Six Sigma approaches are known for their data-driven, rational approach to problem solving. However, what genuinely distinguishes them from other quality theories is their adaptability and applicability in situations other than manufacturing, where they were born.
One of the primary goals of Lean Six Sigma is to eliminate superfluous stages and waste in a process or business model. In Lean methodology, any process that adds no value is eliminated in order to improve efficiency, workflow and profitability.
Organizations develop control plans to assist company leaders in monitoring metrics, documenting successes and making modifications for continuous process improvement. A control plan is a way for documenting the functional aspects of quality control that will be performed to ensure that quality standards for a specific product or service are satisfied.
This control plan could be prepared for a process, a phase in the process, a piece of process equipment and so on. Take a short look at the requirements and techniques for a Six Sigma Control Plan here.
What is a plan for Six Sigma Control?
A control plan is a written overview of the process that lays out in detail the steps to be followed to keep a process or a device working at its current level of performance in the field of quality management. Control plans outline each stage of the process as well as the metrics that must be tracked to ensure that a batch of products has no major deviations from the mean or variation.
Control plans are a key component of the Six Sigma methodology set and are widely used by Six Sigma practitioners.
What Is A Six Sigma Control Plan's Purpose?
"The goal of the control plan," according to the American Society For Quality (ASQ), "is to ensure that performance improvements produced by the project team are sustained throughout time."
The plan is generated during the define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) approach's improvement phase, or a comparable phase in other techniques.
In essence, a Control Plan would include a summary of all important information for a given project so that the quality specialist can determine if the project is on track and, in the event of deviations, delays or excessive overheads, corrective action may be taken. As a result, the Control Plan is updated to reflect any process changes, such as (but not limited to):
- Changing or tweaking a step in the process
- A stage in the process is added or removed.
- Changes to human resource and training requirements.
- Equipment used in the process is added or removed.
- Changes to capital and funding inflows and outflows.
The Control Plan template is developed at the start of a project and is created following consultation with or participation from all project stakeholders, beginning with the process or product owner.
Why should you use a Control Plan?
A Control Plan serves as a single point of reference for learning about the process's features, specifications and standard operating procedures (SOP). For each action in the process, a CP allows for the assignment of responsibility and allocation of liability.
This guarantees that the process runs smoothly and that it is long-term viable. A properly-designed control plan aids the process and product owners in tracking, correcting the performance of the KPIVs and KPOVs, as well as avoiding negative business impacts from faults and process deterioration (Key Performance Input and Output Variables).
Attributes and Strategies
A well-organized control plan can assist firms in monitoring growth, preventing process degradation and ensuring that problems do not repeat.
When building a Lean Six Sigma control strategy, consider the following seven attributes and strategies:
- Measurements and specifications –
One of the characteristics of a well-organized control plan is the ability to maintain quality in all elements of a process. Customer satisfaction can be used to determine quality. Processes can fulfill customer-approved specifications by identifying quality features and measuring them to derive quality standards.
- Input-Output Process —
The Input-Output (IPO) model aids in the identification of processing tasks required to convert inputs into outputs. The IPO approach contributes to a well-organized way of studying and recording components of the transformation process while determining what actions to take to help attain the intended output.
- Process Execution –
A control plan can help improve process performance by designing error-proofing measures that aim to remove errors in a process as much as feasible. Poka-yoke, which literally means "to avoid errors" is a prominent Six Sigma strategy used to eliminate waste.
- Performance Reporting and Sampling —
A control plan can also help address when to conduct performance management reviews, how frequently such reviews should be conducted and what products or services should be inspected for mistakes. An organized control plan answers all questions and assists organizations in conducting an accurate assessment of process efficiency.
- Documenting Information —
Control plan information should be accessible to anybody in the firm who needs it. Furthermore, information should be classified to aid in the organization planning and management of firm data.
- Adjustments –
Process improvement or making adjustments to address issues, decrease waste and minimize costs, is a crucial aspect of the Lean Six Sigma method. When an issue is identified, corrective action is required to avoid production delays and error recurrence.
- The Process Owner -
Process owners typically have the authority to review, alter and adjust process operations. They are responsible for product demand and customer satisfaction. Among other things, they evaluate production performance using process evaluations, measurements and statistics.
What Is Included In A Standard Control Plan?
A Control Plan might have as many or as few things as necessary to cover the breadth of the process or project at hand. A Control Plan often includes the following items:
- Process Flowchart: A visual representation of the process workflow with decision-making phases highlighted is included in many Control Plans. This provides a high-level overview of the process that may be referred to at any time and by any stakeholder.
- The CTQs (or critical-to-quality trees) are the essential quantifiable and measurable qualities of a product or process that must be reached in order to satisfy the customer's performance criteria or specification limits. This makes it easier to match design specs to client needs.
- Process Phase: This column contains the name or label of the process step. For example, in a backyard garage, a polishing operation using lathes may opt to include tool preparation, rough polishing, fine polishing and delivery as the many processes involved in the overall process.
- Specification: A specific characteristic of the product must be identified for measurement before a CTQ can be quantified: this column is used to record the characteristic of a specification. For example, the diameter of the polished shaft.
- Specs: This item can be used to keep track of the numerical values of the specifications as well as the measurement unit. Internal diameter: 4mm; exterior diameter: 7.5mm, for example.
- Measurement: This column can be used to document the measuring method that was employed. Vernier calipers, for example.
- Sample Size: The size of the sample used for measurement.
- Frequency of Measurement: Indicates how frequently samples are selected for measurement. Hourly, daily and so on.
- Corrective Action: Any corrective actions made during that stage of the process are documented and recorded for future reference.
- Standards: For manufacturing operations and control plans used in organizations, the quality standard followed as well as the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) guidelines followed can be recorded.
- Additional documentation may include fields such as the person taking the measurement, the date, place and time the recording was made, the revision number and version control, the location and so on.
Strategy Overview for a Control Plan
Successful Six Sigma control plans are built on well-thought-out tactics that reduce the need for process tampering. They list the steps that must be taken to deal with out-of-control situations and raise suitable signs that indicate the necessity for Kaizen operations. Furthermore, these methods outline the necessary training to ensure that team members are familiar with basic operating procedures.
In a nutshell, a well-written control plan lays out all of the steps that must be followed, who is responsible for which processes and how to avoid the "firefighting" syndrome while dealing with any variations.
Conclusion
Control is one of the last steps in the Lean Six Sigma process improvement roadmap of Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC). One of the most important aspects of the 'Control' stage is the development of a well-thought-out control strategy to reduce the risk of unfavorable business consequences due to process deterioration.
A control plan often comprises the steps that must be completed on a timely basis, particularly when performance metrics fall outside of a pre-defined, intended range. Furthermore, an organizational mechanism must be in place so that all process owners may be held accountable for the execution of the various sections of the control plan, particularly those that pertain to their areas of operations.
This control plan must be created by the process owner and his assigned team in order to improve service quality. This strategy should be adaptable enough to be revised in response to assessments and changes that occur after its implementation.
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