Many recent inquiries and discussions have focused on the SIPOC diagram a tool used in the Six Sigma

methodology. Because of the interest level, a further explanation is presented here along with a sample and template
for your use.
A SIPOC diagram is a tool used by a team to identify all relevant elements of a process improvement project before
work begins. It helps define a complex project that may not be well scoped, and is typically employed at the Measure
phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology. It is similar and related to
process mapping and in/out of scope tools, but provides additional detail.
The tool name prompts the team to consider the suppliers (the s in SIPOC) of your process, the inputs (the i) to the
process, the process (the p) your team is improving, the outputs (the o) of the process, and the customers (the c)
that receive the process outputs. In some cases, requirements of the customers can be appended to the end of the
SIPOC for further detail.
The SIPOC tool is particularly useful when it is not clear:

Who supplies inputs to the process?

What specifications are placed on the inputs?

Who are the true customers of the process?

What are the requirements of the customers?

Sample SIPOC Diagram

A SIPOC diagram is a tool used by a team to identify all relevant elements of a process improvement project before
work begins. It helps define a complex project that may not be well scoped, and is typically employed at the Measure
phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology.

Steps to Complete the SIPOC Diagram

SIPOC diagrams are very easy to complete. Here are the steps you should follow:1. Create an area that will allow the
team to post additions to the SIPOC diagram. This could be a transparancy (to be projected by an overhead) made of
the provided template, flip charts with headings (S-I-P-O-C) written on each, or headings written on post-it notes
posted to a wall.
2. Begin with the process. Map it in four to five high level steps.
3. Identify the outputs of this process.
4. Identify the customers that will receive the outputs of this process.
5. Identify the inputs required for the process to function properly.
6. Identify the suppliers of the inputs that are required by the process.
7. Optional: Identify the preliminary requirements of the customers. This will be verified during a later step of the Six
Sigma measurement phase.
8. Discuss with project sponsor, Champion and other involved stakeholders for verification.

FMEA stands for Failur Mode and Effect Analysis.

FMEA ia a step by step approach for identifying all possible failures in a process or product and
Failurs are priotrized according to how serious their consequences are, how frequently they occur
and how easily they can be detected. The purpose of the FMEA is to eliminate or reduce the
failures, starting with the highest priority ones.
An FMEA can be described as a systematic group of activities intended to:
(a) recognize and evaluate the potential failure of a product/ process and the effects of that failure.
(b) identify actions that could eliminate or reduce the chance of the potential failure occuring
(c) and document the entire process.
It is complementary to the process of defining what a design or proc ess must do to satisfy the
customer.
Fishbone Analysis - Is commonly known as the "Problem-Analysis Tool" or the "Cause-&-Effect
Diagram".
Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa a Japanese Quality Control Statistician invented the Fish Bone Diagram in the
year 1960. He pioneered the quality management process in the Kawasaki Shipyard.
The Fish Bone Diagram resembles that of the side view of the Skeleton of a Fish.
This diagram is used to explore all the potential causes (during the input, or process until the output
stage) that result in a single effect (output)

The potential causes could be due to any of the 6(M's) , 8 (P's), & 4 (S's)
6M's - Machines, method, material, maintenance, man & mother nature
8P's - Price, promotion, people, process, place, policy, procedure, produ ct
4S's -Surrounding, suppliers, systems, skills
The causes are arranged according to their level of importance to identify the root cause of a
problem (effect).
This diagram is useful for identifying and organizing the known or possible causes of quality
or the lack of it.
HOW TO DRAW A FISH BONE DIAGRAM.
Draw the head of the fish on the right hand side. And write the effect (problem) in the head.
Draw the spine -------------------------------------> Identify Main categories that could be the cause for th
effect as Cause A, Cause B, Cause C, Cause D.,
For each main category identify other causes and attach them as sub branches to each main
category.
Analyse the diagram, and identify the root causes and circle the ones that is causing the effect
and make the necessary improvement to achieve quality.
This is the Basic Tool used for process improvement.
SLA

A service-level agreement is agreement between two or more parties, where one is the customer and the
others are service providers. This can be a legally binding formal or an informal "contract" (for example,
internal department relationships). Contracts between the service provider and other third parties are
often (incorrectly) called SLAs because the level of service has been set by the (principal) customer,
there can be no "agreement" between third parties; these agreements are simply "contracts." Operationallevel agreements or OLAs, however, may be used by internal groups to support SLAs.
SLAs commonly include segments to address: a definition of services, performance measurement,
problem management, customer duties, warranties, disaster recovery, termination of agreement
Service level agreements are also defined at different levels:

Customer-based SLA: An agreement with an individual customer group, covering all the services
they use. For example, an SLA between a supplier (IT service provider) and the finance department
of a large organization for the services such as finance system, payroll system, billing system,
procurement/purchase system, etc.

Service-based SLA: An agreement for all customers using the services being delivered by the
service provider. For example:

A car service station offers a routine service to all the customers and offers certain maintenance
as a part of offer with the universal charging.

A mobile service provider offers a routine service to all the customers and offers certain
maintenance as a part of offer with the universal charging

An email system for the entire organization. There are chances of difficulties arising in this type
of SLA as level of the services being offered may vary for different customers (for example, head
office staff may use high-speed LAN connections while local offices may have to use a lower
speed leased line).

Multilevel SLA: The SLA is split into the different levels, each addressing different set of customers
for the same services, in the same SLA.

Corporate-level SLA: Covering all the generic service level management (often abbreviated as
SLM) issues appropriate to every customer throughout the organization. These issues are likely
to be less volatile and so updates (SLA reviews) are less frequently required.

Customer-level SLA: covering all SLM issues relevant to the particular customer group,
regardless of the services being used.

Service-level SLA: covering all SLM issue relevant to the specific services, in relation to this
specific customer group.