idea is the best possible solution?
  2. How do I know that the solution will really solve the targeted problem?
  3. What possible downsides are there to the solution idea?

If you get the negative answers to the above mentioned questions, you need to work through all the DMAIC phases.