Ken Feldman

In many cases, you want to compare the means of samples. But, comparing variances can be just as important. The F test is the statistical tool you would use for that.  

6S is the formal activity of organizing the workplace and serves as the foundation of any continuous improvement effort. Explore the 6S and learn how to implement them in your organization.

A process map is a hierarchical method for displaying processes that illustrates how a product or transaction is processed. It is a visual representation of the workflow either within a process — or an image of the whole operation. Process mapping comprises a stream of activities that transforms a well-defined input or set of inputs into a pre-defined set of outputs.

TRIZ (pronounced “TREEZ”, the Russian acronym for the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) is an established science, methodology, tools and knowledge- and model-based technology for stimulating and generating innovative ideas and solutions for problem-solving. It is short for Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch.

The word scrum (short for scrummage) is usually used in the context of rugby. But how would it be used when talking about process improvement? Let’s find out. In rugby, a scrum is a method of restarting play after the ball goes out of bounds or there is a penalty. It involves players packing closely […]

You will commonly hear the word scrum used when you are watching a rugby match. But it is also used in the context of an agile project management framework that helps teams structure and manage their work through a set of values, principles, and practices. A Scrum Master is a role in the Scrum framework, […]

Waste is all around us. Reducing waste in your process will free up resources and make your process more efficient, save money, increase capacity, and a whole host of other benefits.

Can your organization really achieve zero defects in everything it does? Probably not, but it is a worthy goal to shoot for. Let’s learn more about the concept and how it might help your organization do better.

The letter Z is not just the sign of Zorro or a segment on “Sesame Street.” It also has a number of statistical connotations. Let’s explore those and more.

Have you seen the Lean Six Sigma rainbow of Belt colors? There is White, Yellow, Green, and Black. Let’s explore Yellow.

Do your processes deliver value for your customer? How do you know if what you do is valued by your customer? Let’s find out.

Are you ready to dust off your calculus differential equations and Laplace transformations? No? Then we will have to provide a simpler discussion of what a transfer function, or Y=f(X), is all about. 

Sometimes you really need to look at problems in a creative and innovative manner. TRIZ is a problem-solving approach that fosters invention for project teams who have become stuck while trying to solve a business challenge.  TRIZ (Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadach) is a problem-solving methodology that was developed in the former Soviet Union by Genrich […]

Being busy and working hard don’t necessarily mean what you are doing will have value to your customer. Let’s see why not.

Is there a simple graphical tool for looking at a series of linked hierarchical activities? Yes, a tree diagram would be a good one to use. Let’s see how it would work. If you have a series of hierarchical tasks and subtasks to complete before you reach some objective, then a tree diagram would allow […]

It’s not practical to measure every value in a population, whether it be people or all the jars of peanut butter you produced. Taking samples helps. But if your samples are biased and don’t represent the population, then you have a biased statistic or estimator. Let’s learn how you can calculate an unbiased statistic.

When you hear the word variance, you can think of it in terms of finance or statistics. In statistics, variance is a calculation describing the spread, or variation, of the data around the average, or mean, of the data.

The variance inflation factor measures the degree of multicollinearity of multiple predictor variables in a multiple linear regression. Holy smokes, that’s a lot of big words. Let’s find out what it all means.

What do you picture when you hear the word stable? Words such as steady, consistent and minimal variation may come to mind. These words could also apply to your process. Let’s see what a stable process means. 

It is important that you clearly specify your expectations about a company process or product. These detailed expectations are called specifications and serve as a guide as to how well you are satisfying both internal and external expectations. A specification (spec) is a detailed description of the requirements, characteristics, and features of a product, service, […]

If you have a question about how your process or organization is performing, statistics will be the methodology for answering those questions. Statistics is the discipline and science used for the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of your data. Statistics usually fall into one of two categories: Descriptive statistics: methods used to summarize or […]

If you hear someone say, “Darn, I didn’t expect that to happen”, they are probably experiencing an unintended consequence from some action they took. No one plans for things to go awry, but unfortunately, they do.

Spread comes in a variety of forms. It refers to the variation of the data and can be calculated in a number of different ways. Let’s explore these.

If your machines are not working, you can’t produce products for your customers. Your customers will likely not remain your customers for very long. Let’s see how Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) can keep your equipment up and running. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance strategy aimed at maximizing the productivity of equipment, machines, and […]