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The purpose of this article is to show how a Quality practitioner can effectively enhance their Lean Six Sigma improvement efforts using available technology. Following the established framework of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control, technology can enhance the coverage, predictability, and effectiveness of these in ways that exceed the limitations of manual work.

Earlier in my career, I was a quality system manager for a manufacturing company. In addition to ensuring registration and compliance to ISO 9001, there were constant production activities requiring resolution of nonconforming supplies and parts, and corrective actions for processes and procedures. The work was tabulated and manually entered by keyboard into on-premise computer systems.

As my career progressed into more technically advanced organizations, the information and data could be more readily captured by scanning barcodes. Prior to the development of smartphones, the dominant handheld devices were Pocket PC and Palm Pilots. These were more portable and could be used in the work environment to capture information.

From this context, technology has already been able to capture measurements, analyze readings or findings, and impose controls. This article is elaborating on the potential impacts that advances over the last five to 10 years could have.

Measure: This is a broad category which could incorporate not only numeric details but text, images, documents, and other indicators of operational performance. The technology can also be applied for enhanced traceability to distinguish by time, date, location, usage, and environmental surroundings or controlled conditions during the measurement.

Dedicated software can be configured to follow a desired protocol and sequence of steps so that the appropriate measurements are captured along with the specific details needed for analysis and reporting. Such information must be carefully transmitted and secured.

Analyze: When this is performed manually, the analysis is only as good as the capabilities of the individual analyst. Even if the assessments are correct, the timeliness of manual performance could have impacts. For example, when failure modes of processes or conditions are associated with alerts, warnings, and alarms, the timeliness of notification and response could be impactful. This is an example where technology could support not only the timely notifications, but also the early indicators showing potential hazards or failure conditions.

As mentioned previously, the technology solutions I used early in my career were on-premise, which meant that the totality of the data was captured and retained solely within the manufacturing facility. Currently, companies with multiple sites or business lines can centralize the collection and analysis of their data. This also supports comparisons across different sites to highlight both problems and breakthroughs for replication. Remote locations of data and analysis servers and applications also permit constant reviews and updates.

Control: After improvements are made, these modifications must be sustained. When done manually, the controls may be undermined by staff who revert to old methods, or who fail to apply the additional checks. Technology updates can impose a more stringent protocol on operations, enforcing compliance simply as part of completing the process. This is not a new solution, as I was part of the deployment of such controls using devices like the Pocket PC and Palm Pilot.

Current technology expands upon this with the increased versatility of smartphones and other portable devices. Integrated firmware can also be applied directly on printed circuit boards to ensure robust controls as part of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. These are already present in our appliances and vehicles, and can be expanded to industrial solutions as well.

To summarize, a Quality leader should take steps to understand how technology could be applied to make the efforts to Measure, Analyze, and Control more effective. The transition is not only to substitute manual effort, but to expand the technology footprint with the available options. By integrating technology, the full DMAIC framework can be realized, deployed, sustained, and maintained over time. Where needed, obsolete devices and systems can be upgraded. Technology providers must be ready to provide support and process optimization to their clients to jointly enable the Lean Six Sigma ideals in Quality.