Category: Concepts

Deming’s 14 Points provide a roadmap to transform American Business and increase productivity and competitive position.  Without W. Edwards Deming, modern quality improvement might not exist. If you have never heard of Dr. Deming or his 14 Points for Management, welcome aboard. If you have, get ready to reacquaint yourself.   Overview: What are Deming’s 14 […]

Degrees of Freedom (DF) can be thought of as the amount of information you have to compute certain statistics. The more you want to compute, the more data and information you need. Let’s learn more about how to compute and use DF. You can think of DF as statistical money that you can spend to […]

If you understand multiple linear regression, you already know a lot about the General Linear Model (GLM). Let’s learn some more about how and when to use the GLM. 

As complexity increases, so does the probability of error. Rework, defects, retesting, and recalls are all very expensive. With design failure mode and effects analysis, we’ll show you the true value of adopting and inetgrating this approach.

Making changes to your organization is foolish without having the proper data to tell you the impact that the changes may have. A tool called a “detectable effect size” can help in making that determination. It is nice to believe that certain changes that are proposed will have an impact on our business, but with […]

Efficiency and effectiveness are vital elements of any successful organization, but in the realm of Lean Six Sigma, there is another crucial concept that holds the key to achieving optimal results: efficacy. Efficacy goes beyond simply measuring efficiency or effectiveness; it encompasses the ability of a process or methodology to consistently deliver the desired outcomes […]

You finally found the perfect spot to anchor your boat and catch all the best fish. But, the tide is strong and your boat starts to drift away from where you need it to be. The same can happen to your process. 

Design risk assessment is a risk assessment framework that identifies, analyzes, and documents risks during a design project. When performing a design risk assessment, the team will assess all risks associated with the project including the design process. 

Unfortunately, sometimes your process produces unacceptable output. These are usually referred to as defects or defectives. Let’s examine what a defective item is and contrast it with a defect. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a defective as: having a defect or flaw or imperfect in form, structure, or function. Simply put, a defect is a flaw […]

Competition for products and services is cutthroat, and survival should not be taken for granted. Implementing continuous improvement into your organisation and embedding it into your business culture keeps you one step ahead of the pack, locking in both customer and employee loyalty.

The famed statistician, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, frequently talked about data and said, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” Let’s learn some more about data. Data refers to any information, facts, or statistics that can be collected, stored, and analyzed. It can be in the form of numbers, text, images, audio, or […]

Some companies struggle to operate within budget because they do not understand the difference between what is possible in theory and what’s possible given the constraints of their business. Knowing the how, when, and why about setting cost related targets helps gain that understanding and is crucial to knowing what systems are realistically capable of.

If you look at the dashboard of your car, you will see a display of the current real-time status of important metrics. You can do the same thing with your business metrics.

Understanding continuous data will give you an advantage that is critical to successful process analysis. This article will explain the crucial role of continuous data in process improvement.

There are several metrics you can use to measure how well your process is performing. Let’s look at three of them and discuss how they are calculated and related. The three are DPMO, Sigma Level and Cpk. Convert DPMO/Sigma to Cpk  Before discussing how you can convert DPMO (defects per million opportunities) to sigma level […]

The customer just called again, wondering if the item they ordered will be on time. Will it? Do your company’s processes make it possible to be on time per the customer’s needs? Tto know that requires understanding how long it takes to produce the product, and that requires knowing your cycle times.  An overview: What […]

Cpk is one of the metrics calculated for determining whether a process is capable of meeting customer specifications or requirements. 

Critical of quality is the path to customer satisfaction. Learn how Critical to Quality impacts the ability to satisfy your customer, the benefits of addressing CTQ related issues, and see an example.

Cost of poor quality, also known as COPQ, are the direct and indirect costs associated with the defects generated by a process. COPQ impacts the financial bottom line in both the short and long term, so it’s important to address quality errors in a timely manner.

What is performance in the workplace judged upon? What makes an exceptional worker? Being able to boil down the most important features is key to pinpointing the expectations of a worker’s performance. These key features are the critical elements. Overview: What is a critical element? A critical element can be defined as an aspect of […]

When you make improvements to your processes, that is not enough. It is important to put measures in place that ensure that the work that has been done can be sustained.In the DMAIC process, your problem is defined, measurements are taken, analysis occurs, and improvements are made. After all of this, comes the final control […]

Conformance is a term that refers to the degree to which a product, service, or system meets its specified requirements. It is the total of all expenses incurred by a company to meet a target quality level for a product or service.

Lean Six Sigma professionals, much like every other professional, love to talk in acronyms. The acronym of the day is DPMO. Let’s check out what it means.

Is quality free, as claimed by quality expert and author Philip Crosby? Or, is there a cost of quality (COQ) that your organization needs to understand and manage?