To maintain the improvements, it is necessary to rewrite the SOPs, and ensure that the staff are properly trained in the new techniques. One of the key elements to Six Sigma is that not only should the company improve processes, but that those improvements should be replicable. The only way that is possible is if each person involved in the process is aware that the process has changed, and is capable of executing the new process. DMAIC Phase 5 is control, which is the means by which the new process is made replicable.There are a couple of key steps in the control phase to ensure that the method is standardized. The first is documentation. It is critical that the new process is properly documented, including all key aspects of the process. The documentation allows for the improvements to be recorded. But having great documentation is not enough -- it is typically necessary to make that documentation available to all. So the new SOP is recorded, but then that information has to be transmitted -- either the SOP is made available or the employees are trained on it. By doing this, the company will be in a much better position to ensure that the new, improved process is repeated consistently...

In DMAIC, the process monitoring plan is the means by which the company will ensure that the new process has been adopted throughout the organization (Weisenfelder, 2013). There are a few ways that this can be done. One is through observation -- randomized checks to ensure that people are doing what they are supposed to be doing. But statistical monitoring can also be done -- if the new process is supposed to yield specific results, then this form of monitoring can check to see where those results have been achieved and where they have not. That allows for further investigation. For example, maybe there is a difference in metrics between company-owned stores and franchises, pointing to differences in training and implementation between the two. This phase can include both prescriptive punishments for non-compliance with the new process, but also a system that rewards those with excellent execution -- in particular where issues were identified and resolved, improving the process by addressing issues that were not originally anticipated (Six Sigma Material, 2017).
By identifying key…