Category: Concepts

When there seem to be more problems than can reasonably be dealt with, which is the right analytical tool to better your chances of spending precious time on those crucial few problems that will have the greatest impact on quality?

In a regression model, there will be an amount of variation that is unexplained by x, unless r squared equals 100%. When you are working with a regression model, there is a chance that you will encounter an amount of variation that is unexplained. This variation, nevertheless, needs to be accounted for and checked to […]

A U chart is one of four quality control charts that engineers use to track variation in a manufacturing process. The other three typical quality control charts are the p chart (which plots the proportion of defective items, the c chart (which shows the number of defects), and the np chart (which shows the number […]

Tribal knowledge is the information regarding a product or service process that resides only in the minds of the employees. Familiarize yourself with how non-documented tribal knowledge creates inefficiencies within the process, and understand the benefits of addressing these gaps.

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.

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 […]

Defects in quality put a severe dent in the potential profits of companies all over the world year after year. Having an understanding of the total probability of defect puts the power in an organization’s hands to make improvements and reduce the chance of its customers receiving faulty products.Knowing the total probability of defect for […]

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.

Proper WIP management creates both quick wins and long term improvements. Here’s what you need to know.

Gain a better understanding of value stream mapping and how you can use it in your business. We’ll cover the flow, department interactions, bottleneck identification, and key metrics — as well as a few best practices.

Visual Quality Document

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. 

The system audit is a beneficial and needed tool to evaluate business processes to determine how efficiently they work. This article provides the understanding needed to correctly execute the methodology.

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. 

Six Sigma without variables is like a recipe without ingredients. Understanding how variables align with Six Sigma is paramount to the success of any business. Learn how variables can highlight your process’ capabilities and limitations. What are Variables in Six Sigma? Variables are essential to Six Sigma. By measuring, analyzing, and controlling the variables that […]

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, […]

Do you remember the days of having to get off the internet when your mother had to use the phone? How about waiting to watch a video while an advertisement seems to buffer endlessly? Advancements in the telecosm have made the amount of bandwidth across all mediums feel infinite in comparison to the early days […]

The term standard order refers to the sequence of the runs you will do in your Design of Experiments. The question we will answer is whether to use the standard order or a random order.

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 […]

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.

An SS product report is a critical document that summarizes the results of the product development process, including quality, reliability, and performance. Understanding SS Product Reports The Six Sigma methodology is a highly effective process improvement approach that has been widely adopted across various industries. It provides a data-driven and customer-focused approach to reduce defects […]

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.