Locked lesson.

Upgrade

About this lesson

A Lean Six Sigma Black Belt will often chair the stage gate review meetings for Lean Six Sigma projects. In those meetings, the Black Belt needs to ensure the work of the phase was done and the tools were used effectively. This lesson reviews the normal deliverables due at the Improve stage gate review. It also includes hints and tips for identifying problems to be avoided during that phase.

Quick reference

Improve Stage Deliverables

The Improve Stage is the fourth stage of a Lean Six Sigma project.  The deliverables from this should demonstrate a viable solution to the problem in preparation of implementation of that solution.

When to use

The Improve Stage deliverables should be reviewed and approved at the Improve Stage Gate Review meeting.

Instructions

Throughout the Improve stage, the team is developing a solution strategy.  Often the solution will be a combination of several changes to address both special causes and common causes.  The ultimate goal of the work in this stage is to create a solution and demonstrate that it corrects the problem and addresses the customer CTQs.  The solution strategy often includes process changes that are captured in the To-Be process map.

The effort in this stage includes demonstrating the change is effective. Many times this is first demonstrated with a simulation or in a virtual format before investing in the physical demonstration.  Eventually, there will need to be a demonstration run conducted and the results compared back to the baseline data that was collected in the Measure stage.  The solution should include more than a working prototype, it should include draft procedures or other process and system changes that are needed to implement the solution strategy.  In addition, it should have a tentative cost and schedule for the implementation activities.  That is what is actually being approved at this gate.  If the stakeholders approve the solution strategy and cost and schedule, that is the authority to move into the Control stage and fully implement the solution.

A major challenge can arise in this stage when attempting to demonstrate the solution is effective.  The team needs to be able to reference back to the baseline performance to show the change.  If the solution is not effective, the team must re-evaluate whether they have identified the true root causes.  Questions you often must work through with the stakeholders during the gate review are:

  • What other solutions were considered?  Be prepared to give a high-level description and why they were rejected.  The solution selection matrix is an excellent tool for facilitating this discussion.
  • What has been the result of testing the solution?  You will definitely need to show actual test or performance data that demonstrates the solution addresses the problem.
  • How would this solution impact the rest of the business/customers/suppliers?  The stakeholders will want to understand the level of disruption that will occur when the solution is implemented.

Hints & tips

  • Make sure you have done a good job brainstorming possible solutions and didn’t just jump at the first idea.  Use the Pugh Matrix to create a solution strategy.
  • Rely on data to demonstrate efficacy.  Where possible use prototypes and do actual runs.  In some cases, you will need to do simulations.  Try to calibrate your simulation approach with a baseline to show a percentage improvement with the solution strategy.  Watch out for the Hawthorne effect giving you a better solution performance than what will normally be achieved. 
  • Occasionally a DOE will be needed because of the complexity of the process or problem.  When that happens you need to actively coach the process.  One slight mistake can invalidate the entire statistical analysis of the DOE.
  • Don’t be upset if the solution does not make it all the way to the target.  Go for improvement with this solution and then in the spirit of continuous improvement, let the organization charter another team to make even more improvements.
  • In addition to measuring your improved performance against the baseline performance, also check it against the expectations of the customer CTQ. That is what many of the stakeholders will be most concerned about.
Login to download
  • 00:04 Hi, I am Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 I want to summarize this section by discussing the improved stage deliverables
  • 00:10 and some of the challenges that you may encounter while they are being developed.
  • 00:15 Let's start by looking at the gate review and
  • 00:17 what is required to get through this meeting.
  • 00:20 The focus of the phase has been to create a viable solution,
  • 00:23 one that addresses the primary causes that were identified in the analyze phase.
  • 00:29 So the focus of the review is to demonstrate that that has been achieved.
  • 00:33 The solution works and creates an improved process performance.
  • 00:37 That's the critical takeaway from this meeting.
  • 00:39 The understanding that implementing the solution solves the problem.
  • 00:43 The decision that occurs at this gate review is very obvious,
  • 00:47 it's a decision to approve the implementation of the solution.
  • 00:50 And of course, the biggest risk for this phase is also obvious.
  • 00:54 That is, that the solution does not really solve the problem.
  • 00:58 If the true root causes were identified on the Analyze stage and
  • 01:02 the solution strategies address those root causes, this risk should be very low.
  • 01:07 As you're preparing for the gate review,
  • 01:09 you can expect some questions to focus around this area of risk.
  • 01:13 The stakeholders will want to be sure that the solution solves the problem.
  • 01:17 Questions they're likely to ask include, what other solutions were considered?
  • 01:22 Do you have a complete solution strategy?
  • 01:25 What has been the result of the testing so far?
  • 01:28 Show us the data that demonstrates that the solution will solve the problem.
  • 01:32 I suggest you go back and
  • 01:34 review the customer CTQs when answering this question.
  • 01:37 And finally, how would this solution impact the rest of the business,
  • 01:41 our customers and our suppliers?
  • 01:43 Have you thought through what it would take to fully implement the solution?
  • 01:47 What is the time and schedule required to do this?
  • 01:51 Our process flow is very straightforward,
  • 01:54 we take the root cause from Analyze and determine which X elements or
  • 01:58 function aspects of the Y = F(x) equation needs to change.
  • 02:03 Create some changes, try them out, and
  • 02:06 test them to make sure we know they work, then be ready to implement them.
  • 02:11 Of course, you don't want to hold the gate review if you're not ready.
  • 02:14 So, let's look at the typical criteria for what's needed for successful gate review.
  • 02:19 I'll start with the obvious, you need to be able to show that you have
  • 02:24 successfully addressed any and all special causes of the problem.
  • 02:28 And you may also want to demonstrate that your solution strategy addresses some of
  • 02:33 the common causes.
  • 02:34 Now, if there were no special causes, this is your focus.
  • 02:37 If the problem really was due to a special cause,
  • 02:40 you may not need to do anything additional with respect to common causes.
  • 02:44 It all depends upon the root causes that are found in the Analyze stage.
  • 02:50 We've mentioned several times that the visualizations
  • 02:53 are helpful in these gate reviews.
  • 02:55 One great visuals to show the difference between the original as his map and
  • 03:00 the new 2B map show the removal or changes of steps and
  • 03:04 the impact on cycle time and roll throughput yield.
  • 03:07 Of course, you will need to show test data that demonstrates the improvement due to
  • 03:12 the solution strategy.
  • 03:13 And if you're improving a process, you should be ready to talk about the process
  • 03:17 changes and have all the new process, design and procedures prepared.
  • 03:21 So that the stakeholders know that the procedure has been developed and
  • 03:26 is ready to go.
  • 03:27 The approval of this review is to implement the solution strategy, so
  • 03:31 be certain to have this laid out.
  • 03:33 Then the stakeholders will know what they're approving.
  • 03:36 This includes the scope of the improvement, which is your solution
  • 03:40 strategy, a proposed cost and schedule to do the improvement, and
  • 03:44 the impact on all the other different parts of the businesses.
  • 03:48 It's quite common for a solution strategy to require support systems or
  • 03:52 other processes to change.
  • 03:54 These organizations need to be aware of the impact, what is coming, and
  • 03:58 that they are part of the planning and the solution.
  • 04:01 Let's finish this up by providing a few tips and hints to help you get through
  • 04:05 this stage and have a successful stage review meeting.
  • 04:08 Brainstorm multiple solutions before deciding what to do,
  • 04:12 don't just jump to the first idea.
  • 04:14 It may be a good one, but after brainstorming other ideas,
  • 04:17 you may be able to come up with an enhancement that makes it even better.
  • 04:21 This is one of the things that the Pew Matrix will do for you.
  • 04:24 Don't just trust that a solution will work, demonstrate it.
  • 04:28 Get data, it could be from prototypes or simulations, but
  • 04:32 get data and demonstrate the improvement.
  • 04:35 One caution when collecting the data is to watch out for the Hawthorne effect.
  • 04:39 Try to get multiple data points so that you can see what happens once the solution
  • 04:44 becomes routine and not quite so special.
  • 04:46 If you need to do a design of experiments, and most of the time, you won't,
  • 04:51 it will require close monitoring and special coaching.
  • 04:55 The nature of the experiment will mean that some of the runs will likely fail.
  • 04:59 And I've seen test operators change the experiment because, well,
  • 05:03 they don't want to have a failure, not realizing that we need that data point for
  • 05:07 the statistical analysis.
  • 05:09 So watch that work closely.
  • 05:11 It can be a long and expensive study, and
  • 05:14 one little screw-up invalidates the whole thing.
  • 05:17 Don't fall into the trap of thinking the solution may be 100% perfect.
  • 05:21 As long as you've made significant progress, you can claim victory.
  • 05:25 If the business wants more, well, that's why we call it continuous improvement,
  • 05:30 we make an improvement and then come back later and do another one.
  • 05:34 Finally, sometimes we're so focused on the improvement with respect to the process
  • 05:38 baseline performance that we forget to go back and look at the customer CTQs.
  • 05:42 Make sure you've addressed the customer CTQs at the gate review,
  • 05:46 that is how your customer perceives the problem.
  • 05:49 As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, it's your job to make sure that the solution created
  • 05:54 in the improved stage is effective.
  • 05:56 So don't hesitate to dig into the data and
  • 05:59 make sure that you can demonstrate it works, and you're ready to implement.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Gift this course