Once the Define, Measure, Analyze and Improvement phases have come a logical conclusion its time for the Control phase to take up the Six Sigma Project and keep up the work that has been done in the previous phases. All the improvements done in the Improve phase are maintained in the control phase. The control phase is considered to be the longest phase as employees are trained and processes are standardized so that the improvements and modifications are consistent over a long time frame. This will help in maintaining the quality standards that have been achieved during the process of six sigma project implementation.
As Quality is at the heart of any six sigma project the control phase emphasizes more on the consistency of the quality being kept at the highest ebb during the project implementation. Thus all the factors that tend to improve the quality are kept going in the control phase and all factors that tend to bring down the quality are controlled and eradicated from the process. A Process map is chalked out in the control phase that will form the basis for the whole control phase, the process map has to be made from the improvements that have been done in the previous phase and the improvements are standardized to make the process defect free. The documentation of the improvements is yet another important step in the control phase as each one of the team member has to be kept abreast of the developments and the improvements done in the previous phases.
A Plan B has to be kept in place in case a defect turns up in spite of all the steps that you have taken that were mentioned in the process map. Thus the team should know exactly what needs to be done in case a defect turn up in spite of following religiously that was mentioned in the process map.
The process chart has to be put at vantage points from where it is visible to all who are involved with the process and care should be taken to update the process chart periodically once a shift is observed in the process that was going just fine. By the end of the control phase the six sigma team should be able to standardize and document the new process and hand over the process to the process owners. A plan for regular process monitoring has to be put into place so that any deviations come to the notice and corrective measures can be taken up.
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Article Source: http://blog.brainmeasures.com/2011/08/29/control-phase-for-wrapping-up-the-six-sigma-project-2.aspx
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