Category: Concepts

When doing hypothesis testing, there is a risk of making two types of errors. One of them is the consumer’s risk, which is when the null hypothesis is rejected when it shouldn’t have been. 

If you stretch a rubber band and let it go, it will snap back to its original position. The same is true of your any process improvements you make. The control plan is intended to help you maintain the gains you have achieved. 

Having a continuous approach in your organization can be both positive and negative, depending on what it is in regard to. When it comes to improvement, being continuous is ideal. Striving for continuous improvement in your organization furthers the success of your company. Striving for continuity in other aspects, however, can be detrimental. Overview: What […]

Learn how defects per unit is used to understand the quality levels regarding defects, how DPU compares to other yield metrics, and the benefits of regularly measuring the metric.

Corrective action is the process, known as a corrective action plan (CAP), of taking the appropriate steps to identify the root cause of a problem and implementing a solution that corrects the root cause as to prevent its recurrence. The aim is to improve the processes in place within an organization so that problems do […]

Listening to and engaging with your customer gives a powerful and unique insight into what your products and services should deliver to be successful. By developing a number of Critical to Customer requirements, you can build a strong foundation for customer satisfaction and commercial success.

Would you expect the average of a sample to be the same as the average of the population from which it came? No. Why not? Because of randomness and sampling error. How should we handle that? Let’s find out.

What does your process look like from 30,000 feet? Your extended process view can be described using COPIS, or customer, output, process, input, and supplier. Let’s get in our balloon and go up. 

Cp is one of the metrics calculated for determining whether your process is capable of meeting customer specifications or requirements. It is useful in comparing different functions and their ability to meet their unique specifications.

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.

No two snowflakes are alike, goes the old saying. Variation is everywhere. But, is some variation predictable and due to the variation in your process, while some is not? Common cause variation is a part of every process. Let’s learn more about it. 

“Business value added” refers to the actions the customer may not directly be requiring, but that are necessary for you to stay in business over time. There are safety, preventative, and legal requirements that necessitate these tasks.

See Cost of Non-Conformance.

Is there a relationship between wearing your seatbelt and whether or not you survive an auto accident? Is there a relationship between studying and whether you pass an exam? These are the types of questions a Chi-Square Test can answer.

The term COC can mean two different things in lean six sigma management. It can either refer to “cost of conformance” or a certificate of conformity. Since “cost of conformance” has already been defined on isixsigma.com at the link listed above, this article will discuss certificates of conformity. What Is a Certificate of Conformity? A […]

C-level has a vastly different definition than sea level. One refers to the levels of senior management in an organization and the other is a measure of elevation. Let’s explore this in a little more detail. When walking through the halls of your organization’s offices, have you heard someone say, “Hey Chief”? Does that mean […]

This article will introduce you to common cause variation, one of the foundational concepts in quality improvement. We’ll explore guidance for the successful use of common cause variation in process improvement.

If you look at the dashboard of your car, you will see information related to the car’s performance and the progress of your journey. When you look at your business dashboard, you can see examples of similar information.  

There are some set characteristics that make something what it is. We look for common characteristics that make a door a door. We look for certain characteristics in order to be able to call a type of vehicle a car. There are set characteristics for most common things that, when looked at together as a […]

If you have a non-conforming or defective product coming off your production line, what do you do with it? Utilizing a strategy of containment might be the way to go. Let’s learn more about this. Containment of non-conforming products refers to the actions you take to prevent the distribution or use of products that do […]

The use of center points in your designed experiments can be valuable in determining the actual relationship between your input factors and your response variable. Let’s explain this in a little more detail.