Category: Concepts

A t-test is a statistical tool used to determine whether a significant difference exists between the means of two distributions or the mean of one distribution and a target value.

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

A saturated design, in the context of Design of Experiments, is a simplified experiment used for screening possible significant factors. It is designed to give you a high-level understanding of the main effect of factors, but not their interactions.

The meaning of the word “robust” can shift depending on the context. It can be used to describe an organization that’s grown to a significant size, a person with a lot of natural stamina or the hearty flavor of a gourmet soup. However, in the context of process management, robustness describes the ability of a […]

Defined or assumed conditional liability before the fact – limited to overt practices. Capacity to be responsible assumes the use of adequate expertise and capability.

A scorecard in sports indicates which team is winning by monitoring an important metric such as number of runs, or baskets or touchdowns. Your business scorecard can provide valuable information on how your organization is doing. In business, a scorecard is a tool used to measure and track the performance of an organization or specific […]

Having good products, processes, or quality control is admirable, but striving for robustness is optimal. Getting your systems, operations, processes, or products up to a level where they are robust should be a goal of every organization that hopes to reach and stay at the Six Sigma level. Overview: What is robust? Robust refers to […]

The reliability of an item is the probability that it will adequately perform its specified purpose for a specified period of time under specified environmental conditions. Dr. Lawrence M. Leemis, Department of Mathematics, College of William and Mary, from his textbook titled Reliability: Probabilistic Models and Statistical Methods.

Setting effective goals is crucial to the success of any project, and this is especially true in Six Sigma. SMARTER is a goal-setting framework that is commonly used in Six Sigma to ensure that project goals are well-defined and achievable. Overview: What is SMARTER The term SMARTER stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Evaluated, […]

It is usually impractical to measure everything if you are trying to collect data. That is why you will use an appropriate sampling technique. But how big a sample should you get? Using a sample size calculator will make that task quick and easy. Let’s see how. When you are required to collect data to […]

You want your processes to be able to still function well in the face of changes and variation. Let’s learn some more about how you can develop these robust processes. A robust process refers to a well-designed and reliable process that consistently delivers the desired outcomes, even in the face of variations, uncertainties, or challenges. […]

If your eyeglasses have the correct prescription, you will have proper resolution and can see clearly and with detail. The same holds true for your Measurement System Analysis and Design of Experiments. Greater resolution means your data can help you see more information about your process.

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.