Methods of Six Sigma and Formula for Successful Quality Management
Six Sigma uses statistical formulae and methods to remove flaws and variance in a product or process. Six Sigma is implemented in five steps: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC). We will go through each step in detail, as well as the various Six Sigma methodologies.
1. Define
During this stage, we identify the most crucial and significant areas for change. This phase is concerned with mapping the process, focus, scope, and ultimate purpose, as well as comprehending how the problem affects all stakeholders. Other key stages at this time include:
- Determining the opportunities with the greatest potential for improvement.
- Make a value stream map (VSM) to record each stage of the procedure.
- Creating a voice of the customer table (VOCT) to identify the client's demands.
- Determining all the stakeholders.
- Estimating the project's impact and completion date.
2. Measure
In the Measure phase, baselines are established to measure the performance of a specific process. It is impossible to measure progress without solid standards for comparison. As a result, at this point, the actions are to:
- Create the data-gathering strategies that will be utilized to assess success.
- Recognize signs of intake, processes, and output.
- Gather and analyze current status data
- Analyze the failure modes and impacts.
- Conduct a process capability analysis.
3. Analyze
The purpose of this phase is to discover and test the underlying causes of problems in order to ensure that the improvement occurs right at the source of the problems. The following are crucial measures to be taken at this stage:
- Complete Root Cause Analysis (RCA), which includes a wide range of techniques and methodologies such as change analysis, events and causal factor analysis, and the Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making model.
- Process control implementation
- Using a multi-vari chart to provide a visual depiction of the variations within a particular process.
- Making a strategy for improvement
4. Improve
With the study being complete and the data in hand, it is time to begin making improvements. The actions to be taken in this stage:
- Brainstorm and propose solutions.
- Create a Design of Experiments (DOE) to establish a solution's projected advantages.
- To improve the process, hold Kaizen events.
- Inform all relevant parties about the solution.
5. Control
After improvements have been implemented and problems have been effectively addressed to enhance your operations, it is necessary to put the process under control to ensure its long-term efficacy. Following are the actions included in this stage:
- Determine and record the new work standard
- Create a quality control strategy to ensure that the entire team is using the same methodologies and metrics.
- Notice a decrease in failures caused by the earlier identified causes.
- Use Statistical Process Control (SPC) to track process execution and detect any further problems.
- Using the "Five S's" of Lean and streamlining process improvements.
Conclusion
Selecting a Six Sigma Project is critical because we need to know the long-term gains in executing these projects and the activities done in each phase. The basic building block is the define phase, where the problem statement is captured, and then the data is collected systematically against this problem statement in the measure phase, which is then analyzed in the Analyze phase by performing various hypothesis tests and process optimization in the Improve phase by removing the junk factors. Finally, by employing control charts in the Control Phase, we can sustain and maintain our process to its optimum functioning.