Summary of the six-sigma IMPROVE stage
The Improve phase focuses on developing ideas to remove root causes of variation, testing and standardizing those solutions. This involves:
- identify ways to remove causes of variation;
- verify critical Inputs;
- discover relationships between variables;
- establish operating tolerances which are the upper and lower specification limits (the engineering or customer requirement) of a process for judging acceptability of a particular characteristic, and if strictly followed will result in defect-free products or services;
- optimize critical Inputs or reconfigure the relevant process.
Key questions:
- Once we know for sure which inputs most affect our outputs, how do we control them?
- How many trials do we need to run to find and confirm the optimal setting/procedure of these key inputs?
- Who should the old process be improved and what is the new process?
- How much have Defects Per Millions Opportunities (DPMO) decreased?
The most applicable tools at this phase are:
- Process Mapping – this tool helps to represent the new process subsequent to the improvements.
- Process Capability Analysis (CPK) – in order to test the capability of process after improvement actions have been implemented to ensure we have obtained a real improvement in preventing defects.
- DOE (Design of Experiment) – This is a planned set of tests to define the optimum settings to obtain the desired output and validate improvements.
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Comments
By Data Governance on August 21st, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Ah yes… the I in DMAIC. So often at my organization they just want the process to be ‘I’. They’d rather skip the boring steps of Defining, Measuring, Analyzing, and Controlling. I can understand this tendency, I guess.
By Data Governance on August 21st, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Ah yes… the I in DMAIC. So often at my organization they just want the process to be 'I'. They'd rather skip the boring steps of Defining, Measuring, Analyzing, and Controlling. I can understand this tendency, I guess.
By laila on October 17th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
i dont get what the six sigma is plz try make it clearer
By laila on October 17th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
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