Quality Assurance Plan

A Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Quality Assurance Plan is a documented strategy that ensures processes consistently meet defined quality standards by preventing defects rather than reacting to them. It outlines the activities, responsibilities, and controls needed to sustain improvements across the DMAIC cycle

📄 Purpose of a Quality Assurance Plan in LSS

  • Proactive Quality Management: Focuses on designing processes to avoid errors instead of fixing them later.

  • Consistency: Establishes standards and procedures so outputs are uniform and predictable.

  • Customer Satisfaction: Ensures deliverables meet or exceed customer expectations.

  • Accountability: Assigns clear roles for monitoring and maintaining quality.

  • Sustainability: Provides mechanisms to prevent regression after improvements are implemented.

🧩 Core Components

  1. Quality Objectives

    • Define measurable goals (e.g., reduce defects by 20%, improve cycle time).

  2. Standards & Criteria

    • Operational definitions of what “quality” means for the process or product.

  3. Roles & Responsibilities

    • Who monitors, audits, and enforces quality (e.g., Black Belt, Process Owner).

  4. Quality Assurance Activities

    • Audits, inspections, control charts, and process reviews.

  5. Documentation & Reporting

    • How results are tracked, reported, and communicated to stakeholders.

  6. Risk & Mitigation Plans

    • Identifies potential quality risks and strategies to address them.

  7. Continuous Improvement Mechanisms

    • Feedback loops, lessons learned, and corrective actions.

✅ Value in LSS Projects

  • Improves reliability of data and deliverables.

  • Builds stakeholder confidence by showing quality is actively managed.

  • Supports certification and compliance requirements.

  • Strengthens the Control phase by embedding monitoring into daily operations.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

  • Treating QA as a one-time activity instead of an ongoing process.

  • Overcomplicating documentation, which discourages use.

  • Failing to align QA standards with customer needs.

Takeaway: In Lean Six Sigma, a Quality Assurance Plan is the safety net that ensures improvements stick. It transforms quality from a final inspection step into a continuous, proactive discipline that protects both the process and the customer experience.