9.3 Analyzing the Problem: The Big Picture

You and your team identified your critical to quality (CTQs) when completing the DMAIC Define phase. Subsequently, you operationally defined, performed measurement system analysis, and collected baseline data on your CTQ during the Measure phase. During the Analyze phase, you will identify the key factors (Xs) that cause your CTQ to be problematic and lead to issues.

As you embark on the Analyze phase, the team will zoom in on the problem’s culprits. There will be many suspects (Xs) initially, some of which you may have generated during the previous phases. However, more often than not, only a vital few possible causes are genuinely impactful. During the Analyze phase, the team’s job is to narrow down the list of potential factors, discover the vital ones, and test theories about the relationships between them and the CTQs.

Ultimately, you will determine the vital Xs that will change the “voice of the process” for the CTQ(s) that apply to your project. Recall that by the voice of the process, we mean what the process is capable of producing. Using data, you will discover the root causes of the gaps between your process’s current performance and the desired performance. You and your team will perform several crucial activities in this phase including the following:

• Identification and theory testing of vital Xs for the CTQs

• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to reduce the number of Xs

• Root cause analysis