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Six Sigma & Quality Article Archive
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Quality Spotlight Archive | Management Spotlight Archive | Tools Spotlight Archive Readers' Choice: View All Top-Rated Articles Archives by Year: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 - Select Projects Using Evaluation and Decision Tools
Project selection starts with generating ideas. The challenge is to find the ones that can grow into beneficial projects. Practitioners can use an organized approach to help narrow down the ideas that can be best converted into projects. Read the full article. November 2, 2009
- Carefully Planned Kaizens Can Lead to Immediate Change
Organizations considering kaizen events must be ready to make a commitment to change management by properly preparing attendees for the goals of the event, executing the event smoothly and implementing solutions in a timely and effective manner. Read the full article. October 26, 2009
- 10 Catalysts for Successful Six Sigma Programs
To be successful, Six Sigma programs often need certain catalysts to precipitate change and help ingrain the method in an organization. The 10 catalysts explored here are most important in ensuring that a program takes hold. Read the full article. October 19, 2009
- Interaction Key to Conducting High-impact Training
Many Belts are asked to teach others about Six Sigma. To make the best use of the time allotted, Belts must conduct high-impact training. This means leaving a lasting impression and ensuring that the students fully understand what they have learned. Read the full article. October 12, 2009
- Six Sigma Adds Structure to Quality Audit Process
To perform a quality audit effectively, practitioners can use the DMAIC roadmap as an organizational resource. Six Sigma provides the tools to improve the capability and reduce the defects in any process, and quality audits are no exception. Read the full article. October 5, 2009
- TQM Case Study: Newspaper Focuses on Customer Service
Improving customer service was the focus of two projects within the deployment of Total Quality Management in a mid-sized newspaper in India. The projects involved adjusting advertisement deadlines and reducing the number of billing errors. Read the full article. September 28, 2009
- Leadership Must Play a Critical Role in Define Phase
Leaders need to take charge of identifying projects, determining the business case, defining the scope, establishing the goals and estimating the project timeline. This helps to ensure that projects are truly strategically important to the business. Read the full article. September 21, 2009
- Follow a Structured Approach to Continuous Improvement
Organizations can follow a simple framework – the Awareness-Motivation-Competency-Implementation (AMCI) approach – to deploy a continuous improvement program that will help maintain structure but also achieve strong results. Read the full article. September 14, 2009
- Analyze Data with Template for Dynamic Pareto Charts
While working in environments where costly software is not easily accessible across the organization, an Excel-based Pareto chart can come in handy. A dynamic Pareto chart template can be a practical aid to practitioners in this situation. Read the full article. September 7, 2009
- iSixSigma's Inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee: Bill Smith
The late Bill Smith, widely regarded as the “Father of Six Sigma,” was inducted into iSixSigma’s Six Sigma Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the iSixSigma Live! Summit & Awards this past January. Nominations are now open for next year's honoree. Read the full article. September 3, 2009
- Be Consistent in Six Sigma Project Metric Selection
Inconsistent use of metrics can lead to lost opportunities and rework after a project ends. Using them consistently brings enormous clarity to the impact and benefit of a Six Sigma project and helps keep the focus on enhancing business capabilities. Read the full article. August 31, 2009
- A Healthy Approach: Why McKesson Is a Best Place to Work
McKesson Corp., a healthcare services company, topped iSixSigma's 2008 Best Places to Work list. This profile, originally published in iSixSigma Magazine, illustrates how McKesson's improvement program makes satisfied customers and employees. Read the full article. August 27, 2009
- Tips for Recognizing and Transforming Non-normal Data
Practitioners can benefit from an overview of normal and non-normal distributions, as well as familiarizing themselves with some simple tools to detect non-normality and techniques to accurately determine whether a process is in control and capable. Read the full article. August 24, 2009
- Newspaper Aims to Improve Printing: A TQM Case Study
Caught in an exploding market, the management of a media organization realized that improving the quality of printing of its newspaper was imperative to survival and progress. The organization used total quality management (TQM) to guide their work. Read the full article. August 17, 2009
- Building Valuable Process Maps Takes Skill and Time
A great process map should show where improvements can be made, where cycle time delays exist and where smooth handoffs are not taking place. Creating a process map should be the first act a company performs when seeking to make process improvements. Read the full article. August 10, 2009
- Breakthrough Change: What It Means and Why It's Needed
To understand what breakthrough means and why it's an important part of any continuous improvement program, it helps to take a look at the history of the term in regard to Six Sigma and how the concept fits with another familiar idea: control. Read the full article. August 3, 2009
- Managing COPQ by Analyzing and Optimizing Thresholds
Threshold investigations should be an integral part of any continuous improvement program. By optimizing thresholds, Belts can yield incredibly significant and immediate results because thresholds directly affect scrap and lost sales. Read the full article. July 27, 2009
- Six Sigma Project Charter as a Vital Control Document
The project charter is the first step and one of the most important parts of any Six Sigma project. An example of what a charter should contain is found in 11 elements, what each element is for and what questions that element is expected to answer. Read the full article. June 15, 2009
- Kaizen with Six Sigma Ensures Continuous Improvement
Kaizen aims to eliminate waste in all systems of an organization through improving standardized activities and processes. By understanding the basics of Kaizen, practitioners can integrate this method into their overall Six Sigma efforts. Read the full article. June 8, 2009
- DFSS Can Help Ensure Sarbanes-Oxley Act Compliance
Lean Six Sigma practitioners can help their organizations increase their Sarbanes-Oxley process compliance by using various tools within the Design for Six Sigma IDOVI [Identify, Define, Optimize, Validate, Incorporate] roadmap. Read the full article. June 1, 2009
- Prioritization Matrix Is Made Easier with a Template
The prioritization matrix is a great tool, but it is not used much. The reason is probably because it takes a lot of time to do manually, and it can be confusing. To make it more usable, this article provides an automated template for using the tool. Read the full article. May 25, 2009
- Lean Six Sigma Solves Inventory Cost Problem
Many scale production enterprises face high inventory costs as the current worldwide financial crisis has led to a significant production volume drop. This problem of high inventory cost of key materials can be approached with Lean and Six Sigma. Read the full article. May 18, 2009
- Delight Customers: Reduce Defects in Service Delivery
Recently, a VOC survey revealed that operator response at a company was poor and customer satisfaction was low. The resulting improvement efforts serve as an example of how a service process can be turned around using the principles of Six Sigma. Read the full article. May 11, 2009
- See Long- and Short-term Results with a 3-6-12-24 Plan
A major dilemma companies face today is the pressure to deliver short-term improvements and benefits while still contributing to longer-term breakthrough objectives. The 3-6-12-24 planning tool helps practitioners find a way out of this predicament. Read the full article. May 4, 2009
- To Save Cost, Set Product Warranties Based on Quality
By reviewing quality assurance concepts – reliability, failure rate and product life history – that can be used during DMAIC and DMADV, practitioners can allow for better business decisions regarding establishing appropriate product warranties. Read the full article. April 27, 2009
- Review All Components for Well-rounded Process Analysis
Too often processes are simply represented in boxes and arrows. While this final result of an analysis is beneficial, practitioners should ensure they are considering the many factors and components that influence a process and how it is viewed. Read the full article. April 20, 2009
- The Seven Intelligences: Enhance Six Sigma Training
Howard Gardner suggests that every person has a unique combination of multiple intelligences. Understanding what these intelligences can help practitioners design a variety of ways to better communicate lessons about Six Sigma. Read the full article. April 13, 2009
- Lean Services: Doing Transactions Right the First Time
In services, the most efficient method for cutting waste is to attack anything that is not done right the first time. Completing services right the first time is not easy, but doing so can be an effective way to begin a Lean journey. Read the full article. April 6, 2009
- Lessons from Crusoe on Project Resource Allocation
A smart resource allocation strategy should be aligned with the results of analysis of past projects. This analysis should be combined with predictions for future-based elements such as probability of success and projected return on investment. Read the full article. March 30, 2009
- Quality Skills Can Make a Difference in the Community
Sometimes it is important to ask ourselves a fundamental question: How are we improving quality in our communities? For quality professionals, this means applying their expertise beyond their paying day jobs to help solve community problems. Read the full article. March 23, 2009
- Set SMART Goals to Better Manage Time
Time management is a common sore spot among Six Sigma practitioners. Many feel an imbalance between time spent on daily responsibilities like Six Sigma projects and their personal life. Luckily, DMAIC can help them keep tasks and priorities in check. Read the full article. March 16, 2009
- From Dojo to Office: Training Lessons from Martial Arts
Failed Six Sigma efforts often are attributed to ineffective Belt training. But there is a more fundamental issue at hand: the training and experience requested of Black Belts. For comparison, consider what's required of Belts in the martial arts. Read the full article. March 9, 2009
- Process Maps and FMEA Help Prepare Utility for Disaster
Six Sigma contains many tools that can be used to improve processes and prevent failures, regardless of whether the full DMAIC roadmap is used. Two tools, process maps and the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), were applied in this case study. Read the full article. March 2, 2009
- Tips for Avoiding Common Metrics Challenges
Metrics programs face some unique challenges that need to be tackled successfully in order to derive real benefits. This piece reviews some of those potential roadblocks, as well as recommendations that metrics teams can use to avoid such problems. Read the full article. February 23, 2009
- Process, Product and People: 3P Approach to Quality
Quality management should be a holistic approach. Process, product and people are the three key elements of a company’s quality system and all of them need to be focused on for an overall improvement in performance. Read the full article. February 16, 2009
- Adjusting Continuous Improvement in Hard Economic Times
Given the economic events of the last few months, it is the perfect time for continuous improvement initiatives to step up and show their worth. The focus should now be on managing costs, controlling expenses and improving efficiencies. Read the full article. February 9, 2009
- Teamwork and Creativity Help to Identify Root Causes
Creativity and team management tools, often employed in solution finding, can also generate deep understanding of the process mechanics and help the team prepare for the distilling and data-based validation of the root causes of a problem. Read the full article. February 2, 2009
- Leverage Innovation and Six Sigma to Grow Revenue
Through a case study from a city-based restaurant, practitioners can see the possibilities for turning around a business by using Prahalad and Krishnan’s two complementary innovation principles in combination with Lean Six Sigma. Read the full article. January 29, 2009
- Discriminant Analysis Can Minimize Returned Products
By using the discriminant analysis function within statistical software packages, managers can classify future production volume and work to separate defective products on the production line before they are delivered to customers. Read the full article. January 26, 2009
- Six Sigma in Government: Focusing on the Customer
Government agencies have a unique opportunity to benefit from implementing Six Sigma. While it is true that improvement efforts can be frustrated by changing political fashion, there are still opportunities for improving customer relations. Read the full article. January 22, 2009
- Resolving Common Issues with Performance Indices
To resolve measurement issues, practitioners need a common measurement for making process stability and capability assessments at all levels of a business, independent of who is making the assessment – something beyond Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk. Read the full article. January 19, 2009
- Tips from iSixSigma's Best Places to Work
iSixSigma is honoring the companies that provide the best work environments for practitioners. Here, leaders from each of the companies on iSixSigma’s Best Places to Work list give advice for succeeding with Six Sigma and achieving culture change. Read the full article. January 12, 2009
- Designing and Analyzing Experiments with Mixtures
In the development phase of DFSS, practitioners frequently deal with experiments to determine optimal ingredient mixtures for desired products. An example from the medical device industry helps outline these experiments in a step-by-step process. Read the full article. January 5, 2009
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