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The DMAIC Model: Define what is important for improvement;
Measure how well you are doing at the moment; Analyse what exactly is wrong;
Improve what needs to be done; Control the improvements that have been made.
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Team Meeting Skills: the team meeting process has seven steps and to be effective requires the use of particular roles by each of the people attending including Leader, Member, Recorder, Timekeeper, and, Facilitator.
Key issues include how a meeting can be prepared, conducted, and recorded.
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Idea Generating Tools: idea generation is important in problem solving and decision making and involves the tools of Brainstorming and Nominal Group
Technique. These tools are used to tap the ‘creative’ talent in a group of people and are employed to generate the greatest possible number of ideas or solutions to a problem.
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Consensus Decision Making Tools:
these include Multiple Voting that is used to reduce a long list of ideas; Rank Ordering to get a visual display of the degree of agreement among team
members for a list of ten or fewer ideas
; and, Structured Discussion that is used to assist a team in reaching a consensus decision.
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Kano
Analysis:
not all customer requirements are equally important, nor do
customers regard every defect as equally serious.
The purpose of Kano Analysis is to help understand and
prioritise customer requirements in terms of Dissatisfiers,
Satisfiers, and Delighters.
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SIPOC:
represents Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs,
and Customers. SIPOC
analysis and maps provide an ‘at-a-glance’ perspective of the
high level process steps in conjunction with key suppliers, inputs,
outputs, and customers and is used to understand the boundaries of
an improvement project.
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Check
Sheets:
these provide a systematic approach to collecting data on defects so
that decisions can be made on facts, not opinions or ‘stories’.
Once it is known what kind of data is needed as the basis for
decision making, a Check Sheet can be designed and then used to
record that data in a way that is simple, accurate, and efficient.
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Concentration Diagram: provides a visual display of how often and where defects or problems, such as blemishes, marks, or holes occur on a product.
By creating a ‘picture’ of where the defects or problems are ‘concentrated’ a solution can be applied in the correct location.
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Sigma
Calculation:
Sigma is a ‘standard’ for measuring quality.
It helps to establish Baseline (As Is), which is the
measurable level of performance at which a process is currently
performing; Entitlement (Should Be), which is the level of
performance that a process can achieve without spending money; and,
Benchmark (Could Be), which is the level of performance being
achieved by the ‘Best in Class’; this may mean spending money.
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Yield Calculation: the Sigma Calculation focuses on the capability of a process to meet external
customer requirements. However, it is important to be aware that a low output Sigma figure also means that the internal processes in a department are not working very
well. It is possible calculate the proportion of units that are being produced which are defective as the percentage of the units sampled that had one or more defects.
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Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ):
can be measured as soon as defect data has been collected. Problems, or defects, can be translated into monetary costs per defect including labour and material costs for rework.
Measuring COPQ can help to get support for improvements that a team is trying to make.
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Pareto Analysis: provides a means of prioritising action, since all problems may not be tackled simultaneously.
Through the use of a simple chart, it helps to identify the major problems or major causes of a problem for subsequent action.
It is known more commonly as the 80/20 rule, which suggests that 80% of the problems are caused by 20% of the causes.
It helps to differentiate between the ‘Vital Few’ and the ‘Useful Many’.
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Run and Control Charts: a Run Chart can be used to show the trend of an activity over a specified period of time.
A Control Chart also shows the trend of an activity but also provides Upper and Lower Control Limits on either side of the process average.
The Upper and Lower Control Limits show if a process is just being affected by Common Causes and is ‘in control’ or if a Special Cause has occurred which has resulted in the process being ‘out of control’.
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Histogram: used to summarise data that has been collected over a period of time from a process and graphically present its frequency distribution in bar form.
Displays large amounts of data that are difficult to interpret in tabular form and shows the relative frequency of occurrence of the various data values; reveals the centring, variation, and shape of the data; illustrates quickly the underlying distribution of the data; provides useful information for predicting future performance; helps to indicate if there has been a change in the process; and, helps answer the question: “Is the process capable of meeting my customers requirements?”
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Organisation Mapping: provides a graphic picture of the structure of an organisation according to how it functions.
It enables the organisation to be seen as it is; what it should be; and to to communicate both.
It also helps to gain perspective; collect data; identify Non-Value-Added activities; locate Disconnects; select fixes; promote communication; and, improve management.
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Cause and Effect Analysis: a technique for identifying the possible causes of a problem or situation.
They are also known as Fishbone Diagrams and Ishikawa Diagrams and are powerful tools to reveal hidden relationships between Causes and Effects and pinpoint the root causes (s) of a problem.
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Scatter Diagram: can be used to show the relationship between two variables.
The variables can be process characteristics, performance measures, or other conditions, and are usually measured at specific time intervals.
When one of the factors increases, the other can also increase, decrease, or display only random variation.
If the two variables seem to change in synchronisation, it might mean that they are related and impact each other.
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Decision Matrix: a technique to make a choice between options by applying a ‘rating’ to each option.
The technique is useful to choose between problems to be solved, or opportunities to be exploited given the available resources, which are invariably limited.
It can also be used to decide between a number of possible solutions, such as can be produced in the brainstorming process.
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Solution Effect Analysis: used to test a potential solution and identify all the likely effects.
It is like the Cause and Effect Diagram, but in reverse, and provides a powerful visual tool.
It enables a team to check that their solution does, in fact, solve the problem; helps to ensure that their solution does not create additional problems; and, highlights what steps and what resources are needed to implement the solution.
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Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA):
a technique that helps to anticipate problems before they arise, or to measure consequences of selecting a particular course of action.
It is prevention of, as against reaction to, a problem and helps to control a situation, particularly when a major change is contemplated or where failure would be particularly damaging.
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Force Field Analysis:
a need for change inevitably creates a counter force for resistance because of: fear of the unknown; loss of status; and, the necessity to learn new skills to list but a few of the causes.
Force Field Analysis is a simple illustration of the forces that are likely either to help the process of change or significantly hinder it.
It enables change to be managed in a planned, systematic way rather than by expediency.
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