Six Sigma “Improve” Tollgate Review (Plus Free Template) (#45)

After our Lean Six Sigma classes, we offer a Tollgate Review for our students to follow to help them achieve project completion for Lean Six Sigma Certification. Each Tollgate Review is a checkpoint for knowing whether or not you have completed each goal in the DMAIC.

Once complete, you can move on to the next stage. These checkpoints also prevent you from missing anything in your project; which propels project success.

At the “Improve” stage, the project team will meet with the Project Champion to discuss if the team’s work and objectives have met expectations. Referring to the project plan will let everyone involved in the project know if they are performing as expected and if they have achieved what they should at that point in the project timeline.

 “Improve” Tollgate Checklist:

You first need to ask if any kind of “Lean” development has been enforced in attempts to make the process more efficient BEFORE you began your Six Sigma Optimization Project.

Solution Development and Testing
  • By what means did the team come up with all the potential solutions?
  • Which tools did the team use to inspire creative and divergent thinking?


Solution Selection
  • Which tools did the team use to assess each solution?
  • Did the team develop a set of criterions to help them appraise each possible solution?
  • Were any of the possible solutions hindered by potential constraints (environment, politics, technology, etc.)?
  • Did the team develop a pilot walk through for the probable solution?
  • Explain the pilot design as well as the results of any tests performed on the pilot.
  • Was the team able to draw significant conclusions from the pilot test? What were they?
  • Did the team learn anything that would help them improve on their project deployment in their business-wide solution?


Implementation Design
  • Did the team design a full-scale Implementation Plan?
  • What kind of fail proofing will the team add into the process to prevent current problems?
  • Will the selected solution eliminate those main variations found during the “Analyze” phase?
  • What kind of support will the team need to successfully implement the solution on the floor?
  • Will the team be able to see if the Six Sigma Implementation is meeting requirements as it was proposed? How?
  • Does the team have a probability plan for handling likely problems that occur during implementation?
  • What kind of benchmark will let the company know whether the solution was successful?

Deliverables of “Improve” Phase
  • Amended problem statement that more accurately reflects a better awareness of the original problem.
  • Well developed Implementation Plan with plans for corporate communication.
  • Selected best solution determined by investigation and scrutiny.
  • Deployed test pilot of selected solution.
  • Gathered and analyzed data from pilot deployment.
  • Full implementation deployment plan created (inclusive of control plan, finance and resource requirements, risk management, and work breakdown structure).
  • Probability (Contingency) plan created.
  • Improvements are validated based on testing and analysis.
  • Defined how to identify problems and provided instructions for solving them.
  • Documented upcoming project steps.
  • Signed approval from Project Champion. 


About Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc.
We are Certified as an Accredited Training Organization with the International Association of Six Sigma Certification (IASSC)
“The IASSC Accredited Training Organization (ATO) designation validates Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. has demonstrated adequate management systems, courseware with a high degree of correlation to the subject matter contained in the IASSC Bodies of Knowledge, delivery schema consistent with such content and highly qualified instructors.”
We Provide Public Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Training Courses in 34 Cities across the globe.
Our Training Centers are located in: Albuquerque, New Mexico | Anchorage, Alaska | Atlanta, Georgia | Austin, Texas | Boston, Massachusetts | Calgary, Canada | Charlotte, North Carolina | Chicago, Illinois | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cleveland, Ohio | Columbus, Ohio | Dallas, Texas | Denver, Colorado | Detroit, Michigan | Dubai, UAE | El Paso, Texas | Fort Smith, Arkansas | Honolulu, Hawaii | Houston, Texas | Indianapolis, Indiana | Jacksonville, Florida | Kansas City, Missouri | Las Vegas, Nevada | London, England | Los Angeles, California | Louisville, Kentucky | Memphis, Tennessee | Mexico City, Mexico | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Montreal, Canada | Nashville, Tennessee | New Orleans, Louisiana | New York City, New York | Northwest Arkansas | Orlando, Florida | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Phoenix, Arizona | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Portland, Oregon | Raleigh, North Carolina | Salt Lake City, Utah | San Diego, California | Seattle, Washington | St. Louis, Missouri | Tampa, Florida | Toronto, Canada | Vancouver, Canada | Washington, DC

We Provide Onsite Lean Six Sigma Certification Training. Some of the training's we provide are: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Lean Six Sigma Champions Training and Lean Certifications for Healthcare, Finance, I.T, Manufacturing, Processing, Logistics, Retail Sales and Government.
SSDSI will come to your site to train for your choice of the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels. Onsite training is more cost effective than open enrollment training when training larger groups of team members.
Benefits of Onsite Training:
The Training is focused on Your Opportunities
SSDSI uses your opportunities in class (vs. generic examples)
You will get the experience of a seasoned Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt who will help mentor you while completing your Lean and Six Sigma Project
You can train up to 20 employees for one fixed cost (this cost includes course ware and the instructors travel & lodging)
Our courses are full of games, simulations, and active learning to help the adult learner
SSDSI can customize the training to meet your company’s particular training needs
Call Kevin Clay at 214-731-3176 or email at kclay@sixsigmadsi.com for more information

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