Help Manual

Contents






Sigma Magic Help Version 15

Solution Selection Matrix

Overview

The Solution Selection Matrix can be used to determine which of the solutions is the best one to pick when you have multiple solutions to choose from. The evaluation criteria are based on sigma impact, time impact, cost impact, and other impacts. It is an analytical approach to pick the winning solution for deployment.

This tool can be added to your active workbook by clicking on Project and then selecting Solution Selection > Solution Matrix.

Inputs

Click on Analysis Setup to open the menu options for this tool.

Setup

A sample screenshot of the setup menu is shown below.
inputs
1
Num Solutions: Specify the number of solutions to display on the worksheet. This information is used to reformat your worksheet and create a table for data entry. Note that any data below this table will be cleared.
2
Highlight Solutions: Specify the number of solutions to highlight from the list of solutions specified on the worksheet.
3
View Example: Click on this button to open the example file. You can view the example to get an idea of how to fill out this tool or you can use the example as a starting point and modify it to meet your project needs.
4
Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file for this topic.
5
Cancel Button: Click on this button to cancel all changes to the settings and exit this dialog box.
6
OK Button: Click on this button to save all changes and compute the outputs for this analysis.

AHP Weights

A sample screenshot of the AHP Weights menu is shown below. Based on the relative weights specified by the user for two factors, the software translates them into an overall score for each factor. These weights can then be used to determine the overall score of each project.
inputs
1
Factors: There are 4 factors for this analysis - impact, time, cost, and others. Impact refers to the impact of the solution for example benefits. What is the overall financial impact of the solution? Time could refer to the duration required for the deployment of the solution. The cost could refer to the number of resources required to deploy the solution. The other factor could be any other factor that is important to the company that is not covered by the first three. For example, the other factor could be a risk.
2
Weights: Enter a score for the relative importance of each factor compared to the other factor on a scale of 1-10. Compare each row vs. column element and assign a relative importance score between the two. All the diagonal elements compare the same factors so the relative weight for them is 1. For the non-diagonal elements, assign a score between the two factors. For example, if you are comparing impact vs. cost which factor is more important? You then need to come up with a score for how much more important is impact compared to cost. If we assign a score of 2 then we would enter a value of 2 for the impact row. The other non-diagonal element is left blank. Similarly, now compare impact and time and so on. Continue to perform these pairwise comparisons until all elements of the matrix are filled out.
4
Update AHP: Click on this button to compute the overall weights using the AHP process. These weights are then used to score the solutions.

Worksheet

In the worksheet, enter the following information:
  • Specify the number and description of the various solutions
  • Enter the evaluation scores of these solutions with respect to the four criteria:
    • Sigma Impact: the ability of your solution to impact the primary metric. Higher the score, greater the impact of this solution on the primary metric.
    • Cost Impact: the cost of implementing this solution. Lesser the cost of the solution, higher the score.
    • Time Impact: the amount of time it would take for you to implement this solution. Faster you can implement the solution, higher would be the score.
    • Other Impact: any other impact that is important to you. For example, risk. Lower the risk, higher the score for this element.

Verify

If you click on the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the data you have entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below. Verify The objective of this analysis as well as any checks that are performed is listed in this dialog box. For example, the software may check if you have correctly specified the input options and entered the required data on the worksheet. The results of the analysis checks are listed on the right. If the checks are passed, then they are shown as a green-colored checkmark. If the verification checks fail, then they are shown as a red-colored cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are shown in the orange color exclamation mark and finally, any checks that are required to be performed by the user are shown as blue info icons.

Outputs

Click on Compute Outputs to update the output calculations. A sample screenshot of the worksheet is shown below. outputs The results of the analysis are shown in the overall score column. The higher the score better is the solution in meeting the four requirements. The solution ranking column shows which solution is ranked higher. You may choose to implement the topmost ranked solution or pick multiple solutions to implement based on other criteria. Depending on your dialog box setting, the solutions are appropriately highlighted on the worksheet.

Notes

Here are a few pointers regarding this analysis:
  • Both Pugh Matrix and Solution Selection Matrix can be used to select solutions. However, the Solution Selection matrix is more analytical and can help you objectively reach your conclusion based on specific evaluation criteria. Pugh Matrix is more general and lets you pick the evaluation criteria but could be more subjective. Pugh Matrix is usually used to select concepts and Solution Selection matrix is usually used to select solutions.