/quality

What is TRIZ Six Sigma?

Where traditional Six Sigma fails

Advanced tools, strategies and trends in deploying six sigma in different industrial and business applications, is based on: practical deployment leadership, course development, training and project coaching in diverse companies over the globe, basic research in the field of efficient methodologies for adult learning within international research network. TRIZ concepts and tools for problem solving become more and more popular internationally. It also starts to be more and more accepted in rather “conservative” Six Sigma world. Here we present a new trend in deploying TRIZ Six Sigma, particularly aiming more “ambitious” goals as finding and eliminating common (root) causes of process variation and low capability within rather limited resources (time, man-power and budget) of six sigma projects.

How we traditionally apply Six Sigma

Six Sigma approach is a data-based methodology and a set of analytical, statistical and problem solving tools for systematic improvement of the capability of business processes and/or products and/or services, which are applied in order to meet their customer's requirements. Under customers either Internal customers, i.e. business and/or follow-up business processes, as well as employees etc., or external customers within the distribution and sales chain, up to the end-users are considered. Usually one business problem, where the solution is not known, is taken as a subject for a Six Sigma project. Such projects are managed along with Six Sigma roadmaps e.g: so-called DMAIC for improving the business processes, this consists of 5 phases- i.e. Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control, and/or DMADV for improving (re-designing) products, i.e. Define, Measure, Analyse, Design, Verify etc.

Specially trained Six Sigma professionals with different qualifications, like Green Belt or Black Belt or Master Black Belt are managing and/or participating in such projects. Typical Projects should be completed within rather limited time frame (usually, 3 months limit for Green Belt Projects and 5-6 months for Black Belt projects) and should result in sustainable improvement as well as lead to significant and proven financial benefits.

Why traditional Six Sigma fails in analyzing and eliminating Root Causes of the Problem

Unfortunately, traditional Six Sigma methods and tools are rather time and effort-consuming, both in gathering (measuring) and analysing process or product performance data, as well as in generating ideas and efficient improvement and/or re-design solutions. This apparently results in a »surface« analysis, as time and project resources available are usually not enough to generate and to evaluate sufficient set of ideas about the Root Causes of the Problems. Root Causes are found in Six Sigma they are usually known as a Common Causes of process or product performance variation. Traditional Six Sigma tool set does not include any tools for systematic and efficient problem solving, apart from Osborn's brain storming techniques, Six Hats, Mind Mapping. The latter techniques are useful, but dont’ make for efficient eliminating of Root Causes within the time frame, resources and project budget, not result in the new consequent (so-called secondary) problems. As a result, major Six sigma companies are formally training six sigma professionals to focus on eliminating »Special Causes« of process variation. It usually leads only to short-term improvements and benefits (if any!), but long term the situation and process capability remain unchanged if not worth through the changes and interventions made and due to the »secondary problems«.

What is TRIZ Six Sigma?

It is an integrated approach where TRIZ methodology and tools are systematically integrated into the Six Sigma roadmaps. TRIZ is an acronym for a Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, which was originally developed in the 50-s of the last century by the Russian inventor Henrich Altshuller. Analysis of patents H.Altshuller has found common basic principles and mental models of the inventors within their successful problem solving process, from the problem definition to a solution. Today many software tools are available in the market, which are realizing the ideas and tools of H.Altshuller as well as providing links to a patent data bases, which exemplify relevant principles and ideas. Most advanced software tools which reflect the state-of-the-art TRIZ research and methodology to Failure Analysis, Failure Prediction and Innovative Problem solving are developed by the I-TRIZ analysts in Ideation International Inc. (I in I-TRIZ stands for Ideation).

Root Cause Analysis and Elimination with TRIZ Six Sigma

The approach to the root cause analysis in TRIZ Six Sigma starts with applying techniques for identifying the conflict in requirements (e.g. between customer and business requirements) and formulating the problem as a contradiction. Along with analysis we »translate« the Contradictory requirements, e.g. from initial business contradiction to the technical contradiction and further to the physical contradictions in a special way, coming closer to the physical mechanism of the problem.

At each level we apply TRIZ principles and toolset to generate the ideas, how to either eliminate harmful effect, or to improve useful effect or to resolve the contradiction. ITRIZ tools support these processes on the analytical level and provide exhaustive set of relevant examples on implementing principles and ideas from different application fields, which support our »thinking by analogy« and extends our own knowledge-base.

Using the same tool set we simulate secondary problems and find out potential solutions, which may prevent them. Last step is a concept generation and evaluation, where different ideas are combined into the error-prone concepts which may not only efficiently (and low-cost) eliminate the Root Causes but also to provide a sustainable improvement long-term. The whole process without TRIZ-tools is just not feasible to perform within few man-days, which are usually available for such type of activities within Six Sigma Project frames. Applying TRIZ-tools it becomes exciting and scalable activity and leads to significant and innovative improvements of the processes long term capability.

Training and Deploying TRIZ Six Sigma

Usually when training Six Sigma professionals with TRIZ Six Sigma for the first time, additional time compared to traditional Six Sigma courses is 1-2 days for Green Belts and 2-4 days for Black Belts. It’s usually much longer, i.e. about 10-14 days to upgrade already trained Six Sigma Professionals to this new integrated approach. We perform such upgrade gradually over several 2-4 days sessions along with a demanding project, where there’s a long standing technological problem, or where many improvement attempts did not result in any significant improvement of the long-term capability etc. There is no contradiction between TRIZ Six Sigma and other Six Sigma approaches, like Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Operational Excellence etc. It is the NEW GENERATION of Six Sigma which enables Six Sigma professionals to efficiently eliminate Common Causes of Process Variation within limited project time, manpower and budget resources.

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Copyright 2006 Dr.Elena Averboukh