Ken Feldman

Are you ready to dust off your calculus differential equations and Laplace transformations? No? Then we will have to provide a simpler discussion of what a transfer function, or Y=f(X), is all about. 

While an organization may hear many voices (Customer, Business, Employee and Process), it is the voice of the customer (VOC) that is the driving voice as to what should be important to the organization and what the organization should focus on. The satisfaction of the VOC needs to be balanced against the Voice of the […]

It’s not practical to measure every value in a population, whether it be people or all the jars of peanut butter you produced. Taking samples helps. But if your samples are biased and don’t represent the population, then you have a biased statistic or estimator. Let’s learn how you can calculate an unbiased statistic.

When you hear the word variance, you can think of it in terms of finance or statistics. In statistics, variance is a calculation describing the spread, or variation, of the data around the average, or mean, of the data.

Sometimes you really need to look at problems in a creative and innovative manner. TRIZ is a problem-solving approach that fosters invention for project teams who have become stuck while trying to solve a business challenge.  TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadach) is a problem-solving methodology that was developed in the former Soviet Union by Genrich […]

Is there a simple graphical tool for looking at a series of linked hierarchical activities? Yes, a tree diagram would be a good one to use. Let’s see how it would work. If you have a series of hierarchical tasks and subtasks to complete before you reach some objective, then a tree diagram would allow […]

Do you hear voices? In a business context, that’s normal. Let’s listen in to the voice of the business and hear what it has to say.

Your customers often ask, “When will I get my widget delivered?” You respond with, “It depends.” If you know your turn-around time, you might be able to provide a better answer. Let’s learn more about turn-around time.

Do you possess a crystal ball to see what the future brings for your organization? Probably not, but you do have a statistical version of a crystal ball by using trend analysis. 

If you have a question about how your process or organization is performing, statistics will be the methodology for answering those questions. Statistics is the discipline and science used for the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of your data. Statistics usually fall into one of two categories: Descriptive statistics: methods used to summarize or […]

If you hear someone say, “Darn, I didn’t expect that to happen”, they are probably experiencing an unintended consequence from some action they took. No one plans for things to go awry, but unfortunately, they do.

Do I have to pay money to get through my project Tollgate? Of course not, but you do have to stop, evaluate your progress, and make sure you’re still heading in the right direction — and accomplishing the tasks required for each step of your project. 

If your machines are not working, you can’t produce products for your customers. Your customers will likely not remain your customers for very long. Let’s see how Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) can keep your equipment up and running. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance strategy aimed at maximizing the productivity of equipment, machines, and […]

It is important that you clearly specify your expectations about a company process or product. These detailed expectations are called specifications and serve as a guide as to how well you are satisfying both internal and external expectations. A specification (spec) is a detailed description of the requirements, characteristics, and features of a product, service, […]

The term standard order refers to the sequence of the runs you will do in your Design of Experiments. The question we will answer is whether to use the standard order or a random order.

Spread comes in a variety of forms. It refers to the variation of the data and can be calculated in a number of different ways. Let’s explore these.

Span is a descriptor of the spread or variation of your data. It is a simple calculation that eliminates the impact of any outliers or unusually high or low values in your data set.

Webster’s dictionary defines stratification as: formed, deposited, or arranged in stable layers or strata. That’s interesting, but how does it apply to Six Sigma? Let’s find out.

What do you picture when you hear the word stable? Words such as steady, consistent and minimal variation may come to mind. These words could also apply to your process. Let’s see what a stable process means. 

The variance inflation factor measures the degree of multicollinearity of multiple predictor variables in a multiple linear regression. Holy smokes, that’s a lot of big words. Let’s find out what it all means.

When things go wrong in the process, how do you know? And how do you know what to do?

The Toyota Production System (TPS) serves as the foundation for Lean Manufacturing. Let’s explore this powerful method for improving your processes.  The Toyota Production System (TPS) is a manufacturing philosophy and a set of management practices developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation. It emphasizes continuous improvement, just-in-time production, and efficient use of resources, with the […]

Do you want to know whether your process is in control or not? Statistical Process Control, or SPC, is the tool you want to learn about, so let’s get started. 

When you speak of subgrouping, it is usually in the context of constructing a control chart. Let’s explore the topic in a little more detail. Subgrouping is a technique used in control charts to group data into smaller, more manageable sets or subgroups. The purpose of subgrouping is to increase the sensitivity of the control […]