Total Quality Management

Dr. Vipindas K.
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
IIITDM Kurnool
DMAIC

The DMAIC Process

DMAIC – 5 Step Problem Solving Approach

• DMAIC is a structured problem-solving procedure widely used in quality and process

improvement
• The letters DMAIC form an acronym for the five steps,
• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Improve
• Control.
DMAIC – 5 Step Problem Solving Approach

The DMAIC process.

Structured Problem Solving DMAIC

• DMAIC is a structured problem-solving procedure that can be used cycle time reduction
throughput improvement, etc.

• Each stage is followed by a “tollgate”

• Evaluation after completion of a particular stage to ensure project is on track and to allow suggestions for modification

• It uses small set of powerful tools that can be specifically applied to each of the steps
Structured Problem Solving DMAIC
Tool Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
Project charter P
Process maps & flow charts P P
Cause-and-effect analysis P
Process capability analysis P
Hypothesis tests, confidence intervals P
Regression analysis, other multivariate methods P
Gauge R&R P
Failure mode & effects analysis P
Designed experiments P P
SPC and process control plans P P P

Tools Used in DMAIC

Define
• Objective is to identify and validate a project opportunity
• Project must be important to customer as well as the business

• Project charter to be prepared

A project charter for a customer returns process

Define
• Graphic aids are also useful in the define step

• The most common ones used include process maps and flow charts, value stream maps, and the SIPOC diagram

• The SIPOC diagram is a high-level map of a process

• SIPOC diagrams give a simple overview of a process and are useful for understanding and visualizing basic process elements.

• SIPOC is an acronym for Suppliers, Input, Process, Output, and Customers,

• The suppliers – those who provide the information, material, or other items that are worked on in the process

• The input – the information or material provided

• The process – the set of steps actually required to do the work

• The output – the product, service, or information sent to the customer

• The customer – either the external customer or the next step in the internal business
Define
• The team was asked to reduce the number of defects and errors in the process and the cycle time to prepare the
coffee for their internal coffee service process
• 1st step they performed was to create the SIPOC diagram to identify the basic elements of the process that they were planning to improve

• SIPOC diagram developed by a company for their internal coffee service process

• Action plan for moving forward to other steps

• Tentative time line, individual work assignments, etc.

• Tollgate review
Define
• Action plan for moving forward to other steps
• Tentative time line, individual work assignments, etc.
• Tollgate review
• Are all the key stakeholders identified?

• What evidence is there to confirm the value opportunity represented by this project?

• Has the scope of the project been verified to ensure that it is neither too small nor too large?

• Has a SIPOC diagram or other high-level process map been completed?

• Have any obvious barriers or obstacles to successful completion of the project been ignored?

• Is the team’s action plan for the measure step of DMAIC reasonable?
Measure
• This step involves collection of data relating to quality, cost, throughput time, etc.
• Develop a list of Key Process Input Variable (KPIV) and Key Process Output Variable (KPOV)

• Data collected tells us about the current state or baseline performance

• Important to measure the capability of measurement system using tool gauge repeatability and reproducibility

• Data collected can be displayed in forms of Pareto charts, histogram

• If needed project charter to be updated and team makeup to be revaluated

• Tollgate review
• All assumptions made for data collection must be noted

• Complete process flow chart

• Measurement systems capability must be documented

• A list of KPIVs and KPOVs must be provided, along with identification of how the KPOVs related to customer satisfaction or the
customer CTQs
Analyze
• Objective is to use data collected from previous step to understand cause-and-effect relationship
and to identify sources of variability

• Identify sources of common cause and assignable cause

• Several tools are used in this step

• Control charts to separate common cause from assignable cause

• Hypothesis testing and confidence interval estimation to determine if different conditions of

operation produce statistically different results

• Regression analysis to model dependent and independent variables

Analyze (contd.)
• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Used to prioritize different sources of error, variability or failure according to:
• The likelihood that something will go wrong (ranked on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 = not likely and 10 almost
certain)
• The ability to detect a failure, defect or error (ranked on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 = very likely to detect and
10 very likely to detect)
• The severity of a failure, defect or error (ranked on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 = little impact and 10 extreme
impact, including extreme financial loss, injury, or loss of life)
• The three scores are multiplied to obtain a Risk Priority Number (RPN)
• Tollgate review
• What opportunities are to be targeted for investigation in the improve step?
• Will the investigation of these opportunities help the desired outcome
Improve
• Creative thinking to about the specific change that can be made in the process
• Things that can be done to have the desired impact on process performance
• Redesigning the process to eliminate bottleneck/reduce wastes
• Mistake proofing – One correct way of doing things
• Develop a solution and do a pilot test for the study
• Tollgate review
• Adequate documentation of how the problem solution was obtained
• Documentation on alternative solutions that were considered.
• Results of pilot test, including data display, analysis, experiments and simulation analysis
• Plans to implement the pilot test results on a full-scale basis
• Analysis of any risks of implementing the solution, and appropriate risk-management plans
Control
• Objective is to complete all remaining project and to hand off the improved
process to the owner along with a process control plan
• The process owner should be provided with before and after data on key process
metrics, operations and training documents and updated current process maps
• Control charts are an important statistical tool used in the control steps of DMAIC
• Tollgate review
• A summary of lessons learned from the project should be available
• Data illustrating that the before and after results are in line with the project charter, should
be available
• A list of opportunities to use the results of the project in other parts of the business should be
prepared
Examples of implementation of DMAIC
• DuPont Litigation case – To develop an efficient process to allow timely access to
needed documents with minimal errors
• Define
• Rapid and error free access to needed documents
• Project team – Process owners, Legal subject matter experts, clerks, information system
specialist and a Black belt in Six Sigma process
• Focus on CTQs involving reduction of cycle time, reduction of errors, elimination of non-
value-added process activities and reduction of costs
• Started by mapping the entire document production process
Examples of implementation of DMAIC
• Measure
• Team formally measured the degree to which the CTQs were being
met by reviewing the data in the electronic data base
• It was noted that many of the cost categories were non-value added
costs because of errors (having to copy a different document because
the wrong document had been pulled and copied)
• Another error was allowing a confidential document to be copied
Examples of implementation of DMAIC
• Analyze
• The team worked with the data obtained during the measure step to identify many of the
underlying causes and cost exposures
• The team also interviewed many of the people who worked in the process to better
understand how they actually did the work and the problems they encountered
• Some of the root causes of problems they uncovered were:
• A high turnover rate for the contractor’s clerks
• Inadequate training
• Inattention to the job, causes by clerks feeling they had no ownership in the process
• The large volume of documents
• The team concluded that many of the problems in the system were the result of a manual
document-handling system
Examples of implementation of DMAIC
• Improve
• The team proposed a digital scanning system for the documents
• This solution was rejected earlier due to high cost involved
• Team did a thorough study to identify the real costs of the manual system and inability of the
manual system to improve the process
• Finally company accepted for digital scanning system
• The team worked with DuPont’s IT group to get the system in place, and to scan all of the
documents
• New process was implemented and noted that 70% of the non-value-added activities in the
process were eliminated.
• The unit cost of processing a page of a document would be reduced by about 50%, which
would result in about $1.13 million in savings
Examples of implementation of DMAIC
• Control
• The control plan involved designing the new system to automatically track and report the
estimated costs per document
• The system also tracked performance on other critical CTQs and reported the information to
users of the process
• Explanations about how the new system worked and necessary training were provided for
all those who used the system
Examples 2 – Improving on time delivery
• Problem
• On-time deliveries were at 85%, instead of the desired target value of 100%
• Customer penalty clause of 15%
• Customer concern regarding capability schedule adherence of supplier
• Define
• Objective: 100% on-time delivery
• Maintaining a satisfied customer
• Measure
• The contractual lead time for delivery of the tool (product) was eight weeks
• The CTQ for this process was to meet the target contractual lead time
• Lead time could be met only when there was no variation in the process
• Certain historical data were available and additional data were collected
Examples 2 – Improving on time delivery

The original process map

Examples 2 – Improving on time delivery
• Analyze
• Based on the data collected in the measure step team concluded that the problem area for
delayed delivery are
• Supplier quality issues: Parts failed prematurely. This caused delay in equipment final testing due to
trouble shooting or waiting for replacement parts.
• Purchase order process delay: Purchase orders were not processed promptly, resulting in delayed
internal project start dates.
• Delay in customer confirmation: It took up to three days to confirm the final equipment configuration
with the customer. This delayed most of the early manufacturing steps and complicated production
scheduling.
• Incorrect tool configuration orders: There were many processes on the customer side, leading to
frequent confusion when the customer placed the order and often resulting in an incorrect tool
configuration. This caused rework at the mid-stream of the manufacturing cycle, and contributed greatly to
the delivery delay problem.
Examples 2 – Improving on time delivery
• Improve
• In order to meet the contractual lead time (in this example 8 weeks) it is necessary to
eliminate any possible process variation. Following are the major corrective action proposed
by the team:
• Supplier Quality Control and Improvement:
• An internal buy-off checklist for the supplier was implemented.
• This action will minimize the part failures both in manufacturing and final test as well as in the field.
• Supplier agreed to provide consigned critical spare parts to the manufacturer
• Improve the Internal Purchase Order Process:
• A common e-mail address was established to receive all purchase order notifications.
• Three people (a sales support engineer, a project engineer, and an account manager) were to have access to the e-
mail account
• This step allowed the company to act promptly when a new order was received.
Examples 2 – Improving on time delivery
• Improve the Ordering Process with the
Customer:
• In order to ensure accuracy of tool
configurations in a purchase order, a
customized spreadsheet was designed
together with the customer to identify the
key data for the tool on order.
• The spreadsheet was saved under a purchase
order number and stored in a predefined
Web location
• Figure shows a process map of the new,
improved system (highlighted processes
from the original process were eliminated).

The improved process

Examples 2 – Improving on time delivery
• Control
• To ensure that the new process is in control, the team revised the production tracking
spreadsheet with firm milestone dates and provided a more visual format
• The project engineer would be able to monitor the progress of each tool on order and take
action accordingly should any unplanned deviation from the schedule occur.
• Achieved 100% on-time delivery
• The cost savings were more than $300,000 each quarter
DMADV
• A variation of DMAIC used for customer focused services like product
improvement, product adjustment, or new product development
• Define
• Identify the needs and wants of customer through customer review, feedback,
etc.
• Measure
• Process required to manufacture the product/deliver the service are assigned
metrics
• Analyze
• Results of manufacturing/service delivery process is tested by internal teams
DMADV
• Design
• Results of the internal tests are compared with identified client requirements
• Adjustment (if required) are made
• Improved process is tested and presented to test customer groups for feedback
• Verify
• Continuous adjustment while product/service is delivered
• New metrics to track and review customer feedback and review
• Other area may be identified which may lead to new DMADV cycles