- Define
- What is the problem?
- Break it down into multiple possibilities (similar to a fishbone diagram)
- Manufacturing/Production
- Management
- Man
- Method
- Machine
- Measurement
- Material
- Alt
- Skills
- Supplier
- Surroundings
- Systems
- Data Collection
- What is going on? What changed?
- Graph changes over time.
- Collect any relevant data that can be measured/analized
- Cause Analysis
- Why did the change occur?
- Examine your data – Pareto chart?
- Highest values = most likely cause
- Solution Planning and Implementation
- This can be time consuming.
- Is there a control test that can be separated from standard production?
- Evaluation of Effects
- Did the implementation improve the system? Has data gotten better or worse?
- Plot against original metrics to see what effect the changes have had on the system.
- If things are worse / no change, go back to Data Collection/ Cause Analysis
- Standardization
- Apply the changes to the entire system if using a control group.
- Can these changes be applied to other systems / processes?
- Evaluation of the Process
- Continue monitoring / collecting data
- You might find the system needs a tweak or two to ensure optimal performance.