4 The Define Phase

Introduction

When a project’s goal can be achieved by improving an existing product, process or service, the DMAIC model is used. This chapter and the following chapters elaborate DMAIC in detail.

A. Project Definition

The first step in the DMAIC model is to define the project. It is understood in the Define phase that a number of problems that is affecting business have been identified by the management (through VOC tools which have been discussed in the earlier chapter) and practical solutions have to be worked out for them. A challenge that management faces is to spot these problems in such a way that application of Six Sigma to them gives the maximum benefits. After the problems are identified, the projects to work on have to be decided by the champions, belts, and process owners. There can be many Six Sigma projects that run in parallel in the organization, with champions, Black Belts and Green Belts working throughout the organization. The implementation of the project is performed by these people. 

The focus of a project is to resolve a problem that is affecting the core performance areas of the business such as customer or employee satisfaction, costs, process capability, output and rework, cycle time or responsiveness, defective services and revenue. In the Six Sigma process, the problem first metamorphoses from a practical problem to a statistical problem, then a statistical solution is found out which is later transformed into a practical solution. 

The writing of the project charter, a document issued by senior management, marks the beginning of the project definition. (See Chapter 3 for details on project charter). The project charter specifies the project definition. The Define phase of the DMAIC model begins here. How well the project is defined determines to a great extent how successful the project is. 

The project is defined by stating the project scope, using tools like Pareto charts, high level process maps, work breakdown structures, and the 7M tools (See Chapter 3 for a description of the 7M tools)

Steps in the project definition process

(Craig Gygi, Neil DeCarlo, Bruce Williams, 2005)

1. Determine the Y; that is what specifically needs to be improved or which characteristics or outputs of the process needs to be improved. 
2. Identify the associated processes and their physical locations. 
3. Determine the baseline performance for each Y chosen. 
4. Identify the cost and impact of the problem. 
5. Write the problem statement 
6. Identify candidates for the project team 
7. Obtain approvals and launch

If there are more than two Ys (output variables), it is likely that the project is too large in scope. The most logical step would be to break down the project into two or more projects. To understand the performance of Y, you have to have a better understanding of the process steps that lead to Y. A high level process map has to be used here to show the full scope of the process. 

The following illustration shows the selection of a process output for improvement.

Two things should be kept in mind while selecting a process. One, it should recognize those particular performance parameters which will help the company have a financial gain. Two, it should aim to effect customer satisfaction positively.

A process can be measured on any of the following criteria like defects per million opportunities, cost saving, capacity of the process or the time taken for production of a unit. It is a cross-functional approach and is totally focused on the outcome.

High Level Process Map (Macro Process Map)

A process map is an illustration of the flow of the process, showing the sequence of tasks with the aid of flowcharting symbols. A process map may illustrate a small part of the operation or the complete operation. It consists of a series of actions which change some given inputs into the previously defined outputs. 

The steps in drawing a process map ( Galloway, 1994)

1. Select a process to be mapped 
2. Define the process 
3. Map the primary process 
4. Map alternative paths 
5. Map inspection points 
6. Use the map to improve the process 

A high level or macro process map is an illustration of the flow of the process. A macro process map is a flowchart that illustrates only the major steps or operations of the process. 

Macro process maps increase the visibility of any process. This improves communication. It is used before drawing a more detailed flowchart of a process. 

Example: The following macro process map shows the main steps in taking a call by a customer care executive in a BPO.

The problem area is that the AHT(Average Handling Time) of a customer care executive (CCE) is more than the time limit specified by the head of operations, which reflects on the profitability and effectiveness of the contact center. Problems arise when the customer gets adamant, expresses dissatisfaction in the answer provided by the CCE and insists on further information. This increases the handling time. The customer may also start abusing the CCE and even disconnect the call. This leads to problems. At times, the CCE provides alternative solutions or escalates the call to the team leader or manager, which contributes to increase in handling time. 

Therefore, the Y or output needing improvement here is the AHT.

Pareto Charts

A Pareto chart is a specialized vertical bar graph that exhibits data collected in such a way that important points necessary for the process under improvement can be demarcated. It exhibits the comparative significance of all the data. It is used to focus on the largest improvement opportunity by emphasizing the "crucial few" problems as opposed to the many others. 

The Pareto chart is based on the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle has to be understood before getting to know the Pareto chart. The Pareto principle was proposed by management thinker Joseph M. Juran. It was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of the wealth in Italy was owned by 20% of the people. 

This principle can be applied to work related to business:

“80% of the business defects are caused by only 20% of the errors” 

“80% of your results are produced from 20% of your efforts” 

“80% of the profit to a company is earned by 20% of the customers”

“80% of the complaints to a business are caused by 20% of the products or services” 

The Pareto chart is a bar graph and is used to graphically summarize and display the relative importance of the differences between groups of data. It is useful for non-numeric data. 

This principle is applied to business operations because it is assumed that large percentage (80%) of the problems are caused by few percentages (20%) of the processes. So the Pareto chart helps by narrowing the very few areas of concern, while analyzing the process. 

Take an example of a multi-national company dealing in the home delivery of pizzas, that wants to check the problem areas while delivering the pizzas. The data collected is displayed in the following table:

The next step in preparing a Pareto chart is to calculate the cumulative percentages of the data supplied above. The following table can be derived from the data given above.

Finally a line graph can be prepared to see what the main problems are. The following line graph is drawn from the preceding table data using Ms Excel and plotted with the cumulative percentage against the complaints of the customers. The X axis is plotted as complaints of the customers and the Y axis as the cumulative percentage.

All the problems that fall to the left of the 80% line are the few problems accounting for most of the complaints. They are: 

1. Not hot 
2. Late delivery 
3. No extras 
4. Wrong Billing
5. Wrong Pizza
6. Lesser ingredient 
7. No delivery in a particular area 

These account for 80% of the problems encountered in the home delivery of the pizza. If these are immediately taken care of, then 80% of the problems can be solved. 

In this way, Pareto analysis helps in determining which problems to concentrate your efforts on.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The Work Breakdown Structure is a structure that is defined as a process for defining the final and intermediate products of a product and their relationships. (Ruskin and Estes, 1994)

While defining a project, it becomes necessary to break down the project tasks into several hierarchal components. The WBS shows the breakdown of the deliverables and tasks that are necessary to accomplish a particular project. It records the scope of the project; and it pinpoints all the aspects of a project or process, right till the work package level. The WBS is a variation of the tree diagram and is constructed in the same way as a tree diagram. 

The WBS can be represented by a tree diagram:

Note: See also Chapter 3, Figure 8: Tree Diagram for example of Work Breakdown Structure