Each letter of the DMAIC process stands for the five steps involved in improving any business and solving associated problems; Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. A Six Sigma Green Belt training program is designed to introduce someone in a leadership position to these five concepts, as well as the tools and methods that are used to analyze and implement them effectively to boost efficiency in any field of work. Before you go ahead and search a course site like findcourses.com for the relevant Six Sigma Green Belt training, an introduction to the five concepts and how they impact business growth should prove to be enlightening.
Table of Contents
Define
The defining stage is as broad as it sounds and may include all or some of the following:
- Clarify all critical facts
- Define the problem statement
- Identify and list the concerned customers
- Define the CTQ
- Define targets and boundaries of the project
Measure
This is the data acquisition stage and before it can begin, the data collection plan will need to be devised and tested first. The plan helps to define the parameters regarding how much data is required for the project in question and how to collect it. As the success of any DMAIC process is largely dependent on the quality of the data, it needs to be extensive, accurate and relevant.
Analyze
Once you have the necessary amount of data, it is time for the project team to get to work on analyzing it. The analysis should focus on the following:
- Difference between input and output
- Difference between current and expected performance/productivity
- Identification of variable factors and their sources
- Identification and prioritization of the possible avenues of improvement
During the Six Sigma Green Belt training, you will be introduced to more complex, deductive tools and methods for analyzing the collected data accurately to determine all the important details.
Improve
Just as the name suggests, the Improve stage is where the team figures out and implements the steps necessary to make the desired improvements, as suggested by the analysis in the previous step. Testing the possible avenues of solutions with an FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis) will be necessary before final implementation. Once the implementation plan has been designed after the FMEA testing, it’s time to implement them and make improvements.
Control
Now we come to the final stage of the DMAIC process, which involves maintenance. This means that a control plan will be devised during this stage to monitor, maintain and update the improvement plans as and when required. This is the stage where the improvement plans implemented during the Improve stage will be made more sustainable and will be built upon for further progress.
To anyone in a leadership position within an organization, this should serve to provide an idea of how a DMAIC process works. However, in order to actually learn how one can properly implement these five stages of identifying obstacles, solving problems and improving business processes, at least getting the basic Six Sigma Green Belt training is essential.