New and Improved Must be Sustained!

So you’ve made some great improvements to your business processes. How do you sustain it? In other words, how do you control it in its new workings, maintain new level that you’ve worked so hard to improve? If you don’t, all that hard work would have been in vain.

The answer? A strong process control system is in order for maintaining and sustaining the new level of performance.

You will need to get very familiar with the Control phase of the DMAIC, as well as process flow charts that will give you a very accurate account of the new process you have implemented.

Process Flow Charts are Crucial

 Process flow charts should be customized to serve your needs.

There are some basic guidelines to include in your process flow charts:

• Begin with the needs of your customer
• The conclusion should be how their needs are satisfied by this new implementation
• Make sure each activity is under a separate area of responsibility
• Use post-its to show activities
• Make sure to include Critical to Quality Indicators (CTQ); this will show how well the customer’s needs were met

Don’t get Overzealous

• Keep flow charts simple and easy to read for all
• Avoid too much detail
• Keep a daily operation flow chart and project management flow chart separate; do not mix these two together on one flow chart
• For increasing level of detail, use macro and micro-level flow charts. 

Control Charts for Sustaining the New Improvements

• Financials
• Customer service (satisfaction)
• Call center
• Increased business

This is just a quick basic rundown of what you will need to do once improvements have been made. If you’re interested in more information about process flow charts and Six Sigma, why not enroll in one of our Six Sigma training courses? Request more information about Six Sigma today!