Six Sigma project charter
The project charter is the Define phase’s primary deliverable. It is a one-page (or short) contract between the project team and the sponsoring organization that answers six questions: why, what, how bad, how much better, for whom, and by when. A weak charter (vague problem, unmeasurable goal, unbounded scope) is a frequent root cause of stalled or failed Six Sigma projects.
Six charter elements
| Element | What it must contain | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Business case | Why this project matters to the organization: financial impact, strategic alignment, customer risk | Too vague (“important to quality”); no dollar figure |
| Problem statement | What is wrong, where it occurs, how often, and since when — no causes, no solutions | Embedding the cause (“operators aren’t following the procedure”) or solution (“we will implement a new system”) |
| Goal statement | Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound (SMART) improvement target | Saying “improve” or “reduce” without a number or deadline |
| Project scope | Clear in-scope and out-of-scope boundaries (start and stop of the process, product lines, sites) | Scope so wide the team can’t finish in 6 months; or so narrow it can’t achieve the business case |
| Team | Black Belt, Champion, process owner, subject-matter experts, Finance rep (for savings validation) | Missing a Finance or process-owner sign-off |
| Timeline | Tollgate dates for each DMAIC phase, final completion date | No dates or unrealistic compression |
Worked example charter
Business case: Coating defects on Line 4 cause ~$420,000/yr in rework and scrapped batches. Line 4 accounts for 40% of site output. Customer complaints about appearance have increased 3× over the past 18 months.
Problem statement: The coating defect rate on ZZPharma Line 4 averaged 4.7% over the past 12 months (Oct 2024–Sep 2025), measured as percentage of tablets requiring rework or scrap at final visual inspection. The target specification is ≤1.0%.
Goal statement: Reduce the Line 4 coating defect rate from 4.7% to ≤1.5% by June 30, 2026, saving at least $280,000/yr in rework and scrap costs (≈ $420,000 × (4.7 − 1.5)/4.7, assuming cost scales with defect rate).
Scope: In scope: coating pan loading through in-process visual inspection on Line 4. Out of scope: tablet compression, packaging, and Lines 1–3.
Team: Black Belt: J. Exampl; Champion: VP Operations; Process owner: Line 4 supervisor; Finance: Cost accounting rep
Timeline: Define – Nov 30 · Measure – Jan 15 · Analyze – Feb 28 · Improve – Apr 30 · Control – Jun 30
Problem statement rules
A valid problem statement is factual, specific, and solution-neutral. Test yours against these:
- Does it name a measurable metric? (defect rate, cycle time, cost, complaints per month)
- Does it state the current performance level with a time period?
- Does it state where the problem occurs? (process step, line, product, site)
- Does it avoid blaming a cause? (“because operators” or “because the machine” belong in Analyze)
- Does it avoid a solution? (“we need to buy new equipment” belongs in Improve)
Common exam traps
- Charter as a living document. The charter is updated as DMAIC progresses — scope creep or scope reduction discovered in Measure should trigger a charter amendment, not a quiet change in direction.
- The goal statement is not the solution. “Reduce defect rate to ≤1.5%” is a goal. “Install new coating equipment” is a solution — it belongs in Improve, not Define.
- Business case without Finance validation. The CSSBB exam tests whether savings are hard (cash) or soft (avoidance). In most deployments Finance must validate hard savings before they are reported as project benefits.
Try 5 free CSSBB practice questions on project charters and Define tollgate deliverables.
Take the free CSSBB diagnosticMore: 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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