I’m preparing for a Green Belt project and I am struggling with the SIPOC diagram. How do you ensure that the "Suppliers" and "Customers" listed aren't too broad? I want to make sure my project scope is well-defined before I move into the Measure phase of DMAIC. Any tips?
3 answers
That reverse approach is interesting, but how do you handle a situation where one output has multiple customers with conflicting requirements for what defines a "quality" product?
SIPOC is your best friend for scope creep prevention. To keep your Suppliers and Customers from being too broad, focus strictly on the immediate inputs and outputs of the specific process under study. If you are looking at a billing process, your "Supplier" might be the "Sales Team" providing the contract, not the entire "Customer Base." A good rule of thumb is to work backwards: start with the Customer, then the Output they need, then the Process steps, the Inputs required, and finally the Suppliers of those inputs. This "reverse" approach often yields much more specific data points.
Don't spend more than one hour on your initial SIPOC. It’s meant to be a high-level view, not a detailed process map. Keep it simple to keep the project moving forward.
Spot on, Brian. Many people get bogged down in the details during SIPOC. It’s a "bird’s eye view" tool; the granular detail comes later during the Analyze phase of the project.
In that case, Steven, you should list each customer separately in the SIPOC and note their specific Critical to Quality (CTQ) requirements. If the requirements are too diverse, it’s a sign that your project scope might be too large and you may need to narrow your focus to just one customer segment.