How the Six Sigma Quality Improvement Process Practically Eliminated False Fire Alarms at US West

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In the early 1990s, US West was an organization that was leading the charge in telecommunications. At the time, their buildings were being plagued by disruptive false fire alarms. How it was dealt with is a great example of how to apply the Six Sigma quality improvement process, a method applicable to nearly any quality […]

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How DMAIC Led to a Nearly $950,000 Impact on RFRโ€™s Bottom Line

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Utilizing Six Sigma tools like DMAIC saved RFR $928,000 in retained sales as well as $10,000 in cost savings and $9,000 in workplace training. RFR Metal Fabrication Was Having Growing Pains RFR Metal Fabrication began as Advanced Fabrication Technology in 1987, switching names to RFR in 1999. Throughout its history, the organization has focused on […]

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Littelfuse’s Journey to Operational Excellence: How Six Sigma Processes Improved Quality and Reduced Costs

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Littelfuse is a manufacturing company that produces electronic products for various industries. The company was facing a problem with its production process, as it was experiencing a high defect rate that was causing delays and increasing costs. Products were experiencing defects and failures, which resulted in customer complaints, rework, and repairs. These quality issues were […]

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How DMAIC and Other Six Sigma Techniques and Tools Helped B & B Ice and Water Save $21,000 on Their First Six Sigma Project

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B & B Ice and Water in Port Arthur, Texas, had been a successful company for many years. Despite their success, the organization was finding a number of problems that they could not seem to solve. By embracing Six Sigma techniques, the organization was able to address these issues, make its company stronger than before, […]

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How Motorola Used Data-Driven Six Sigma Methodology to Improve Semiconductor Production Process

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In the early 2000s, Motorola was struggling with defects in its products and a decline in customer satisfaction. In an effort to improve their business processes and regain their competitive edge, they turned to Six Sigma, a data-driven methodology for process improvement. The Impact of Six Sigma on Motorola’s Semiconductor Production Process Motorola is a […]

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DMAIC Helps Miami-Dade Public Library Improve Services

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In 2018, the Miami-Dade Public Library System utilized Six Sigma methodology to improve upon the time needed for the transporting of library materials. The utilization of Six Sigma to meet the needs of this type of organization is an exciting example of just how versatile these tools can be. When we go to the library, […]

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How the Six Sigma DMAIC Process Made Samsung Into an Industry Leader

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With strategic implementation, Six Sigma can do wonders for an organization. The methodology can drastically improve processes, cut down on waste, and even help provide better results in the design and R&D of new products. Samsung found that it was having issues with all of the above and, in 1999, conducted a complete overhaul of […]

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How the Six Sigma Voice of the Customer and DMAIC Tools Brought the Two Sides of SQL Together

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With the formation of a joint venture between the original healthcare organization laboratory, Sonora Lab, and the larger Quest Diagnostics, a partnership existed in name only. Both labs went about operating in separate locations while continuing with their individual instrumentation and systems. Over time, this led to issues across both teams, and it became clear […]

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How Six Sigma and Lean Tools Helped Recover Nearly 4 Million Dollars in Annual Revenue

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When faced with the news that drug manufacturers of cancer medication were responsible for causing a massive amount of financial waste, the oncology department at UCSD utilized Six Sigma and Lean tools like a cause-and-effect diagram, a Kaizen Event, the 5 Whys, and others in order to improve scanning processes that could help in recovering […]

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How Six Sigma Tools Sharply Decreased Downtime At The Nature Conservancy’s Headquarters

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The web development team at The Nature Conservancy in Arlington, VA, was able to utilize Lean and Six Sigma tools to close the gap in downtime due to a coding freeze every 45 days. The Nature Conservancy used such Six Sigma tools as process maps, The 5 Whys, and cause-and-effect diagrams to dramatically bring the […]

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How Listening to the Voice of the Customer Led to a Significant Drop in Hospital Wait Times

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In the emergency department of a hospital, the amount of wait time is of huge importance to the patient as well as the staff. Using Six Sigma methodology, the nurse director of Providence Hospital in Michigan was able to dramatically cut down on wait times for patients. Before Providence Hospital in Southfield, MI, embarked on […]

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Lean Six Sigma Saves U.S. Army Test Center Millions

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By employing Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma methodologies, the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Test Center was able to improve the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of its vehicle maintenance operations. Six Sigma’s DMAIC method gave the Aberdeen Test Center the necessary tool for improving its cycle time, significantly decreasing the wait for its clients between when a […]

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How Utilizing the Full Six Sigma Process Helped Turn Wipro Into a Global IT Leader

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In the 1980s, Wipro made the leap from being primarily known as a vegetable oil company in India into the world of IT. In order to be a competitor in this industry on a global scale, Wipro would need to continually improve its performance as well as work smarter towards meeting the needs of its […]

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How Green Belt Certification and DMAIC Improved Help Desk Resolution Time By 64%

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Lean and Six Sigma practices are ultimately about helping businesses use efficiency to provide the ultimate customer experience. But what about state and county government entities? Can the same practices apply, and do they even have โ€œcustomersโ€? The residents in the counties these government offices serve would likely say โ€œyesโ€. Kern County spans the southern […]

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DMAIC Helped Coca-Cola Revamp Call Centers and Improve Salesย 

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In 1985, Coca-Cola embarked on what has since been viewed as one of the worst marketing blunders in history. The customer response as well as how Coca-Cola decided to reformat how it dealt with customers, informed how the beverage company would modify its processes for decades to come. When Coca-Cola discontinued its original formula and […]

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Lean Six Sigma Improved the Efficiency of a Growing Business

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On the Success Stories podcast with Marshall Atkinson, Ali Banholzer of Wear Your Spirit Warehouse discussed how Lean Six Sigma was utilized to increase profit margins for her company as she worked towards achieving a Six Sigma Black Belt. When a small business goes through a period of growth, it can become painfully clear that […]

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How a Drone Project Increased Efficiency and Eliminated Waste

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Arrow Electronics had already been utilizing Six Sigma practices when it introduced its drone project in 2016 at its two main distribution centers in Malaysia and Asia. The drone project gained them further recognition for their use of Six Sigma methodology and helped usher in a new era of using drones in warehouses in the […]

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Recommitment to Six Sigma Achieves Maximum Results

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Honeywell was a company that had been utilizing the Six Sigma methodology for years. Distracted by a merger and other factors, however, the organization had begun to slip. With a revitalized stake in the Six Sigma process, the organization was able to turn itself around and become even stronger than before. DMAIC and Y=f(x) Helped […]

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Successful Reinvention Focused on Customers and Quality

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In 2008, Starbucks was taking a major hit from the financial crisis, losing customers to competitors, and having to close hundreds of stores. Despite having its back against the wall, some decisions made around key Six Sigma principles helped Starbucks bounce back better than ever. How Giving Quality and a Better Experience To Employees and […]

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How to Incorporate SS Process Reports into Your Quality Processes

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The Six Sigma process report is a Minitab tool that calculates process capability and provides visuals of process performance.

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Hyper Micro Process Map

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Sometimes you have to break something down into the smallest possible pieces before you can make it right. Process mapping is one of the first major steps when adopting six sigma, so itโ€™s something business leaders should learn to love. Depicting workflow and processes in a visual format sets the stage for defining, understanding and […]

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Null vs. Alternative Hypothesis: Whatโ€™s the Difference?

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What is Null Hypothesis? Statistical information without context or contrast is meaningless. Anyone looking at a data set can find connections and discover patterns, but they’ll probably end up drawing all kinds of wrong conclusions. Thatโ€™s why statisticians have to examine the data from two different perspectives and always consider how the information they are […]

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PDCA vs. DMAIC: Whatโ€™s the Difference?

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What is PDCA? Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) is a cyclical method for achieving continual improvement of an organization or process. In the first stage, companies must clearly identify and define a specific problem. The โ€œDoโ€ step is about taking a small, controlled action with a limited release, pilot project or other sampling technique. Stage […]

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How D-MAGICS is Improving the DMAIC Framework

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D-MAGICS is a sub-methodology within Lean Six Sigma for improving processes. It aims to make the DMAIC tool easier to successfully execute by emphasizing the importance of grasping the existence of the problems and realistically sustaining the corrections.

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