Leveraging the DMAIC Model to Drive Improvementin a Service Process

摘要

Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process. Despite itssuccess, most studies on Six Sigma have been limited to manufacturing processes. In this paper, we first discusspotential application areas of Six Sigma in a service sector and then present a case study on successful Six Sigmaapplication to reduction of errors in billing and receiving as part of a transactional process. We believe that theapplication of Six Sigma to this particular error reduction process is perhaps one of the first few attempts in the SixSigma literature. The results of the study show that the application of the Six Sigma methodology resulted inreducing those errors and increased the process capability of the process. Each phase of the DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) process is elaborated.