Month: February 2010

The Therabath paraffin therapy bath (pictured below) is a durable medical device that holds one gallon of molten paraffin wax. Sufferers of osteoarthritis use it for physical therapy. They dip their hands repeatedly in the heated bath, which helps loosen stiff joints. The wax then slowly solidifies as a glove, producing further therapeutic benefits via […]

1. Use cross-functional teams (CFT) approach to mistake proofing. 2. Selection of process for mistake proofing. During the third phase of advanced product quality planning (APQP), the CFT shall identify the processes, where, due to avoidable human errors, the rating of “occurrence” and/or “detection” have increased thereby increasing the risk priority number (RPN) for the process. Poka-yoke techniques […]

Robust Ground to Air Communication Receiver Case Study FM data demodulator is a critical part of ground to air communication receivers used in aircrafts. It should be designed to minimize the bit error rate (BER). The main concept of demodulation is to convert the received RF signal to baseband voltage signal, sample it at the […]

Vilfredo Pareto was an economist who is credited with establishing what is now widely known as the Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule. When he discovered the principle, it established that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. Later, he discovered that the pareto principle was valid in other parts […]

Purpose of a Bar Chart A bar chart is used to graphically summarize and display the differences between groups of data. How to Construct a Bar Chart A bar chart can be constructed by segmenting the range of the data into groups (also called segments, bins or classes). For example, if your data ranges from […]

Purpose of a Histogram A histogram is used to graphically summarize and display the distribution of a process data set. How to Construct a Histogram A histogram can be constructed by segmenting the range of the data into equal sized bins (also called segments, groups or classes). For example, if your data ranges from 1.1 to 1.8, […]

For the seventh straight year in a row, the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has conducted a stock performance study of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners. And for the seventh straight year in a row, the investment study has concluded that the Baldrige group stock has outperformed the S&P […]

Six Sigma is a quality methodology that can produce significant benefit to businesses and organizations. Not much text, however, has been written about the structure needed to successfully implement Six Sigma quality within your business or organization. Another article on of Six Sigma Architecture focused on roles and responsibilities of a successful Six Sigma quality […]

As geographic barriers between countries deteriorate with the continued evolution of the Internet, ISO 9000 may be one of the largest differentiators between you and your competitors. Already, ISO 9000 plays a key role in winning new customers, maintaining satisfied current customers, accessing foreign countries and dealing with the government. What is ISO 9000, 9001, […]

Smarter Solutions Inc. CEO, President and Founder Forrest Breyfogle shares his advice on starting a Six Sigma deployment.

Practitioners must learn when and how to calculate the sigma level of a process. Many people hear about the Six Sigma quality methodology and immediately want to calculate their own process sigma to determine how close (or far) they are from six sigma. My immediate response to them is twofold: Are you currently measuring your […]

Today the U.S. Army graduated its latest class of Lean Six Sigma Black Belts. See the full story. Mre details

As practitioners, we think Lean Six Sigma is an integral part of our life. But how can we help others see its value? This is a crucial step to building and sustaining a Lean Six Sigma culture. One thing I learned through the Lean Six Sigma deployment is that people have to be personally motivated […]

In a note to readers, Publisher Katie Barry introduces the redesigned iSixSigma.com and encourages users to send feedback on their experiences with the new site.

Driven by nationwide technologist shortages, an industry-wide focus on quality and rising consumer demand, healthcare is feeling the pressure to deliver more with less. Given this challenging environment, some organizations have come to the conclusion that taking the path of least resistance may not be the best approach. For many, delivering quality patient care is […]

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states, “skepticism implies an unwillingness to believe without conclusive evidence.” Sometimes a little skepticism – or at least curiosity – can be a healthy thing. For instance, one should probably not begin taking a new medication without asking a few pertinent questions such as, “What are the side effects,” “How will this interact […]

A critical component of any successful Six Sigma project is to overcome resistance to change. The reason: Without user acceptance, any process improvement is doomed to fail. Therefore, proper anticipation and understanding the approaches to various resistance tactics is essential to success. People resist change in the workplace in many ways, but among the more […]

In an era of complexity and contradiction, many healthcare organizations are seeking bold strategies for leading and managing change. While concepts behind the balanced scorecard and core Six Sigma methodologies are not new, a powerful management tool can be crafted through the unification of these two proven strategies. An approach that combines the targeted performance […]

By definition, a sample of size n is random if the probability of selecting the sample is the same as the probability of selecting every other sample of size n. If the sample is not random, a bias in introduced which causes a statistical sampling or testing error by systematically favoring some outcomes over others. […]

When utilizing a team approach to problem solving, there are often many opinions as to the problem’s root cause. One way to capture these different ideas and stimulate the team’s brainstorming on root causes is the cause and effect diagram, commonly called a fishbone. The fishbone will help to visually display the many potential causes […]

In the Measure phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) improvement methodology, data is collected and analyzed to provide a performance baseline for the process under study. Asking questions is one of the primary ways of collecting data. But as author Edward Hodnett noted, “If you don’t ask the right questions, […]

While Six Sigma continues to evolve, the most often cited complaint is long project cycle times. The obvious expense of eight to nine month (or longer) Black and Green Belt projects is opportunity lost. For example, a project that produces cost savings at a run rate of $30,000 per month leaves $150,000 on the table […]

When performing statistical data analyses, quality professionals are always challenged to maintain data integrity. When should you round up the answer; when should you round down? How many significant figures are appropriate for the data set that has been taken? Below are a set of simple rules that should help you traverse the perils of […]

Green Belts are employees of an organization who have been trained on the Six Sigma improvement methodology and will lead a process improvement team as part of their full-time job. While Green Belts do not need to know as much as Black Belts or Master Black Belts, there are many things a Green Belt should […]