Lean Six Sigma Tollgate Reviews - Acuity Institute

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Lean Six Sigma Tollgate Reviews

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❖ Ensure coordination of dependencies among all projects

❖ Share best practices/lessons learned

❖ Remove organizational barriers to team success

❖ Request funding to move forward where applicable

❖ Reward and recognize the teams efforts

The purpose of a Tollgate is to provide a status at the end of each project phase (i.e. DMAIC). Tollgates are checkpoints before project work can move on into the following phase. There are many purposes for doing this review that could include:

❖ Check for consistent understanding of the project and its objectives

❖ Monitor team progress for cost and schedule compliance

❖ Alignment to company strategy

❖ Ensure data quality/integrity

❖ Identify additional resource needs

❖ Assist the team with escalation of issues and risks DEFINEDEFINE

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Project Tollgates: Importance and Purpose

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“Pre-Launch” Tollgate

It is important that the Sponsor and Project Leader meet prior to the

launch of the project to establish clear objectives and expectations for

the project.

The Sponsor must address the following:

❖ Does this project have a high potential impact

on organizational success?

❖ Has it been reviewed with the appropriate

business and functional management teams?

❖ How will this project benefit the customer? The business?

❖ Is there the right match between the Black/Green Belt skills and

experience that the project requires?

❖ Are there sufficient resources in place to ensure project success?

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❖ Challenge the purpose and objectives of the project

❖ Determine if the project goals are achievable and realistic

❖ Ensure alignment between business the case, scope and project

goals

❖ Assess the impact on stakeholders

❖ Determine if the right customers have been included in VOC, and

CTQs are identified

❖ Remove barriers to success

Key Phase Deliverables

▪ Project Charter

▪ Project Plan

▪ SIPOC & As-Is Process

▪ Stakeholder Analysis

▪ VOC/CTQs

DMAIC – Define Phase

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“Define” Tollgate Questions

❖ What is your practical “problem” statement -- what are you trying to

fix or avoid? How will you measure your success?

❖ What is the potential business impact?

❖ Who is the customer? Who are your stakeholders?

❖ What are the CTQs?

▪ How did you determine them?

▪ How are you measuring them?

❖ Did you develop an As-Is process map?

What does it tell you?

❖ Did you identify any Quick Wins?

❖ Do you have adequate resources to complete the project?

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❖ Clarify that data collected is based on the problem statement

❖ Remove data collection barriers and ensure proper time has been

used to collect data

❖ Determine if help is needed to keep the team on track

❖ Ensure problem and goal statements are continually updated to

reflect new learning in the project efforts


▪ Data Collection Plan

▪ Data Display Tools

▪ Baseline Performance

DMAIC – Measure Phase

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“Measure” Tollgate Questions

❖ What data did you collect and why?

❖ How did you validate your measurements to ensure measurement

system accuracy?

❖ What is your current process performance? Does your current

performance level suggest you need to revisit your project goals?

❖ What type of data do you have? Discrete or continuous?

▪ What does this imply as you think about analytical tools?

❖ What are your next steps?

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❖ Ensure that data is used to draw conclusions

❖ Challenge the conclusions from process analysis to data analysis to

root cause determination

❖ Seek a common sense explanation for tool selection

❖ Validate the extent to which root cause elimination will address the

original problem

❖ Ensure financial opportunities have been identified and reviewed with

the projects finance representative


▪ Lean Process Analysis

▪ Lean Measures

▪ Graphical Data Analysis

▪ Statistical Data Analysis

▪ Root Causes Identified

DMAIC – Analyze Phase

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“Analyze” Tollgate Questions

❖ What are the root causes of the gaps in your current performance?

How did you validate them?

❖ What statistical tools did you use? Why or Why not? What did they

tell you?

❖ What is the quantified opportunity (hard and soft dollar benefits) to

be captured by correcting this problem? Has the benefiting function

(department) and finance validated this initial financial estimate?

❖ What barriers, if any, is the team facing?

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❖ Ensure the team has clearly linked root cause identification to

solutions

❖ Challenge the team to ensure use of creative thinking in solution

generation

❖ Validate costs vs. benefits of the solutions

❖ Make sure the team has a detailed implementation and

communication plan

❖ Ensure support from stakeholders


▪ Solutions

▪ Financial Cost Benefits Analysis

▪ Risk Analysis (FMEA)

▪ Implementation Plan

DMAIC – Improve Phase

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“Improve” Tollgate Questions

❖ How did you determine the right solution?

❖ Did you use a pilot to test your solution? Why? Why not? What did it

reveal?

❖ How did you assess and address risk?

❖ How have you managed your stakeholders?

❖ What communication strategies did you use?

❖ What requirements have you provided for

information technology development, if applicable?

❖ What is the basis of your Cost Benefit Analysis?

❖ What are the cost implications of your solution? How has that

impacted your overall project financials?

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❖ Ensure that the “to-be” process owner is supportive and understands

ownership responsibilities during and upon completion of

implementation

❖ Certify the financials and other metric impacts of the project to the

original problem

❖ Seek replication opportunities

❖ Recognize the team for their efforts in a specific tangible way

❖ Review lessons learned


▪ Dashboard

▪ Response Plan

▪ Solution Documentation

▪ Replication Opportunities

DMAIC – Control Phase

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“Control” Tollgate Questions

❖ How is the team going to ensure that this problem does not return?

❖ Who is the “process owner” for maintaining these improvements?

Have they formally accepted the “hand-off”?

❖ Is the learning transferable across the business?

▪ What is the action plan for spreading the best practice?

❖ Is there a final project documentation file?

▪ How is this referenced in process procedures, policies or other

guidelines?

❖ What are the full-year financial projections from this project? Have

they been signed off by the appropriate organizations and factored

into the budgeting process?

❖ Are there any spin-off projects from this one?

❖ What lessons did you learn throughout the process?

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Lean Six Sigma Tollgate Reviews - Acuity Institute

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