The DMAIC Improvement Process

DMAIC refers to a data-driven improvement cycle used for improving, optimising and stabilising business processes and designs. The DMAIC improvement cycle is the core process used to drive Six Sigma projects. DMAIC is not exclusive to Six Sigma and can be used as the framework for other improvement applications. DMAIC is an abbreviation of the five improvement steps: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. All of the DMAIC process steps are required and always proceed in this order: Define : Project charter Write down what you currently know. Seek to clarify facts, set objectives and form the project team. Define the following:

A problem statement The customer(s) Critical to Quality (CTQs) what are the critical process outputs? The target process and other related business processes Project targets Project boundaries A project charter is often created and agreed during the Define step.

Measure This is the data collection step. The team decides on what should be measured and how to measure it. This forms a data collection plan. It is usual for teams to invest a lot of effort into assessing the suitability of the proposed measurement systems. Good data is at the heart of the DMAIC process:

Define the process critical Xs (inputs) and Ys (outputs). Define the measurement plan. Test the measurement system. Collect the data. A Measurement System Analysis (gauge study) is performed at this stage.

Analyze : Brainstorming, 5 Whys, and the Fishbone Diagram The data collected in the Measure step is analysed to determine root causes of defects. Within Six Sigma, often complex analysis tools are used. However, it is acceptable to use basic tools if these are appropriate.

Identify gaps between current performance and goal performance Identify how the process inputs (Xs) affect the process outputs (Ys) List and prioritize potential opportunities to improve Identify sources of variation Data is analysed to understand the location or distribution of the data collected. Histograms and box plots are often used to do this.

Improve Identify creative solutions to fix and prevent process problems. Use brainstorming techniques like Six Hats and Random Word. Some projects can utilise complex analysis tools like DOE (Design of Experiments), but try to focus on obvious solutions if these are apparent.

Create innovate solutions Focus on the simplest and easiest solutions Test solutions using FMEA Create a detailed implementation plan

Deploy improvements Ishikawa diagrams can be used throughout all DMAIC stages. Within the Improve step, we can use these to help brainstorm potential solutions.

Control Monitor the improvements to ensure continued success. Create a control plan. Update documents, business process and training records as required. Control charts can be useful during the control stage.

TOC :
The theory of constraints (TOC) adopts the common idiom "A chain is no stronger than its weakest link" as a new management paradigm. This means that processes, organizations, etc., are vulnerable because the weakest person or part can always damage or break them or at least adversely affect the outcome. The analytic approach with TOC comes from the contention that any manageable system is limited in achieving more of its goals by a very small number of constraints, and that there is always at least one constraint. Hence the TOC process seeks to identify the constraint and restructure the rest of the organization around it, through the use of five focusing steps. In general, the solution for supply chains is to create flow of inventory so as to ensure greater availability and to eliminate surpluses. The TOC distribution solution is effective when used to address a single link in the supply chain and more so across the entire system, even if that system comprises many different companies. The purpose of the TOC distribution solution is to establish a decisive competitive edge based on extraordinary availability by dramatically reducing the damages caused when the flow of goods is interrupted by shortages and surpluses. This approach uses several new rules to protect availability with less inventory than is conventionally required. Before explaining these new rules, the term Replenishment Time must be defined. Replenishment Time (RT) is the sum of the delay, after the first consumption following a delivery, before an order is placed plus the delay after the order is placed until the ordered goods arrive at the ordering location. 1. Inventory is held at an aggregation point(s) as close as possible to the source. This approach ensures smoothed demand at the aggregation point, requiring proportionally less inventory. The distribution centers holding the aggregated stock are able to ship goods downstream to the next link in the supply chain much more quickly than a make-to-order manufacturer can. #:Following this rule may result in a make-to-order manufacturer converting to make-to-stock. The inventory added at the aggregation point is significantly less than the inventory reduction downstream. 2. In all stocking locations, initial inventory buffers are set which effectively create an upper limit of the inventory at that location. The buffer size is equal to the maximum expected consumption within the average RT, plus additional stock to protect in case a delivery is late. In other words, there is no advantage in holding more inventory in a location than the amount that might be consumed before more could be ordered and received. Typically, the sum of the on hand value of such buffers are 2575% less than currently observed average inventory levels.

3. Once buffers have been established, no replenishment orders are placed as long as the quantity inbound (already ordered but not yet received) plus the quantity on hand are equal to or greater than the buffer size. Following this rule causes surplus inventory to be bled off as it is consumed. 4. For any reason, when on hand plus inbound inventory is less than the buffer, orders are placed as soon as practical to increase the inbound inventory so that the relationship On Hand + Inbound = Buffer is maintained. 5. To ensure buffers remain correctly sized even with changes in the rates of demand and replenishment, a simple recursive algorithm called Buffer Management is used. When the on hand inventory level is in the upper third of the buffer for a full RT, the buffer is reduced by one third (and dont forget rule 3). Alternatively, when the on hand inventory is in the bottom one third of the buffer for too long, the buffer is increased by one third (and dont forget rule 4). The definition of too long may be changed depending on required service levels, however, a general rule of thumb is 20% of the RT. Moving buffers up more readily than down is supported by the usually greater damage caused by shortages as compared to the damage caused by surpluses. Once inventory is managed as described above, continuous efforts should be undertaken to reduce RT, late deliveries, supplier minimum order quantities (both per SKU and per order) and customer order batching. Any improvements in these areas will automatically improve both availability and inventory turns, thanks to the adaptive nature of Buffer Management. A stocking location that manages inventory according to the TOC should help a non-TOC customer (downstream link in a supply chain, whether internal or external) manage their inventory according to the TOC process. This type of help can take the form of a vendor managed inventory (VMI). The TOC distribution link simply extends its buffer sizing and management techniques to its customers inventories. Doing so has the effect of smoothing the demand from the customer and reducing order sizes per SKU. VMI results in better availability and inventory turns for both supplier and customer. More than that, the benefits to the non-TOC customers are sufficient to meet the purpose of capitalizing on the decisive competitive edge by giving the customer a powerful reason to be more loyal and give more business to the upstream link. When the end consumers buy more the whole supply chain sells more. One caveat should be considered. Initially and only temporarily, the supply chain or a specific link may sell less as the surplus inventory in the system is sold. However, the immediate sales lift due to improved availability is a countervailing factor. The current levels of surpluses and shortages make each case different.

Role of the 1.5 sigma shift

Experience has shown that processes usually do not perform as well in the long term as they do in the short term.[11] As a result, the number of sigmas that will fit between the process mean and the nearest specification limit may well drop over time, compared to an initial short-term study.[11] To account for this real-life increase in process variation over time, an empirically-based 1.5 sigma shift is introduced into the calculation.[11][23] According to this idea, a process that fits 6 sigma between the process mean and the nearest specification limit in a short-term study will in the long term fit only 4.5 sigma either because the process mean will move over time, or because the long-term standard deviation of the process will be greater than that observed in the short term, or both.[11] Hence the widely accepted definition of a six sigma process is a process that produces 3.4 defective parts per million opportunities (DPMO). This is based on the fact that a process that is normally distributed will have 3.4 parts per million beyond a point that is 4.5 standard deviations above or below the mean (onesided capability study).[11] So the 3.4 DPMO of a six sigma process in fact corresponds to 4.5 sigma, namely 6 sigma minus the 1.5-sigma shift introduced to account for long-term variation.[11] This allows for the fact that special causes may result in a deterioration in process performance over time, and is designed to prevent underestimation of the defect levels likely to be encountered in real-life operation.[11]
A control chart depicting a process that experienced a 1.5 sigma drift in the process mean toward the upper specification limit starting at midnight. Control charts are used to maintain 6 sigma quality by signaling when quality professionals should investigate a process to find and eliminate special-cause variation.

below gives long-term DPMO values corresponding to various short-term sigma levels. It must be understood that these figures assume that the process mean will shift by 1.5 sigma toward the side with the critical specification limit. In other words, they assume that after the initial study determining the short-term sigma level, the long-term Cpk value will turn out to be 0.5 less than the shortterm Cpk value. So, for example, the DPMO figure given for 1 sigma assumes that the long-term process mean will be 0.5 sigma beyond the specification limit (Cpk = 0.17), rather than 1 sigma within it, as it was in the short-term study (Cpk = 0.33). Note that the defect percentages indicate only defects exceeding the specification limit to which the process mean is nearest. Defects beyond the far specification limit are not included in the percentages.
Sigma level DPMO Percent defective Percentage yield Short-term Cpk Long-term Cpk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 691,462 69% 308,538 31% 66,807 6.7% 6,210 233 3.4 0.019 0.62% 0.023% 0.00034% 0.0000019% 31% 69% 93.3% 99.38% 99.977% 99.99966% 99.9999981% 0.33 0.67 1.00 1.33 1.67 2.00 2.33 0.17 0.17 0.5 0.83 1.17 1.5 1.83