Conducting the Knowledge Transfer
February 12, 2025
Living for the Next Quarter Of late, many publicly listed companies have been living “quarter to quarter” or the practice of setting targets, tracking them for progress, and closing out sales and revenue generating items based on the next quarter which is a short term imperative rather than planning for the longer term. This has […]
The Project Risk Assessment Matrix is one of the required documents to complete the Define phase of the DMAIC methodology. The procedure has been designed in such a way to ensure that people implementing the project have given a thought to what can possibly go wrong and begin thinking of mitigation plans. Here is a […]
For implementing any Human Resource Information System (HRIS) project successfully, the system design requirements should be given utmost importance and it must have scope for customizations as per the requirements of the end users. The system should have various inbuilt provisions and be developed by carefully analyzing the end users/customers’ requirements and the technicalities involved […]
The world is facing a scarcity of water. Each year about 3.4 million people die due to the scarcity of water! Several million more fall sick due to the poor sanitary conditions of the water supplied. The current situation is proof of the fact that the global water supply is not being managed properly. Many […]
Production Order Subcontracting – In the age of production outsourcing and the organizational focus on their core competency, subcontracting of production orders is assuming greater importance. In addition to the business functionality necessary for producing goods in house, sub contraction operations necessitates some additional business process such as generation of sub contracting purchase order. Sub […]
Since the entire premise of having a Six Sigma process is based on measurement, comparison of measurements and setting corrective action plans, it is crucial that the variables (metrics) being measured are appropriate. Wrong measurements lead to wrong decisions which are expensive and a wastage of time and resources.
As explained in the Define module, there must at least be two types of variables being measured i.e. the primary metric and the secondary metric. The primary metric is the variable whose value must be checked for improvement, whereas the secondary variable is the variable whose value must be checked to ensure that it does not get deteriorated.
Apart from that one also needs to ensure that both inputs and outputs are being measured. Since the process has the form Y=f(X) both, the Y and the X must be carefully monitored real time to ensure that f() i.e., the process is behaving as expected.
Here are a few characteristics that the variables being used to create a Six Sigma control plan must possess:
Must Display the State of Affairs: There is always a difference between the measurements that variables show and what the desired state of affairs is. This usually happens when a single metric is used to understand the state of affairs.
For instance, if in a call center, the only metrics used is call handling time, agents are likely to start hanging up calls without giving appropriate service to meet their numbers. It is therefore essential that management must brainstorm ways in which the system can be broken. This means that they must try to find out ways in means in which all the variables are showing desired values, however the process is still out of control. If such a scenario exists,the variables must be corrected to include this scenario.
Critical: In a Six Sigma process, there are likely to be many variables. However, as Pareto analysis has shown, all these variables may not be equally important. Hence, the metrics chosen must have a material impact on the process. It is impossible to monitor all the variables without building in mind-boggling complexity in the system.
Easy to Measure: The variables being chosen to measure must not require installation of new equipment or machinery. If this is the case, a cost benefit analysis must be done to justify the added costs. Also the variables to be recorded must not require considerable intelligence or expertise on the part of the person recording them.
Produce Correct Measurements: Needless to say that the variables must be put through the Measurement Systems Analysis tests described in the Measure Module. The success of the entire project depends upon the reliability of this data. Therefore one must ensure that the data is in fact reliable!
Measurable over a Period of Time: Also, the metrics must facilitate easy collection of data over a period of time. This is because control charts are time series plots and data needs to be collected over a period of time and plotted on these graphs.
The correct variables are the fundamentals of a good control plan. The procedure may look deceptively simple. However, wrong variables can have significant impact on your project, inclusing making your project a failure.
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