SS004

Selecting a Six Sigma Project

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February 2011

The summary of discussions at QualityGurus.com

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 SS004

Selecting a Six Sigma Project

The summary of discussions at QualityGurus.com

February 2011

What are the factors and considerations in selecting What not to select
a Six Sigma project? • It should neither be a “bean-sized” project so that
E the improvements are to small to be appreciated
neither a “world-hunger” project that implement-

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Selecting a project to apply Six Sigma methodology to
ing the solutions is beyond the control of the
is an important first step. There is no argument that Six
stakeholders.
Sigma is beneficial, yet the process also has a significant
cost element. The project selected must be selected on E
defined factors that will justify the resource and time
Profit in business commitment.

comes from repeat
customers, customers
that boast about your
project or service, and
Considerations1
that bring friends with
them. ~ W. Edwards
Deming
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E General Guidelines for Project Selection 2
• There should be an existing gap between the cur-
us rent performance and the needed/desired perfor-
mance of its processes
• Result • The cause of this problem should be unknown or
not clearly understood
– Does it have significant impact on customer
satisfaction? • There shouldn’t be any pre-determined or appar-
ur
ent optimal solution. If you already know the an-
– The Customer First (Customers are known
swer, then just go fix it!
to be the lifeblood of every business and
to support these vital resources, businesses E
yG

spend a significant amount of time and ef-

fort maintaining customer satisfaction. )
– Does the project strongly relate to business
goals?
– Can project gives the financial benefits?
lit
Conclusion
• Project selection is regarded as one of around 13
critical success factors in the six sigma literature.

(Revenue Growth, Cost Reduction, Capi- While not everyone deems project selection as im-
tal Reduction, Key Business Objectives, On portant as for example top management commit-
Time Delivery, Lead Time, Quality, Cus- ment and team training, many do place it at or
ua

tomer Satisfaction) near the top in terms of importance.

– Cost of the project and the overall benefit • An interesting issue is whether project selection
and profitability to the company. should be part of the “define” phase or whether
– The scope of the project should be well de- it should constitute its own phase, which would
Q

fined. Results must be measurable And tan- mean the acronym should be PDMAIC rather
gible. than DMAIC. Either way, well-considered selec-
tion of projects in terms of clear criteria and with
– Defining the desired outcome.
top management involvement is vital.
• Effort
E
– Can the project be completed in 3 to 6
months? A Good Project Must Be Manage-
able. Prolonged projects risk loss of inter-
est and start building frustrations within the
team and all the way around. The team also
runs the risk of disintegrating.

1
http://www.qualitygurus.com/courses/mod/forum/discuss.php?d 2
http://www.qualitygurus.com/courses/mod/forum/discuss.php?d
=3343 =715