Abstract

Organizations must look at their supply chains (SCs) in order to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. The technical manager may be called upon to analyze and recommend the best way to align the companies SC. The Six Sigma DMAIC process is traditionally used in manufacturing operations but is now being targeted for more transactional projects like SC operations. Oftentimes, expensive software and consultants are employed to perform this service, but the technical manager may be able to provide a sound assessment. The technical manager can use this chapter to perform a real-world SC modeling analysis with existing staff and a spreadsheet using the Six Sigma project steps. This study used traditional network modeling steps during the Analyze phase of a Six Sigma continuous improvement project. This allowed the team to collect and analyze data without expensive software. The same methodology can be used for other technical managers to evaluate their SC.