DMAIC Improvement Cycle
DMAIC is an abbreviation for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. DMAIC is a data-driven cycle that is used to stabilize, optimize and improve the design and process of business operations. This is the main tool that is used to support projects that incorporate Six Sigma. DMAIC is not restricted to Six Sigma and can be used with other frameworks as well for improvement of business applications (Sokovic, 2010).
Define
The main goal of this phase is to define the problem for which the DMAIC cycle is used along with the resource allocation and time required to resolve a business problem.
Measure
The purpose of “measure” phase is to establish the main baseline that will be the basis for the improvement of business operations. In this process, data is collected.
Analyze
This step involves identifying and eliminating the main cause for elimination. These can be identified through fish bone diagram.
Improve
This phase involves identifying the main solution to the problem, testing, and the implementation the solution that is identified.
Control
Once the solution is implemented, it is important that the results should be monitored and should be sustained for continuous improvement.
How DMAIC related to Six Sigma and Deming PDCA Cycle
DMAIC has been derived from Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a toolset required for process improvement. Six Sigma follows to main methods for process improvement – Deming’s PDCA and DMAIC. The PDCA stands for Plan, Do, Check and Act is quite a simplistic process to implement. Since DMAIC was derived from Six Sigma, it became an extended version of PDCA cycle (Sokovic, 2010). Hence, DMAIC applies the same principle as that of PDCA but it applies greater emphasis on gathering of data and information with a comprehensive analysis according to the Six Sigma method. DMAIC like PDCA involves an iterative cycle for continuous improvement of the business processes. Hence, DMAIC and PDCA are almost similar to each but they hold their differences as well. Since PDCA is also called Shewhart Cycle, it emphasis more on the need to perform the repeated steps whereas DMAIC has an additional “control” step that is unavailable in the PDCA (Sokovic, 2010).
There are many places in the world where the software development company can thrive. I would like to locate my software development company to Canada as Canada is the new hub of technology company now. Canadian region is now promoted as one of the best places in the world in order to conduct software development business operations because of an aggressive tax policy and the incentives that Canadian government provides in order to support the technology companies. The company will be located in York region of Canada because the region has demonstrated around 23 percent of growth in 2012 (Ansell, 2013).
This hub base has a strong ecosystem of mature businesses that provide software and hardware solutions. Apart from this many well-reputed companies are located here for example Oracle, HP, GE, IBM, etc. The main benefit of York region in Canada is that it is a cost-effective and central location through which major B2B markets in Ontario and Toronto can be accessed. If the software development company is located in York region, it will also be able to benefit from the incentives provided by the government at both federal and provincial level. Since the York region is known as the fastest growing tech region, it is the best place to locate the new software development company (Ansell, 2013).
References
Ansell S (2013) “Canada’s Fastest-growing Tech Hub? York Region” Backbonemag http://www.backbonemag.com/Backblog/canadas-fastestgrowing-tech-hub-york-region.aspx
Sokovic M (2010) “Quality Improvement Methodologies – PDCA Cycle, RADAR Matrix, DMAIC and DFSS” Journal of Achievement in Material and Manufacturing Engineering” Vol 43, Issue 1 http://journalamme.org/papers_vol43_1/43155.pdf
