1.1. What Is Visual Six Sigma?
Visual Six Sigma leverages interactive and dynamic graphical displays to help transform data into sound decisions. It is not an algorithm. It is a creative process that employs visual techniques in the discovery of new and useful knowledge, leading to quicker and better decisions than do the methods in general use today. It signals a new generation of Six Sigma techniques.
At the heart of Six Sigma is the concept of data-driven decision making, that is, of exploiting the data from measurements or simulations on your product or service at various points in its lifecycle. Visual Six Sigma aims to produce better alignment between Six Sigma practice and the key idea of discovery, producing benefits for all those who have a stake in solving problems and in making improvements through data. Visual Six Sigma consists of three main strategies:
Using dynamic visualization to literally see the sources of variation in your data.
Using exploratory data analysis techniques to identify key drivers and models, especially for situations with many variables.
Using confirmatory statistical methods only when the conclusions are not obvious.
Six Sigma programs often use the so-called DMAIC approach for team-based process improvement or problem-solving efforts. The acronym DMAIC stands for the major phases in a team's project: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. DMAIC provides a structure for a team's efforts, just as an overall Six Sigma program provides a structure for a company's efforts. Each phase of DMAIC comes with a list of techniques that are considered appropriate in that phase; the team moves from one phase to another, using this sequence of techniques as a general guide. In a similar way, Six Sigma projects aimed at design follow various structures, such as Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Validate (DMADV) and Identify, Design, Optimize, and Validate (IDOV).
Visual Six Sigma is not a replacement for the DMAIC, DMADV, or IDOV frameworks. Rather, Visual Six Sigma supports these frameworks by simplifying and enhancing methods for data exploration and discovery whenever they are needed. In addition, when circumstances make a full-blown project-based or team-based approach undesirable or unworkable, Visual Six Sigma can still be used by individual contributors such as you. In a nutshell, Visual Six Sigma helps to make the DMAIC and design structures—and data analysis in general—lean.