The process improvement phases of Six Sigma are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.  This blog post is a quick overview of the Analyze Phase.

Analyze Phase Quick Summary:

  • The focus of the analyze phase is to use data gathered during the measure phase to determine the root causes of the defects.
  • Many statistical tools can be used to determine the cause and effect relationship between the defects and the potential root causes.

One of the most common statistical tools used to analyze this relationship is a regression analysis. In a simple linear regression, you analyze the correlation between a single input variable (x) and single output variable (y). A statistical software package such as excel, JMP, or minitab makes this analysis fairly quick an easy.

Some Additional Analyze Phase Process Improvement Tools:

  • Hypothesis Testing – testing for statistically significant differences between groups of data
  • Design of Experiments (DOE) – an experiment that tests for multiple potential causes of a defect at the same time
  • Multi-Vari Charts – graphical tools that demonstrate how the variation in the input variables impacts the output variables

 

Contact Branner Consulting, LLC to obtain more information or training on using statistical tools to determine the causes of your defects.  We can help you at any stage along your journey from process documentation to implementing process improvement projects.