Table of contents
Six Sigma “Improve” Phase Tollgate Review: Free Template
First, you may be wondering; What is an “Improve” phase Tollgate Review in Six Sigma? A Tollgate Review process is a series of questions and deliverables that will help you determine if the goals in each DMAIC stage have been completed and whether you can move on to the next stage.
A Six Sigma “Improve” Tollgate Review process is like a checkpoint at which the various team members meet with a Project Champion and determine whether the work has been performed as indicated in the project plan, as well as, whether the objectives mentioned have been achieved.
Six Sigma Improve Phase – Tollgate Review
Before any optimization efforts take place; have any Lean Improvements been implemented to streamline the process before?
Generating (and Testing) Possible Solutions
- How did the team generate the list of possible solutions?
- What tools were used to tap into creativity and encourage ‘outside the box’ thinking?
Selecting the Best Solution(s)
- What tools were used to evaluate the potential solutions?
- Were any criteria developed to assist the team in testing and evaluating potential solutions?
- Are there any constraints (technical, political, cultural, or otherwise) that would inhibit certain solutions?
- Was a pilot designed for the proposed solution(s)?
- Describe the design of the pilot and what tests were conducted, if any.
- What conclusions were drawn from the outcomes of the pilot?
- What lessons, if any, from the pilot were incorporated into the design of the full-scale solution?
Designing the “Implementation Plan”
- Has the team developed an Implementation Plan?
- What poka-yoke or error-proofing will be implemented to address some of the discrepancies observed in the ‘as is’ process?
- How does the solution remove the key sources of variation discovered in the analysis phase?
- What communications are necessary to support the implementation of the solution?
- How will the team or the process owner(s) monitor the implementation plan to see that it is working as intended?
- What is the team’s contingency plan for potential problems occurring in implementation?
- How will the organization know that the solution worked?
Improve Stage Deliverables:
- Revised problem statement reflecting an increased understanding of the problem
- Implementation plan developed and communicated
- The optimal solution was selected based on testing and analysis.
- Small-scale pilot for proposed improvement(s).
- Pilot data were collected and analyzed.
- Solution implementation plan established, including schedule/work breakdown structure, resources, risk management plan, cost/budget, and control plan.
- A contingency plan was established.
- Validate improvements via capability studies
- Red flags and recommendations for resolving them defined
- Next steps documented
- Approval of report out signed by Project Champion
