Business Process Outsourcing 2

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BASIC QUALITY
TOOLS

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Topics Overview
 Basic Quality Tools
 Root Cause Analysis
 The Six Sigma

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Root Cause Analysis

Introduction –

Root Cause Analysis is a useful process for understanding and solving a

problem.

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Root Cause Analysis

The WHYs for determining the root causes

The 5 why process (originally the 5 WHYs) can be an effective approach to

determine the root cause of a problem or issue.
The goal of asking 'why' is to
• work backwards from the result to get to the cause
• each question revealing more and more specifically why the event
occurred.

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Root Cause Analysis

The WHYs for determining the root causes

• Collect as much information about the problem as possible. The WHY

technique works best when you have information about the problem
such as background, conditions and similar cases. This will help determine
the most logical and likely answer to each WHY question.

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Root Cause Analysis

The WHYs for determining the root causes
• Assemble a team.
o people from different functional groups, with varied specialties
and experience
o a group of people in order to gain insight from different viewpoints
and opinions
o approaching the problem from different angles could lead to
answers and ultimately reveal the root cause of the issue.

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Root Cause Analysis

The WHYs for determining the root causes

• Start with the problem and ask 'why‘.

o start with a simple problem statement about what the issue is
o start to work back from there asking why each step occurred
o use logic and the knowledge and experience of your team to find
the most probable answer to each why question.

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Root Cause Analysis

The WHYs for determining the root causes

• Analyze each of the whys.

o analyze each step and test your assumptions if possible
o Ask yourself some questions about the why answers.
-Would this answer lead to the previous effect?
-Does this make the most sense given everything we know about the
problem?
-Could there be other possibilities?

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Root Cause Analysis

The Fisgh-bone Diagram

• a tool you can use to determine the root cause of a problem or event
• known as the Ishikawa diagram or cause and effect diagram and gets
its name because its shape resembles a fishbone
• a quality management tool for categorizing and brainstorming the
possible causes of a problem in an organized manner.

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Root Cause Analysis

The Fisgh-bone Diagram

• Draw the basic structure of the fishbone diagram.

o Write down the problem or effect that you are trying to understand
(the head).
o Draw a main line from this problem with several branches to
represent categories (the bones).
o From each of these category branches, draw horizontal lines to
represent causes.

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Root Cause Analysis

The Fisghbone Diagram
• Determine which categories are most appropriate for your situation to
be used as the branches of the fishbone diagram, such as:
o The 6 M's (in the manufacturing industry) - Machine, Method, Materials,
Measurements, Man and Mother Nature
o The 8 P's (in the services or administrative industries) - Price, Promotion,
People, Processes, Place, Policies, Procedures, and Product
o The 4 S's (in the service industry) - Surroundings, Suppliers,
Systems, Skills

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Root Cause Analysis

The Fisghbone Diagram

• Once you have the categories labeled on the branches, start to fill in
any possible causes on the horizontal lines coming from each branch.
o Fill in anything that could possibly have an influence on the issue.
o Do not decide as yet if an idea is good or not, just brainstorm to
collect any possible causes.

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Root Cause Analysis

The Fisghbone Diagram

• Evaluate each of the causes on each branch of the fishbone diagram

individually and in more depth to determine what variables affect
it.
o Determine what the impact is of changing those variables and if
the change could lead to the effect or problem you are
investigating.

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Root Cause Analysis

The Fisghbone Diagram

• Do this for each cause, eliminating those that would not have any
possible impact on the problem or lead to the identified effect.
o narrow the causes down to one or at most a few likely candidates
o focus your investigative efforts on those possibilities until the true
root cause of the issue is determined.

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The 8 Ps (used in service industry)

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The Washing Machine – the 5 WHYs

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Investigate Why?

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Six Sigma
What is Sigma?
• a management philosophy developed by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986
• utilizes a set of tools and techniques to improve business processes
• emphasizes setting extremely high objectives, collecting data and analyzing
results to a fine degree as a way to reduce defects in products and
services.
• used as a way to measure quality and strive for perfection.

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Six Sigma
Six Sigma Processes

• two Six Sigma methodologies: Six Sigma DMAIC and Six Sigma DMADV,
each term derived from the major steps in the process.

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Six Sigma
Six Sigma Processes

• Six Sigma DMAIC. Defines, Measures, Analyzes, Improves and

Controls existing processes that fall below the Six Sigma specification.
o Define: Identify the project goals and all customer deliverables.
o Measure: Understand current performance.
o Analyze: Determine root causes of any defects.
o Improve: Establish ways to eliminate defects and correct the process.
o Control: Manage future process performance.

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Six Sigma
Six Sigma Processes
• Six Sigma DMADV. Defines, Measures, Analyzes, Designs and Verifies
new services or products intended to attain Six Sigma quality. The first
three steps of this methodology are identical to DMAIC.
o Define: Identify the project goals and all customer deliverables.
o Measure: Understand current performance.
o Analyze: Determine root causes of any defects.
o Design: Create a process that meets customer needs and expectations.
o Verify: Ensure process designed meets customer needs and
performs adequately.
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Six Sigma
Why is Six Sigma Important?
• it is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement.
• it creates an environment for improving productivity and efficiency in
a business environment of continuous improvement.
• It seeks to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and
removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing
and business processes.
• it uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical,
statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within
the organization, who are experts in these methods.
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Six Sigma
Six Sigma Doctrine

• Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (e.g.

by reducing process variation) are of vital importance to business success.
• Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can
be defined, measured, analyzed, improved, and controlled.
• Achieving sustained quality improvement requires commitment from
the entire organization, particularly from top-level management.

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Six Sigma
Six Sigma Features

• A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial

returns from any Six Sigma project.
• An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management
leadership and support.
• A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data
and statistical methods, rather than assumptions and guesswork

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Six Sigma
Implementation Roles

• Executive Leadership includes the CEO and other members of

top management.
o They are responsible for setting up a vision for Six
Sigma implementation.
o They also empower the other role holders with the freedom and
resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough improvements by
transcending departmental barriers and overcoming inherent
resistance to change.
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Six Sigma
Implementation Roles

• Champions take responsibility for Six Sigma implementation across

the organization in an integrated manner.
o The Executive Leadership draws them from upper management.
o Champions also act as mentors to Black Belts.

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Six Sigma
Implementation Roles

• Master Black Belts, identified by Champions, act as in-house coaches on

Six Sigma. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma.
o They assist Champions and guide Black Belts and Green Belts.
o Apart from statistical tasks, they spend their time on ensuring
consistent application of Six Sigma across various functions and
departments.

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Six Sigma
Implementation Roles

• Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six

Sigma methodology to specific projects.
o They devote 100% of their valued time to Six Sigma.
o They primarily focus on Six Sigma project execution and special
leadership with special tasks, whereas Champions and Master
Black Belts focus on identifying projects/functions for Six Sigma

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Six Sigma
Implementation Roles

• Green Belts are the employees who take up Six Sigma implementation
along with their other job responsibilities, operating under the guidance
of Black Belts

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Six Sigma
Ongoing Training
Six Sigma offers several levels of training for qualified experts to improve
their knowledge base of Six Sigma best practices and principles. The levels
include:
• The Master Black Belt - described as a mentor, trainer and coach of
Black Belts and others in the organization.
• The Black Belt - described as leader of teams implementing the Six
Sigma methodology on projects.
• The Green Belt - person who delivers successful focused projects using
the Six Sigma methodology and tools.
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References:
• Lean Sigma Institute: Lean Six Sigma Overview
• Aveta Business Institute: The Five Principles of Lean Six Sigma
• University Of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus: Principles of Lean Six
Sigma and CAPA
• Villanova University: Six Sigma Implemetation
• http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/Six-Sigma
• Six Sigma Systems: Focused Results

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