The complete project portfolio will follow the following R-DMAIC-S steps

Recognize - be aware of the need for change

• Identify the business needs - What are the problems in the business?
• Articulate the business strategy - What do the directors want the company to deliver?
• Manage the effort - Does everyone in the company know what to expect of lean Six Sigma projects?

Define - Formulate the business problem

• Change your viewpoint - How do my customers look at me?
• Develop the team charter - What are the team members expected to do?
• Scope the business subprocess - What subprocesses of the business are we going to work on (and not work on)?

Measure - gather the correct data

• Select the CTQ characteristic - What are we going to improve?
• Define the performance standards - What is the best way to measure?
• Validate the measurement system on output (Y) - Can we trust the output data?

Analyze - change to a statistical problem

• Establish the process capability - How good or bad are we today?
• Define the performance goals - How good do we have to be?
• Identify the sources of variation - What factors (Xs) could make a difference?

Improve - develop a practical solution

• Screen the potential causes - What is the real root of the problem?
• Establish the relationship between the factors (Xs) and the output (Y) - How can we predict the output?
• Establish operating tolerances for the factors (Xs) - How tight does the control have to be?

Control - implement the practical solution

• Validate the measurement system for the factors (Xs) - Can we trust in the input data?
• Determine the process capability - How much of an improvement have we made?
• Implement process control - How do we monitor our continued improvement?

Sustain - retain the benefits

• Transfer to business owners - What do the process owners do each day?
• Integrate into business systems - What numbers do we report?
• Identify new opportunities - What do we do when new problems arise?