Category: Concepts

The upper specification limit represents the highest limit that a measurement or reading can reach and still be acceptable to the customer. There are several benefits of monitoring USL and determining if a process can satisfy customer requirements.

Do you hear voices? In a business context, that’s normal. Let’s listen in to the voice of the business and hear what it has to say.

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. 

Out-of-control Action Plans (OCAPS) are a piece of the Lean Six Sigma methodology that is often overlooked. Though they have been phased out in some organizations, it is important to understand their purpose and how they can help a company improve its processes.

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

Cp is one of the metrics calculated for determining whether your process is capable of meeting customer specifications or requirements. It is useful in comparing different functions and their ability to meet their unique specifications.

Do you feel that implementing change in your organization is going too slowly? So did Jack Welch of GE, which is why GE developed the Change Acceleration Process (CAP). Let’s explore how the concepts of CAP might help your organization.

As competitive and market pressures increase, having a clear understanding of product reliability, service life, and expected failure rate is crucial. We explore how by utilising B10 life, we can optimise our product development and satisfy our customer requirements.

Statistics is a branch of math that involves the collection, description, analysis, and inference of conclusions from quantitative data. But what is a statistic? Let’s find out. The word statistic is a word with numerous possible definitions. In its simplest form, a statistic can be defined as a descriptor of a set of […]

Does your data from yesterday represent the current state of your process better than that from a month ago? How can you place more emphasis on it yet still make use of older data? That’s what the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average does. 

House of Quality? No, this is often referred to as a House of Pain because of the effort needed to complete one. Let’s see if we are just being overly pessimistic. 

Lean Six Sigma professionals, much like every other professional, love to talk in acronyms. The acronym of the day is DPMO. Let’s check out what it means.

Defects per opportunity, or DPO, refers to the number of defects that occur in relation to a given number of opportunities for which an error could occur. Let’s consider some of the benefits of measuring and monitoring DPO.

What is rolled throughput yield? 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 […]

An organization may hear many voices (Customer, Business, Employee, and Process). It is the voice of the customer (VOC) that is the driving voice. Additionally, it is what should be important to the organization and what the organization should focus on. The satisfaction of the VOC needs to be balanced against the Voice […]

ZARA changes its clothing designs every two weeks, offering 11,000 distinct garments annually. In comparison, competitors change their designs every three or four months and produce 3-4,000 distinct pieces. This is fast fashion: the business model of replicating high-fashion, luxury-brand pieces quickly and cheaply, making them available to customers while the trend and […]

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. 

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

You want to make good data-driven decisions, but can you trust your data? Is the measurement system you used to gather the data giving you precise and consistent measurements? A Gage R&R study will answer your questions. 

Is your data normal? Oh no! Is that a problem? The concept of data normality can be important when using certain statistical tools to make data-driven decisions.

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.