The DMAIC for business process improvement

These days, the struggle to survive is becoming increasingly intense for businesses of all sizes. Special strategies need to be adopted in order to improve the functioning of a company in order to allow it to keep up with the intensity of today’s marketplace. For this reason, many businesses have chosen to seek the advice of experts who can better the overall functioning of their organizations to ensure that they are reaching their highest potentials.

Among all the strategies which has been successfully implemented is the DMAIC Model, which stands for Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. Experts, including Six Sigma Black Belts, swear by this model for overall business success though quality control, problem management, and common sense. It works as follows:

Define: This refers to defining the goals of any given improvement effort. Top level improvement goals may include strategic efforts such as increasing the ROI or market share. Closer to the operations level, an organization’s goal may involve bettering the output of a given department. On the projects level, the goals may involve decreasing defects and increasing production. Data mining methods are applied here for identifying prospective opportunities for enhancement.

Measure: This phase refers to the analysis of the existing system with various measurement techniques for the defects and levels of perfection that exist. In this step, accurate metrics have to be used to define a baseline for further improvements. This helps Six Sigma team leaders understand if progress has been achieved when process improvements are implemented.

Analyse: this refers to the analysis of the system in order to recognize the disparity between the current system performance and the goal. Statistical tools are applied here for guiding the analysis. The understanding of the relationship between cause and effect is necessary to bring about any improvements, if needed.

Improve: Improvements in existing systems are necessary to bring the organization towards achievement of the organization goals. Creative development of processes and tools brings about a new lease on life for the organization’s processes and takes them nearer to organizational objectives. Various project management and planning tools can be used to implement these new techniques and processes. Appropriate usage of statistical tools is important to measure the data, which is necessary to understand improvements done and any shortcomings that may exist.

Control: The last phase of DMAIC is the Control phase. It helps ensure that variations in the processes are rectified before they have a negative effect. Controls can be used to ensure sustained improvements in new processes and operating procedures. The new project components should become a part and parcel of existing processes. Once all the factors are performing to satisfaction, transfer of ownership should be done to process owners and process teams.

DMAIC is a Six Sigma method used to improve existing business processes. A companion methodology, DMADV, is used when new processes are being designed or implemented. DMAIC is a method or tool put in place with an objective of continuous improvement in mind, working towards a goal of business process excellence.

Significance of a Six Sigma training programme

To understand the significance of Six Sigma training, you should know that six sigma usually means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. It is considered an important methodology that provides tools and techniques to improve the capabilities. Almost any company’s employee can take the benefits of Six Sigma training. The key elements of Six Sigma are quality leaders who have the comprehensive knowledge about training. It also includes the detailed information on concepts and methodologies.

Benefits of Six Sigma training for a successful career

Obtaining the training and applying its methodologies to your work life can have a remarkable impact on your future career. Adding a six sigma certification program on your resume proves the capabilities in you as well as it improves your analytical skills and knowledge to complete work effortlessly.

The certification helps you to get better job opportunities as well as an improved remuneration structure. Over the last few decades, the demand of Six Sigma training has drastically increased than before. Six Sigma training prepares the scholars for a leadership role as well. If a person achieved Six Sigma certification, he or she is considered knowledgeable. The individual is also prepared to become a change agent within their organization. He or she can lead the total process to improve with better quality of what is delivered to consumers. A successful achievement of this training program can open different doors for promotion into better management. With the help of this training program one can build a great career with successful achievements.

Business person step up flying book that look like stair. Career and education concept

Advantages of Six Sigma training to the organization

Now, we are going to discuss how an organization can get benefitted with the implementation of Six Sigma training.

  1. Consumer satisfaction: With the implementation of Six Sigma methodologies in a business process, the management can apply improved process with better quality control, to make better quality products. Of course, better quality products can satisfy the consumers much better.
  2. Customer trustworthiness: Customer satisfaction is very important in a business. Satisfied customers always stay loyal to a specific brand. Often, they stick to a brand name and try to invest future purchases, if the product quality stays intact.
  3. Develop the bottom line of a business: Satisfied consumers mean earning credibility of users. In that case, customers can return for more that turns into a better revenue stream.
  4. Employee happiness: This is one of the most important benefits of providing the training program. Your employees can be satisfied with this training program as it improves their skills and knowledge.

So, it can be concluded that Six Sigma training has some advantages factors for both you and the company that you are working for. This is a unique methodology that has the capabilities to improve your company’s bottom line and making your customers satisfied. Apart from this, it also improves the marketability and possibilities of quality employment for many years to come.

Six Sigma and change management for long-term organizational benefits

An organization is made up of teams from various departments working in different ways to achieve the same goal. This is the simple reason why the proper management of modifications affects everyone in an enterprise. If the designing team needs an application that they find is easy to use, the IT department who would support it might have to undergo a training session if they are not aware of the working of this app. Hence, Change Management and Six Sigma are very essential for any enterprise.

Six Sigma Black Belts have to be careful while handling the resistance to changes that might hamper the smooth execution of projects. It is not possible to eliminate resistances completely, but following the methodology in managing changes can help assuage the resistance to a considerable extent. In most of the cases, employees and managers do not readily accept changes. This non-acceptance is usually shown by ignoring new rules and not conforming to certain improvement steps brought in through system automation or the use of new software.

It is the responsibility of the trained and certified leaders to alleviate the resistance in a professional manner by communicating openly with the employees and understanding the cause of their dissatisfaction. This involves an effective Six Sigma and Change Management Process.

An effective plan in properly managing changes involves a great communication strategy. This comprises arranging meetings and discussions to talk about the associated issues of the process changes that had been planned. Good communication also involves sending emails, notifications, and news related to the project. This helps in creating awareness and interest among the employees regarding the project and also helps generate a cooperative sensibility among them. In this way, the employees feel that their opinion is counted in the process and they begin to respond in a more positive way by showing less resistance, fostering an atmosphere of acceptance in the enterprise.

All the employees in an organization must be trained on Six Sigma concepts. This eases their apprehension of the forthcoming changes and also brings down the intensity of the pervasive resistance. Employees must be trained to understand their scope of improvement with the methodology practised in the organization. As employees will be made aware of the Six Sigma concepts and principals, they can relate to the utility of such an initiative for their own improvement. It will then be easier to achieve their support in bringing about changes.

A definite set of feasible goals should be kept in mind while planning the entire process of Change Management. Six Sigma and Change Management effectively work as a strong couple only when there is a clear development plan, along with timelines that are set even during the initiation phase. It is important for the leaders to know exactly what they desire to achieve by implementing the changes. Only then will the entire process bring out conspicuous results within the enterprise and reap long-term organizational benefits.

 

Selecting the Six Sigma green belt training that is right for you

Before you attend Six Sigma training, it is a good idea to determine what it is that you hope to get out of it. Six Sigma courses will be beneficial to you no matter what as long as you have the right attitude, but it doesn’t hurt to have a plan for your learning strategy before you go in. There might be issues at work and you want to have the ability to relate the educational materials in the Six Sigma training to your working environment.

Six Sigma Green Belt training is good for any employee at any level of a company’s infrastructure. You might have management that needs to learn about strategy and improving processes throughout the organization, or entry-level employees that have never worked in a team environment. There are many types of Six Sigma Certification and Training which include Six Sigma Black Belt for management, an executive for top executives, Lean Six Sigma for anyone in the organization, and many more. Choosing the right training will ensure you get the most out of the Six Sigma Methodology.

Six Sigma Green Belt(SSGB) is tasked with two objectives. One is to help deploy Six Sigma technique throughout the company. The second is to preside over smaller improvement projects in their specific areas. SSGBs are part of the support structure and as such, do most of the legwork in gathering data and executing experiments. It is estimated that 25% of an SSGB’s time is spent on Six Sigma projects. During SSGB Training, you will learn how to use many of the Six Sigma problem-solving methods and statistical tools to contribute to the success of your company.

SSGB can work in any industry, whether it be healthcare, finance, government, or manufacturing. Green Belt training is ideal for the individual looking to expand their career because the tools and mindset that they learn will carry them forward as far as they choose to go. Individuals are taught how to apply statistical methods of analysis to process improvements in communicating business strategy; applying the DMAIC process, selecting and prioritizing projects, planning and executing projects, and selecting the correct statistical tools for the job, all the while significantly increasing profitability through the use of Six Sigma.

There are many online and offline institutes which provide a comprehensive training on Six Sigma Green Belt. When you select employees to attend Green Belt Six Sigma training it is best to choose those people that have the most potential. Because only the potential employees can bring some astounding changes in your organization.

When you are choosing a Six Sigma Green Belt training provider, there are many considerations before you run out and pay for classes. You may decide the Green Belt is not the right option because your organization really needs the Lean Six Sigma training. Learn about the different courses, which method is right for you and your company, and carefully select which employees will attend the training to be the most beneficial to the organization.

What is DFSS and how does it compare and contrast to DMAIC?

When an organization decides to bring about improvements or changes into the organizational process, a good solution is to use the Six Sigma methodology. There are methodologies such as DMAIC and DFSS, which are used to bring about improvement in the existing processes and products, and even the development of new products and processes.

What DFSS? Let’s take a look at it.

DFSS is more focused on developing new products or redesigning them. In this method, development is mostly done from scratch or may sometimes involve redesigning of a specific product. You may find various definitions of DFSS for different organizations.

For some people, DFSS is just an approach more than a technology. The expected Six Sigma level is at least 4.5 (i.e. approximately 1 defect per thousand opportunities) but can be 6 depending upon the product.

You may find many resemblances between DFSS and DMADV. You can even call DMADV a methodology for implementing DFSS. The Design phase is the only difference between DMAIC and DFSS. Similar to DMAIC, the Define and Measure steps are followed by an Analyse phase.

The difference between DFSS and DMAIC

Now, we are going to discuss the difference between DFSS and DMAIC.

Though many experts and professionals think that DFSS is a logical extension of Six Sigma, still there are some differences between these.

  1. The basic difference lies in the fact that DMAIC is a methodology that focuses on bringing about improvements to the existing products and services of the organization. While on the other hand, DFSS aims at designing a new defect-free product or service to meet CTQ factors that will lead to customer satisfaction.
  2. The prime focus of DMAIC is to detect and solve problems on existing products and services, while the DFSS approach basically prevents a problem.
  3. The benefits and savings of DMAIC are quickly measurable or countable while those of the DFSS will be visible only in the long term. It can be around six months or more than that when you can see a visible result to a newly developed product.
  4. DMAIC is based more on manufacturing or transactional processes, while DFSS encompasses marketing, research and design as well.
  5. DFSS, unlike DMAIC, does not require a process to be in place and functioning. The objective of this approach is to determine the needs of customers and the business and to generate a process, as opposed to improving an already existing one. DFSS creates a process where none existed before, or where a process has been deemed inadequate and needs to be replaced; particularly, a process in which 99.9997% of products are statistically free of defects.
  6. DFSS is still not standardized, and as a result, there are new variants emerging continually, and the terminology continues to broaden accordingly. Trainers teach the concept differently and this manifests as different implementation styles. DFSS is more focused on innovations and new designs, whereas DMAIC is about improvements to existing systems and processes to achieve Six Sigma capability.

 

What does a Six Sigma black belt need to know?

The Six Sigma methodology is facilitated by people at all different levels of the organization. Each level is assigned a value within the system that denotes an individual’s role within the system. Six Sigma Black Belts are the fourth link in the personnel chain, linking the lower Green Belts with the higher ranked Master Black Belts.

Instead of dealing with the general details of the project, Black Belts are required to pay attention to day to day activities. They are front-line executives of the Six Sigma project, and their role is critical to its success.

A Six Sigma Black Belt professional should possess the following qualities.

Comprehensive knowledge of DMAIC: DMAIC is the central theory of the Six Sigma process. The acronym stands for Defining the process, Measuring the current process baseline, Analysing causality factors, Improving the process through optimization and Controlling the process flow and the transition to production. It is imperative that they not only know these five basic principles but has a deeper understanding of their application.

Familiarity with tools and techniques: Six Sigma success revolves around specific tools and techniques for measuring and implementing the strategy. These tools assist implementation as far as stimulating the decision-making process, therefore they must have an understanding of these tools. Additionally, a Six Sigma Black Belt should know when and which statistical method need to use for proper analysis.

Should possess a strong communication skill: Every Six Sigma Black Belt of an organization should effectively communicate the need for improvement. Whether certain benchmarks have been met or a project is delayed due to some issues, these professionals are responsible for managing the communication between management and team members.

Strategic thinking: In order to achieve specific goals, business plans and projects must be formulated and executed. All the Six Sigma Black Belts must not only be able to demonstrate an ability to do this but also to measure the progress and the articulation of these measurements along the way. The Black Belts have to direct the implementation of Six Sigma wisely in order to ensure maximum gains.

Should know the role of each position: A Six Sigma Black Belt professionals should have an adequate knowledge and understand the roles of every person involved in a project. Whether a team leader, project manager, mentor or technical leader, they should know the individual role of every person.

Knowledge of the customers: A Six Sigma Black Belt must understand who the main consumers of the product are and how they can be reached, and what they are looking for the company. In addition, they must be able to devise and test surveys that will lead to an increased understanding of the customer in relation to the product.

The role and responsibility of a Black Belt professional vary from an organization to organization. It is a leadership role for the individuals possessing the sharpest business acumen, great communication skills, a knowledge of customer advocacy, and technical aptitude.

How do Kaizen events help in Six Sigma projects?

The word Kaizen is used in the business world to depict a team working on a quick continuous improvement project. The word is actually Japanese for “incremental improvement”. Kaizen events are often conducted as part of the lean manufacturing process. There are various ways in which they are carried out, however, they normally start with a mission or objective. For example, in a grocery store to reduce checkout line queue from 6 to 3 minutes. Another example would be to increase revenue for hardware items from 6% to 8%.

Kaizen events are not long drawn out projects. They often carry the term “kaizen blitz” because the improvement effort is condensed into a short period of time. In the example above, the grocery store might have 4-6 people spend 100% of their time for 5 days solving the queue problem, and by the fifth day, the expectation is to have the objective of 3 days met. Some businesses do kaizen events as a standalone initiative. In other words, there is no formal lean manufacturing or six sigma program, but the kaizens are conducted as an overall improvement tool.

Almost all lean manufacturing initiatives include kaizen events. They are a natural fit to the way lean manufacturing is implemented, in a fairly quick manner following a model called “PDCA” (Plan-Do-Check-Act). After lean manufacturing is implemented throughout the business, kaizen events continue to drive waste out of the system and value into it.

There are also non-traditional ways to utilize a kaizen event. For example, six sigma is a more methodical approach to continuous improvement, often utilizing advanced statistical concepts and design of experiments. However, during a six sigma project, there could be a very good reason to utilize a kaizen event. As one small example, suppose a bank is trying to increase their drive-up traffic volume and percentage of total volume. Six Sigma would analyse all of the current methods and results, such as various marketing methods and resulting numbers. They would determine the direct mail and email marketing efforts with various demographics and distances. The six sigma team might determine the location is preventing drive-by drop-ins.

A kaizen event could be utilized to quickly drive improvement from the location disadvantage. The team might brainstorm ideas such as lighting and signage improvements. They might post a sign for “free checking” or “Free $50 for New Accounts”. During the five day kaizen, all kinds of various changes might be tried until one is found. On the fifth day, the kaizen team reports back to the six sigma black belts, and they take it from there.

Kaizen events can help to find links that have worked their way in or improvements that can be made based on new technologies and other elements that can drastically impact a business in the long run. They are only one tiny part of Six Sigma projects, but they are what keep the success going time and time again, making them a very important part of the entire process.

Six Sigma and its uses in the Pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical industry and the Six Sigma Methodology are two things that are not commonly thought of together. Here’s a little look into how this business improvement process could make a huge impact in the pharmaceutical industry.

Research and development

The research and development process is the most important process in pharmaceutical companies and forms a major part of costs. The Six Sigma concept is desirable in this scenario to understand the critical processes to new drug development and to research and streamline existing ones. It is important to have these objectives to reduce drug failures, effect maximum utilization of resources, and increase productivity and optimum utilization of staff and other resources.

Cycle times                                                                                                                          

Increased cycle times are major factors affecting the timely manufacture, supply and launch new drugs. The earlier companies can take advantage of this market situation ultimately means the difference between success and failure of the product. Value stream mapping and process modelling concepts of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma can help in reducing cycle times and operational costs, in addition to increasing the efficiency of processes as well as staff.

Effectiveness

Effectiveness in sales is the successful closure of the sales process. This means that the aim is improving the conversion of the prospects into sales, providing them with services of value and rapidly increasing order volumes. Salespeople plan activities based on data and with Six Sigma being a data-based methodology for decision making and control, undertaking the sales process improvement can bring about the effectiveness of sales process-related activities for pharmaceutical companies.

Defects

The defect or failure rate is probably the highest in pharmaceutical companies because drug discovery and development is still a grey science, wherein even small variations can have a huge impact on the final outcome. If standardized tools, techniques, processes are not used, it will become quite difficult for pharmaceutical companies to develop the desired drug or other clinical products. Six Sigma and Lean concepts such as DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) can help because they make use of time-tested scientific and statistical tools that automatically reduce the probability of human as well as process errors.

Efficiency

The efficiency of the sales process is highly important in bringing about good results for organizations. It is often found that the existing systems are taken and diagnosed with variability and non-value-added activities, which leads to misinterpreting the problems facing sales operations. It may be assumed that bringing about a change in the compensation and quotas for each salesperson would be enough to bring about improvement in the sales results. To make the sales process efficient, the proper study of the Six Sigma approach and the product mix is required. Six Sigma also offers more rigorous tools such as sales force effectiveness to improve the sales efforts.

In these ways, the pharmaceutical companies can get benefitted by Six Sigma methodologies. The Six Sigma and Lean approach to the pharmaceutical industry has possibilities for implementation. Though not the easiest, its implementation can definitely reduce costs, process errors and product defects.

Lean Sigma is not only for manufacturing

Lean Sigma methodologies allow companies to employ the most cost-effective business processes and quality control, which keeps them thriving in the competitive business world. With Lean processes, companies can work to reduce their operational costs and eliminate wasteful parts of their processes. A reduction in waste along with more effective business processes most often equates to decreased costs and increased profits. Any company can benefit from increased profits. Another benefit that comes from implementing lean processes includes increased quality along with more efficient ways of producing that quality.

In earlier, Lean Six Sigma was limited to the manufacturing industry. But the scenario has changed now. These days, any industry in the marketplace can benefit by sending their employees to lean six sigma certification training. This will help employees understand, grasp, and apply strategies to improve the process, become flexible, cut costs, optimize, and more.

The companies that decide to implement these methodologies will find that they are able to speed up the business processes of their company without affecting the quality of their products. When a company is able to optimize their business processes to the fullest extent, they will be able to reduce their operational costs and survive in the turbulent economy. Any operational costs that are due to maintenance of any additional inventory will be greatly decreased. Not to mention, the processes that are needed to clear customer orders in the specified time will be reduced and there will be fewer overall customer complaints. Like other Six Sigma projects, Lean Six Sigma focuses on training employees to the point that they are familiar with the tools and techniques that will be applied.

It is true that Lean Six Sigma puts an emphasis on flexibility. If the environment within your organization is not flexible, and you see that employees are not working well together, then the lean six sigma certification would be your best choice. In Lean Six Sigma training, you will learn that the key to maximum productivity is flexible and trained employees running a well-designed process who can follow signals that point to which skills are necessary for every situation.

Process improvement plays an imperative role in Lean Six Sigma approaches. Most of the people will learn this when they used to attend any Lean Six Sigma training. In the lean six sigma certification courses, aspirants will learn that all work is a process or a series of processes in any type of work environment. They also get an adequate knowledge of transactions and deliverables to a customer. Once you understand transactions, you will be able to understand how to determine the capabilities of the processes in the organization and how they can be optimized.

So, it can be concluded that Lean Six Sigma is for every industry. The use of more advanced tools and techniques of Lean Six Sigma usually help the companies to reduce production cycle times, minimize operational costs, expand their capacity, and improve on the overall productivity.

Working on quality with a Six Sigma black belt

A Black Belt Six Sigma professional utilizes teamwork to see if they can root out the problems that are causing quality issues within a particular company’s products or services. They will put together a team of Green and Yellow Belt Six Sigma professionals to help them do this. If a Black Belt professional feels comfortable letting a Green Belt run the project, they will ask them to do so. This entire quality management process is based upon teamwork.

If the Black Belt retained authority over the project, he or she will delegate responsibilities, choose a good team, monitor all of the work done, and answer any questions the company executives, Green Belt, or Yellow Belt professionals have. With only the Master Black Belt level above them as consultants, Six Sigma Black Belt professionals have the most knowledge about the methods and procedures used to help the company executives and their bottom lines. They have earned their certification in the Six Sigma Methodology through extensive training and are ready to discover what is causing quality issues within different companies.

Six Sigma professionals use several different methods when they are helping company executives make changes within the business. They will suggest and recommend changes that will benefit both the employees and the executives. Some business owners are wary of making a lot of changes to the procedures that they have used for many years. If they have consulted with a Six Sigma professional, they are trying to find ways to improve their business. They may need some convincing when it comes to making those changes. Although it is not the responsibility of the Six Sigma professional to make those changes, it is wise to follow their advice. They have come to a conclusion as to the benefit of making quality enhancement improvements, either within one department or company-wide.

Six Sigma Black Belt Training helps to improve other characteristics including trust and integrity. Black Belts are taught to strive for deep process knowledge. Those having a diversified work experience are the most prized of candidates in the business world. It also helps to have an advanced degree and knowledge of other quality control programs such as ISO.

Business owners should always remember to keep their employees informed about any changes that might be made to their specific department. It is not wise or respectful to keep employees in the dark about changes that might be made that could affect them. If they are notified about the changes well before they are made, it is easier to adjust. Employees should never be confused about how to do their job. This causes job dissatisfaction and can devastate the quality within a company bringing the further need for change and adjustments. In order for the Six Sigma Process to work, the entire workforce within a company needs to be on the same team, working together towards quality improvement.