Category: Concepts

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. 

Being able to make the right decisions about your products/services can have a major impact on the future of your organization. Having an organization that can make necessary adjustments before the impact is too great is a goal of most companies. Being able to gauge sensitivity across a great number of variables can help make […]

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 studied. The […]

Soft savings are benefits gained from Lean Six Sigma projects that cannot easily be assigned a dollar value. These include things like greater trust, reduced frustration, and increased job satisfaction.  

Repeatability is the variation that occurs when a person uses a measurement tool (gage) to measure the same part repeatedly. This article will cover what it means to measure and evaluate the repeatability of a gage. What is the measure of a person? What is the measure of a person measuring? Repeatability is one measure of […]

When writing your Six Sigma project charter, it is important to clearly state the scope of the project, so the team doesn’t attempt to “boil the ocean” or “solve world hunger”. Scope puts some boundaries and constraints on the activities of the project. In the context of Six Sigma, scope refers to the boundaries and […]

When someone says your data is skewed, do you get upset? Skewness can be a natural state of your data. Let’s find out more about skewness and what it means.

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.

A graph of the points representing a collection of data, is one of the most useful techniques for gaining insight into the relationship between two variables.

You need to know more about how to know more about your company. Good analytical practices shape your strategic thinking, which determines your entire future.

Your company has just announced that its product line has a 100% total throughput rate, touting it as a great win for everyone. However, from your perspective, you see massive amounts of rework being performed, disrupting the production lines, costing additional money, and impacting on-time delivery. If only there was an easy-to-see metric that could […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Also known as discrete data.

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.

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 […]