SIX SIGMA TOOLS FOR PROJECTS

DEFINE PHASE

Tool Competence Use
Project prioritization matrix Six Sigma Green Belt Choose a project from many available projects, based on factors that matter for your organization.
SIPOC Six Sigma Green Belt Define stakeholders and project scope.
Project charter Six Sigma Green Belt Present various key project metrics on one page so supervision becomes efficient
Critical path analysis Six Sigma Green Belt Create a schedule and within that schedule identify the activities which should be monitored carefully.
Gantt Charts Six Sigma Green Belt Helps with scheduling a project. suitable for simple projects with small number of project steps
VoC to CTQ Six Sigma Green Belt + Black Translate the wishes of customers/stakeholders to concrete technical variables.
Kano analysis Six Sigma Black Belt Categorize customer wishes. This categorization is usually done to prioritize certain improvements
NPV Six Sigma Black Belt Determine financial return of various potential projects before you start.
Ishikawa diagram Lean Management Helps to structure brainstorming sessions which often occurs in the define phase.
Kanban board Lean Management Makes the status of project steps visible. It helps project members to get quick updates status.

MEASURE PHASE

Tool Competence Use
MSA Six Sigma Green Belt Check in how far your measurements are  consistent (precise) and on target (accurate).
Arithmetic mean Six Sigma Green Belt Get a picture of central tendency of your  data if it is measured on a parametric scale  and is NOT a % change.
Geometric mean Six Sigma Green Belt Get a picture of central tendency of your  data if it is expressed as a % change.
Standard deviation Six Sigma Green Belt Get an idea of the spread of your data if it is  measured on a parametric scale and  follows a normal distribution.
Confidence intervals Six Sigma Black Belt Do you have a mean value or % based on  your sample? Confidence intervals help you  to for instance with 95 or 99% certainty  state in which range the mean or % would  be, if you would draw new samples  endlessly.
Sigma score Six Sigma Green Belt To what extent is your organization able to  produce services and products that meet its  own norms? The sigma score quantifies  that. Please do not confuse this with  standard deviation which is a different  concept.
Cycle time and bottleneck  computation Lean Management +  Six Sigma Black Belt What is the time interval between the  production of service/products? That is cycle time. Which part is causing delays by slowing the entire process? That is the  bottleneck.
Flow charts - Visualize a process.
Histograms - Visualize data distribution.
Transport matrix - Show the amount of transport between  various locations. This info can be used for  a new layout.
VSM - Can be used to visualize a before and after  picture of the organization in terms of  inventory, movements, cycle time etc.
Interviews - Help you to get an answer to ‘why questions.’
Surveys/questionnaire - Help you to get an answer to relatively  straightforward questions such as: What?  When? How much? Etc.
OEE - Quantifies and categorizes waste.
Spaghetti diagrams - Helps to visualize flow of people. Great tool for layout problems of offices, shops, factory floors.
Heat maps - Helps to visualize what people focus on a screen. It is a great tool during the Measure phase for solving problems with for instance the layout of a website. It can also be used in the Improve phase to check various proposed designs of for instance websites.

ANALYZE PHASE

Tool Competence Use
Correlation Six Sigma Green Belt + Black Quantifies the strength and direction of a linear relationship between 2 parametric variables.
Single OLS regression Six Sigma Green Belt Quantifies how much a dependent Y variable is affected if we change an independent X variable.
Single non- linear regression Six Sigma Green Belt Quantifies how much a dependent Y variable is affected if we change an independent X variable.
Multiple OLS regression Six Sigma Black Belt Quantify the effect of each X variable on Y, whilst keeping the effect of other Xs in the model constant.
Pareto chart Lean Management Helps us to identify the most contribution for sells or main causes for issues.

IMPROVE PHASE

Tool Competence Use
DOE Six Sigma Black Belt Helps us to quantify the effect of an isolated stimulus on some kind of outcome.
Theory of constraints Six Sigma Black Belt Streamline a sequence of activities so that the product or service can ultimately be produced faster.
SMED Lean Management Helps to reduce the time needed to change production of A to production of B.
JIT Lean Management Reduce inventory to reduce cost.
Single piece flow Lean Management Method of production that is based on customer demand (pull production).
5S Lean Management Method to arrange the work floor in a more efficient and effective way.
Poka Yoke Lean Management Making products/services mistake proof, reducing cost of inspection and aftersales helpdesks.
Transportation matrix Lean Management Show the amount of transport between various locations. This info can be used for a new layout.
Kano analysis Six Sigma Black Belt Categorize customer wishes. This categorization is usually done to prioritize certain improvements.
NPV Six Sigma Black Belt Determine financial return of various potential projects before start.

CONTROL PHASE

Tool Competence Use
Control charts Six Sigma Green Belt Performance indicator stays within defined boundaries visually.
Audits Six Sigma Black Belt Inspections intended to check whether processes function as they should.
SOP Lean Management Detailed description of activities intended to make a process absolutely clear to all involved.
Visual management Six Sigma Black Belt Monitoring key metrics with visuals.