In this course we have not discussed other tools such as Six Sigma, but they can nonetheless be important components for project planning.
Explain your thoughts on how a Six Sigma process would integrate with the Project Planning Process.
Spiral Medical Development
www.spiralmeddev.com
I am not too familiar with the Six Sigma tool, but I understand that it's very beneficial to have within an industry that mass produces. When it comes to the Project Planning Process, the Six Sigma tool without a doubt would be integrated with Risk Management. From the lecture Risk Management is done in rounds, and the first round is done in the Project Planning Phase. Risk management is all about exploring methods to deal with risks whether it'd be avoiding, mitigating, or even accepting the risk itself. Usually I would assume that most companies would mitigate the risk in order for the Planning phase to go through. Six Sigma is a set of tools and techniques for improvement on processes like business and manufacturing by improving the quality of output of a process by discovering and removing errors and mitigating variation. Doing most of the risk management with the utilization of six sigma during project planning can save a lot of time on problems in the future whether the product is already produced or is still going through risk management.
I think the Six Sigma process can be integrated with the Project Planning Process (PPP) very easily. Both are related to the Plan. Do. Check. Act cycle.
The PPP is comprised of initiating, planning, executing, closing, and monitoring and controlling. Six Sigma changes based on methodology and can either be define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) or define, measure, analyze, design and verify (DMADV). The "Plan" stage of PPP and Six Sigma is initiating and planning, and define and measure. The "Do" stage of PPP and Six Sigma is executing and closing and analyze, improve, and design. The "Check" and "Act" would be monitoring and controlling, and control and verify.
Jones, Erick C. "Quality Management for Organizations Using Lean Six Sigma Techniques." Google Books. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
You can begin the integration of six sigma with project planning with the development of a project life cycle. By doing this, you can add statistical knowledge of the problem, reduce the chance of an incorrect assessment of the issue and reduce the bias that influences perceptions about a particular problem.
Six sigma can also be used for measurement of the problem in the validation phase of the life cycle using gage R&R, FMEA, and control plans.
"The tools of both project management and Six Sigma can be placed in this life cycle to plan, act, do and check for a process improvement project."
By using six sigma tools, there exist a series of troubleshooting tools and methodology to the project management system. The integration of six sigma can be used for both transactional and manufacturing organizations during the project planning process.
http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/project-planning-and-six-sigma/
https://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/project-management/integrating-project-management-six-sigma-system/
I agree that the Six Sigma tool has some applications with the Project Planning Process. We looked at the PPP in terms of initiating, planning, executing, and closing. In all of those steps, monitoring and controlling is involved. During the DDP, if an issue should arise, some principles from Six Sigma's DMAIC tool can be used to solve those issues. DMAIC is define, measure, analyze, improve, control. During a project that I was working on at Zimmer, I had to use these Six Sigma tools to solve an issue so that the project could continue. This project was not in the initiation phase, but the execution phase. We were hitting a lot of obstacles due to an issue with the process and as a result we were getting scrapped parts. I had to and solve the issue and I used things such as fishbone diagrams, 5-why's, etc. which is primarily used in the Six Sigma process.I think Six Sigma can be a very valuable tool when it comes to ensuring the steps in the PPP are running without major issues.
The DMAIC process of Six Sigma involves defining and quantifying a problem, collecting the data and clarifying the problem, tools are used to resolve the problem from the root, and finally, the improved operations are used as control to prevent recurrence of the problem. The toolkit of Six Sigma includes a variety of techniques, such as statistical data analysis and quality improvement. Various six sigma tools are: Design of experiments (DOE), failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), cause-and-effect diagram, process flow diagram and repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) studies. While the methods of Six Sigma are effective in troubleshooting or improving the processes already existing using the DMAIC approach, but there are certain challenges faced by the company when it relies solely on on Six Sigma such as issues with the control of the project processes. Therefore, the projects are usually not completed on time.A lack of management support, insufficient resources and failure to understand the voice of customer (VOC) were some of the other problems reported with six sigma which can be resolved when project management is integrated with Six Sigma.
The Six Sigma is definately a powerful tool for projects. I believe I can be applied at any point, be it the planning stage or the doing stage. As jvv6 stated, it is powerful for Risk Management and assessment. During the planning stages, it can be used as a basis for developing specifications and the designs with the least amount of risk. That is, optimizing the manufacturing process in parallel with the development of the product. Of course the real power of the tool comes from taking existing manufacturing practices and optimizing them, showing the real extent of the money that can be saved.
I agree, Six Sigma is a very powerful tool for project management. The methodology of Six Sigma is DMAIC: define, measure, analyze, improve/implement, and control. Define the problem and relate it to the customer, setting the scope. Measure the impact of the problem and validate measurement systems (i.e. time, expense, steps needed to be taken). Complete a statistical analysis and look for the root causes (i.e. using a fish-bone diagram). Implement improvements to remove variation by prioritizing solutions using design of experiments (DOE). Then control the problem to ensure it doesn't occur again, facilitating change management and closing the project. The metric of variation is six standard deviations from the average. The objective is to reduce variability through continuous quality improvements, minimizing waste, and positively impacting the business. The higher the sigma level, the smaller the variation is, increasing the quality to reduce the defects per million (DPMO). Six Sigma is a top down approach where it is senior management's responsibility to drive the process through the company. Important managerial factors in using this tool is having executive support, the resources that are needed, aligning the project scope, measuring the process, training the organization, and effective communication.
NJIT offers Six Sigma continuing education courses for students at affordable rates through the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE).
I agree with the discussion above. By integrating six sigma to the project planning phase seeks to improve the output of the process by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in the business process. It uses a set of quality management methods,mainly empirical, structural methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these these methods. Integrating six sigma to project management will reduce process cycle time, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits.
The company I work for, I was able to be in a part of six sigma project. our project team need to come with a better infrastructure that can increase the efficiency and increase the amount of work done. we changed the arrangements of the QC labs, Production line; so that it can be reached and understood by the employees. I resulted in an increased productivity of the employees.
The Six Sigma management method philosophy focuses on better understanding of customer requirements, improving business systems throughout the organization, and enhancing the organization's financial performance. It is used to improve the organization's products, services and processes across various disciplines, including production, product development, marketing, sales, finance, and administration.
With the definition given its seems likely to apply six sigma for project management but it looks like it come with a lot of risk.
Let me show here what I mean by dividing project management into various topics
Scope: When we apply six sigma principal to scope it make your scope to definitive of requirements and rigorous change management. The risk here would be no innovative idea.
Scheduling: If six sigma principal are used in Scheduling you schedule is no longer flexible all deadline are rock fixed as there is no room to adjust. This puts pressure to have that extra padding or buffer while scheduling.
Cost: Applying Six Sigma in cost management would imply absolute budgets, enforce careful cost controls, and effective forecasting. The risk may be that this application could encourage additional budget padding and increase reserves.
Quality: Applying Six Sigma in scope management would enforce unyielding quality targets, careful selection of standards, and realistic assessment of capabilities. The risk may be that this application could result in hiding problems and assigning blame for defects to others.
With all the risk and benefits taken into account I think applying six sigma on Project management definetly has its perks but it would highly depend on type of product . In case of Medical device six sigma would be very tough or next to impossible to apply because of the uncertainty from regulatory and other departments.
One of the most famous Six Sigma tools called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) offers a structured approach for resolving organizational management-related issues. DMAIC can be understood as a troubleshooting-cum-improvement focused approach utility tool.
However, relying exclusively on Six Sigma means maintaining a project’s hierarchical control when organizational authority is not being monitored. Again, Six Sigma cannot provide an insight into understanding customer needs.
Similarly, project management techniques are focused on project development, including its conception, task execution, and hierarchal control but fail to guarantee the adherence to the defined quality standards throughout a project’s lifecycle.
Six Sigma:
Six Sigma is the method of choice for reducing variance and eliminating the number of defects that a process produces. Six Sigma relies heavily on statistical analysis and offers an arsenal of tools that analyze current performance and help identify the root causes of problems. Six Sigma can provide the data to justify where and how to make changes to a process. The highly-structured and data-driven nature of Six Sigma helps teams test their solution after they’ve implemented it.
Six Sigma makes a long-term commitment to a process, and it requires commitment from the project teams that practice it. This commitment begins when the team works together to write a charter that defines the objective of the project. It continues as the team sets milestones that will mark progress toward improvement. In the final stages of the project, the team ensures that its influence will be felt long after it is dissolved by creating detailed documentation that explains how users can keep its improvements in place.
Project Management:
Project management is more concerned with getting the project up and running than with fine-tuning its performance. It uses tools like the critical path method to ensure that the project is completed quickly and efficiently.
Project management works better for a one-time implementation of a new process rather than continually improving an existing process. Project management lacks the tools to measure performance and implement solutions for permanent improvement. Instead, it looks at how different components of the project are performing and seeks to improve those that are lagging, rather than focusing on the entire process.
Understanding the difference between Six Sigma and project management helps you discern between the projects that need the long-term guidance of Six Sigma and those that need the quick shot of project management to get them on their feet.
If we combine both of them we will have various benefits :
1. better approach to problem-solving
When the two methods are combined, they can complement each other in many ways. Six Sigma works to remove all the unnecessary tasks or wastes associated with fixing the issue while making sure all aspects of the problem are understood. Meanwhile, PM works to simplify the problem-solving process by applying Six Sigma techniques on a large-scale basis.
2. Higher Return on Investment (ROI)
Generally, if a business earns a return on investment, the project is considered a success. The benefit of Six Sigma and PM is that they can be adopted by many different industries and business environments, and can help provide a lasting improvement in many areas.
Six Sigma can be applied to a variety of industries including manufacturing, business offices, healthcare facilities and financial institutions. Likewise, PM can be implemented in financial, telecommunications, healthcare, insurance and government sectors, to name a few.
Six Sigma and PM don’t have to be separate entities. Although their focus and tactics may be different, their collective methods can help organizations eliminate errors, improve quality and productivity, and optimize, manage and control processes more efficiently.
