SIX SIGMA

PROJECT SELECTION

Objectives
To address the MOST IMPORTANT
Phase in all SIX SIGMA projects & the
difference between success & failure.
To define the importance of selecting an
appropriate SIX SIGMA project for Green /
Black belts.
To define the critical roles of Champions in
the “recognize phase”

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 Types of Project
Black/Green Six Sigma Projects

“Save-the-World”, “Ocean Boiling”

Projects or Management
Problems
Logic & intuition
Types of
Project

Too
Difficult Too Difficult
Easy

Types of Project
“Too Easy” type of projects:
Projects that take minimum afford or evaluations
to derive a workable solutions. (Straight forward
solutions)
Usually less attractive saving.
Example:
Simple improvement of house keeping.
Straight forward mistake proofing devices.
Improvement of work flow arrangements.

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 Types of Project
“Difficult” type of projects:
Project most suitable to assign to Green / Black
Belts.
It usually involved quite extensive & in-depth
evaluations before arriving to a solution.
Usually involved some Statistics or mathematical
calculations to support findings.
It usually takes Not More than 4 months to
complete & with very attractive savings.
Issues that are closely related to company’s
business goals.

Types of Project
“Difficult” type of projects:
Examples:
Low yield & utilization of machines.
Long cycle time of machines/processes.
High scrap, rework, reject, inventory,
operating cost, maintenance & COPQ.
Improvement of poor process capabilities.
Unpredictable process performance. Etc.

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 Types of Project
“Too Difficult” type of projects:
Projects that usually have a very large scope.
It usually involved in “Executive Decisions”
It usually involved inter-department or inter-
company.
Examples:
Scrap reduction in the whole company.
Consolidation of storage area in the company.
Quality improvement in the company.

3-Typical Types of SS Projects

1. Operational Projects:
Projects that deal with manufacturing of
products and processes.
E.g.
Part assembly, degreasing, drilling,
machining, metal stamping, plastic
injection, forming, cutting, tapping,
welding, delivery, packing, soldering,
forging………….etc.

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 3-Typical Types of SS Projects
2. Transactional Projects:
Projects that deal with information flow,
paper flow or human related processes
in term of “Service”
E.g.
Order processing, planning process,
shipping and receiving, procurement
activities, payroll, documentation
processes ……….et.

3-Typical Types of SS Projects

3. Engineering & Design Projects:

Projects that deal with existing / new

products design & development or
process / line design.

E.g. improvement of machines / lines,

automation, …..etc.

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 Project Selection
Why do we need to emphasis the need for
Project Selection?.............

This is a Process of “Recognizing” &

“Defining” a suitable Six Sigma project for
undertaking by the Black / Green Belts.

It is considered as the MOST CRITICAL

step to the success of any projects.

“Bad” Choices of Project

Low hanging “Fruits”, too simple for well
trained staff. Should just do it!
Cost saving through redesign &
renegotiation with vendors or customers.
Management problems or problems
needed executive decisions.
Inherent raw material defects.
“SOLUTIONS LOOKING FOR A PROJECT”

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Source of Potential Projects
“Reduction” Projects:
Reduction of rejects.
Reduction of scraps.
Reduction of consumption.
Reduction of inventory.
Reduction of cost.
Reduction of movement.
Reduction in man hours.

Source of Potential Projects

“Improvement” Projects:
Improve process cycle time.
Improve efficiency / yield.
Improve response time.
Improve process capability.
Improve machine utilization.
Improve production rate.

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Source of Potential Projects
“Elimination” Projects:

Elimination of redundancy.
Elimination of extra process.
Elimination of errors.

1. THE PROJECT
CHARTER

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 Project Charter Overview

Business
Case

Communication Problem
Plan Statement

Project
Charter

Preliminary
Goal
Project
Statement
Plan

Project
Scope

Key Elements of a Project

Charter
Business Case:
The important of the project relative to the
strategic goals of the company as well as
the likely consequences if the project is
not done.
Problem Statement:
The problem statement describes why the
project needs to be done.

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 Key Elements of a Project
Charter
Project Scope:
It sets the boundaries of what is included and
what is excluded.
Preliminary Project Plan:
it is critical to the success of a Six Sigma project.
The targeted date to complete the 5 phases of
the DMAIC.
Communication Plan:
A communication plan is the tool to ensure
coordination.

2. Project Definition
Phase

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 Objectives
To understand the importance of a good
project definition.

To define the methods of defining an Six

Sigma Project.

Project Definition – How?

Step 1 – Define problem statement
Step 2 – Define scope of project.
Step 3 - Define target / objectives.
Step 4 – Define measure metrics.
Step 5 – Define projected benefits.

Prior to “definition”, there should be some

study or data collected for the “problem”

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 Step 1- Define Problem Statement
Purpose:

To define the problem & communicates the problem to others.

Enables us to focus & link to our business or departmental goals.
goals.

A good problem statement consist of:

1. What goes wrong?

2. Where it happens?
3. When it occurs?
4. To what extent?
5. How do we know?

On the other hand, it should NOT contain:

1. Cause of the problem
2. Solution to the problem.

Step 1- Define Problem Statement

Example:

“Customer in Japan is not satisfied with our last month

acceptance performance, where the rate has
decreased to 85 % and reject claims were also
doubled”
doubled”

What? Customer……
Customer……is is not satisfied with our …..
Performance
Where? ……in
……in Japan…
Japan….
When? ……..
…… .. Last month………
month………
To what extent?..... Has decreased to 85 % ….
How do we know?..... Reject claims are also doubled.

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Step 1- Define Problem Statement
More Examples:

1. “The production yield at the surface plate line

is suffering since the re-location. The yield has
dropped to only 70 %. Yield before the shift
exceed 95 %”

2. “There is an increase of credit notes generate

for oversea customer accounts since June
2006. it increased from 21 cases to 98 cases.
The customer service also received compliant
from these accounts"

Step 1- Define Problem Statement

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

ABC company is not satisfied with our delivery

performance of our radio cover since the
second last delivery. The “on-time score” has
decreased to 85 % due to the two faulty air-
cylinder that delayed the production. They
have requested for a thorough “preventive
maintenance program” for the air cylinder.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE

STATEMENT?

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Step-2 Define scope of project
Scope of project usually required some
basic team activities with brain-storming,
cause & effect studies, pareto charting or
more tools.

Step-2 Define scope of project

Common mistakes:
Scope too board…. Due to poor data or
communication
we call it the…”solve world hunger” or “ocean
boiling” projects.
symptoms: many different outputs, vague goals,
poorly defined problem statement, un-
measurable outputs,….etc.
Solution: “Break” the problem into several
projects instead on one.

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Step-2 Define scope of project
Other mistakes:
Too easy… “solution looking for problem”
if solution is know…. Just fix it.
Management issues
Long term development project involved in
large capital investment and time.
Cost reduction by vendor.
Process / product re-design.

Step 3 – Define target / objective

Target / objective should be set at a realistic
level. Avoid the “zero defect” goal, if possible.
“everyone knows that there are variation in
every process. We can minimize it … we can
control it but we cannot totally eliminate it…. So
acknowledge it and manage it!.
On the other hand…
A easy target will lead to ….”Success before work”

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Step 3 – Define target / objective
Guidelines:
Targets and objectives should be clearly defined
and understood by the whole team.
Target should aimed to have 50% to 70%
improvement for black belt’s projects.
We should know our “entitlement” – best that
can be done with the existing process or
technology.
Avoid too lengthy time line. Set your “time limit”
for the project below 4 months.

Step 3 – Define target / objective

Examples:
Increase the acceptance rate from 85 % to 95.5,
a 70 % improvement from our entitlement of 100
%.
Reduction of defect rate for:
Process from 1 % to 0.5 %
Process from 1.5% to 0.3%.
• Reduce the lubricating usage by 70% from
current rate.
• Reduce paper consumption in the office from
300 rims to 100 rims.

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 Step 4-Define measure metrics
Why do we need a measurable metrics?

To measure your success – Primary Metric.

To prevent unintended consequences due to

any process changes, i.e. avoiding
problem “transferred” to other areas –
Secondary Metric.

Step 4-Define measure metrics

Primary Metric:
Must be consistent with the problem statement.
It use to track progress towards the project
target & objective.
Usually reported sing time-series charts or
equivalent.
Example:
Process Cpk or Ppk
Defect per unit.
Cycle time.
Yield (classical or roll throughput)

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 Step 4-Define measure metrics
Secondary Metric:
Is used to keep one “honest”
Preventing problem from passing from one
area to another one.
More than one secondary metric might be
required to save guard our success.

Step 4-Define measure metrics

Examples:
1. Cycle time reduction project
Primary metric: Cycle time / production unit.
Secondary metric: Man hours / production unit.

2. Cost of usage project:

Primary metric: machine down-
down-time
Secondary metric: overtime spend

3. Defect reduction project:

Primary metric: DPU. DPPM or reject rate
Secondary metric: Cost / unit, cycle time / unit

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 Step 4-Define measure metrics
Examples:
What could go wrong using overtime as
the only metric?

Step 4-Define measure metrics

Having “head count” as a secondary
metric to safe guard the primary metric.

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Step 4-Define measure metrics
Monitoring both the metrics at the same
time.

Step 5 – Define projected benefit

The main objective for a “projected
benefits” is to quantify the effects of
achieving the targets.

From the primary & secondary metrics,

potential project savings can be calculated
in term of dollars & cents.

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 Project Definition
Problem statement

Scope of project

Target

Measurable metrics.

Projected business benefits.

Project Definition - Sample

Problem statement
The turnaround time for customer credit card approval is
being exceeded from an acceptable time of 3 days,
recorded by the customer service department from 1st
Jun to 1st Sep 2006. this caused 254 customer
complaints for inability to use their cards. 8 % of the
customer cancelled their credit card and this translates
to inefficiency can lost customer.
Scope of Project:
The scope of the project covers the newly issue “ Family
Privileged Visa & Master”
Master” cards only.
Target:
to decrease the approval cycle time to 1.5 days by Nov
2006, as measured by the time required for a new used
to go from initial registration to receiving the approval
from our ABC bank.

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 Project Definition - Sample
Measurable Metrics:

Primary metric: Approval cycle time.

Secondary metric: Head count & over time spend.

Projected Business Benefits

The tangible benefits from the project estimated at

$35,000 saving per year and with an intangible benefit of
increased customer base.

Team member selection

Critical point:

Team member SHOULD contain staff from

different disciplines and selecting the right
person for the right job - production, quality,
engineering, planning etc.
Champions’ duty to discuss with their “Bosses”
on releasing them for project involvement.
Inform the process owner on project
undertaking.

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 Team member selection
Consider the size of the team, “Maximize your
resources”
Recommend – Not > 5
Not to have too many members that are not
actively contributing
Release some resources for others.

Ensuring member involved NOT MORE THAN

ONE project, if possible. So to allow more to
participate and ensuring focus to the team.

End of Lesson!
Thank you for your time

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