Category: Concepts

The supply of components into high-value manufacturing industries is fiercely competitive, and there is no place for poor quality. Unexpected defects mean lost business and reputational damage. By following the Production Part Approval Process, you can lock in quality and hit those customer requirements every time.

Several statistical tests have underlying assumptions of a specific type of distribution which is required for the test results to be valid. But what if your data distribution does not meet that assumption? A non-parametric test might help. There are several hypothesis tests which assume your data has a specific distribution. For example, a 2-sample […]

Having a reliable method to account for your inventory is vital for reporting your financials to stakeholders as well as having the appropriate information for your business taxes. There are three popular methods for this, and they are the FIFO, LIFO, and average cost methods. If you are running a business, you are looking for […]

Almost every product requires physical materials, even services or solutions that don’t include a final physical deliverable. Any type of resource, component or supply needed to produce a particular product is considered a material. Material requirements planning (MRP) is a method for gaining greater control over internal logistics and turning it to the company’s advantage. […]

Management plays a critical role in the successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodologies within organizations. It provides the foundation for driving process improvement, achieving operational excellence, and delivering superior customer value. In today’s competitive business landscape, organizations strive for efficiency, quality, and continuous improvement to stay ahead. In pursuit of these goals, Lean […]

Linearity is usually discussed in the context of Measurement System Analysis. It is a measure of the consistency of the bias of your measurement system.

Waste is one of the biggest setbacks that prevents companies from reaching their maximum potential. One of the categories of waste, as described by Talichi Ohno, is known as muri. Talichi Ohno developed a system for Toyota that focused on the continuous improvement of quality and the elimination of waste. The types of waste as […]

The time it takes to deliver on your deals makes or breaks your business. You need to do everything you can to speed up this process without sacrificing quality or safety.

The Toyota Production System, was developed around the elimination of the three types of deviations that represent the inefficient allocation of resources. The three types of deviations are muda, mura, and muri. Muda deals with waste and is often defined by the 7 wastes of lean. Mura is concerned with inconsistency and variation and may […]

MTTR can refer to Mean Time to Repair as well as Mean Time to Resolution, Mean Time to Resolve, and Mean Time to Recovery. These all mean the same general thing, but on this definition page, whenever we reference MTTR, it is in regard to Mean Time to Repair. Overview: What is Mean Time to […]

Sometimes your data isn’t a normal distribution. Sometimes, the curve is taller or shorter than the normal distribution. Is that a problem? We can answer that question by learning a little bit more about kurtosis and the leptokurtic distribution.

Management by knowledge is imperative to the success of your process improvement initiatives. Discover how to harness this tactic in your Six Sigma processes to enhance performance, promote collaboration, and maximize staff potential. What is Management by Knowledge in Six Sigma? Six Sigma serves as a powerful tool to drive efficiency and customer satisfaction. With […]

Understanding mean time between failures (MTBF) is a way of expecting the unexpected. Every kind of physical tool, machine or device will eventually fail. Friction of physical parts rubbing against each other, degradation of certain materials or misalignment between different components can all contribute to system failures. That’s why every active car needs tune-ups and […]

Having a metricationist on your team opens up your organization to a wide range of possibilities. The use of metrics can mean the difference between an average company and a great one. A metricationist can help take your company to an optimal level of quality. Overview: What is a metricationist? A metricationist is a person […]

Lean manufacturing seeks to get rid of the extra fat and waste in your process while seeking to build muscle in your production processes. Let’s see how.

If you are trying to predict the outcome of a dependent variable by analyzing the relationship with several independent variables, then multiple regression may be your statistical tool of choice. Let’s examine multiple regression in more detail. Multiple regression is a statistical technique that allows you to analyze the relationship between a dependent variable and […]

When a product is purchased by an end-user, it is generally sold individually. However, when the product is initially delivered to a distributor by a supplier or sold wholesale, it is usually grouped into a large quantity and sold as a lot. When your business expands, it is almost guaranteed that you will be dealing […]

A master schedule is the plan that all your other production plans are based on, which is why it’s so important to get this one right.

If your organization is too impatient to use a formal DMAIC approach to continuous improvement then Kaizen may be the tool for you. 

You may remember seeing or having a Jack in the Box toy when you were a child. It looked much like a box and would have a crank on its side that you could turn. It would play a little song, and suddenly the top would fly open and the head of a clown (or […]

What do your customers really want? You are taking a risk by blindly fulfilling your customers’ needs without understanding how they classify them. Kano analysis will allow you to properly classify those customer needs and lower your risk.

Japanese quality professional widely known for the Ishikawa diagram also known as the fishbone or cause and effect diagram. He is also known as Ishikawa, Kaoru.

Leaders, managers, and practitioners love tangible (hard and soft) benefits because they can be measured and quantified; however, intangible benefits create goodwill and buy in among employees. 

Hypothesis testing is a branch of statistics in which, using data from a sample, an inference is made about a population parameter or a population probability distribution.