DefinePhase

SixSigma Project: Define Phase:

Background:

In order to meet Quality System requirements and various regulations, changes to products, processes etc in many companies must be reviewed by cross functional teams prior to implementation to ensure they are appropriate and meet all relevant requirements. This project focuses on the process for review of change requests, in particular focusing on 'rework' involved in this process.

Scope:
The scope of this project, which will apply the DMAIC process, is to assess 'rework' involved in the review of changes received by a particular department. 'Rework' relates to instances where >1 review of a change request is completed e.g. due to omitted information etc. No types of change requests are being excluded from the scope at the 'Define Phase' as further data needs to be obtained during the 'Measure Phase' to further understand the change types and their impact on the process.

Goal:
This is to reduce the level of rework involved in the process, and implementing actions as required, to improve efficiency, reduce burden and cost.

Progress to Date and Tools Used to Date:

1. To gain an understanding of the critical process steps in the change request review process, the process was mapped. The mapping of the process was extremely effective in highlighting the primary steps in the process and for highlighting that 'rework' is built into the process i.e. through review of change request, wait for additional information, review updated information etc.                    
2. The mapped process was used to establish a Visual Management System per the principles of Lean Manufacturing. This in turn was used to highlight the status of all change requests being reviewed at a particular time. The Visual Management System was extremely effective in illustrating that there was a high level of WIP (Work in Process), which was attributed to a large degree to 'rework' activities. This data was analysed to understand the occurrence. Data for a set time period was reviewed, and the data illustrated 'rework' activity in > 50% of change requests processed. This is clearly illustrated below through use of the Pie Chart.         
3. The data illustrated in the PieChart highlighted that 'rework' was a contributing factor to the WIP, which in turn was causing challenges in meeting the needs of the customer i.e. customer service through efficient processing of change requests.       
4. However, the data gathered and methods used during the Define phase, while confirming the presence and occurrence of the 'rework' issue, the methods used did not provide information on the root cause of the 'rework'. Therefore, this will need to further assessed during the 'Measure' phase of the DMAIC process.                                  

 Summary: The Project is on schedule. The Scope and Project Goal has been defined. As the project progresses to the Measure Phase, further assessment of data is required.