| One of the major benefits of Six Sigma is its demand | | | | The tools most commonly used in the Measure phase |
| for a fact-based and data-driven analytical approach. | | | | are: - Prioritization Matrix - Process Cycle Efficiency - |
| Most other improvement methodologies, including Lean, | | | | Time Value Analysis - Pareto charts - Control charts - |
| tend to attempt process improvement without | | | | Run Charts - Failure Modes and Effect Analysis |
| sufficient data to understand the underlying causes of | | | | (FMEA) |
| the problem. | | | | ************************************************* |
| The result is typically many quick-hit projects with | | | | The Prioritization Matrix provides a way of sorting a |
| short-lived or disappointing results. Combining data with | | | | diverse set of items into an order of importance. |
| knowledge and experience is what separates true | | | | It also enables their relative importance to be identified |
| improvement from mere process tinkering. | | | | by deriving a numerical value of the importance of |
| One of the goals of the Measure phase is to pin-point | | | | each item. Thus an item with a score of 223 is clearly |
| the location or source of a problem as precisely as | | | | far more important than one with a score of 23, but is |
| possible by building a factual understanding of existing | | | | not much more important than one with a score of |
| process conditions. That knowledge helps you narrow | | | | 219. Items are compared, scored against a set of key |
| the range of potential causes requiring investigation in | | | | criteria, and the scores for each item are then |
| the Analyze phase. An important part of Measure is to | | | | summed. |
| establish a baseline capability level. | | | | |