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X/Y Matrix

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About this lesson

The X/Y matrix is a tool that maps the Voice of Customer needs and concerns onto the process steps and inputs. This tool can take on several different formats, but any of them will provide the Lean Six Sigma team with insight as to the contributing factors of customer value.

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X/Y Matrix

When to use

The X/Y matrix is used to prioritize the areas of focus by the Lean Six Sigma teams during the Measure phase. If there are many possible areas of focus, this is an excellent tool. If the area of focus is clear, the matrix is not required.

Instructions

The X/Y matrix is used to relate customer needs to process inputs and steps. There are many different forms, formats, and scoring rubrics, but they all do essentially the same thing: They relate the process inputs and steps to the customer needs in order to prioritize the areas of focus for the measurement and analysis.

One of the more commonly used techniques for X/Y matrix is the Quality Function Deployment or QFD, The QFD, also known as House of Quality, is a very robust tool and is excellent for developing new products or services, For Lean Six Sigma, I just use the most basic matrix within QFD which is the X/Y matrix. To create a basic QFD:

List the customer needs from the Voice of the Customer research. If possible, weight those needs using a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the most important and 1 as the least important. You can have multiple needs with the same weighting score. This list is the vertical side of the matrix. Each customer need is a row in the matrix.
List the process inputs and process steps across the horizontal side of the matrix. Each input and step are a column in the matrix.
Classify the strength of the relationship between the input/step and the customer need using High, Moderate, Low or None (represented by a blank cell in the matrix). When determining the relationship, ask the question, “How important is the input/step to the process’s ability to meet the customer need?” Note: You are not evaluating how well the input or step works, only how strong the relationship is between the input/step and the customer need.
Score each relationship by setting High = 9, Moderate = 3, and Low =1, then multiply the relationship value by the weighting value for that customer need to determine the value of each cell in the matrix. Sum the columns to determine the overall score for each input/step.

When evaluating the results of an X/Y matrix, the columns with the highest total are the columns that have the most significant impact on meeting the customer’s needs. These inputs/steps need to be well designed and well controlled. If a column total is zero, that is a non- value added input/step and should be considered for elimination. If there is a row that has no interactions, that is an unmet customer need and the process should be redesigned to address it. Again, the score for each column does not indicate if that step is operating well. The step may be excellent with no room for improvement.

Hints & tips

Don’t overly agonize over the ratings, If you are off on a few, it probably will not change the relative rankings of the columns.
The actual column value is not important, it is the relative value as compared to other columns. Each process will be different because of different customer needs and the weighting of those needs.
If your organization uses an X/Y matrix with a different scoring system – go with it. I have seen H/M/L scoring or 9/3/1, 10/5/1, 3/2/1, 7,3,1, and others I don’t remember. Regardless of the scoring technique, the relative column ranking were essentially the same.
If your customers will not give you weighting, then just set the weighting value for all customer needs at 1.
Be wary of letting people in the process set the customer need weighting. They have a tendency to weight things based upon what they find most difficult, not what is most important.

00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
00:06 If working with a large, complex process or one with many inputs and
00:10 controls, you want to focus on the critical ones.
00:14 The X- Y Matrix is a tool that can help.
00:17 We've already talked about one prioritization tool, the Pareto Principle,
00:22 this approach is a little more subjective,
00:24 but provides an excellent insight because of the multi dimensional aspect.
00:29 Let's take a look, the X-Y Matrix is a graphical representation of the process.
00:34 In this representation,
00:35 we see how the inputs and controls are related in the process output.
00:40 We can then use this to prioritize which inputs or process steps
00:44 we should focus on in the data collection, and later, in the analysis phase.
00:48 Now, there are many different formats and scoring approaches with the X-Y Matrix.
00:53 And from what I have seen, all of them will work.
00:55 Some take a little more time, but provide greater insight.
00:58 Some are easier to score, but are a little more subjective.
01:02 At the end of the day what matters is that you use a format that works with your team
01:06 and provides useful insights into prioritizing
01:09 the areas of data collection and improvement.
01:12 One point, though, about the different approaches,
01:15 all of them used the voice of the customer for inputs.
01:18 Now, if there's a common problem that I've seen,
01:20 it is that the teams don't really use voice of the customer.
01:24 They assume that they know what the customer wants and thinks, so
01:27 they use their own interpretation of what they feel the customer should want.
01:30 I have found that when we use the internal team definition of voice of the customer,
01:36 you are always wrong.
01:37 So go to the real customer and get their input.
01:42 One of the more prominent techniques that uses
01:44 the X-Y Matrix format is the quality function deployment, or QFD.
01:49 QFD has been around a long time and it has proven its usefulness.
01:54 It is sometimes called the house of quality.
01:56 And when you look at the diagram,
01:57 you can see that it looks like a house with a peaked roof and side porch.
02:02 The QFD relates the customer's needs or wants, those are listed on the side porch,
02:07 to the product features or process steps, they're listed across the top.
02:12 I've used QFD to analyze both product and processes, but for this discussion,
02:17 I will focus on process since we're talking about process improvement.
02:20 But everything I say will also apply to product improvement.
02:24 Now, we are going to use the QFD in a basic fashion.
02:28 This technique is actually very powerful and has many additional
02:31 features that are useful when analyzing concepts for new product development.
02:35 But as I said, we're focusing in on existing processes and so
02:39 we will just use the basic functionality.
02:42 Let's go through the steps of how to create a basic QFD.
02:46 The first step, is to list the customer needs and wants.
02:49 We talked about voice of the customer in an earlier session and
02:52 how to get those needs and wants from customers.
02:54 If possible, get the customers to rank the importance.
02:58 The highest importance is a five and the lowest is a one, and ties are okay.
03:03 If he customer won't rank them, then treat thing as a one.
03:06 It just makes the math easier.
03:08 Step two, list the process steps and
03:11 the inputs or control variables across the top.
03:14 Make sure to list every step and every process input and control.
03:18 This may be a long list.
03:21 Now, for the fun part.
03:22 Step three, is to identify the relationship between the steps and
03:25 inputs and the customer's needs or wants which are your desired outputs.
03:30 In the QFD approach, you show whether the step or
03:33 input has a high, moderate, low or no effect upon the ability
03:38 of the process to deliver the attribute represented by the customer need or want.
03:43 You're not evaluating how well you do that step,
03:46 just whether that step has a major input or not.
03:49 Keep in mind the flow of the relationship, you do this by asking,
03:53 does this step impact this customer need?
03:57 If yes, do I think it is a high, modern, or low relationship?
04:01 By the way, there's no empirical definition of high, moderate, or low.
04:06 You and your team must decide, but don't make everything high or
04:09 everything low, differentiate.
04:13 Step four, is to translate the high, moderate, and low scores into values and
04:17 then multiply them by the customer needs importance ratings and
04:21 sum up the column values.
04:22 Let me show you what I mean on the next slide.
04:26 So, on this example we have ten customer needs and and eight steps.
04:29 There's nothing magic about those values,
04:31 I chose that number because it fits the size of the slide.
04:34 And as you can see, the ten customer needs are prioritized between one and five.
04:39 Then, for each step, we determine the relationship.
04:43 The first step can impact two of the customer needs, one in a high manner and
04:46 one in a minor or low level.
04:48 This step is not related to the other needs.
04:51 The second step, impacts three needs at a high level, two in a moderate level, and
04:56 one at a low level and four with no impact.
04:59 And you can continue across the process.
05:01 Keep in mind, those relationship ratings are a judgement call by the process subject
05:05 matter experts.
05:07 Now, in this scoring, I gave nine points to a high, three to a moderate,
05:10 one to a low.
05:12 Some companies do three, two, one, some do ten, five, one, some do seven, three, one.
05:18 It probably won't make much difference in the final prioritization.
05:21 So use the scoring that your company directs.
05:24 Remultiply the relationship score times the customer need waiting factor,
05:29 to get the total points for each box in the matrix.
05:32 And then add up the total columns.
05:35 So, for our first column, we multiply 1 times 1 for a score of 1 in 1 block,
05:41 and 2 times 9 for a score of 18 in the second block.
05:45 Which adds to a total column score of 19.
05:49 When we look across the columns, we draw several important conclusions.
05:52 The second step in the process,
05:55 column number two, is by far the most important step.
05:58 And we'll wanna make sure that we do that step very well.
06:01 You should focus your data collection around that step
06:04 to ensure that you understand what is happening there.
06:07 The seventh step, column seven, has a score of zero.
06:11 That is clearly a non value added step.
06:14 And the fifth row is a customer need with no relationship.
06:18 That is a missed opportunity, and a step should be added or an existing step should
06:22 be redesigned in order to address that need when you get to the Improve stage.
06:29 The X-Y Matrix is a great way to prioritize your data collection.
06:33 And it can point to some likely areas for improvement in your process.

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X/Y Matrix

About this lesson

Exercise files

Quick reference

X/Y Matrix

When to use

Instructions

Hints & tips