Over the last few years, Lean and Six Sigma have become extremely popular in the business world and have been made extremely popular by Jack Welch and others. Even the U.S. government used the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to fight the war on terror. That being said, Six Sigma tools are a vital element of any company process development lead. By recognizing defects and gaps in your methods, they enable you to increase the performance of your company significantly.
If followed the perfect way, Lean and Six Sigma tools can aid to reduce waste, improve employee fertility, and push profits. Here are 8 of the most effective Lean and Six Sigma tools that you can start incorporating into your business.
Value-Stream Mapping
The value-stream map represents the knowledge and materials required to produce the assets for a client. This mechanism helps streamline the production method.
Although value-stream mapping is mainly practiced in lean manufacturing, it can be helpful for businesses in virtually any industry. Its principal aim is to reflect such information as period, lapse rate, and random delays within the process.
The Value-stream map consists of three different elements: the method map, the timeline, and the knowledge issue. It employs a different set of numbers to assist you in better comprehend the manner.
Cause-and-Effect Analysis
A cause-and-effect analysis diagram is also named the fishbone diagram because it matches a sketch of a fish. It’s one of the most popular Lean Six Sigma tools, as it enables you to brainstorm different causes of a query.
The first step in doing the review is to recognize the difficulty you want to work on. You have to address who works on the process and when and where the process happens.
The next step is to write the query in a case on the left-hand side of the document. Then you form a straight line continuing to the opposite end of the paper. From there, you pick vertical columns extending off of the “spine”. Along these lines, you write the primary reasons following the problem and think of any possible conditions. You can break these causes down into sub-causes.
Once you build the diagram with all the possible causes of the problem, you can explain your decisions. The issues may need additional testing and review.
The 5 WHYs
Companies often find that the same problem happens over and over repeatedly. No matter how many times they fix it, it keeps sneaking back in at the next date.
Obstacles that won’t go are a sign of a broader issue that you need to address. To get to the root of the recurring problems, you can use the tool known as the 5 WHYs.
The 5 WHYs began in the 1930s with the Japanese industrial change. The process is easy: when the difficulty starts again, you get to the problem by asking “why” in five points. This process is most efficient when solving tricky issues. If you deal with more complicated issues, you may obtain better outcomes by using a cause-and-effect diagram.
The 5 WHYs sound like a straightforward method but don’t underrate it. Its integrity is what executes it so important. Besides, this tool goes well in sequence with other Lean and Six Sigma tools.
Kanban System
Kanban System is a supply chain power system that concentrates on cost cuts by performing Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory control schemes. It is also one of the famous Six Sigma tools, due to its efficiency of use and possible advantages. “Kanban” is Japanese for “billboard.” The word was invented by Taichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota. Ohno based his practice on how supermarkets manage their file depending on the market.
Kanban policy sets deadlines for inventory-holding for all modern business methods. This saves additional support and leaves them to use them properly. The Kanban system operates on a single and straightforward idea: only stimulate the supply chain when the demand needs it. This system both takes more center to the business rule itself and improves its performance.
Pareto Chart
Pareto Chart is a noticeable symbol of the Pareto Principle: 20 percent of input provides 80 percent of output in any provided condition. The plan connects a perpendicular strip graph and a line graph. The bar graph depicts the metrics of different business process elements, ordered from the highest to the least one. The line graph illustrates the combined total of these metrics.
Pareto Chart is a device that reflects what part of the process influences outputs the most. To build such a chart, you first figure out the components of the method and how to regulate them. Once you’ve completed that, you can place this data into a Pareto Chart. This will help you understand how big of an impact on the outcome each part has. In an extension of that, it will give you a splendid view of what requires your immediate care.
Process Mapping
Business process mapping is a way to reflect the business process and fully understand how it operates. A standard map outlines the roles, duties, and rules involved in the method. It performs this data in a structured way that explains the actions of the process along with who is responsible, what the inputs and outputs are, and other data related to the method.
Business process mapping is an excellent aid in problem-solving. It reflects the entire process, making it simpler to see what’s inside and get accurate to the root cause. It also helps to visualize the positions of the people within the process and assure everyone knows what to do. In an extension of that, business process mapping is excellent for discovering the potential opportunities the process creates. Creating a map makes you rethink each step of the method and see if there are some liabilities covered within.
Project Charter
Project Charter is a report that describes the design and scope of the project. It serves both as the plan for the business method and as a legal sanction of the project. The project charter includes the project overview and its range, details about the organization and the resources, and the timeline typically. It gives you all the important information about the project and explains its main features.
The chief advantage of a project charter is that it holds things less confused. Once a trio falls into the project, it is simple to lose a record of who is accountable for what, which deadlines the team has to face first, etc. If the business doesn’t have a transparent managerial government, things will get even more disordered.
RACI Matrix
Responsibility Assignment Matrix, also recognized as a RACI model, is a report that explains the duties of each team member on each job of the business process. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed – the essential responsibilities most generally used in the matrix.
“Responsible” refers to the person whose role it is to achieve the task. “Accountable” is the person authorizing the tasks to others and observing their growth. There is always only one liable person per task. Consulted are the experts on the subject matter whose opinions guide those working on the task. Finally, “Informed” is the person you mark once you finish the task.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
The FMEA in Six Sigma acts both as a tool and as an analysis technique that identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes processes that are found to be deficient. It requires a team to identify where the process can go wrong and breakdowns happen. FMEA is not a difficult tool to use, but when used properly, it clearly lays out potential breakdown junctures by which it helps the team to create proper solutions and proactively manage risks down the line. The application of FMEA tools is far and wide across industry verticals from business processes, technology systems, military planning, and product design.
Two-Sample T-Test
When you want to find out a statistical difference between the means of two samples, then the Two-Sample T-Test is the best Six Sigma tool out there. This is extensively used while comparing two levels of a continuous variable and it was specifically designed when the variables are independent of one another. The Two-Sample T-Test stands out when the variances are unequal and hence used a lot in Six Sigma than any other statistical analysis tool.
Mood’s Median
This is one of the most useful Six Sigma tools to compare medians of two or more populations. It is a non-parametric test which is another way to test a hypothesis while trying to compare data including various processes. The Mood’s Median test determines whether the medians of two or more data point samples are similar or not. Because Six Sigma uses a lot of data to make informed decisions, Mood’s Median is one such way to make sure your data is impeccable enough to arrive at those business-critical decisions.
Simple Linear Regression
When there is a need for modeling the quantitative relationship between two variables in a Six Sigma project, then a Simple linear regression tool is used. The analysis provides how a variable changes when there is a change in another variable which allows continuous analysis of changes in a Six Sigma project. With a simple equation, this tool helps Six Sigma professionals to make improvements to the processes.
Control Plan
The control plan is one of the management planning tools that identifies and monitors process performance metrics which is in line with customer requirements. This tool helps the project team to monitor improvements on a long-term basis. If you want your project to last the ride then this tool is of utmost importance to provide your project the stability it needs. But, many enterprises overlook this control plan tool for their Six Sigma project and by doing this you are not giving your project the probability of a successful finish.
IMR Control Chart
There are many control chart tools to use, but the Individual and Moving Range control chart (IMR Chart) is one of the easiest, flexible and versatile control charts to use. Because it is widely used during the identification of process stability, the tool is applicable to continuous data inflow and to understand non-normality. Hence, the IMR control chart is one of the most commonly applied control charts in Six Sigma projects.
Conclusion
While there is no doubt that these tools are highly effective, they can only perform at their best when deployed and used properly. Hence, professionals who work in the manufacturing industry and other sectors can take advantage of widely popular Six Sigma Certifications and Quality Management Courses to gain a proper understanding of Lean and Six Sigma tools and use them in an efficient manner.
Know more about Quality Management best practices through Invensis Learning’s Quality Management certification training on Lean Fundamentals, BPM and Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Online Course, Minitab Essentials, etc.
