Month: August 2010

Purchases of Certification Quadruple over Summer Months for High-Quality Program

Ridewell Suspensions has added Gary Tombridge as quality director.

The International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC) has appointed Joep van Nieuwstadt as associate director of European affairs. As an expert in the field of IT education and certification Joep van Nieuwstadt has been heavily involved at high levels in many different standards, including ECDL/ICDL, ITIL, ISO 20000, ISPL, COBIT, Prince2, IPMA, ASL and […]

During 2008-2009, I led an effort to create an in-house Lean Six Sigma training curriculum in our 34-hospital healthcare system. Not only did my organization want the training to be effective and cost-efficient, but it also needed to help standardize the language used in the deployment as well as the program structure – areas that […]

Albany Door Systems announced that David Leach has joined its Americas business unit as quality manager. In his new role, Leach will have responsibility for all quality assurance and customer satisfaction activities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Emergency room waiting times could be cut by over one third and patients’ length of stay by almost two-thirds, thanks to a new approach to the triage process of sorting patients for further assessment and treatment, according to research published in the International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage this month. The researchers have […]

DynCorp International today announced that Steve Gaffney will become the company’s chief executive officer and president effective August 25, 2010, the date that current CEO and president, Bill Ballhaus, has announced that he will resign.

Even after decades of success, Crown Equipment Corp, the Ohio-based manufacturer of electric lift trucks, has recently found ways to use Six Sigma strategies to improve processes, reduce scrap and gas usage and fine-tune operations. The company now has 18 certified Six Sigma Green Belts and 15 Black Belts in its North American manufacturing facilities […]

In the evolution of continuous improvement, the Six Sigma methodology began in the manufacturing sector and later spread to other transactional businesses. While many transactional companies, such as advertising agencies and other service-oriented organizations, still look to manufacturers to learn about the application of Lean Six Sigma, there are lessons that manufacturers can learn, as […]

Northwire Technical Cable, which markets, designs and manufactures technical and retractile cables, has named Mark Johnson the company’s vice president of operations. A Lean Sigma Champion, Johnson will further enhance the company’s commitment to providing quality products that exceed application requirements with fast delivery and no minimum order length or quantity requirements.

The September issue of US News & World Report has the most recent rankings of the Best Colleges. However, I think what’s interesting is the article “Is College Still Worth it?” Instead of which college to attend, the question it asks is whether to go to college, given the rising costs at as much as […]

One of the initial challenges of enhancing IT quality metrics is to manage the mountain of data produced at a typical organization. Those organizations that have not learned how to mine their existing information to find solutions tend to track their data via spreadsheets and then generate high-level reports for executive management. Often, major gaps […]

Making a seamless transition of an improved process from the project leader to the process owner is the topic of “Getting a Grip,” an article in the September/October issue of iSixSigma Magazine. Author Sean Rohen has seen firsthand how the transition can go awry; he is a Champion and Master Black Belt and has worked […]

When analyzing data as part of a Lean Six Sigma project, some Belts can become confused to the point of fear when their coach tells them they need to perform a hypothesis test. This fear often comes from two sources: 1) the selection of the appropriate hypothesis test and 2) the interpretation of the results. […]

In a recent survey, iSixSigma gathered data on how organizations communicate about their Six Sigma efforts – data that reflects a lack of communication both within and outside of Six Sigma programs. A resulting iSixSigma Magazine research report, “Spreading the Word,” examined internal communication. Externally, the flow of information – or at least the knowledge […]

Dr. John Toussaint, former CEO and president of the ThedaCare healthcare system, shares his lessons learned in applying Lean in his recent book. ThedaCare Inc., a not-for-profit system of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other services in Northeast Wisconsin, has been practicing Lean for more than seven years. Through its use of Lean principles, the […]

For patients of Virginia Mason Medical Center, trips to the hospital can actually be pleasant – or at least free of discomfort and waste. The center is a private, not-for-profit organization offering integrated health services, including a 336-bed hospital in Seattle and a network of primary and specialty care clinics throughout the Puget Sound region. […]

Seneca, a leader in innovative technology solutions, today announced the promotion of Jeff Winchell, to vice president of operations, for Seneca affiliate company, Revonate Manufacturing LLC. With this promotion, Winchell is also appointed to the Seneca senior leadership team.

CBL Group, which operates a 500-employee injection moulding and metals factory in Guangzhou, China, is being hit by both rising costs, with prices for some components rising more than 30 percent, and by continued uncertainty in its core North American market.

Considering the performance of the stock market over the past few years combined with current economic conditions, many financial institutions are analyzing their processes for improvements. Unfortunately, the majority of process improvement tools available to Six Sigma practitioners – such as cause-and-effect diagrams, Pareto charts, histograms and scatter plots – have been used for analyzing […]

Conducting experiments using marbles and toy cars is a fun way for practitioners to teach students about the use of graphical and analytical tools, and also give them a better understanding of the Six Sigma mantra to “control x, then Y will take care of itself.”

Recent news from Asia includes a move to expand Lean Six Sigma training in Singapore and building Lean factories in China. From “Singapore to Expand Continuing Education and Training System,” Gov Monitor, July 27, 2010: Singapore’s Minister of Manpower Gan Kim Yong said that the Government will increase its investment in continuing education and training […]