DMAIC
Thursday, February 12, 2026 12:33 PM
DMAIC
• Invented in 1950's by Edward Demming
○ Define
§ Define the problem in terms of a goal (define the goal)
§ Start by knowing what you want to improve
§ Create a measure of success (MoS (measure of success) - Metric to use to know if you’ve made improvement or
not)
§ Have to justify why you are spending a lot for a project
○ MoS: metric to use to measure the goal
§ Getting an idea of what is happening in the process
□ Ex: Lowes appliance delivery
® How long do deliveries take as of now
® How many times did we have to go back to the store to get something we need
® What percent of deliveries could not be complete
□ Ex: VT RA selection
® How many RA's return (how many hired in the fall come back in the spring)
® How many people apply to be an RA
® What is the average GPA of people that apply
® Benchmark data
◊ Called 5 universities to get relevant information
○ Measure
§ Gather data for a purpose (to establish the current state) - What is happening to the process in the current
moment
§ Establish a baseline for your measure of success
§ Ex: Goal: reduce defects
□ Measure: how many mistakes are we having now after we made those improvements
○ Analyze
§ After you look at the current state you look at the:
□ "why" what is the underlying cause, are there trends and patterns… why is this happening
□ Can we use benchmarks to help identify areas for process improvement
□ Show why you chose your solutions - data visualization
○ Improve
§ Make some recommendations for changes in the process
○ Control
§ See what is happening in the workplace and see if you're hitting your goal
§ Identify then assess
• What gets quantified: value, waste, and outputs
○ With VT reuseable containers… only outputs can be quantified
§ Examine the OUTPUTS
□ Solutions will adjust the business process
® Data collection: how many get checked out?, How many get returned?, Why do students not return
them?
• Nat King Cole - L-O-V-E
○ D - the goals and MoS
○ M - the current state
§ What is happening now?
§ Included in this step is establishing a baseline for you MoS, but the current state is everything that is happening
now
○ A - make your case - clearly show with data why you are making a change (use data to show what to change)
○ I - change the process (the new process)
§ Decide what to change to improve the process. Create steps for how to implement those changes.
○ C - check and see if you made an improvement (go back or sustain) - not be on exam
• Don’t start with a solution
○ Make sure to gather data that help you come up with a solution that will help based on that
○ Recommended solutions should be "concrete" (ex: don’t just talk about it in the body of your report, SHOW it)
○ Reuseable container returns at VT
§ Idea for a solution: new/additional collection location
□ Concrete way of presenting this is to show on a map where exactly the location would be located based on
Thursday, February 12, 2026 12:33 PM
DMAIC
• Invented in 1950's by Edward Demming
○ Define
§ Define the problem in terms of a goal (define the goal)
§ Start by knowing what you want to improve
§ Create a measure of success (MoS (measure of success) - Metric to use to know if you’ve made improvement or
not)
§ Have to justify why you are spending a lot for a project
○ MoS: metric to use to measure the goal
§ Getting an idea of what is happening in the process
□ Ex: Lowes appliance delivery
® How long do deliveries take as of now
® How many times did we have to go back to the store to get something we need
® What percent of deliveries could not be complete
□ Ex: VT RA selection
® How many RA's return (how many hired in the fall come back in the spring)
® How many people apply to be an RA
® What is the average GPA of people that apply
® Benchmark data
◊ Called 5 universities to get relevant information
○ Measure
§ Gather data for a purpose (to establish the current state) - What is happening to the process in the current
moment
§ Establish a baseline for your measure of success
§ Ex: Goal: reduce defects
□ Measure: how many mistakes are we having now after we made those improvements
○ Analyze
§ After you look at the current state you look at the:
□ "why" what is the underlying cause, are there trends and patterns… why is this happening
□ Can we use benchmarks to help identify areas for process improvement
□ Show why you chose your solutions - data visualization
○ Improve
§ Make some recommendations for changes in the process
○ Control
§ See what is happening in the workplace and see if you're hitting your goal
§ Identify then assess
• What gets quantified: value, waste, and outputs
○ With VT reuseable containers… only outputs can be quantified
§ Examine the OUTPUTS
□ Solutions will adjust the business process
® Data collection: how many get checked out?, How many get returned?, Why do students not return
them?
• Nat King Cole - L-O-V-E
○ D - the goals and MoS
○ M - the current state
§ What is happening now?
§ Included in this step is establishing a baseline for you MoS, but the current state is everything that is happening
now
○ A - make your case - clearly show with data why you are making a change (use data to show what to change)
○ I - change the process (the new process)
§ Decide what to change to improve the process. Create steps for how to implement those changes.
○ C - check and see if you made an improvement (go back or sustain) - not be on exam
• Don’t start with a solution
○ Make sure to gather data that help you come up with a solution that will help based on that
○ Recommended solutions should be "concrete" (ex: don’t just talk about it in the body of your report, SHOW it)
○ Reuseable container returns at VT
§ Idea for a solution: new/additional collection location
□ Concrete way of presenting this is to show on a map where exactly the location would be located based on
