I. VI Sigma DMAIC improvement stage

1, effect/effort matrix

Strategic planning and collaboration In the face of competitive actions or solutions, it is very helpful to establish an effect/effort matrix. After you get a list of solutions, you and your employees can discuss each solution from the perspective of effectiveness and effort. The effects and efforts involved in different schemes can be divided into four levels. The group should discuss the following issues:

Will our customers notice this advantage? Will notice immediately? Or will you notice in the long run?

② Will choosing this scheme obviously reduce the pressure of employees downstream of the process? Will this solution affect the most important issues in the process?

③ Is the solution or change easy to implement?

④ What resources will be involved? Do we have the right technology to implement this solution?

2, the pilot inspection report

Strategic planning and process focus If possible, any process changes should be piloted before full implementation. In order to ensure that all the basic elements are considered and that the process runs as expected, testing is very important. Small-scale pilot of the process can solve detailed problems, test technical solutions and verify the effectiveness of the whole process. For more minor processes or smaller projects, experiments can usually be carried out informally and quickly.

Second, the six sigma DMAIC control stage

1, process record list

Once you have determined the "should" process, the next important thing is to record the process with standard operating procedures (SOP) or standard working procedures (SWP) (sometimes called "job aids"). Explaining the process in a more detailed or narrative form is very important to ensure the consistency of the process. Training for new employees is very helpful, and it also helps to provide a guide for old employees that can be consulted regularly or used every day (depending on the complexity of the process). The most strictly regulated industries must have standard operating norms; However, even if not required by regulators, standard operating practices are a valuable tool for all organizations.

2. Process list

In addition to flowcharts and process documents, process lists are also indispensable for many processes. The process list ensures that all steps have been completed. Whether the checklist is appropriate depends on the specific process. Checklists are especially useful for processes that require one person to complete many steps. Process lists are also useful for manual workflows that give paperwork to many people. The list should be easy to complete and leave enough space for any information that must be recorded on the list.

3. Check the chart

Control chart is the basic tool of statistical process control. It can show the normal range of expected changes in the process. Therefore, it can help organizations determine whether the process is running continuously. Expected variation is also called "common cause" variation. The control chart has allowable variation limits, which are called "lower control limit" (LCL) and "upper control limit" (UCL). Data points that exceed the lower and upper control limits indicate abnormal changes or "special cause" changes. Then, these causes can be identified and eliminated in order to regain control of the process.

A process is considered to be controlled if all changes are random and conform to the following three basic principles:

① No data points are out of control;

② No series of 7 data points are all rising or falling. This is evidence that the process is changing;

③ No series of 7 data points are higher or lower than the average. This is evidence that the process has changed.

4. Measuring standard instrument panel

Data-driven management Any organization, regardless of its scope of responsibility, can establish metrics for its key deliverables. The indicator dashboard is just a template to communicate these indicators to the appropriate audience. Your scope of responsibility will determine how complex your metrics dashboard should be. The dashboard is usually a one-page table, which lists the tracked indicators, indicator data at different times and target indicators. Dangerous or unacceptable measures will be highlighted.

As an advocate of the organization, it is your responsibility to understand your process. You need to actively identify and evaluate problems, whether they are daily problems that are easy to solve or long-standing problems that need to be solved urgently but are often pushed to a secondary position because of changes in priorities. In addition, there are some hidden problems in the workflow, which will also have a negative impact on productivity and efficiency. In many cases, identifying and solving these hidden problems can have a positive impact on the above two types of problems. Therefore, it is very important for managers to pay attention to and understand the processes within their work scope.