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OnlineStudentGuide

TheQualityGroup.AllRightsReserved

SIPOC

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TableofContentsLEARNINGOBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................2INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................3WHATISAPROCESS?................................................................................................................................................................3WHATISASIPOC?...................................................................................................................................................................3SIPOC..........................................................................................................................................................................................4PURPOSEOFTHESIPOC..........................................................................................................................................................4

THESIPOCFORM..................................................................................................................................................5COMPLETINGASIPOCFORM..................................................................................................................................................5COMPLETEDSIPOCFORM.......................................................................................................................................................6PREPARINGTHESIPOC............................................................................................................................................................7ADVICEFORCREATINGYOURSIPOC....................................................................................................................................7INTERPRETTHESIPOC............................................................................................................................................................7

SUMMARY...............................................................................................................................................................8

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LearningObjectives

Uponcompletionofthiscourse,studentwillbeableto:• DefineSIPOCanddescribeitscomponents• DiscussthepurposeofSIPOC• ExplainhowtoconstructaSIPOCdiagram• DescribehowtheinformationgainedfromaSIPOCanalysiscanbeused

Introduction

WhatisaProcess?

Tobegin,let’sreviewthedefinitionof“aprocess”asitrelatestoLeanSixSigmaandSIPOC.Aprocessisaseriesofactivitiesthattransformsasetofinputsintoaspecificsetofoutputs.Inorderforanorganizationtoimproveitsprocess,itmustunderstandthatprocessasfullyaspossible.TheSIPOCdiagramisatoplevelmap,whichprovidesabirds-eyeviewoftheentireprocess,fromsupplierstocustomers.Understandingtheprocessatthislevelisimportantbecauseitenablestheteamtoidentifyandagreeuponthescopeofitsimprovementproject.Thetoolsusedformoredetailedprocessmappingwillbetaughtinalatermodule.WhatisaSIPOC?

SIPOCstandsfor“Supplier,Inputs,Process,Outputs,andCustomers.”Let’slookatthestructureandcomponentsofthisdiagram.BecauseaSIPOCisusedtounderstandthetoplevelofaprocess,theprocessitselfisplacedatthecenterofthediagram.Theotherkeycomponentsallrevolvearoundtheprocess.Asyouseehere,inadditiontoinputs,outputs,suppliers,andcustomers,thisSIPOCalsoincludescustomerrequirementsand,eventhoughwewillusetheterm“SIPOC,”thisisoftenreferredtoasaSIPOCrdiagram.Eachoftheseelementsaddsusefulinformationabouttheprocess.

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SIPOCisavaluableLeanSixSigmatoolthatcanbeappliedtojustabouteveryprocessingenvironment,fromhighvolumemanufacturing,offices,andserviceproviders,tohealthcare.CreatingaSIPOCdiagramcanhelpateamsavetimeandmoney.Iteliminatestheconfusionthatcanhurtanimprovementeffortearlyon;itidentifiesissueswiththeincomingmaterial;anditdefinesthescopeofagivenprojectbyclearlyidentifyingitsstartandstoppoints.SIPOC

SIPOCisavaluableLeanSixSigmatoolthatcanbeappliedtojustabouteveryprocessingenvironment,fromhighvolumemanufacturing,offices,andserviceproviders,tohealthcare.CreatingaSIPOCdiagramcanhelpateamsavetimeandmoney.Iteliminatestheconfusionthatcanhurtanimprovementeffortearlyon;itidentifiesissueswiththeincomingmaterial;anditdefinesthescopeofagivenprojectbyclearlyidentifyingitsstartandstoppoints.PurposeoftheSIPOC

InDMAICmethodology,theSIPOCisoftenusedinthe“Define”phasebecauseithelpsteamsdefineandunderstandtheproblemstatement,andtheprocessinwhichtheidentifiedproblemresides.

ASIPOCdiagramservesavarietyofusefulpurposes,includingthefollowing:Ithelpsidentifyandbalancecompetingcustomerrequirements,suchasfasterdeliveryversuslowercost.Itidentifiesgapsbetweeninputsandoutputs.Itidentifiessuppliersandcustomers.Itverifiesteamandinformationresourcerequirements.Itestablishesthescopeoftheprojectandsatisfiesstakeholdersthattheproblemareaiscapturedintheprocess;itbuildsconsensusandresolvesconflicts.Ittargetstherightmetricsforverifyingcustomerrequirements.Itestablisheswhoshouldparticipateontheprojectteam.AgoodSIPOCdiagramstartsoffanimprovementprojectontherightfoot.Itisthefirsttooltheteammayuseasitbeginstoidentifyprocessshortcomingsthatdonotmeetcustomerrequirements,orinputsthatdonotmeetitsrequirements.AthoroughSIPOCisanindicatorofawell-definedproject.

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TheSIPOCForm

HereisanexampleofaSIPOCrform.ThereareseveralvariationsoftheSIPOCbutthisisoneofthemostcommon.

CompletingaSIPOCForm

Nowlet’slookatthestepsforcompletingaSIPOCdiagram.

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TocreateaSIPOCdiagram,theteamusesaSIPOCformliketheoneshownhere.Itsfirststepistoidentifytheprocessanditsboundaries.Todothis,itbreaksdowntheprocessintofivetosevenmajorsteps,includingstartandstoppoints.Next,theteamidentifiestheoutputsanddetermineswhothecustomerisforeachoutput.Itthenliststherequirementsforeachoutput.Finally,followingthesamestepsasitdidfortheoutputs,theteamidentifiestheinputs;determinesthesupplierforeachinput;andliststherequirementsforeachinput.CompletedSIPOCForm

ThisisacompletedSIPOCrdiagramforamanufacturingrequirementplanningprocess.Asyouexaminethediagram,keepthefollowingthingsinmind:1.Theprocessboundariesdictatethescope.Asyoucansee,theinputandoutputboundariesdescribewhentheprocessbeginsandends.Forexample,hereyouseethatthescopeofthisprocessbeginswhenthecustomerplacestheorder,andendswhenmanufacturingconfirmstheorder.2.Asmuchaspossible,boththeinputsandoutputssidesofthediagramshouldalignhorizontally.3.Requirementmetrics,suchasLeadTimeandinventorylevels,mustbemeasurable.4.Specificnamesandcontactinformationforcustomersandsuppliersshouldbeincluded,ifavailable.5.Thesuppliersandinputrequirementsforeachoftheinputsareseparatedwithadottedline.Thesameholdstrueforeachoftheoutputs.

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PreparingtheSIPOC

PreparingaSIPOCdiagramrequiresateameffort.Onepersonshouldnottrytodoitalone.Theprojectsponsor,theprocessowner,theteamleader,andsubjectmatterexpertsshouldallbeinvolved.Operationspersonnelshouldbeincludedaswell,sincetheyarethetrueprocessexperts.ThefollowinginputsareneededinordertopreparetheSIPOCdiagram:financialgoalsforthecompanyandfortheproject;defectdataandqualitygoalsfortheproject;andtheVoiceoftheCustomer(VoiceoftheCustomeriscoveredinaseparatemodule).

AdviceforCreatingYourSIPOC

HereareafewmoresuggestionsforconstructingathoroughSIPOC:Whentheteamisfirstscopingtheproject,itshouldtakeashorttimetodeveloptheinitialdraftoftheSIPOC.Afteritsfirstpassatthediagram,itshouldgetinputfromcustomersandsuppliers.Finally,afterdefiningboundaries,theteamshouldgettogethertorevisittheSIPOCinmoredetail.InterprettheSIPOC

OnceithascompletedtheSIPOCdiagram,theteamcanusetheinformationtodomanythings,includingthefollowing:• Verifyalinkbetweenthe“outputs”andcustomerrequirements.• Assurethattheproblemstatementfromtheprojectchartermatchesatleastoneofthecustomer

requirementsand/orprocessinputrequirements.

• Identifylinksbetweeninputrequirementsandthegapsinthecustomerrequirements.Itassurestheteamhasaccesstothesuppliers,processexperts,andcustomersnecessarytocloseanyidentifiedgaps.

• Identifyandbalancecompetingcustomerrequirements.

• Identifyinformationtocollect,andquestionstoanswer,fortheproject.• Identifydatathatdetermineswhen(orif)theprojectgoalisreached.

• Identifywhichdatashouldbemeasuredfortheprojectbyexaminingtheinput,output,and

requirementscolumns.

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Summary

Let’sreviewwhatyouhavelearnedaboutSIPOC.YouknowthattheSIPOCdiagramdocumentsaprocessfromsupplierstothecustomers.Ithelpsdefinethescopeofaproject,itbuildsteamconsensus,anditresolvesconflicts.Inaddition,thecompletedSIPOCincludesinformationtheteamcanusetobalancecompetingcustomerrequirements,identifygaps,andverifyteamandinformationresourcerequirements.Finally,SIPOChelpsprocessownersusetherightmetricsandverifythemcontinuously.