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Define Tollgate: Deliverables and Exit Criteria

The Define tollgate is the sponsor's first formal decision on the project. The question is not "is the problem solved?" but "is this the right problem, framed well enough, with the right people and resources, to be worth measuring?" A project that slips through a weak Define review usually comes back later as scope creep, a moving goal, or savings nobody believes.

What the exam expects

The Define phase, the project charter and the project-management tools sit in Define (IV) of the 2022 CSSBB Body of Knowledge. Expect scenario questions: spot what is missing from a charter, rewrite a flawed problem or goal statement, judge whether scope is manageable, identify who must approve, and choose the right tool (SIPOC, stakeholder analysis, VOC and CTQ tree, project timeline) for a Define need.

Deliverables checklist

Deliverable	What "done" looks like	Typical gap
Problem statement	What, where, when, how big, against a baseline; no cause, no solution	"The problem is the old software" (a solution in disguise)
Business case	Why this, why now, link to strategy, estimated benefit reviewed by Finance	Savings guessed by the team with no Finance input
Goal statement	Specific, measurable, baseline to target, with a date	"Improve on-time delivery significantly"
Scope	In and out of scope stated; start and end points match the SIPOC	Whole value stream, three sites, one Black Belt
SIPOC	Suppliers, inputs, a handful of high-level steps, outputs, customers	A detailed swim-lane map that belongs in Measure
VOC and CTQs	Customer needs translated into measurable CTQs with operational definitions	CTQ is an internal metric nobody asked the customer about
Primary metric (Y)	Defined, with a data source and preliminary baseline; a secondary (counter) metric named	Y defined differently by each team member
Team and roles	Sponsor, process owner, Black Belt, members, time commitments agreed	Members named but their managers never released their time
Stakeholder analysis	Who is affected, current vs needed support, communication plan	A resistant department discovered in Improve
Plan and risks	Milestones and tollgate dates; constraints, assumptions and risks listed	No dates beyond "Q3"
Sponsor decision	Signed go, go with conditions, redirect, or stop	Tollgate held as a status meeting with no decision

Worked example: tightening a charter

A team brings this draft to the tollgate: "Shipping is too slow because the warehouse system is outdated. Goal: implement a new warehouse system." It fails three tests: it states a cause, it states a solution, and it has no baseline or size. Using 12 months of order data, the Black Belt rewrites it.

Baseline: 1,250 of 25,000 orders shipped after promise date = 5.0% Cost: 1,250 late orders × $40 estimated expediting cost = $50,000 per year Goal: 2.0% late → 0.020 × 25,000 = 500 late orders per year Reduction: 1,250 − 500 = 750 fewer late orders per year Estimate: 750 × $40 = $30,000 per year (pending Finance validation)

Problem statement: "In the 12 months to June, 1,250 of 25,000 customer orders (5.0%) from the Example Distribution Center shipped after the promised date, costing an estimated $50,000 in expediting." Goal: "Reduce late shipments from 5.0% to 2.0% by March, without raising order-picking cost per order." The counter metric guards against "fixing" lateness by adding staff. Scope runs from order release to carrier pickup; carrier transit is out of scope. The warehouse-system idea goes on a parking-lot list to be tested later against data.

Common exam traps

Accepting a problem statement that names a root cause or a solution.
A goal without a baseline, or a target with no date.
Scope so wide that the project cannot finish in a reasonable time.
Assuming the Black Belt approves the charter. The sponsor (or champion) does, because the sponsor owns the resources and removes barriers.
Expecting full Measure work, such as a completed gage study or capability analysis, at the Define gate. Define needs the metric defined and a preliminary baseline; the formal baseline is confirmed in Measure.
Treating the tollgate as a formality. Stopping or redirecting a project is a valid outcome.

Check yourself

What two things should a problem statement never contain? (A cause and a solution.)
Who signs off at the Define tollgate? (The sponsor or champion.)
Why name a counter metric in the charter? (To stop the Y from being improved at the expense of another important measure.)
Name the four decisions a tollgate can reach. (Go, go with conditions, redirect or rescope, stop.)
Which Define tool sets the project's start and end boundaries? (SIPOC.)

Related: Six Sigma DMAIC · Kano model · Project charter · SIPOC · VOC & CTQ

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More: DMAIC overview · Project charter · VOC & CTQ · SIPOC · MSA in DMAIC · Process capability · Data collection planning · Graphical analysis · Root cause analysis · Multi-vari analysis · Hypothesis testing · Regression · DOE · FMEA · Define tollgate · Change management · Financial benefits · Team dynamics · Improve tollgate · Piloting & scaling · Poka-yoke (BB) · Solution selection · Control plan · SPC in DMAIC · Sustaining gains

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