Ken Feldman

Is Chaku Chaku a real word or the sound of machines loading and unloading parts? It turns out that Chaku Chaku is Japanese for load load and a system of loading and unloading parts from a machine. Let’s explore this a little deeper.

You know variation in your process is not a good thing. It negatively impacts predictability and planning. Let’s learn about an easy way to measure variation so you can better understand your process.

Similar to the way a Black Belt denotes a certain competency in martial arts, the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt indicates someone who has demonstrated competence in techniques and principles of Six Sigma.

Data collection doesn’t always have to be a complex process. A simple check sheet can allow you to capture relevant data in a graphical format for initial interpretation of your process or for in-depth analysis later.

3P? How hard could that be? It’s only three letters: P-P-P. You will see that there is more than meets the eye.

An underlying assumption for the use of many statistical tools is that your data is normally distributed. But, how do you know? The A-square calculation for the Anderson Darling Normality Test will tell you.

Is assignable cause a bad thing? No, it’s a signal something happened in your process that you didn’t expect. It could be good or bad, but you should find out what happened.

Waste is all around your organization. Using the acronym TIMWOOD, you will learn how to identify the 7 wastes of lean and eliminate them to improve your organization.

When talking about an alias, alias structure or aliasing, you are talking about Design of Experiments (DOE). More specifically, you are referring to the confounding of effects in a fractional factorial experiment. Aliasing occurs when the estimate of a factor effect  is difficult to distinguish because of the impact of other factors in your experiment. […]

Is your data normal? If not, will that be a problem? It might be, since data normality can be important when using certain statistical tools to make your business decisions. 

Don’t you hate it when you make a mistake? Well, an alpha risk is just that. Let’s learn what that mistake is and how to keep from making it.

At the gun range, your goal is to hit the target. Accuracy will be measured by how close you come to that target. The same is true of your process.  

The Alternate Hypothesis, written as Ha, is a subset of the larger topic of hypothesis testing. The Alternate Hypothesis is the default statement about a specific condition of your data and allows you to draw important conclusions about the population from which the sample data came.

Why do you weigh yourself before you start your diet? You probably want to get a starting point or baseline to help measure your progress so you know whether the diet is working or you have reached your goal. 

How much improvement do you expect from your projects? Is 5% ok? How about 15%? Breakthrough improvement will be 70% or more. Let’s see how breakthrough improvement works. 

The only acceptable quality level should be zero defects. But that’s not always the case. Let’s learn what an acceptable quality level or limit is all about.

You will often see attribute data and discrete data being used interchangeably. At some level, they are similar. But, if we dive a little deeper, you’ll see that there’s a bit more distinction than meets the eye.

The bad news is that you have problems to solve. The good news is that there are a number of simple, yet powerful tools that can help you. The 8D process is one of them.

Are you confused yet? Is it the 6 Ms? Is it 5 Ms and a P? How about 4 Ms, 5 Ms or 8 Ms? Let’s explore some of these and figure it out.

Waste is all around your organization. Using TIMWOODS and DOWNTIME, you will learn how to identify the 8 Wastes of Lean and eliminate it to improve your organization.

6W? 5W1H? 5W? The bigger question is, how do you make sure you’re asking the right questions to guarantee you properly solve your problem or execute your project?

5C is the formal activity of organizing the workplace, and it serves as the foundation of any continuous improvement effort. Explore the 5C framework, and learn how to implement it in your organization.

You are probably familiar with the term 5S in the context of Lean Six Sigma. But, what about the term 5Z. Let’s learn a little more about what that means. The 5Z’s provide the principles and guidelines for achieving 5Z Accreditation. The 5Z process uses the Genba (Gemba) Kanri principles to maintain, evaluate, promote, and […]

Ever been to a business meeting? Ever thought it was a waste of time? Let’s explore how the 5Ps of meeting effectiveness may help you have a better meeting.