This document outlines a Six Sigma project to optimize an article library. The project aims to improve article trustworthiness by 80%, discard 60% of duplicate and out-of-date articles, decrease article retrieval time to 8 minutes or less, decrease costs by 20%, and increase customer satisfaction by 35%. Baseline data found the average article retrieval time was 11.6 minutes with a process sigma level of 3.195. Analysis identified duplicate articles, out-of-date articles, and untrustworthy articles as causes of long retrieval times. Improvement strategies included digitizing articles, adding expiration dates, and verifying article trustworthiness to comply with specifications.

1. 01/29/15 05:31 PM 005 SixSigma_Template 1
Six Sigma Project Report Presentation
Optimizing the Article Library
Project ID No.: CSI Spring 2007
Black Belt Name: CSI Six Sigma Instructor
Project Sponsor: Sheri A. Kelly
Date: May 7, 2007

2. Define Phase
Project Charter
Roles & ResponsibilitiesRoles & Responsibilities
Project DefinitionProject Definition Project Deliverables/BenefitsProject Deliverables/Benefits
Champion: champion
Process Owner: Sheri Kelly
Project BB/GB: leader
Problem Statement
My home’s hard copy and digital articles are not easily
accessible, and contain untrustworthy, duplicate, out-of-
date articles resulting in increased costs for storage and
retrieval time.
Project Scope
Home’s hard copy and digital articles.
Project Goal
Improve article trustworthiness by 80%.
Discard the 60% of duplicate & out-of-date articles.
Decrease the article retrieval time to 8 minutes or less.
Decrease costs by 20%.
Increase customer satisfaction by 35%.
Key Deliverables
Six Sigma project documentation, project plan, &
projected cost savings to meet goal.
Financial and Operational Benefits
Hard: Potential financial benefit of $230 per year in time
& in storage materials.
Soft: Increased satisfaction in maintaining & using it.
process area: member
member
member
process area: member
member

3. Define Phase
Operational Definitions
Operational Definitions of Key Terms / GlossaryOperational Definitions of Key Terms / Glossary
Accessible: An article is accessible if I can reference my list indicating that I indeed have an
article on a given topic and can locate it within nine minutes.
Trustworthiness: An article is trustworthy if it is published by a company or written by an
author that I trust.

4. Define Phase
Process Matrix Diagram
Employee Tasks
CUSTOMERIMPORTANCERATING
Duplicate
Out-of-Date
NotFound
FindTime>9minutes
Notfromatrustworthysource
Folderistoofull
Twofoldersforthesametopic
Select articles not already in library. 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 1
Select them if from trustworthy sources. 3 1 1 1 1 5 1 1
Provide an updated article directory. 5 3 1 3 5 1 1 3
Provide electronic keyword directory scanning. 5 3 3 3 5 3 1 1
Provide various ways to sort the directory. 3 1 1 3 5 1 1 1
Provide 10 columns of info for each article. 3 1 1 3 5 1 1 1
Provide electronic keyword article scanning. 5 1 1 5 5 1 1 1
Provide a library free of expired ones. 1 1 5 1 1 1 3 1
Provide images in articles when necessary. 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1
Provide folders with <=25 articles. 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 1
22 18 22 32 16 16 12
2 3 2 1 4 4 5
5 = high importance, 3 = average importance, 1 = low importance
Customer Tasks
IMPORTANCE SCORE
RANK
Importance
• Red = High
• Orange = Average
• Yellow = Low
Find Time
ranks
number one

5. Define Phase
Tree Diagram
Graphical View of the Current ProcessGraphical View of the Current Process
Not having a directory that would indicate subject, storage location, & date published results in:
• Not knowing the subject matters that the library articles cover causing duplicates.
• Not knowing the storage locations causing an increased retrieval time.
• Not knowing which articles have expired preventing their purging.
No article
directory
Duplicates
Increased retrieval
time
No purging
process
Out-of-Date
Folders are too full
No set list of
topics (i.e. folder
names)
Two folders for the
same topic

6. Define Phase
Process Decision Program
Graphical View of the Current ProcessGraphical View of the Current Process
Need an
article
Article is in
Library But Not
Found
Found two
similar articles
from different
sources
Article is not in
library
Digital/Paper Article
Inadvertently Deleted/
Discarded
Refer to the Article List
to verify.
Article List indicates the
folder name.
Article found.
Select the more
trustworthy article

7. INPUT
Define Phase
SIPOC
SUPPLIER PROCESS OUTPUT CUSTOMER
CTQ
CRITICAL TO QUALITY
• Magazines
• Web
• Books
• I discover an article
• I add an article
• Digital articles
• Hard copy articles
• Customer finds article
• Customer accesses
article from folder
• Our household
• For our household to
pass onto others
• Ease of accessibility
• Source
trustworthiness
High-Level Process MapHigh-Level Process Map
Discover a
helpful
article
Add the
article to the
library
Retrieve the
article
Refile the
article

8. Define Phase
Sigma Calculator
Measurement System AnalysisMeasurement System Analysis
The process Sigma level is
3.195.

9. Measure Phase
Baseline Performance of Ys
Baseline Process MeasuresBaseline Process MeasuresCollected DataCollected Data
Baseline Process SigmaBaseline Process SigmaGraphical OverviewGraphical Overview
Provide a summary description of the data collection
process (MSA, sample sizes, etc). How did it go? Did
you get a “good” set of data?
Provide a table or summary or the basic descriptive
statistics for the as-is process (central tendency,
spread/variation, defect rates, etc). No data analysis!
Insert a graph displaying a high-level overview of the
collected data (histogram, bar chart, etc).
Compare process performance to specifications.
Calculate yields, defect rates and process sigma levels.
A brief statement describing the opportunity for
process improvement.

10. Measure Phase
Detailed Process Map –
Current State
As shown below in red, the current process for adding an article to the library and maintaining it is not
efficient.
Current StateCurrent State

11. Measure Phase
Data Collection
CTQs and SpecificationsCTQs and SpecificationsProcess Measures DefinedProcess Measures Defined
Input Measures
• Articles’ accessibility and trustworthiness.
Process Measures
Output Measures
• Retrieving an Article: The number of minutes to
retrieve an article.
CTQ for the Output Measure
• Specifications (USL=8, LSL=3, over 9 minutes is a
defect, under 9 minutes is an allowable defect rate)
Data Collection PlanData Collection Plan
• Time each article retrieval time.
• Determine the percentage of trustworthy articles.

12. Measure Phase
Measurement System Analysis
Measurement System AnalysisMeasurement System Analysis
Reproducibility
Times to locate five articles
Repeatability
Times to locate five articles
Summary of how the MSA has been conducted
 Tested 5 article retrieval times for repeatability.
 Compared inspectors to themselves for
reproducibility
ARTICLE Reading #1 Reading #2 Average Range
1 15.0 11.5 13.25 3.5
2 16.3 13.3 14.75 3.0
3 10.8 8.0 9.38 2.8
4 11.5 7.3 9.38 4.3
5 12.8 10.0 11.38 2.8
Average 11.63
1 13.5 13.0 13.25 0.5
2 17.0 14.8 15.88 2.3
3 12.0 10.8 11.38 1.3
4 11.0 9.5 10.25 1.5
5 14.0 12.8 13.38 1.3
Average 12.83
INSPECTOR #1
INSPECTOR #2
average
Largest -
Smallest
Article Reading 1 Reading 2 Reading 1 Reading 2 X bar R
1 15.0 11.5 13.5 13.0 13.25 3.5
2 16.3 13.3 17.0 14.8 15.31 3.7
3 10.8 8.0 12.0 10.8 10.38 4.0
4 11.5 7.3 11.0 9.5 9.81 4.2
5 12.8 10.0 14.0 12.8 12.38 4.0
Averages 12.23 3.9
Rp 5.50
INSPECTOR #1 INSPECTOR #2

13. Measure Phase
Graphical Analysis: Histogram
1) Reader 1 on average required less time to retrieve an article than did Reader 2.
2) Reader 1 has a greater standard deviation.
3) Reader 1 has a higher bell curve.
4) Both Readers have a normal distribution.
5) Except for one retrieval time, all of the ranges exceed the “nine minutes or less” goal.
6) Focus on reducing retrieval times as they relate to Reader 2.

14. Measure Phase
Measure Normality Test
Process Capability Normality TestProcess Capability Normality Test
The deviation is high.

15. Measure Phase
Pareto Chart(s)
Pareto Analysis
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
N
otTrustw
thy
FindTim
e>10m
O
ut-of-D
ate
D
uplicates
N
otFound
O
ther
Retrieval Issues
Data
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Percent
Data Pareto

16. • Need to bullet here which Xs which have been identified so
far during the measure phase that need to be tested to find
the root cause(s) (vital few Xs)
• X1: Duplicate Articles
• X2: Out-of-Date Articles
• X3: Not trustworthy Articles
Analyze Phase
Theories (Xs) to be tested
Potential Causes (Xs) to be AnalyzedPotential Causes (Xs) to be Analyzed

17. Analyze Phase
FMEA
Evaluating Steps from the Current Process
Item Name: FMEA Team: Prepared by: Sheri Kelly
FMEA Date (Orig): May 22, 2007
Process Step or
Variable or Key
Input
Potential Failure Mode Potential Failure Effects
S
E
V
Potential Causes
O
C
C
Current Process Controls
D
E
T
R
P
N
What is the
process step?
In what ways can the
Process Step, Variable, or
Key Input go wrong?
(chance of not meeting
requirements)
What is the impact on the Key
Output Variables (customer
requirements) or internal
requirements?
HowSevereiseffect
tothecustomer?
What causes the Key Input to
go wrong? (How could the
failure mode occur?)
Howfrequentis
causelikelyto
Occur?
What are the existing controls that
either prevent the failure mode
from occurring or detect it should it
occur?
Howprobableis
Detectionofcause?
RiskPriority#to
rankorderconcerns
Discover an
informative
article.
It is a duplicate, an out-of-
date, or a untrustworthy
article.
The article is added to the
library although it is a
duplicate, an out-of-date, or a
untrustworthy article.
7 The department is not
evaluating each article.
4 When filing the article, peruse
through the one folder's articles
and remove the low quality ones.
4 112
File a digital (soft
copy ) article or a
hard copy article
in a folder.
There are two folders with
the same name. Having
both digital and hard copy
articles potentially requires
separate folders for a given
topic for each medium.
May not be able to locate a
given article topic because it is
stored in the duplicate folder.
Also, duplicate folders use
more storage space.
4 The department is not able to
cross-reference the digital and
hard copy articles.
6 The New Article Department
notices a duplicate folder while
filing related/unrelated articles but
only among one of the media.
6 144
Purge any
duplicate, out-of-
date,
untrustworthy
articles you see
while filing.
Will not detect and purge all
low quality articles
contained in the library.
Library is wasting storage
space, higher cost of storage
space. Increased article
retrieval time.
5 The department is not able to
systematically identify the low
quality articles.
5 When filing the article, peruse
through the articles and remove
the low quality ones.
4 100
FMEA
(Potential Failure Modes and Effects Analysis)

18. Measure Phase
Cause and Effect Diagram
Cause & EffectCause & Effect
Learned: collection is much larger than in years past, scanning will reduce the number of file locations,
creating an article list will manage the purging process, & on each occasion I need info I prefer to
access my articles than to search the internet.

19. Measure Phase
Measure Process Capability
Process CapabilityProcess Capability
The sample mean is 11.6. The lower & upper control limits are 7 and 17, respectively.

20. Analyze Phase
Graphical Analysis: Box Plots
1) Shows that although the mean was greater for Reader 2, the lowest whisker was greater than Reader 1’s whisker,
and Reader 1’s 50th
-75th
percentile range is greater than Reader 2’s who shows more evenly distributed retrieval times.
2) Reader 1’s central tendency is 11.5 minutes to retrieve an article and Reader 2’s is 12.87 minutes. Also, Reader 1
has a greater time spread. (See page 384).
3) Reader 2’s observed values are shown as negatively skewed because the median is closer to the top of the box.
4) Reader 2’s upper whisker is longer at 2.8125 compared to Reader 1’s 2.563.

21. Analyze Phase
Advanced Tools –
Average Chart
There are three points above the upper control limit for article retrieval
time to be addressed.

22. Analyze Phase
Advanced Tools – S Chart
The standard deviations are within the control limits as shown by the green line.

23. Analyze Phase
Advanced Tools Range Chart
The sample range for retrieval time is within the control limits.

24. Analyze Phase
Advanced Tools-Xbar-S
It appears that 20% of the articles are found quickly (two points are outside the control
limits) whereas 10% of the articles are found slowly (one point is outside the limits).
In the upper chart, two points are outside the control limits.
In the lower chart the standard deviations are close to the mean.

25. Analyze Phase
Statistical Analysis of Cause &
Effect – Scatter Diagram
Reader 1 vs. Reader 2’s Article Retrieval Time

26. Improve Phase
Previous & Revised
Process Maps
Previous Process Map
1. Verify that each new article is not a duplicate and is trustworthy.
2. Scan hard-copied articles.
3. Save articles in an electronic library.
4. Purge expired articles.
5. Maintain the folders and the library’s Article Directory.
Revised Process Map
As shown below in red, the current process for adding an article to the library and
maintaining it is not efficient.

27. Improve Phase
Updated FMEA
The updated FMEA shows that the risk has decreased significantly after
improvement the process steps.
S E V O C C D E T R P N S E V O C C D E T R P N
How
Severe is
effect
to the
customer?
How
frequent is
cause
likely to
occur?
How
probable
is
Detection
of cause?
Risk
Priority #
to rank
order
concerns
How
Severe is
effect
to the
customer?
How
frequent is
cause
likely to
occur?
How
probable
is
Detection
of cause?
Risk
Priority #
to rank
order
concerns
7 4 4 112 2 2 3 12
4 6 6 144 3 4 5 60
5 5 4 100 2 2 2 8
BEFORE AFTER

28. Improve Phase
Improvement Strategies for
Proven Xs
StrategiesStrategiesProven Xs (Causes)Proven Xs (Causes)
X1 Duplicate: Compliance is dependent on
identifying duplicate articles before adding them
to the library.
X2 Out-of-Date: Compliance is dependent on
applying an expiration date to each article.
X3 Not Trustworthy: Compliance is dependent
on identifying inaccurate articles before adding
them to the library.
To improve our % compliance rate, include in
the procedure to digitally search in the Article
Directory by like subject.
To improve the % compliance rate, record the
expiration dates in the digital article directory
and setup e-mail reminders for each purge date.
To improve the % compliance rate, include in
the procedure to verify the information with
trusted websites/ organizations.
CTQ - Article access time in minutes of LSL=3 & USL=9

29. Improve
I-MR Staging Chart
Before Improvement After Improvement
Notice the reduced article retrieval times

30. Improve Phase
Statistical Proof of
Improvements
Statistical Proof of ImprovementsStatistical Proof of Improvements
Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit Test for Observed Counts in
Variable: After
Test Contribution
Category Observed Proportion Expected to Chi-Sq
1 5.0 0.1 6.54 0.362630
2 4.8 0.1 6.54 0.462936
3 5.4 0.1 6.54 0.198716
4 8.0 0.1 6.54 0.325933
5 7.4 0.1 6.54 0.113089
6 6.9 0.1 6.54 0.019817
7 7.0 0.1 6.54 0.032355
8 6.5 0.1 6.54 0.000245
9 6.6 0.1 6.54 0.000550
10 7.8 0.1 6.54 0.242752
N DF Chi-Sq P-Value
65.4 9 1.75902 0.995
Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit Test for Observed Counts in
Variable: Before
Test Contribution
Category Observed Proportion Expected to Chi-Sq
1 15.00 0.1 11.625 0.97984
2 16.25 0.1 11.625 1.84005
3 10.75 0.1 11.625 0.06586
4 11.50 0.1 11.625 0.00134
5 12.75 0.1 11.625 0.10887
6 11.50 0.1 11.625 0.00134
7 13.25 0.1 11.625 0.22715
8 8.00 0.1 11.625 1.13038
9 7.25 0.1 11.625 1.64651
10 10.00 0.1 11.625 0.22715
N DF Chi-Sq P-Value
116.25 9 6.22849 0.717

31. Improve Phase
Value-Added Process Flow
Waste has been removed (assuming an unlimited
budget)

32. Control Phase
Communication Plan
Communication Plan
Stakeholder
Level of
communication-
Storyboard,
paragraph update,
tollgate summary
How information is
communicated--
1:1, meeting, email,
newsletter
Where information is
communicated--e.g. if
during a standing
meeting, which is the
most appropriate
forum?
Frequency of
communication--
every other week,
at tollgate, at end
of project
Who is
responsible
for doing the
communica-
tion
Date for
communicat
ion to occur
On Agenda
Meeting set
on individuals
calendar
(mark when
established)
CFO storyboard meeting
during standing
meeting
Improve & Control
Phases, end of
project
Green Belt &
Sponsor 5/10 & 5/24 established
Staff within
project
department paragraph update
e-mail & department
meeting
during standing
meeting
Improve & Control
Phases, end of
project
Green Belt &
Sponsor 5/12 & 5/26 established
customers paragraph update meeting web meeting & 1:1s
at beginning of
Improve & Control
Phases CFO 5/11 & 5/25 established

33. Control Phase
Process Control Charts
Before Improvements
Accessibility mean is 11.63 minutes
After Improvements
Accessibility mean is 6.54 minutes

34. Before and After Six Sigma LevelsBefore and After Six Sigma Levels
Control Phase
Six Sigma Level Change
3.195 4.076

35. Control Phase
Project Results/Benefits
Soft BenefitsSoft BenefitsFinancial (Hard) BenefitsFinancial (Hard) Benefits
Decreased storage & time costs by $235 per annum. Decreased the number of storage units from three to
one.
Improved article accessibility mean rate from 11.6 to 6.5
minutes.
Project BaselineProject Baseline Project TargetProject Target Project ActualProject Actual
COPQ = $500
DPMO = 45,000
Sigma Level = 3.195
COPQ = $240
DPMO = 12,500
Sigma Level = 3.741
COPQ = $235
(i.e. saved more than target)
DPMO = 5,000
Sigma Level = 4.076

36. Control Phase
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned during the Six Sigma ClassLessons Learned during the Six Sigma Class
• Install and become familiar with the Minitab, Visio, and Net Meeting before
the first class meeting.
• Learn the copying/pasting guidelines for a reasonable the presentation file
size: 1. Copy screen portions. Then, use Paint to crop portions and save
them as “gif” files. In Minitab select “Save Graph As” and save graphs as “gif”
files’ 2. Copy spreadsheets and flow charts. Use “Paste Special” and select
“Picture (Enhanced Metafile)”. To be able to “zoom” spreadsheets/charts,
select the Paste Special’s embed object option.
• Use a thumb drive to transport labs, presentations, shareware between class
and home, and between yourself and classmates.
• Verify data early in the process. Bad data & inappropriate statistical tests
breaks the presentation’s focus and logical flow through the progression of
the phases.
• During the first two phases if possible, create all flow charts from left to right
so that in the later phases the same two flow charts will fit on the same slide
(for comparison purposes).
• Use the color key in which red represents below average performance, yellow
average, and green above average. Use another color key for example, to
differentiate two groups in a flow chart.
• Before you finish learning each DMAIC phase in the classroom, complete the
corresponding phase section in your presentation file. Phase-by-phase ask
the instructor for feedback.

37. Future State
Future StateFuture State
Improvement Project Intentions: Using DFSS, research
vendors and software based on this presentation’s Lean
process flow chart.

38. Appendix

39. Appendix
Completed FMEA
Completed FMEA from the Improve PhaseCompleted FMEA from the Improve Phase
Item Name: FMEA Team: Prepared by: Sheri Kelly
FMEA Date (Orig): May 22, 2007 (Rev.):
Process Step or
Variable or Key
Input
Potential Failure Mode Potential Failure Effects
S
E
V
Potential Causes
O
C
C
Current Process Controls
D
E
T
R
P
N
Actions
Recommended
Resp.&
Target Date
Actions Taken
S
E
V
O
C
C
D
E
T
R
P
N
What is the
process step?
In what ways can the
Process Step, Variable, or
Key Input go wrong?
(chance of not meeting
requirements)
What is the impact on the Key
Output Variables (customer
requirements) or internal
requirements?
HowSevereiseffect
tothecustomer?
What causes the Key Input to
go wrong? (How could the
failure mode occur?)
Howfrequentis
causelikelyto
Occur?
What are the existing controls that
either prevent the failure mode
from occurring or detect it should it
occur?
Howprobableis
Detectionofcause?
RiskPriority#to
rankorderconcerns
What are the actions
for reducing the
Occurrence of the
cause, or improving
Detection?
Should have actions on
high RPN's or Severity
of 9 or 10.
Who's
Responsible
for the
recommended
action? What
date?
What were the actions
implemented? Include
completion month/year.
(Then recalculate
resulting RPN.)
Discover an
informative
article.
It is a duplicate, an out-of-
date, or a untrustworthy
article.
The article is added to the
library although it is a
duplicate, an out-of-date, or a
untrustworthy article.
7 The department is not
evaluating each article.
4 When filing the article, peruse
through the one folder's articles
and remove the low quality ones.
4 112 Devise guidelines that
show how to evaluate
the quality of each
article and, how to
purging out-of-date
articles.
Head of the
New Article
Department.
July 1, 2007
Devised guidelines for the
evaluating the quality of
each article and for
purging out-of-date
articles.
2 2 3 12
File a digital (soft
copy ) article or a
hard copy article
in a folder.
There are two folders with
the same name. Having
both digital and hard copy
articles potentially requires
separate folders for a given
topic for each medium.
May not be able to locate a
given article topic because it is
stored in the duplicate folder.
Also, duplicate folders use
more storage space.
4 The department is not able to
cross-reference the digital and
hard copy articles.
6 The New Article Department
notices a duplicate folder while
filing related/unrelated articles but
only among one of the media.
6 144 Scan all hard copy
articles. Or, create a
directory that cross
references both media.
Head of the
New Article
Department.
July 1, 2007
Scanned all incoming
hard copy articles. Have
begun to create a
directory that will cross-
reference both media.
3 4 5 60
Purge any
duplicate, out-of-
date,
untrustworthy
articles you see
while filing.
Will not detect and purge all
low quality articles
contained in the library.
Library is wasting storage
space, higher cost of storage
space. Increased article
retrieval time.
5 The department is not able to
systematically identify the low
quality articles.
5 When filing the article, peruse
through the articles and remove
the low quality ones.
4 100 Create a article library
directory.
Head of the
New Article
Department.
July 1, 2007
Created a directory. 2 2 2 8
FMEA
(Potential Failure Modes and Effects Analysis)

40. Analyze Phase
Statistical Analysis of Cause &
Effect – Test Equal Variance
0.70
0.65
0.50
0.40
0.38
0.28
0.06
0.05
250200150100500
P1
9 5% Bonfer r oni Confidence I nter vals for StDevs
0.70
0.65
0.50
0.40
0.38
0.28
0.06
0.05
1614121086
P1
R1
Test Statistic 0.60
P-Value 0.838
F-Test
Test for Equal Variances for R1
5
4
3
2
1
200150100500
P2
95% Bonferroni Confidence Int ervals for St Devs
Test Statistic 0.90
P-Value 0.638
Test Statistic 1.37
P-Value 0.353
Bartlett's Test
Levene's Test
Test for Equal Variances for R1