Overview

Define means to establish the cause of a problem and to set the boundaries of the problem. The Define phase helps the team to picture the process over time and provides insight for the team about where the focus of improvement efforts should be (e.g., on improving the door seal on a frost-free refrigerator). Define also applies to customers, customer needs, and customer requirements (known as critical to quality characteristics or CTQs) and to the core business processes involved.

CTQs are the key measurable performance characteristics of any product, process, or service that satisfy external (ultimate) customers. CTQs must be met.

In the Define phase, it is critical define who the customers are, what their requirements for products and services are, and what their expectations are. It is also important to define the project's boundaries where to start and where to stop the process. Additionally, there must be definitions of the process and what the team must improve. Process understanding can be obtained by mapping process flow. Sections include:

References

Additional Reading

2.1 The Customer

The traditional definition of a customer is "someone who buys what the supplier (company) sells," but in today's global competitive market, the traditional definition is neither a precise nor a complete definition. A better definition is "a customer is a person who a company/supplier tries to understand (e.g., their reactions and expectations) and...