Category: Concepts

Today’s business landscape is more fast-paced and competitive than ever. As a result, companies are continuously looking for ways to keep up with the latest technological advancements or trying to create them themselves.  One tactic businesses use to gain an edge over the competition is the concept of “digital transformation,” which is a […]

You know variation in your process is not a good thing. It negatively impacts predictability and planning. Let’s learn about an easy way to measure variation so you can better understand your process.

Is your data normal? If not, will that be a problem? It might be, since data normality can be important when using certain statistical tools to make your business decisions. 

Non-value-added is the work your customer is not paying you to perform.

Never-ending improvement is the heart of any continuous improvement effort.  The Deming Cycle, or PDCA, is one of the first formalized approaches to utilize an iterative approach to improving processes, and it still serves as a fundamental tool today for continuous improvement.  This article will describe the stages of the Deming Cycle, the benefits of […]

Quality is one of those words and concepts that have many meanings. Let’s review the concept and discuss the different definitions associated with the term. It refers to the degree of excellence or superiority of something, often concerning its intended purpose or function. Further, it is a measure of how well something meets its specifications […]

How do you convert DPMO to Sigma Level? There are several metrics you can use to measure how well your process is performing. Let’s look at three of them and discuss how to calculate them and how they relate. The three are DPMO, Sigma Level, and Cpk. Convert DPMO/Sigma to Cpk  Before discussing how you […]

A control chart consists of several parts. It has two control limits and an average line. The bottom dashed line is called the lower control limit (LCL).  The solid middle line is the average of the statistic being plotted. The top dashed line is the upper control limit (UCL). The upper control limit is calculated […]

The word Normal generally has a positive connotation. When applied to statistics, the term Normal Distribution has essentially the same effect. Let’s see why. 

Process time vs. cycle time is a discussion that comes up often for newcomers to Six Sigma. Understanding these principles and how they apply to your time management is vital. Failing to grasp these concepts can affect your bottom line negatively. What is Process Time? Process time describes the interval required for a product or […]

How do you calculate the overall standard deviation of multiple groups or samples? You can’t just add them up and divide by the number of groups, like you do with averages. Let’s see how we can do it correctly.

This article will introduce you to control limits. You will learn about the role of control limits, how they were designed, and the role they play in process improvement.

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. 

There are three measures of central tendency for data. One is the mean or x-bar, and the others are the median and mode. When you’re diving into statistical analysis, these are basic components. Most practitioners should have encountered these in grade school, but a refresher never hurts. Let’s dive into what it means. Overview: What […]

One of the most famous sayings in the Star Wars films is May the Force be with you. This saying may also apply to making changes in your organization. Let’s see what forces you need to identify and deal with when using a force field analysis to manage change.

Full factorial DOE is one of the most powerfully designed experimentation statistical tools for understanding the impact your process inputs have on your process outputs. 

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.

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 not. If […]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.