In This Chapter

► Summarizing the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) project methodology

Understanding the many areas of Six Sigma application ^ Reviewing roles and responsibilities in a Six Sigma deployment

Following the deployment and implementation process

Ix Sigma affects the lives of individuals and the conduct of organizations.

W Unlike most other business improvement initiatives, Six Sigma isn’t like

Vitamins; it’s not "feel good" stuff. It’s an aggressive, targeted regimen. Six

Sigma is a pervasive, challenging, systematic eradication of waste and inefficiency and of defects and problems that develop and hide in organizations.

This chapter discusses the five phases of the Six Sigma DMAIC project methodology. You also find out how that methodology is applied in specific areas of the organization by individuals who take on roles and responsibilities as disciplined practitioners. Finally, you see that the deployment and implementation processes follow a prescriptive roadmap.

At the business level, Six Sigma projects are the players in the overall game

Plan of a breakthrough performance improvement initiative. The business perspective is that a Six Sigma project is the agent of action that executes the

Business strategy and returns the results.

Every Six Sigma project follows a standardized and systematic method known as DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control), A formalized problem -

Solving process. The DMAIC process can improve any type of process in any

Organization to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

The

Project Strategy: DMAlC

V Define: Set the context and objectives for the project.

F Measure: Get the baseline performance and capability of the process or system being improved.

Is Analyze: Use data and tools to understand the cause-and-effect relationships in the process or system.

V Improve: Develop the modifications that lead to a validated improvement in the process or system.

F Control: Establish plans and procedures to ensure the improvements

Are sustained.

DMAIC is applied by highly trained practitioners who complete improvement projects that are managed to financial targets. In DMAIC, business processes are improved by following a structured method with set steps, or Tailgates. Only as you start and complete one step are you ready to move on to the next. After moving through all the steps, and only when you can show that the DMAIC project has generated breakthrough benefit, can you then say you’ve completed a Six Sigma project.

Part II of this book covers the details of executing each of these phases in detail, including the methods and tools you need to complete a DMAIC project.

No matter how hard you try to accomplish anything, it’s always easier when you follow a proven methodology. DMAIC (shown graphically in Figure 3-1) is

Aproven solution for process problems and improving business performance.

DMAIC Improvement Methodology

Figure 3-1:

The Six Sigma breakthrough strategy.

Define

Inn

Measure

Analyze ~T~

Improve

Control

Write the problem statement, the objective statement, prioritize, and launch the project.

Understand the process, validate the data accuracy, and determine process capability.

Determine the relationship of

Y=/(X)+.- And screen for the potential causes.

Determine, validate, and

Implement solutions to achieve the objective statement.

Implement process control

Methods and monitor performance to sustain results.

Each phase of the methodology has been thoughtfully designed to create a logical progression of finding the the

Practical solution of the problem for breakthrough rates of improvement.

A Structured Approach for Breakthrough Results

2 3

Time

Some companies and Six Sigma practitioners place an R for "recognize" before the D for define, indicating that you must first recognize and choose the right problem to solve or need to improve Before You can define what the problem

Or need is.

Domains of Activity

There are four areas or domains of activity to which Six Sigma can be applied (each is discussed in the following sections):

Thinking: The domain of thinking focuses on improving the reasoning and efficiency of Every Employee.

Processing: The domain of processing focuses on improving existing

Processes, and a large number of employees are involved in this.

Is Designing: Fewer people are directly involved in designing, which focuses

On improving the designs of new processes.

F Managing: A small number of business and quality leaders are responsible for managing the overall Six Sigma initiative.

Thinking for breakthrough

Thinking for breakthrough Is the realm of activity focused on the underlying principles of Six Sigma, because the performance of a business isn’t guided

Only by directives and procedures. Improvement projects and initiatives aren’t just about methods and tools. And wholesale change isn’t driven by a

Minority but by large masses of people who together constitute real and lasting culture change.

Sweeping culture change and improvement is a function of getting everyone

In an organization aligned to the same direction, values, and way of thinking.

Thinking for breakthrough is a set of guiding principles that fuel culture

Change and get many people speaking the same language of performance

Improvement.

The traditional path of Six Sigma has been to first lead, and then do: First stimulate change, and then execute according to a stepwise methodology. Only

After years of experience do Six Sigma change agents internalize the guiding principles of Six Sigma and apply those principles as second nature in everything they do.

Thinking for breakthrough emerged only after Six Sigma was proven and became pervasive, and only after its underlying principles were well understood by so many practitioners. Whereas processing for breakthrough and

Designing for breakthrough are methodology – and tool-driven, thinking for breakthrough is mind-driven.

Processing for breakthrough

Processing for breakthrough Is the realm of activity that focuses on optimizing the performance of existing business and operational processes. Any process is theoretically capable of operating at its Entitlement Level, which is defined

As the performance level the process has demonstrated it can operate at,

Even if it doesn’t perform to that level all the time. See Chapter 4 for more on

Entitlement.

VcN-Styj,. If a budgeting process was capable of operating at a 95 acceptance level for §f&3\ Several weeks out of the year, you can say that 95 percent is the entitlement ISTO ) level for that process. Generally speaking, Entitlement Is the very best a process, product, service, or transaction can do without redesigning it.

When you are processing for Six Sigma, you take actions and implement

Improvements that enable your process to perform to its utmost potential all

The time, not just part of the time, within the limitations of its current design. You do this by applying the DMAIC methodology through Six Sigma improvement projects — all of which are focused on improving processes that are focused on business priorities set by management.

The people who are directly responsible for processing for breakthrough are called project Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts, Green Belts, Yellow Belts, process owners, and sometimes White Belts. You can get a full description of who these people are and what they do in the "The People: Who You Need to Know" section in this chapter.

Designing for breakthrough

Designing for breakthrough Is the realm of activity focused on optimizing the

Design process prior to manufacturing products, delivering services, or conducting transactions for customers. Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is an approach

For planning, configuring, qualifying, and launching products, services, transactions, processes, systems, and events that move quality upstream in an

Organization.

By Upstream, We mean that DFSS methods and tools enable you to anticipate

The source of development, manufacturing or performance problems before

They occur so that you can design and plan in a way that allows you to avoid them. Designing quality into products, services, transactions, processes, systems, and events from the beginning is what prevents the "hidden factory" from arising (see Chapter 1), eroding value, and, ultimately, eating away at

Profits.

First, DFSS reduces the risk in the performance and attributes of a design

(customer satisfaction issues). Second, it reduces the risks associated with the

Business and operational viability of a design (provider satisfaction issues). DFSS maximizes the confidence that a product, service, transaction, processes,

System, or event design will perform to its entitlement level in the presence of

Uncertainties that cannot be feasibly managed.

DFSS is not just an area of focus for design engineers in a company, but is

Applicable to the design process within any domain. DFSS enables the building of quality into processes and outcomes such that the opportunity for damaging variation and defects never occurs.

Managing for breakthrough

Managing for breakthrough Entails all the plans, systems, and processes for leading a Six Sigma deployment and implementing it in an organization. This is the mechanism by which an organization drives and supports the activities in the domains of thinking, processing, and designing for breakthrough.

Because Six Sigma is an intervention that sets an organization on a new performance path, managing for breakthrough is a matter of Leadership. Positive leadership moves people and organizations in a new direction, disrupting the status quo.

Managing for breakthrough involves selecting and training the right people; installing an improvement infrastructure; assimilating certain software tools; and establishing a management system, methods, and practices that are robust enough to set an organization on a new performance path. More information on the management aspects of selecting Six Sigma projects is in Chapter 4, and a complete run down on all the important tools for managing Six Sigma is in Chapter 12.

The executives, champions, and deployment leaders are directly responsible

For managing the Six Sigma initiative. Sometimes a Six Sigma role called a

Master Black Belt is also involved in managing for breakthrough. You can get

A full description of who these people are and what they do in "The People:

Who You Need to Know" section in this chapter.

The People: Who \!ou Need to Kno©

The full deployment and implementation of a Six Sigma initiative in an organization requires the collective participation of numerous people, each of whom is responsible for fulfilling specific roles and obligations at both the managerial and technical levels. Most often, these people are drawn from within the

Ranks of the company and are specially trained to the requisite skills.

The rigorous nature of a Six Sigma deployment compels an organization to call on its very best people to participate. When you’re involved in a Six

Sigma initiative, you’re working with the best and brightest, and you’re part

Of a structured assembly of talent that works together in lockstep to achieve the breakthrough goals of Six Sigma improvement.

Six Sigma requires energized thinking, an open mind, and an unquenchable thirst for truth and betterment. The Six Sigma mindset is one that initiates change, sees problems as opportunities, and formally questions fundamental

Assumptions until the root causes are characterized, optimized, and controlled.

These are principles and practices of leadership, and they are a fundamental part of the character of everyone who carries the Six Sigma flag.

‘Ј» For every participant, Six Sigma is a breakthrough leadership initiative. Just ~i\ like the breakthrough performance returns realized by the organization, every -

One involved in Six Sigma realizes a nearly unbounded sense of potential.

Barriers and limitations melt away. Anything is possible. After you drink the

Six Sigma elixir, there’s no turning back — you’re transformed. Energized

Thinking and thirst for truth become part of your being. You feel naturally compelled to question assumptions, search for root causes, and to characterize and optimize things. You become a leader.

One of the single greatest characteristics of Six Sigma is that it develops

Leaders. Regardless of your role or function, you develop leadership characteristics you didn’t have before. Your personal and professional life will have

New potential and new meaning. From the top

A Six Sigma initiative begins with a team of executives and business-unit leaders who approve the Six Sigma deployment program, endorse projects, and are accountable for achieving the results. They inject the initial dose of vision and ambition into the organization and apply the business savvy and people

Skills to stimulate the drive for change.

In Six Sigma, everyone’s a leader

Six Sigma is a top-down initiative. While the methods and tools of Six Sigma

Are applicable at all levels, breakthrough organizational performance requires

A full coordinated commitment — and that can only come from the top.

You may be tempted to try to introduce a Six Sigma initiative from the bottom -

Up, perhaps because you see the potential of and have control over your area of business, or maybe because your senior management "just doesn’tget it."

And you may be successful in applying the Six Sigma methodology in your local business area to achieve a significant level of process improvement, but for the rest of the organization to embrace Six Sigma, it will have to come

From the top. Prepare yourself to take your success to senior management and take it from the top going forward.

The Six Sigma deployment leader

The Six Sigma deployment leader is the single most important individual in the deployment process. The deployment leader is often a senior manager or executive who reports directly to the corporate-level person responsible for launching and sustaining Six Sigma.

The deployment leader ensures the effective alignment of corporate strategic

Goals with business unit deployment plans. They monitor progress and sustain performance at target levels, as Six Sigma is executed throughout the organization. In this role, the deployment leader develops the Six Sigma rollout plan; helps select Champions, Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts; and ensures proper training. The deployment leader also works closely with the Six Sigma Champion, and serves as a conduit between Champions and

Executive management, as higher-level goals and objectives are communicated downward, and as goals and plans are aligned with implementation actions.

Specific responsibilities of the deployment leader also include

F Holding accountability for the results of Six Sigma

Is Driving the vision and mission for Six Sigma into the organization

Removing barriers to successful implementations

V Internally publicizing Six Sigma goals, plans, progress, results, and best

Practices

F Creating and maintaining passion and commitment to Six Sigma goals

Updating executive leadership on the progress of the business units

In large corporations made up of many business units, there may be a need for business unit level deployment leaders. Reporting directly to a business

Unit executive leader, the business unit deployment leader is responsible for

The initialization and implementation of Six Sigma within their particular organization. In smaller organizations, the roles of the deployment leader and the Six Sigma champion may be combined and filled by a single individual.

Naturally, the Six Sigma deployment leader has a great deal of rapport among his or her peers and has typically functioned as a manager or team leader. He or she is responsible for developing and communicating the corporate vision for Six Sigma and ensuring that appropriate resources and support structures are in place.

The Six Sigma Champion

Six Sigma Champions are responsible for the dissemination and successful application of Six Sigma technical know-how. They develop a plan for transforming their organizations to "Six Sigma as the way we think and work." They are also responsible for ensuring the success of Black Belts and Green Belts, through day-to-day coaching, mentoring, resource provisioning, and removal of barriers. Champions have long-standing rapport with key managerial and staff people, and a demonstrated ability to pull people and resources together on short notice to achieve key objectives. The Six Sigma Champion:

Identifies, selects, scopes, prioritizes, and assigns projects, and aligns projects to business strategies

Selects Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts, and ensures that they are appropriately trained, tasked, and deployed

Supports Black, Green, and Yellow Belts through the removal of organizational barriers, securing necessary resources, coaching, and reviewing

Project implementation status

Establishes an adequate backlog of projects and ensures that all Belts

And Master Black Belts are fully dedicated to Six Sigma activities

Reports progress against target metrics to Champions

Promotes best-practices sharing and leverages solutions and improvements across organizational boundaries

In large corporations made up of many business units, there may be a Senior

Champion, as well as business-unit-level Champions. In smaller organizations,

The roles of the deployment leader and the Six Sigma Champion may be combined and filled by a single individual.

The core team

We can’t overemphasize the critical importance of a cross-functional core leadership team in ensuring the efficient and effective rollout of a Six Sigma initiative. The core team is a unified body whose members perform an organizational assessment, benchmark products and services, conduct detailed gap

Analyses, create the operational vision, and develop implementation plans. The core team ensures completeness of deployment throughout the organization, by:

V Making the initiative highly visible through active and personalized leadership, commitment, and passion for change

Installing the measurement system that will track the progress, install

Accountability into the initiative, and provide a visible dashboard of

Progress and efforts

Benchmarking of products, services, and processes so that the organization can truly understand its relative position in the marketplace

F Setting stretch goals that focus on changing the process by which work

Gets done rather than tweaking existing processes, leading to leap-frog rates of improvement

Providing knowledge and education to all levels of people, because

Certain methods and tools are necessary to initiate and sustain breakthrough improvement

F Evangelizing success stories that demonstrate how Six Sigma methods,

Technologies, and tools have been applied to achieve dramatic operational and financial improvements

Developing and implementing a supporting infrastructure that enables

Six Sigma to naturally occur and flourish in a company

Core team members include the following people and departments:

V Six Sigma deployment leader Is Business unit Six Sigma leaders

Key executive representatives Functional representatives Human Resources Finance

Information Technology Training

Communications

Functional representatives are senior corporate staff members who run their

Respective departments or have large responsibility in those departments. They are well respected leaders who can drive short-cycle change initiatives because they know the people and have the knowledge they need to set new

Initiatives in place.

Finance representative:

• Determines how project costs and savings will be defined, valued,

And reported

• Develops a project savings audit process and leads finance participation in the project selection and review processes

• Is the single point of contact for Six Sigma finance issues and

Coordinates all project auditing and validation activities

• Defines accounting and budgeting requirements for Six Sigma -

Related expenses

V Training representative:

• Is the single point of contact for Six Sigma training issues and coordinates Six Sigma training activities for the entire corporation

• Configures all training curricula and courseware for the Six Sigma

Initiative, including executive, Champion, Master Black Belt, Black

Belt, Green Belt, Yellow Belt, Design for Six Sigma, awareness training, and thinking for Six Sigma

• Schedules and coordinates all Six Sigma training courses, logistics,

Materials, and supplies and also develops training sign-up, tracking, and reporting processes

F Information Technology representative:

• Is the single point of contact for Six Sigma IT issues and coordinates

Six Sigma IT activities in all organizations

• Arranges for purchase and distribution of Six Sigma software, along with the hardware necessary to support it, for training and knowledge transfer, analytical work, project management, and process improvement

• Prepares and executes plans for providing end-user support for Six Sigma software

Human Resources representative:

• Is the single point of contact for Six Sigma human resources and coordinates all Six Sigma-related HR activities

• Writes job descriptions for all Six Sigma positions and prepares an

Organizational chart that identifies the roles

• Develops compensation packages for all Six Sigma positions and

Works with business leadership to configure reward, recognition, and career development plans

Communications representative:

• Is the single point of contact for all Six Sigma communication

Activities and leads the development and implementation of communication plans

• Organizes a process for communicating internal successes and coordinates communication with stock analysts, suppliers, customers, partners, and investors

• Arranges for the distribution of reference, informational, educational, and background material throughout the company

Number-crunching karate: Black Belts and their brethren

Solving problems the Six Sigma way requires varying degrees of skill in applied statistics:

F Solving complex problems requires considerable statistical expertise.

Solving problems of moderate complexity, or assisting in the solution of

Complex problems, requires a medium level of skill. F Regular application of simple statistics to everyday routine work requires

Even less.

In Six Sigma, the highest level of skill is called Black Belt, The medium skill level is Green Belt, And the everyday level is Yellow Belt.

<j,*10RK In the early 1990s, Motorola was assisting Unisys in solving complex prob-Ff/^jft\ Lems associated with the production of large-scale multilayer printed circuit (JsL ) boards for military applications. Applying the advanced statistical analysis M/jTy tools of Six Sigma solved the problem. The managers wanted to promote the value of the expertise developed in the team. One evening, unwinding after a long day’s work at the Unisys facility in Salt Lake City, they hit on the idea of calling these engineers Black Belts — a term that captured the mystique of their discipline and skill. "Now that’s a name I can sell!" proclaimed the Unisys manager.

And it did. As the Six Sigma methodology flourished, so too did the title of Six Sigma Black Belt As the master of statistical problem-solving. Later, as the need for lesser degrees of skill was identified, the terms Green Belt and Yellow Belt were added. Across the global Six Sigma landscape, you’ll also find additional variants, including Blue Belt, Brown Belt, and even White Belt. You’ll even hear jokes about Chartreuse Belts (part Green, part Yellow), Polka

Dotted Belts, and more.

^BE» Here’s one part of the martial arts metaphor that fits perfectly: A Black Belt is so expertly skilled and so experienced that they understand the true nature

( IM ) Of their opponent, and they know how to apply the right skills and tools with grace and minimal effort to channel its energy and fully achieve their goals.

«j»NG/ The "Belt" terminology is not universally accepted. While universally under-^/~ik\ Stood and applied as a broad standard in many companies and industries, it’s I I downright unfashionable in some circles. But whatever your scale of measure -

Ment, Six Sigma practitioners have varying degrees of skill.

Master Black Belts are the trainers. They are accomplished Black Belts with

Teaching skills, who work with and mentor other practitioners. Black Belts

Are extensively trained and typically work full-time leading Six Sigma projects. Green Belts receive less training and work part-time on Six Sigma projects, either in support of Black Belt projects or leading less-complex projects of their own. Yellow Belts receive less training still, and while they may support a Green Belt or Black Belt project, they usually apply their Six Sigma knowledge in the course of their everyday work. The hierarchy of practitioners is shown in Figure 3-2.

The Hierarchy of Six Sigma Roles

Figure 3-2:

The hierarchy of Six Sigma roles.

Six Sig. vs fin, v slnwn tfvrniffi a <i r. yasni7i)tir.!’! in hierarchical fx$nia<i

Antl champions althe Too, a sme<! number of. vatfe<Siiafi!! Jiflto, Fslaols RWfa, finrf rjnpp. r Belts in I.^e Middle, ami s isyffs mimiwrofifsHawhetts ami

In the following sections, the roles and skills of the Six Sigma practitioners

Are described in further detail.

Master Black Belts

Master Black Belts (MBB) are hands-on experts who teach and mentor Black,

Green, and Yellow Belts, and who often own the Six Sigma training curricula and Six Sigma knowledge content for their organizations. As mentors, MBBs

Consult other Belts on fundamental business issues as well as specific project application issues, challenges, and problems.

Black Belts

Black Belts are the most highly trained experts in the complete set of Six Sigma methods and tools. They are highly respected for possessing the knowledge

And skill required to facilitate breakthrough-level improvements in the most

Complex of processes. Black Belts typically number 1 to 2 percent of the organization and operate in a full-time capacity. The Black Belt

Implements Six Sigma projects that historically are advertised to return a bottom-line value of $150,000 or more to the organization. A Six Sigma Black Belt may implement as many as four such projects a year.

Is Mentors and coaches others in applying Six Sigma methods and tools

F Leads complex departmental, business unit, or cross-functional process

Improvement projects that require significant data and analytical skill.

Is Disseminates new strategies and tools via training, workshops, case

Studies, local symposia, and more

Discovers internal and external (suppliers and customers) opportunities

For new Six Sigma projects Green Belts

The Six Sigma Green Belt is trained and skilled to solve the majority of process

Problems in both transactional and manufacturing environments. Green Belts

Are process leaders, process owners, professional staff, operational specialists,

Managers, and executives who have a significant degree of business, leadership, statistical, and problem-solving skills. Green Belts typically number 5 to 10 percent of the organization. The Green Belt

Is Implements about two projects per year that historically are advertised

To return an average bottom-line value of $35,000

F Teaches local personnel to apply Six Sigma strategies and tools and

Coaches local personnel through one-on-one support

Leads departmental, business unit, or cross-functional process improvement projects in environments that don’t require complex data or heavy

Statistical analyses

Is Disseminates new strategies and tools via training, workshops, case

Studies, local symposia, and more

Discovers internal and external (that is, suppliers and customers) opportunities for Six Sigma projects

\lello© Belts

Everyone in the organization can apply elements of the Six Sigma methodology

And improve their work environments. Everyone can assist Green Belts and Black Belts in completing projects. But not everyone needs to be immersed in

The details or challenges to the extent that requires the level of training or skill

Of the Green Belt or Black Belt.

The Six Sigma Yellow Belt is "everyone else." Yellow Belts are staff members,

Administrators, operations personnel, project team members, or anyone else —

Technical or non-technical. Nearly anyone can identify measurement scales, define critical process factors, collect some data, characterize a process, make

Easy improvements, and cultivate opportunities.

The goal of the Yellow Belt is to think in a data-driven, cause-and-effect process manner, and apply this thinking to their areas of work. Yellow Belts

Support Black Belt and Green Belt projects, and can even take on small projects of their own.

Be careful not to make generalizations about the average value of a Black Belt, Green Belt, or Yellow Belt project. Projects have a broad distribution

Of returns. Small projects can escalate, while high-value projects may never

Reach their potential. The averages we’ve indicated in the preceding lists are based on long-term experience across multiple companies and industries.

Bringing the team together

Each Six Sigma role-player works with other members of the team, as shown in Figure 3-3, keeping the project as the central focus.

Role Relationship Map

Ths puwer o<SU Sigma rnvoivss around black heft nud ijreeu bell, fsmjiicls, anil Twelves many

Figure 3-3:

The project is the center point of SixSigma activity.

T t

T

T

Master Black Belt

Project Support

Financial Rep

Project Support

Subject/Process Experts

BUSINESS UNIT DEPLOYMENT CHAMPION

PROJECT CHAMPION

BLACK BELT GREEN BELT

The Lifecjcle of a Six Sigma Initiative

A Six Sigma initiative occurs in five major stages (see Figure 3-4).

1. First, you Initialize Six Sigma by establishing goals and installing infrastructure.

2. Second, you Deploy The initiative by assigning, training, and equipping the staff.

3. Third, you Implement Projects and improve performance, yielding

Financial results.

4. Fourth, you Expand The scope of the initiative to include additional organizational units.

5. Fifth, you Sustain The initiative, through re-alignment, re-training, and

Evolution.

Each is discussed in the following sections.

Figure 3-4:

Six Sigma progresses in distinct stages.

The Lifecycle of Six Sigma

Initialize

^> Deploy ^> Implement^ Expand ^> Sustain ^

Initialize: Readj… Aim…

Six Sigma initiatives are programs. They require programmatic-type preparation and planning, beginning with a proscriptive set of readiness tasks. The

Initialization stage includes selecting the core team, preparing the supporting

Infrastructure, and enabling the processes, which must be in place to facilitate

The deployment activities of the next stage (see Table 3-1).

As part of initialization, executive training prepares the executive staff and senior leaders by providing a comprehensive overview of the Six Sigma deployment process and what to expect. The executives also agree on macro items

Including scope, timeframes, goals, and objectives, and they issue a formal

Commitment statement to all employees and constituents.

The scope of the first deployments should be kept in check. The most successful Six Sigma initiatives begin with the deployment scope limited to a

Selected line of business or division of activity.

Table 3-1 Elements of Six Sigma Initialization
Deliverable Details
Launch planning	A fully documented Six Sigma leadership system,
Implementation plans, schedules, and activity tracking/
Reporting techniques.
Human resource	Competency models and participant selection, position
Guidelines	And role descriptions, compensation, reporting
Relationships, career planning.
Communications	Overall strategy (who, what, and when), message
Plan	Content as a function of time, methods, and mediums.
Financial guidelines	Savings definitions, project forecasting, methods of
Evaluation, realization tracking. Integration of initiative
Metrics with project tracking and management software.
Project selection	Definition criteria, project type categorizations, problem
Guidelines	Statement, targeted savings values, approval process,
Completion requirements.
Project tracking	Organization structure definition, user manuals and
And reporting	Training, report generation.
Management	Create an ongoing sense of urgency, and for staving off
Dashboard natural initiative entropy.
Information	Software installations, computer needs, Intranet
Technology support development, databases for final reports.

Deploy: Setting it all in motion

With a supporting infrastructure, corporate goals, and metrics established, the deploy stage begins with the selection of the Champions and the first candidate Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts.

Champions are trained in the Six Sigma methodology, the principles of implementing Six Sigma, and in project selection, practices and tools, and begin the critical work of selecting the first Six Sigma projects.

Also, the infrastructure is deployed by the core team. This includes finance practices, including guidelines for auditing project financials; software tools for statistical analyses, project management, and process optimization; training materials, curricula, and schedules for all Belt training; and motivational

Communications from management. A project tracking and performance

Dashboard system is deployed.

According to the deployment plan, the first waves of Black Belts, Green Belts, and Yellow Belts are trained and assigned to projects.

Six Sigma deployments include the practice of conducting projects as part of

The Belt training. All types of Belt training include the definition, characterization, and improvement of a work process as part of the training regimen. Although this extends the training period, trainees deliver results to the

Bottom line as they complete their initial training. The training has immediate-term ROI.

Implement: Forging first successes

Upon completion of the first waves of Belt training, the early successes create momentum and the Six Sigma initiative begins to gather traction. As successes continue, the initiative can become infectious and turn around even the skeptics.

In this stage, the practitioners are defining and mapping processes, identifying

Critical-to-quality indicators, collecting performance data, and characterizing process performance. They are conducting statistical analyses, discovering

The root causes of problems and improving performance levels. Your company has begun to root out waste, increase productivity, lower costs, and decrease

Cycle time. Six Sigma is working!

^BЈ» It’s important to watch the process closely. Black Belts must be assigned full time to their projects and given leverage to perform. Green Belts and even

I iMJi I Yellow Belts must be supported in their projects. Technical issues must be addressed head-on with appropriate skill to ensure success.

«j»NG/ Not all first projects go well — for a variety of reasons. If early high-profile ^/~ik\ Projects sputter, it can threaten the success of the initiative. For this reason, (/AT ) be sure to choose early projects that have a manageable scope, moderate risk, and the promise of reasonable returns. Leave the big risk/high reward

Projects for a little later.

Expand: Taking it everywhere

Following the first successful waves of implementation, the organization

Expands Six Sigma into new geographies, functional areas, and lines of

Business.

The introduction of Six Sigma into each new line of business is an initiative

Unto itself and includes the stages of initialization, deployment, and implementation. The lessons learned from the first deployment are included in revisions to the implementation plans going forward.

Some form of tailoring or customization of Six Sigma is required to deploy into each new business or functional area. Examples include

V Six Sigma in engineering and design areas would employ methods and tools of a sub-field known as Design for Six Sigma (DFSS — see the "Designing for breakthrough" section), and tools like Axiomatic Design.

Six Sigma in manufacturing includes lean practices.

F Highly computerized environments may incorporate automated process

Execution management tools.

Deployment into foreign countries requires internationalization and localization of materials and tools.

Also, as the portfolio of projects grows and diversifies, it’s important to apply

Enterprise-class tracking and management tools. Read more about these in

Chapter 12.

The first few waves of projects in any given function or business area harvest what is known as the low-hanging fruit — the obvious opportunities with big returns. As the Six Sigma initiative matures, two phenomena occur:

The biggest projects have all been completed.

^ The Yellow-Belt culture is curing little problems before they become big

Problems.

At this point, the project-oriented Six Sigma culture begins to give way to the

Sustaining culture.

Sustain: The self-healing culture

Six Sigma is a problem-solving methodology. A Six Sigma deployment applies the Six Sigma suite of problem-solving tools to business challenges in a series

Of projects, each of which addresses technical, performance, quality, and other problems in core and enabling processes of the organization.

Through expansion, typically over a period of several years, the initiative

Reaches the four corners of the enterprise. Soon thereafter, all the biggest problems have been solved, and the associated big returns have come in.

The first full cycle is complete. What’s next?

At this point, the Six Sigma initiative changes character. The deployment leader and Champion shift the sustaining direction away from a project orientation into a process-management approach, where the tools of Six Sigma move to a supporting role — as part of how business and work processes execute most efficiently and effectively. The Six Sigma tools take their place

In the organization’s methodological toolbox, along with other selected tools of business performance operations.

In the sustain phase, the culture is self-healing. The Six Sigma project is used as a hot-shot tool for addressing flare-up issues that emerge from new initiatives and outside forces. Six Sigma training supports these project needs and

Is also integrated with other methods to support process needs. Training is used as a refresher for existing staff and to enable new hires, contractors, and acquisitions.