Track: Lean

Abstract

The progressing digitalization not only has an impact on the technical infrastructure of companies but also on the implementation of improvement projects. Six Sigma is a well-tried and widely spread method for structured conduction of improvement projects. The structured approach is due to the division into the phases Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. It is assumed that digitalization will have differently pronounced impacts on these phases. For this, the purpose of this paper is to determine possible changes that may affect the Define phase of the Six Sigma methodology as a result of digitalization. For the realization of the research objective, expert interviews as a method of qualitative investigation have been selected. Therefore, interviews with seven experts in the field of Six Sigma with different training and experience levels were conducted. Results indicate, that according to the experts’ assessment, the Define phase is only affected by minor changes caused by digitalization. They emphasize that the Define phase is characterized by human-supported working methods. Digitalization offers the chance of a more precise problem and target descriptions due to better data availability.