Ken Feldman

Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet and is used as a common notation in statistics as a measure of summation and variation.

SMED or Single Minute Exchange of Dies is a process for reducing changeover time.

Trimmed mean is defined as the mean calculated by trimming 5% data sets from the top and bottom of data sets

In business, your profit will be dependent upon several variables such as material and labor costs. Other variables will also be dependent upon several other independent variables.

Does Going to Gemba sound like a nice trip to an exotic locale? While not a fancy foreign destination, Gemba is going to where the work is done to learn more about the process. Let’s take a deeper look into what Gemba is about. 

One of the most famous sayings in the Star Wars films is May the Force be with you. This saying may also apply to making changes in your organization. Let’s see what forces you need to identify and deal with when using a force field analysis to manage change.

Your Six Sigma project will usually focus on a process with customers who directly receive the output of your process. But there are also others who will be impacted and have a stake in the outcome of your project. They are called stakeholders, and you need to understand them.

Have you ever noticed that, when you observe people doing their job, they may alter the way they work if they know you are looking? That sums up the essence of the Hawthorne Effect.

You might be familiar with a continuous random variable where you can measure something with an infinite number of possible values. But what if your data has only two possible values; good or bad? Maybe we can answer that with a discussion of a binomial random variable.

Overview: What is a whisker? We need to do a quick review of a box plot before discussing a whisker. The box plot, also referred to as a box and whiskers plot, was introduced in 1970 by American statistician, Dr. John Tukey.  A box plot consists of two parts, a box, and a set of […]

You just did some statistical analysis, but your results don’t make sense to you. Did you capture all the variables you needed or is there something you missed? Maybe there is a lurking variable.

There are three measures of central tendency for data. One is the mean or x-bar, the others are the median and mode. Let’s take a closer look at the mean or x-bar. Overview: What is x-bar? In statistics, the Latin small letter x is used to represent a variable in a set of sample data. […]

The three descriptors that can be used to describe the variation or dispersion of your data are the standard deviation, variance and range. The range is the easiest to calculate, but not the most useful in describing the variation of your data.

You have probably heard of the Pareto Principle and used a Pareto Chart. Since it is one of the 7 QC Tools, let’s explore this topic in a little more detail.

The median strip in the road runs down the middle so half the road is on one side and the other half on the other side. Does the statistical median do the same thing? 

If you wanted to improve the gas mileage of your car, what factors would you look at to do that? How would you measure the impact or effect of those factors? Computing the main effect could answer your question.

One of the important statistical descriptors of your data is its central tendency. Central tendency can be described using the mean, median and mode of the data. The mean is described as the mathematical center of your data. The median is the physical center of your data, and the mode is the most frequently occurring value in your data.

Dr. Mikel Harry is often credited with adapting the martial art concept of belt rankings to Lean Six Sigma (LSS). The hierarchy of belts indicates the level of training, competency, and acquisition of skills. While different organizations may have different names and colors for the levels of expertise in LSS, the following represents the most […]

The rock band, Queen, celebrated Champions with these lyrics; “We are the champions…. my friends….And we’ll keep on fighting ’til the end….We are the champions….We are the champions….No time for losers….’Cause we are the champions….Of the world.”  Lean Six Sigma also has its Champions. Let’s learn more about them. Role of the Champion While Lean […]

Does the term Master Black Belt sound pretty impressive? It should, because it is the highest level of achievement and expertise in Lean Six Sigma. Let’s explore the role of a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and how you can attain that pinnacle of success. Role of the Master Black Belt As you can […]

Will having a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt allow you to break bricks and beat up other people? Probably not, but it will help you remove waste, analyze data and improve processes in your organization. Let’s see what a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt does and how you can become one. Role of the Black […]

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt is where your more advanced training and certification begins. If you are already a White or Yellow Belt, you have learned some of the basic concepts of Lean Six Sigma. Green Belt is where your learning really takes off. Role of the Green Belt The hierarchy of Lean Six Sigma […]

You are ready to start your Lean Six Sigma journey but where do you start? White Belt training and certification is the entry point into learning about Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma White Belt training and certification If your organization is deploying a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) initiative, and you can participate in White […]

Organizations have been deploying and implementing Lean Six Sigma for decades. Yet, there are still many questions on how someone can get formally trained and certified in the tools, methodologies and philosophy of Lean Six Sigma. This article will be the first in a series to answer some of the most common questions about Lean […]