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When you know your process yield (percentage of a process that is free of defects), you can use this yield to sigma conversion table to easily determine your process sigma level, as well as your process defects per million opportunities.

Successful initial implementation and ongoing maintenance of process improvements requires overcoming the resistance to change. Green Belts are change agents who need to recognize, understand, and interpret resistance to change and develop skills to manage it effectively. Managing change resistance is often covered in training, yet a primary learning issue facing most organizations […]

With ever more complex products, processes and services the potential for high impact failure modes increases. Risk management is crucial for business success and the calculation of Risk Priority Number with mitigation and correction actions is an industry standard methodology that helps achieve your quality goals.

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.

Data analysis is a fundamental process in any project. However, data can be lumped into different types, with categorical and continuous data seeming almost opposed at first glance. That said, mastering these data types and understanding when and where to use them can lead to far more precision during data analysis as a […]

In the world of startups and product development, the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has become a cornerstone of agile innovation. An MVP is a product with just enough features to attract early adopters and validate a product idea. It allows businesses to test their hypotheses and gather valuable feedback without expending excessive resources. […]

Throughout any project, you’re going to gather up quite a bit of data. Now, this can be broken down into two categories: variable and attribute data. Understanding the difference and learning how it is applicable during the analysis stage can be crucial for future decision-making. So, with that in mind, let’s take a […]

Continuous improvement specialists are challenged to solve problems for their organizations or clients. They have acquired a wide array of tools, methods, and techniques for that purpose. If continuous improvement practitioners can establish the winning conditions for change, they can look forward to successful outcomes. However, the devil is in the details, making […]

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. 

Residual, standardized residual, studentized residual — what do they mean, and how do I use them? 

ANOVA will tell you whether there is a statistically significant difference in the population means of three or more groups of data. But which means are different? Tukey’s will tell you that. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to determine whether the population means of several sample data sets are statistically different or […]

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.

Control charts have two general uses in an improvement project. Undeniably, the most common application is as a tool to monitor process stability and control. A less common, although some might argue more powerful, use of control charts is as an analysis tool. Throughout this guide, you’ll have the various control charts identified. […]

If you haven’t paid attention to the news over the last two years, you’ve likely missed the buzz surrounding AI. Artificial intelligence has touched down in a big way over the last couple of years. Products and services like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Google Gemini have entered the cultural zeitgeist. Now, that’s fine and […]

TQM, or Total Quality Management, is a management approach that originated in the 1950s and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980s. This approach encompasses the culture, attitude, and organization of a company. Further, it helps to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. However, the culture requires […]

Whether you are talking about the F-value, F-test, F-statistic or F distribution they all revolve around the same concept of using variances to make statistical decisions about your data.

Asking “Why?” may be a favorite technique of your 3-year-old child in driving you crazy, but it could teach you a valuable Six Sigma quality lesson. The 5 Whys is a technique used in the Analyze phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology. It is a great Six Sigma […]

Are you confused yet? Is it the 6 Ms? Is it 5 Ms and a P? How about 4 Ms, 5 Ms or 8 Ms? Let’s explore some of these and figure it out.

Creating and mapping business process models can sound like a daunting task with little tangible value. With input-process-output models, we debunk these myths and introduce a versatile, straightforward methodology that can be used to transform your business.

The seven basic tools in my home tool chest are a hammer, screwdriver, wrench, saw, drill, pliers, and duct tape. What basic QC tools do you have in your continuous improvement tool chest? Let’s check it out.

There are a few different ways you can improve a process in your business. Before you get to work with implementing these changes, it does help to visualize the entire thing. A SIPOC diagram is a highly useful tool for mapping out the steps of a process. Processes and projects are complex, but […]

FMEA — failure mode and effects analysis — is a tool for identifying potential problems and their impact.

Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet and is used as a common notation in statistics as a measure of summation and variation.

Learn the benefits of tracking sigma level, including how it is used to understand how the current quality capabilities match with customer expectations, where future process improvement opportunities lie, and how to verify results.

Waste is all around your organization. Using TIMWOODS and DOWNTIME, you will learn how to identify the 8 Wastes of Lean and eliminate it to improve your organization.

Process improvement projects have typically been a labor-intensive and imprecise process. Labor-intensive in that capturing the as-designed vs the actual current-state process required facilitated meetings, interviews, surveys and analyzing operational data over an extended time period. Imprecise in that workers will typically act differently when they know they are being watched and measured. The Hawthorne […]

Lean Six Sigma can assist organizations determine which processes are the best candidates for automation as well as make those processes more automation ready.

Anyone who has worked in manufacturing has probably experienced some level of finger-pointing when shipments fall short of expectations. Though there could be multiple reasons for a missed customer delivery, somehow it is always the other department’s fault. In extreme circumstances, several months of missing targets without effectively defining the root causes and addressing them […]

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical to ensuring a project team has the performance data it needs to sustain improvements. With KPIs, a team can evaluate the success of a project against its established goals. Types of Metrics There are two types of metrics to consider when selecting KPIs for a project: outcome metrics and […]

In Part 2 we look at failure rates and material conditions for a surface finish example.

Practitioners cannot wait to use their newly acquired knowledge after they have finished Lean Six Sigma (LSS) training. They want to immediately apply the framework to their real-life projects. But what if, for numerous reasons, it is not possible to “go by the book”? In such cases, there are ways to break LSS down into […]

In Part 1, we explore the concept of process capability, including how to calculate it and what to do with non-normal data.

In this case study, the 509th Maintenance Group of the U.S. Air Force used an eight-step continuous improvement approach to balance its resources and meet both flying hour program requirements and aircraft availability. Part 1 focused on steps 1 through 4. Part 2 looks at continuing to make improvements with steps 5 through 8. Step […]

In the Analyze phase of a DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) Six Sigma project, potential root causes of variations and defects are identified and validated. Various data analysis tools are used for exploratory and confirmatory studies. Descriptive and graphical techniques help with understanding the nature of data and visualizing potential relationships. Statistical analysis techniques, […]

In this case study, the 509th Maintenance Group of the U.S. Air Force used an eight-step continuous process improvement approach to balance its resources and meet both flying hour program requirements and aircraft availability needs. This week looks at steps 1 through 4. Part 2 looks at steps 5 through 8. Introduction The B-2 bomber […]

My company benchmarked against other manufacturing businesses before starting its cultural transformation change. They formed a team and visited companies including Toyota, GM, Milliken, Caterpillar, John Deere, Chrysler, Du Pont and Johnson Controls. After talking to each company about their cultures and continuous improvement processes, my company started to put together a roadmap for transformation. […]

Short production runs are a necessity in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environments. The trend in manufacturing has been toward smaller production runs, with production runs – as well as products – tailored to the individual customer’s needs. Although this minimizes inventory and improves responsiveness to the customer, it complicates the application of statistical process control (SPC). Classical […]

Some of the complaints commonly levied against continuous improvement deployments is that they focus on the wrong issues, and that projects take too long or require too much investment (time, training and financial) in order to achieve meaningful results. Unfortunately, these complaints are often justified – not because of some fault in the Lean Six […]

Measurement system analysis (MSA) determines whether the measurement system is adequate and confirms that significant error is not introduced to the true value of a process characteristic. MSA is the one of the most misunderstood and underused concepts in Six Sigma. This article highlights two of the common mistakes made during the study and explains […]

Many people use the terms verification and validation interchangeably without realizing the difference between the two. Not understanding that difference can lead to many models that do not truly represent a real-world process and lead to errors in forecasting or predicting of the outcomes. In this article, we will explore the meaning, importance, differences and […]

In Six Sigma problem solving, it is often important to calculate the likelihood that a combination of events or an ordered combination of events will occur. Understanding some of the basic concepts of probability provides practitioners with the tools to make predictions about events or event combinations. This provides a good foundation for understanding probability […]

The Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt and Black Belt curriculum needs an overhaul. The original operational excellence (OpEx) Lean Six Sigma methodology developed by Motorola in the 1980s and made famous by Jack Welch at General Electric (GE) in the early 1990s is finding itself a bit long in the tooth in comparison to […]

There are many process improvement methodologies – Six Sigma/DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), Lean, Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and innovation to name merely a few. But with so many choices, it makes applying an improvement methodology difficult. There are questions such as: “What makes this toolset unique?” and “Which one should I be […]

5S is a Lean tool that helps in workplace organization. The following is the list of five Japanese words and their translation in English. (Seiri) Sorting and prioritizing: Going through all the tools, materials, etc., in the work area and keeping only the essential items. Everything else is stored or discarded. (Seiton) Straighten or set […]

This paper looks at some of the methods of estimating standard deviation (which I will usually refer to as ‘sigma’). Additionally, I propose a new formula for estimating sigma for small sample sizes and also present a means to mathematically evaluate these competing estimates of sigma. The question was posed to me: “I have five […]

If you are like me, you may find yourself writing a fair number of MS Excel macros to automate repeatable tasks. One day it dawned on me, however, that several of the aspects of writing macros were repeatable tasks themselves. When writing a macro I would often start by: Creating a data structure that would […]

The survey is one of the most important data collection tools in the armament of a Six Sigma practitioner. There is no lack of research literature on the principles and designs of effective surveys. While the surveys conducted by academics and certain research institutes often reflect impeccable design, there are innumerable cases in which the […]

A division of a diversified organization develops and manufactures samples of new drugs for clinical trials. This work entails different typical manufacturing problems for the following reasons: Quantity requirements can vary from a few grams to several tons from order to order. The effort of research and development (R&D) is central; new processes have to […]

Some people are angry and upset about the effectiveness of Six Sigma as a problem-solving discipline. Individuals routinely call for the next new quality discipline or argue why Six Sigma will not work in this case or the other. Some of this is one-upping – this approach is better; some of this is sour grapes […]

In today’s highly competitive business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking ways to improve their operations and deliver exceptional value to their customers. One such company that embarked on a transformative journey is Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon. Facing significant challenges, AWS turned to Lean Six Sigma practices and tools to […]