Project Phases

Quick reference

• 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:06 It's time now for us to go through the phases of a Lean Six Sigma project.
• 00:12 One of the important keys to success of Lean Six Sigma is that every project
• 00:16 follows a similar path so people know what to do and what to expect.
• 00:21 The path is the DMAIC process.
• 00:23 Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.
• 00:27 As a team starts down the path in the Define phase,
• 00:30 the business is setting targets and boundaries.
• 00:33 On to the measure phase, and
• 00:34 the team is investigating the problem to determine what is really going on.
• 00:39 Together, these phases are clarifying the real problem and the business impact.
• 00:43 Then comes the analysis phase where the true problem solving occurs.
• 00:48 Lean Six Sigma relies heavily on disciplined statistical analysis of data.
• 00:53 And that occurs in this point.
• 00:55 When the problem is now well understood, the team creates a practical,
• 00:59 viable solution for the problem in the Improve phase.
• 01:02 And that problem is implemented with all appropriate changes to systems, processes,
• 01:07 and procedures during the control phase.
• 01:10 Let's look at each of these in a little more detail.
• 01:13 We'll start at the beginning with the Define phase.
• 01:15 The purpose of these phase is to clearly and
• 01:18 precisely define the goals of this project from a business or a customer prospective.
• 01:24 It's at this time that the stakeholders ensure that the team is aligned around
• 01:28 the business objectives.
• 01:30 Now, during this phase, the team and stakeholders agree on boundaries.
• 01:35 Some of the more common tools to use this are a project charter or
• 01:38 a high level process map.
• 01:40 We don't want the team to spend effort on perceived problems that are irrelevant to
• 01:45 the business.
• 01:46 This sets the priorities and directs the teams in their areas of focus.
• 01:51 Next comes the measure phase.
• 01:53 With the focus set, the team now goes out and collects accurate, meaningful,
• 01:57 reliable data about the problem to be solved or the process to be improved.
• 02:02 This data relates back to the critical to quality characteristics that
• 02:06 were set in the Define phase.
• 02:08 There are several activities that the team must do to accomplish this work.
• 02:11 They must map the process in detail to understand the types of
• 02:14 activities that are going on.
• 02:15 With this information, they can take high level CTQs from the Define phase
• 02:20 like the customer expects on-time delivery, and
• 02:23 translate those into specific product or process CTQs, such as
• 02:28 the time from receipt of order to shipment of the product should not exceed 24 hours.
• 02:32 You can see from that CTQ that the teams will often need to set
• 02:36 performance standards also during this phase.
• 02:39 Then, once those are set,
• 02:40 the data must be collected to determine if the standards are being met.
• 02:45 By now, the problem is defined so it's time to analyze the data that was
• 02:49 collected to see what it tells us about the problem.
• 02:52 The purpose, then,
• 02:53 of this phase is to determine exactly how well the process is performing, and
• 02:57 to identify any causes that contribute to substandard performance.
• 03:02 From a statistical standpoint, that means determining the process capability or
• 03:06 Sigma level.
• 03:07 But it may also mean analyzing the flow with Lean metrics
• 03:11 to identify bottlenecks and waste.
• 03:13 With the capability and flow metrics,
• 03:14 we can now set realistic goals for improvement.
• 03:17 Now notice, the specific improvement goal for
• 03:20 the project is not determined until this phase.
• 03:24 This is one of the ways that Lean Six Sigma projects differ
• 03:27 from traditional projects.
• 03:29 The specific project success criteria is
• 03:32 not established until halfway through the project.
• 03:35 It's also at this time that the cause of variations and waste are determined,
• 03:39 including the magnitude and contribution from each cause.
• 03:43 Well, now onto the Improve phase.
• 03:44 The purpose of this phase is pretty clear.
• 03:48 Fix the problem, improve the process.
• 03:51 Depending upon the underlying causes,
• 03:52 there are a number of improvement approaches that could be used.
• 03:56 Whichever one fits the purpose, the team must develop and test the solution.
• 04:00 This may involve creating new process maps or value stream maps.
• 04:04 It may mean changing a supplier or an element of the design.
• 04:08 It almost always includes some change in operating procedures.
• 04:12 The team should prototype or simulate the implementation of the solution so
• 04:16 that they could foresee business impacts of putting it in place.
• 04:18 The solution must be practical given the business context.
• 04:23 The final phase is the control phase.
• 04:25 This is the phase that transitions the improvement
• 04:29 from the project team to the business processes, and
• 04:32 ensures that the implementation will become the new normal mode of operations.
• 04:36 By doing so, the product or process should achieve the project goal and
• 04:40 be able to sustain that performance.
• 04:42 There are several important activities to take place.
• 04:46 There needs to be a validated measurement system to ensure that the new process can
• 04:49 be measured and that it is working correctly.
• 04:53 With the system working,
• 04:54 new process standards are established and other related business processes or
• 04:58 systems in the organization are changed, including training the users.
• 05:02 Now, the team does not assume that everything will always go as expected, so
• 05:06 the team creates a control plan to help users maintain and
• 05:10 sustain their performance.
• 05:11 And, of course, the team needs to bring the project to an orderly close,
• 05:15 dispose of any team resources, and
• 05:17 ensure the documentation of the results is being archived correctly.
• 05:23 So those are the five phases.
• 05:25 And we'll spend a number of sessions in each phase going through the tools and
• 05:29 techniques that are typically used in that phase.

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