Six Sigma Project Procurement Plan
This is a practical guide to building a procurement plan for a six sigma project project — what will be bought, how and from whom, adapted to the realities of reducing defects and variation in a process.
What a Procurement Plan is
A procurement plan is what will be bought, how and from whom. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Procurement Management. On a six sigma project project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Six Sigma Project project
Six Sigma Project projects live or die on reducing defects and variation in a process. A well-built procurement plan gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how six sigma project projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- What to procure
- Contract types
- Selection criteria
- Timeline and SLAs
Six Sigma Project-specific considerations
Tailor the procurement plan to the risks that most often derail six sigma project projects:
- Data availability
- Root-cause complexity
- Sustaining control
Example
On a real six sigma project project, the procurement plan would be shaped by reducing defects and variation in a process. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — data availability, root-cause complexity, sustaining control — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.