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The creation of a rational subgroup is the key to the proper use of control charts. Let’s try to understand what makes them rational.

Ship dates may seem arbitrary, but they can have a major impact on the financial bottom line of your organization as well as how satisfied your customers are. Choosing ship dates that are realistic and that are in sync with when your customers expect products to be delivered is a fundamental part of doing good […]

When you hear the term residual, think of linear regression. It is the error of your prediction equation and has implications for the quality of your regression analysis. 

A scorecard in sports indicates which team is winning by monitoring an important metric such as number of runs, or baskets or touchdowns. Your business scorecard can provide valuable information on how your organization is doing. In business, a scorecard is a tool used to measure and track the performance of an organization or specific […]

Setting effective goals is crucial to the success of any project, and this is especially true in Six Sigma. SMARTER is a goal-setting framework that is commonly used in Six Sigma to ensure that project goals are well-defined and achievable. Overview: What is SMARTER The term SMARTER stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Evaluated, […]

Your design of experiments (DOE) has many variables and a tight budget. How can you balance the process information you need with the limitations of time and resources? You might try using a screening DOE.

R-square is the square of R. That’s easy. But what does it really mean, and how do I interpret it?

You are often faced with many options on how to improve the process. Which one is the best? The Pugh Matrix is a simple tool for you to decide which approach — or hybrid of approaches — you should use.

The strategy of continuously improving your organizational processes by setting your goals, identifying deviations from those goals, and then taking appropriate actions to adjust your processes to close the gaps.

SCAMPER is an acronym for a simple approach to creative brainstorming. The technique uses a series of questions that prompt you to come up with creative ideas for improving products and processes.

With increasing competitive and market pressures, understanding customer requirements and delivering high-quality products, processes and services has never been more important. By implementing a Quality Operating System, you can ensure that quality improvement is every employee’s responsibility and focus.

A quality attribute is a characteristic of a system that is used to evaluate the system’s performance from the perspective of the end user.

Quality improvement takes dedication, time, and resources. With this being the case, many find myriad excuses to hold off on quality improvement efforts until the very end, usually to the detriment of their organization. Being able to offer quality products and services to your customers needs to be a primary focus of your business. When […]

Run rates are a measure of the number of units produced by a process over a period. Actual run rates are often used to make future projections of process performance.

Say what you do and do what you say is a phrase often used to summarize what quality standards like QS-9000 are all about. Although now obsolete, let’s explore what it was and what replaced it.

Risk based maintenance (RBM) is the result of combining lean management philosophy with conventional risk management. You could also call it “smart maintenance” or “informed maintenance” since it relies heavily on data and planning. It has useful implications in both risk prevention and crisis management. Overview: What is risk based maintenance? Companies that employ a […]

If your organization is known for its high-quality products and services, then you should perceive that as a good thing. But did the concept of quality control help you get there? Let’s explore what quality control really means. Quality is often defined as having your products or services meet your customers’ specifications or expectations. Control […]

Inspection of the structures and machinery in manufacturing plants was once done primarily through industry practices that were rooted in health and safety regulations along with prescriptive codes. Unfortunately, this type of inspection did not take into account the risk of failure, environmental conditions, and so forth. A more well-rounded approach to inspection was developed […]

Also known as discrete data.

Financial business metrics can be jargon-heavy and cumbersome to use. We simplify and demystify return on investment, making this accessible to all and giving you the confidence to use in your daily business life.

How do you take your customer’s requirements and drill down through the entire product or service development process? Quality function deployment is a great way to do that. Let’s see how it is done.

What does it mean when you see the phrase Q1? Using the common phrase of consultants, it depends, the definition of Q1 is dependent upon the context of its use. Let’s examine the possible definitions. While the phrase Q1 seems simple enough to understand, the true meaning will be a function of the context in […]

A data point taken at random from the universe or population of your process.

Overview: What is a quality dictionary? In the Six Sigma methodology, effective communication is essential to ensure all stakeholders are working towards the same goal. A quality dictionary is a critical tool in establishing a common language and understanding of key terms and concepts related to quality and process improvement, helping to reduce ambiguity and […]

In a fiercely competitive market reacting swiftly to product or process failures, determining the true root cause and implementing change limits financial and reputational damage. Utilising root cause and failure analysis methodology is your gold standard for robustly preventing future failures.

You can’t be right all the time when making decisions about your process. But, you can manage that risk. Producer’s risk is one of those risks, so let’s learn a little bit more about it.

In today’s competitive business environment, maintaining a high level of quality has become vital to a company’s success. It is imperative that suppliers provide quality parts that meet customer requirements the first time and every time. 

A productivity target is an established, quantifiable result from a given process. It represents the minimum acceptable value yield from a given quantity of time and resources invested into it.

In Six Sigma, process stability is extremely important to efficiency and productivity. With a stable process, you have predictability, and quotas can be met.

Effective scope management keeps your project on track by establishing clear goals, progressive milestones, performance standards, and specific restraints across every stage of the process.

Keeping records is a necessary part of any business. This extends to everything from business transactions to a company’s quality management system.The proper formatting, cataloging, storage, and maintenance of quality records are all vital facets of an organization’s quality management system. Overview: What is a quality record? A quality record can be defined as the […]

You are convinced there is a correlation between your X and Y variables. But, you won’t know for sure until you can establish the strength of the correlation. That’s where R comes in. Let’s learn some more about R. R is the symbol used to represent the strength and direction of correlation between continuous variables. […]

The term parts per million, or PPM, is used in a number of contexts in engineering, chemistry and process improvement. We will focus on the application in continuous or process improvement.

Precision is how companies build systems that enable them to deliver the right solutions to their customers’ problems at the right times, repeatedly. Does your company do that?

In Six Sigma, you will often hear the phrase, “It worked so well we stopped doing it.” The purpose of a process control plan is to maintain the gains of your project and prevent this from happening. 

The role of a process owner in Lean Six Sigma goes beyond being a mere title or designation. By assigning dedicated process owners, organizations can unlock the true potential of their processes, driving efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction. In today’s dynamic business landscape, organizations are constantly striving for efficiency, quality, and continuous improvement, all of […]

Random sampling is a statistical method of selecting a sample of data from a larger set in such a way that each data point has an equal chance of being selected, so that the sample represents the population from which it was drawn. Overview: What is random sampling?  Random sampling is a method of choosing […]

Process management, sometimes referred to as Business Process Management (BPM) is a systematic approach to ensure that your organization’s business processes are aligned in an efficient and effective manner, and aligned with your organization’s strategic goals.  Some of the benefits to having a process management system in place are: Overview: What is process management?  The […]

Have you ever heard someone ask the question, “What’s the odds of that happening?”. Well, that’s the concept of probability. Let’s learn a little more about probability and how it can be used in your organization.  When you start discussing probability with someone else in your organization, you may hear the words deterministic or stochastic. […]

With statistical process charts (SPC), you have a statistical approach that is accessible and allows you to find solutions to system and process problems. One type of chart that falls under the SPC umbrella of tools is the rare event SPC. When rare events occur in your industry, it is necessary to monitor them to […]

Having the right processes is integral to the success of your business, but having the right type of practices in your organization helps make sure that the work being done to implement those processes is approached from the right perspective. Getting a task done is necessary, but it is also important to look at how […]

Have you ever waited in a line at the grocery store or bank? The British term for a line is a queue. Queuing theory is the mathematical study of waiting in line. Let’s learn more about this. The British refer to a line as a queue. Queuing theory is the mathematical study of people, objects […]

In statistics and math there are two types of data: quantitative data and categorical data. A variable that represents quantitative data is called a quantitative variable while a variable representing categorical data is called a categorical variable.  Overview: What is a quantitative variable?  Quantitative data represents values and numbers which can be measured or counted […]

Preventing a problem is better than correcting one. Anticipating and avoiding potential issues before they arise is a hallmark of strong business management.

Is random variation a good thing or a bad thing? Should I worry about the statistical implications or the practical ones? Let’s find out.

The term “process measurables” is incredibly narrow and also incredibly broad. In the scope of overall business management, it can seem like a pretty narrow and technical concept. However, for process managers, it’s a concept that can describe hundreds of different things in one project alone. Overview: What are process measurables? A measurable is any […]

The purpose of Lean Six Sigma is to identify opportunities for improving organizational processes. One of the challenges is the selection of projects for improvement teams to work on. Let’s learn more about how to select impactful projects. Both Lean and Six Sigma projects are used to improve organizational processes. Improvement teams are formed. DMAIC […]

Have you ever heard your customer ask, “Why does my job take 10 days when there is only 5 days of actual work?” It may be because the Process Cycle Efficiency (PCE) is low, and there is a lot of waste in the process. PCE will help define how much that waste is.

Many organizations claim that safety is Job #1. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency in the U.S. Department of Labor which is responsible for ensuring that companies provide safe and healthy work environments for their employees. OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It is a federal agency of the United […]

Nothing is perfect, but almost everything can be made better. That’s the basic philosophy behind any optimization strategy. Optimizing is an activity that businesses pursue when they are generally satisfied with the entry criteria and scope of a particular process, but want to further improve the efficiency or reduce output variability. Overview: What is optimization? […]