Faculty & Staff
Six Sigma
Six Sigma Glossary
Process Capability
Process capability refers to the ability of a process to produce a defect-free product or service during the normal operation of production or service environment: The average performance of the process being examined when all inputs are functioning normally. It is important to establish a baseline as a starting point to measure the changes achieved with any process improvement.
Stakeholder
A person or group who will be affected by the project or who can influence it. Examples are Managers affected by the project, Process Owners, people who work with the process being examined, internal departments that support the process, customers, suppliers, and financial department.
Gate Review
The gate review is a meeting held by the project team at pivotal points in the project to report progress and findings to interested individuals or stakeholders who are affected by or can influence the project.
Operational Definition
A clear and precise description of a particular term or item used in the process. The operational definition helps insure common, consistent data collection and interpretation of results. For example, in a Financial Aid project, the definitions of “Award” and “Disbursement” would need to be clearly stated before measuring the process.
Project Charter
A document which defines the project and serves to guide the project team in the quality improvement initiative. The document identifies the improvement opportunity, business case, goal statement, project scope, team members, and scope. Typically the charter is developed by the Project Sponsor or Process Owner and then is officially approved by Leadership to launch the project.
"Belts"
In the Six Sigma initiative, some people’s roles have names similar to those used in martial arts. These include the Black Belt, Green Belt, and Yellow Belt. The Black Belt is trained on the improvement methodology of Six Sigma and process improvement tools. The primary focus is to lead teams through specific Six Sigma projects. The role of the Black Belt is filled by a full-time person dedicated to leading the change initiative.
The role of the Green Belt is filled by an employee of an organization who has been trained on the improvement methodology of Six Sigma and may help lead a process improvement or quality improvement team as *part* of their full time job.
The role of the Yellow Belt is any employee of an organization who has been through an orientation training on the basic fundamentals of the Six Sigma improvement process and has a general awareness of the methodology.
Y=f(X)
In this equation Y stands for a measure of the outcomes and results of a process. Y can also represent the main goal or objective of the improvement. X represents the inputs to the process, the (f), that lead to the Y outcome. For example, if a student calls the Admissions Office to ask a question, the ability to have their question answered (Y) is a function (f) of the wait time, the number of people answering the phones (x), the time it takes to talk with the representative (x), and the representative's knowledge (x), etc. All of these X's can be defined, measured and improved.
Defect
A defect is a product or service that does not meet the specified process requirements. Defects are measured and used to help determine the sigma level of the process. Any type of undesired result is a defect and will impact the outcome (Y) of the process.
Voicing
Voicing is a term used to describe the process of capturing the stated or unstated needs or requirements of the key entities tied to the process or product. Typical voicing sources include the customer, employee, institution/organization, or the process itself. The purpose of this process is to proactively capture the changing requirements of the different entities. Voicing data can be captured in a variety of ways: Direct discussion or interviews, surveys, focus groups, customer specifications, observation, warranty data, field reports, complaint logs, etc. For example, the "voice of the institution” is the term used to describe the stated and unstated needs or requirements of the institution itself.
Sigma Level Goal
Six Sigma establishes a goal for continuous process improvement. Determining sigma levels of processes (1sigma, 6 sigma, etc.) allows process performance to be compared throughout an entire organization, because it is independent of the process. It is merely a determination of opportunities and defects, however the terms are appropriately defined for that specific process. Sigma is a statistical term that measures variation in a set of data, events, or process. As an example, if we were to examine a payroll process and defined a defect as an “incorrect” paycheck, the process would be operating at a 6 sigma level if it only produced 3.4 incorrect checks for every million it produced.