Six Sigma White Belt

What is the ROI formula?

((Financial Value - Project Cost)/ Project Cost) * 100

Who is a Champion/ Ops Lead?

A business leader who ensures resources are available, fully informed and engaged in process improvements. They ensure cross-functional issues are resolved, break down barriers and helps keep the team on track.

Project Charter

A document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally outlines the project. Includes what the problem is, why it needs to be addressed, and defines a scope, goals, and team.

What tools are used in the Control Phase?

Control Graph, Control Plan

DMAIC

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control

Who is a Project Manager?

Develops and owns the overall project plan. Secures acceptance/approval of deliverables from Executive Sponsor and Stakeholders. Responsible for communication, including status reports and risk management, making sure the project is delivered within budget, on schedule and within scope.

Analyze Phase

Dive into the findings from the Measure phase to truly understand the problem and identify the root cause.

Six Sigma Team Members

Executive Sponsor, Champion/Ops Lead, Process Owner, PI Coach, Project Manager, Core Team Member, Subject Matter Expert (SMEs)

Measure Phase

Measure the impact of the metric(s) of the project and document a high-level process

Control Plan

Method for documenting functional elements which are to be implemented to assure quality standards are met. Ensures the process doesn't revert to its previous state. Managed by the Process Owner

Control Phase

Monitor the performance of the metric after the solutions are implemented. Assess opportunities for replication and sustain gains by adhering to a robust control plan.

Who is an Executive Sponsor?

Senior Executive who understands Lean Six Sigma and is committed to the overall success of process improvement initiative. They are committed to implementing improvement measures throughout the organization

As-Is Process Map

Shows how the process is currently operating, sequence of events, pain points, redundancy.

Define Phase

Understand the business problem, determine requirements

What tools are used in the Analyze Phase?

5-Whys

Who is a PI Coach?

A Process Improvement expert (Green or Black Belt) who can be contacted for help with PI tools

5-Whys Technique

A questioning technique for identifying the root cause of a problem. Ask "Why" as many times as you need.

Control Graph

An extension of the primary metric chart - keeps track of metric progress since improvement implementation. Assesses the effectiveness of change.

Who is a Core Team Member?

Bring relevant expertise, execute tasks, and complete deliverables as directed by project leaders.

Who is a Subject Matter Expert (SMEs)?

Bring relevant expertise, supply data, attend meetings as needed.

Key Metrics

For Six Sigma, these are known as "defects" that outline the gap between how we are performing and how we should be performing.

What tools are used in the Improve Phase?

Future State/ Improved Process Map

Improve Phase

Improve the process by implementing the findings from the analyze phase and document a new process flow

Why is calculating ROI important?

It helps quantify project value, builds stakeholder support, and helps prioritize projects

Future State/ Improved Process Map

It is a graphical representation of the process with implemented improvements. Ideally, it removes key failure points.

Why is a Project Charter important?

It sets expectations, goals, scope, gains approval from leaders, accelerates onboarding of resources, avoids future scope creep.

Primary Metric Chart

Line graph of baseline data over time. Contains both the goal line and the actual performance. Helpful for identifying trends in a process

Process Map shapes

Pill = Beginning/End Rectangle = Process Step Diamond = Decision Step Explosion = Failure Point Arrows = Connect steps together

What tools are used in the Measure Phase?

Primary Metric Chart, As-Is Process Map

What are the 6 components of a Project Charter?

Problem Statement, Goal Statement, Key Metrics, Team, Milestones, Scope

What tools does the Define stage include?

Project Charter, ROI

Who is a Process Owner?

Responsible for monitoring and sustaining improvement results to ensure the process improvement gains are maintained.

Goal Statement Format

SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time Bound)

Problem Statement Format

SOMM (Specific, Observable, Measurable, Manageable)

What are the Control Plan Elements?

Targeted Metric, Goal, Who is Responsible for Tracking Metric, Response when Metric is not Meeting Goal, Start Date, End Date