Chapter 5Green Six Sigma Tools
‘I have six honest working men
(They taught me all I know)
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.’
– Rudyard Kipling
5.1. Introduction
The selection and application of appropriate tools is a critical success factor of a Green Six Sigma programmer. There are many tools and techniques available in the Six Sigma world (Basu, 2009), some of which are more advanced, such as Design of Experiments (DOE), Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Statistical Process Control (SPC). In this chapter, we do not introduce any ‘new’ Green Six Sigma tools under the five steps of the DMAIC cycle and those discussed do constitute the more frequently and appropriately used Six Sigma and Lean tools. However, the new feature of Green Six Sigma is the introduction of the Sustain cycle to extend DMAIC to DMAICS. Thomas Edison once said, ‘your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you are currently working on’. The adaptation of the existing DMAIC tools represents ‘appropriate Green Six Sigma tools’.
These tools described here are the tools used more predominantly under the five steps of the DMAIC cycle and the new tools for sustainability.
5.2. Tools for Define
Tools for Define as described in this section are:
- Value Stream Mapping
- SIPOC Diagram
- Flow Diagram
- CTQ Tree
- Project Charter