iSixSigma Staff

Business metrics are metrics that are quantifiable and utilized to assess the performance or status of a business function.

A U chart is one of four quality control charts that engineers use to track variation in a manufacturing process.

Mean Time Between Failure is a basic metric that describes the frequency of problems in physical equipment or systems that disrupt production uptime.

The Box-Cox transformation can be used for converting the data to a normal distribution, which then allows the process capability to be easily determined.

An operation cost target is the maximum expenditure allowed for all costs that are associated with a project, including overhead, materials, labor, outsourcing, and other costs.

While Motorola had been an industry leader for decades, by the 1970s, many of its products were seen as potentially unreliable by consumers. The company addressed this issue by embarking aggressively on an innovative program of continuous improvement that has come to be known as Six Sigma. How Continuous Improvement Changed Consumer Perception Of Motorola […]

An established framework for the ongoing improvement of software development and implementation practices.

Subject matter refers to all things related to your company’s products, services, or customers.

FMEA stands for Failure Mode Effects Analysis and allows you to think through all of the possible ways something can go wrong, then find ways to mitigate those risks, so that your project is more likely to succeed.

Process maturity is a concept used by the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology to evaluate and optimize business processes.

What Is Linearity? Before we can understand linearity, we must understand another measurement error known as bias. Bias is a consistent mistake that occurs in measurement. For example, every measure taken with your scale comes out heavier than the actual weight. Linearity measures the consistency of a bias over the entire range of possible measurements. […]

What is Common Cause Variation? Common cause variation is the kind of variation that is part of a stable process. These are variations that are natural to a system and are quantifiable and expected. Common cause variations are those that are predictable, ongoing, and consistent. Major changes would typically have to be made in order […]

The Six Sigma process report is a Minitab tool that calculates process capability and provides visuals of process performance.

First in Still Here (FISH) is a term that refers to very slow-moving inventory.

The process where planning, testing, and reporting occur in the design or prototype stage in the development of a product.

What Are Tangible Benefits? Tangible benefits are positive results that can be accurately measured and quantified with standard measurements. In business, the term describes any kind of outcome that is directly associated with financial gain or loss. You can always boil down tangible benefits to a monetary value relative to other types of investments or […]

Null Hypothesis vs. Hypothesis: What’s the Difference? What Is Null Hypothesis? A null hypothesis is a prediction that there is no statistical relationship between two variables or two sets of data. Essentially, a null hypothesis makes the assumption that any measured differences are the result of randomness and that the two possibilities are the same […]

RONA is one bottom-line measurement showing performance relative to strategic goals and objectives.

Confirmation is a way to confirm that a process is working as expected. It can be used to validate or invalidate a hypothesis, test a process or product and test the process of testing.

What Is Accuracy? Accuracy is the difference between a measured value compared to its true value. Since no measurement can be 100% exact, there needs to be a degree of inaccuracy allowed in the measurement. This degree of inaccuracy depends on the amount of error you are able to accept and is denoted by a […]

The Keep it Simple and Specific principal is based on the idea that most systems work at their best if they are kept simple as opposed to being made complicated.

What is a Subject Matter Expert? Subject matter experts (SMEs) are people who have a significant amount of knowledge or experience regarding a specific subject. They can specialize in any kind of academic discipline, profession or practice. Even though their area of expertise is relatively narrow compared to general consultants, there is still a lot […]

What Is Repeatability? Repeatability is the typical variation that occurs when a person measures a part with the same tool (or gauge) multiple times. This concept relates to the accuracy of any measurement. A measurement is only as accurate as the typical variation that occurs when that item is measured. When conducting a repeatability test, […]

What Are Exit Criteria? Exit criteria are conditions that must be met before closing out one project stage and advancing to the next stage. When project management teams use exit criteria, they break down the project into multiple steps. Therefore, each stage will have its own set of conditions (exit criteria) that must be met […]