Lean Six Sigma For Dummies

Chapter 5

Determining the Chain of Events

In This Chapter

Following a chain of events from start to finish using process stapling

Drawing a spaghetti diagram to see how the work gets done

Creating a map of the process

As a manager, your role is to work on the processes that you manage with improvement in mind. You therefore need to know precisely how these processes work. Having an up-to-date picture of how things are done makes DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) improvement projects far easier to undertake (dive into Chapter 2 for more on doing the DMAIC).

The Measure phase of DMAIC is about understanding how and how well the work gets done. We look at the ‘how well’ aspect in Part III; our focus here is to understand how the work currently gets done. Only after you understand how the process works now can you see the opportunities for improvement in your process and manage performance better.

Finding Out How the Work Gets Done

How to draw a process map is the main focus of this chapter. We look at two types: the deployment flowchart and the value stream map. These maps build on the high-level SIPOC diagram explained in Chapter 3, and provide really helpful ...