How Does SigmaBrew DMAIC Work in the Classroom?
SigmaBrew is a fictitious specialty coffee retailer struggling with quality and customer service issues. Participants begin the simulation with the organization’s case history, including background data highlighting the need to undertake an improvement project. After working through balanced scorecard and project selection exercises, participants begin the DMAIC process, working through the tools and techniques of Lean Six Sigma. In each phase, there are multiple choices to collect data or implement improvement actions – with varying benefits. Many “wrong” choices are available that offer no benefit! Like the real world, all choices to collect data or implement an improvement action all have costs in terms of time and/or money, which are tracked as project metrics on a project scorecard. Collected data are processed by the participants using various Lean Six Sigma analytical tools, as required. Correct answers to tollgate questions yield an improved process metric, and a higher economi
