Using Lean Six Sigma to Reduce Effort and Cost in a Software Defect Tracking System
- Publication:
- Software Quality Professional
- Date:
- December 2013
- Issue:
- Volume 16 Issue 1
- Pages:
- pp. 23-34
- Author(s):
- Strate, Jonathan D.; Laplante, Phillip A.;
- Organization(s):
- The Pennsylvania State University, Malvern, PA
The copyright of this article is not held by ASQ.
Abstract
[This abstract is based on the authors' abstract.]This paper describes a case study involving a commercial software company seeking to increase the efficiency of existing development staff. Using the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology, the authors found that requiring code inspections in the process of removing a defect helped to identify defects earlier, reduced defect removal effort, and increased the efficiency of development staff. In addition, the overall cost of defect removal was reduced by 5 percent and the cost of poor quality was reduced by 6 percent. The authors present this case study as an example of how to use Lean Six Sigma to analyze a defect tracking system and identify ways to continuously improve software quality processes.