Ken Feldman

Not all your data will have a normal distribution. Sometimes, the curve is taller or shorter than a theoretical  normal distribution. Does that mean you have a problem? We can answer that question by learning a little bit more about kurtosis and the platykurtic distribution.

The concept of a confidence band is usually associated with regression analysis. We will also explain why a confidence band is not the same as a confidence interval.

Are you hearing voices? If it’s in a business context, then there is nothing to worry about — and it might even be a good thing. Let’s listen in to the voice of the process and hear what it has to say.

While you hope everything goes smoothly and as planned, sometimes you have to make a change in your existing product or product design. The engineering change request is the form you use to initiate the changes.

Background Company X (fictional name) is a multi-billion-dollar retail giant, known for offering an expansive range of Do It Yourself (DIY) goods and services. With hundreds of retail outlets scattered across the country, the company’s retail division was the backbone of its operations, responsible for generating a significant portion of its revenue. However, in recent […]

You may think turnaround time has decreased from your baseline as a result of a process improvement. But has it really? The t statistic is one way to find the answer to that question.

“So much to do, and so little time to do it” might be a good way to describe multi-generational product planning, or MGPP. Sometimes it makes sense to stage your improvements over a longer period of time.

Z bench is not where Zorro rested after saving another town. There are a number of Six Sigma terms associated with the letter Z, such as Z score, Z bench long term, Z bench short term, and Z shift. Let’s explore the A to Zs about Z.

When doing Design of Experiments (DOE), replicates become an important consideration for improving the accuracy of your experiment. Let’s learn a little more about replicates. In Design of Experiments (DOE), a replicate is a single repetition or run of an experiment, with all conditions and factors kept constant except for the treatment being […]

How much improvement do you expect from your projects? Is 5% ok? How about 15%? Breakthrough improvement will be 70% or more. Let’s see how breakthrough improvement works. 

In today’s fast-paced, customer-driven environment, businesses must continually strive to enhance quality while reducing inefficiencies. Quality management is not merely about ensuring product reliability but involves a holistic approach to improve all aspects of an organization. To help organizations manage quality effectively, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) outlines seven key principles of […]

As the name implies, capability analysis is an analysis of the ability of your process to meet your customer’s expectations and requirements. There are a number of calculated metrics which can be used to help you do your capability analysis. 

Kappa is the common measurement for judging how your measurement system works for attribute data. It is also described as the primary output from an Attribute Agreement Analysis.

Correlation allows you to determine whether sets of data have some sort of relationship. Goodman-Kruskal Gamma looks at pairs of data and determines a correlation. Let’s see how.

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.

Your customers want to know when they can expect completion of their orders. Little’s Law, or Process Lead Time (PLT), is a simple way to calculate how long an order will take to complete.

Visual Management Boards played a critical role in enabling this company to link and visually display critical metrics, KPIs, and actions simply and consistently. So, what are Visual Management Boards? Today, we’re exploring how these visualization tools can let your company reach new heights. While the company is fictional, the results speak for […]

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.

When testing if the means of greater than 2 groups are statistically different you could use a 1-way ANOVA. But, if you have multiple treatment groups, then you can use Dunnett’s 1-way ANOVA.  ANOVA stands for Analysis of Variance. ANOVA is a statistical method used to compare the means of two or more […]

ISO 9000 is a set of international standards that ensures organizations meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while adhering to statutory and regulatory requirements related to their products and services. It primarily focuses on quality management systems (QMS) and is designed to help organizations ensure they consistently meet customer requirements and […]

Would you and I agree what 50% cotton/50% polyester means if we saw a label on your shirt? Probably not. How about whether your order was delivered? Without good operational definitions, we would likely not agree on many things. Let’s see how we can overcome that gap.

Do I have to pay money to get through my project Tollgate? Of course not, but you do have to stop, evaluate your progress, and make sure you’re still heading in the right direction — and accomplishing the tasks required for each step of your project. 

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.

The DMAIC methodology of Six Sigma is a well-known tool for improving existing products and processes. But, what if our existing process or product can’t be improved enough to meet expectations? What if we are developing a process that hasn’t existed before?