Build a Win-Win Supply Chain Paradigm
The supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If you invite your suppliers into the profitability equation, you can facilitate success for everyone in the supply chain.
Eric Maass
Using DMAIC to Improve Another Improvement Process – CAPA
Medical device companies must comply with FDA requirements to address quality issues through a complex and sometimes inefficient process called CAPA. One such company applied Six Sigma to the CAPA process to significantly reduce rework loops, reduce cycle time and reduce time to resolve rejections.
Perfect Your Predictions with Yield and Single-Use Reliability Modeling
Planning is always easier if you know what the future will bring. You may not be able to “see” the future, but with yield modeling you can predict future yield and prioritize opportunities for improvement.
DFSS Case Study: Optimizing Haptics for Sensory Feedback
A high-tech company was exploring the use of haptics to provide gentle haptic vibration with wearable devices (Figure 1) for future customers, including tweens (children around 11 or 12 years old). Haptics involve how users perceive tactile feedback from a device. Mobile devices typically provide haptic sensations and responses using vibrations of various frequencies, amplitude,…
Case Study: Using DFSS and DOE to Increase Product Reliability
A medical devices company, developing technology to enable smaller medical devices, launched a substrate development effort as part of a larger-scale technology and product development effort. The substrate development effort involved predicting the stress caused by the laser welding process to ensure product reliability. In this Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) case study, design and…
How to Win Support for Continuous Improvement Programs and Projects
Gaining support to implement and sustain a continuous improvement program is an oft-voiced concern of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) practitioners. These concerns reflect frustration in both senses of the term – feeling frustrated personally and encountering attitudes that frustrate the effectiveness of the program. Three sets of skills and methods have shown success in gaining…
A Comparison of Measurement System Analysis Metrics: Part 2 of 2
The precision of a measurement system is commonly assessed using a gage repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R) study. Part 1 of this article discussed metrics used in measurement system analysis. Here, Part 2 compares commonly used GR&R metrics with probabilities of misclassification. Comparison of GR&R Metrics with Probability of Misclassification Using Numeric Simulation A simulation study…
A Comparison of Measurement System Analysis Metrics: Part 1 of 2
The precision of a measurement system is commonly assessed using a gage repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R) study. In Part 1, this article describes available GR&R metrics. Part 2 covers their applicability to two broad cases of comparative study. Measurement system analysis has been a major part of process characterizations and improvements, with key guidance…