System and Process Improvement Methodologies
Every change requires a tried and true methodology, most importantly, these are used for Lean Six Sigma
DMAIC for process improvement and DMADOV for a new process/product/service
DMAIC – Process Improvement
Define -The start of process improvement is certainly the planning and selection process.
Overarching Principles
- Firstly, Start a Project Charter – perform preliminary work to the best of your capability
- Flesh out communications plan and structure
Operational Activities
- Select team members
- Select expertise not on team
- Determine schedule (first pass)
- Above all Build Value Stream Map or Departmental Value Stream Map
- Attain executive sponsor
- Build executive team
- Document alignment to strategic plan Tools
- Strategic Plan
Accounting
- Tollgate check-off
- Update management
Measure -Verify that actions taken are only on quantitative data.
Overarching Principles
- Continue Project Charter work
- Communicate Operational Activities
- Certainly, document Suppliers-Inputs-Process-Outputs-Customer (SIPOC) for each process
- Devise data collection plan
- Target processes and verify Value Stream Map data blocks
- Determine measurement errors
- Collect data
- Document baseline Tools
Accounting
- Tollgate check-off
- Update management
Analyze -The process improvement journey from data to information to knowledge to wisdom.
Overarching Principles
- Continue Project Charter work
- Communicate Operational Activities
- Above all, analyze data
- Dig down into target processes
- Analyze SIPOC
- Determine Value Added and Non-value Added Activities
- Re-evaluate scope
- Define waste
- Look for waste
- Update project charter
Accounting
- Tollgate check-off
- Update management
Improve -Take analysis results and devise solutions, document and promote.
Overarching Principles
- Continue Project Charter work
- Communicate
Operational Activities
- Likewise devise solutions
- Select solutions
- Implement solutions
- Pilot solutions
- Build to-be Value Stream Map
- Measure and quantitative solution(s)
- Document
- Develop implementation plan
- Socialized implementation plan
- Execute implementation plan Tools
Accounting
- Tollgate check-off
- Update management
Control -Process Improvement controls needed to make the value added design stick.
Overarching Principles
- Communicate
Operational Activities
- Similarly devise control metrics
- Mistake proof where possible
- Devise training plan
- Training
- Identify and document lessons learned
- Determine control metric reporting plan:
- frequency
- metric
- control value
- measured value
- report recipients
- Devise “Out of Control” remediation plan
Accounting
- Final presentation delivered
- Final report delivered
DMADOV – Build a New Process/Product/Service
Define – Characterize the breath of the process improvement accomplishment
- Define customer (internal and external)
- Acquire customer requirements
- Gather needs
- Identify the business case for the project
- Create project charter
- Above all Build Success metrics
- Product/process/service
- DMADV process
- Project Management
- Develop project plan
- Form the team
- Translate customer requirements to Critical to Satisfaction (CTS)
- Assess risk
Measure – Today’s and tomorrow’s process/service limitations
- Certainly translate customer requirements into engineering requirements
- Translate functional requirements to design parameters
- Develop/evaluate design alternatives
- Resolve design conflicts
- Flow down system designed to subsystems
- Assess risk
Analyze – What can we change and to what extent for process improvement
- Develop transfer functions
- Develop system capabilities
- Subsequently generate concepts
- Evaluate concepts
- Analyze trade offs
- Assess design gaps
- Select concept
- Most importantly, test concept to Voice of the Customer (VOC)
- Assess risk
Design & Optimize – Generate solution and iterate to improve
- Compare product/process/service capability vs. VOC
- Moreover design solution
- Optimize the product/process/service design for:
- Robustness
- Manufacturability
- Assemblability
- Serviceability
- Reliability
- Testability
- Environment
- Optimize tolerances
- Certainly design process control plan
- Mistake proof design
- Assess risk
Verify – Finalize and control
- Verify product/process/service performance
- Monitor system capability
- Implement design and process control plans
- Develop transition plans
In Conclusion
Use these tools to transition process states to ones of significant improvement. If you really want to become great, press the button to go to a website that guides you to greatness by adopting the tools of the Toyota Production System: