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FMEA stands for Failure Mode Effects Analysis and allows you to think through all of the possible ways something can go wrong, then find ways to mitigate those risks, so that your project is more likely to succeed.

An alias indicates that you’ve changed two or more things at the same time in the same way. Aliasing is a synonym for confounding.

Process maturity is a concept used by the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology to evaluate and optimize business processes.

The Six Sigma process report is a Minitab tool that calculates process capability and provides visuals of process performance.

First in Still Here (FISH) is a term that refers to very slow-moving inventory.

The process where planning, testing, and reporting occur in the design or prototype stage in the development of a product.

RONA is one bottom-line measurement showing performance relative to strategic goals and objectives.

Confirmation is a way to confirm that a process is working as expected. It can be used to validate or invalidate a hypothesis, test a process or product and test the process of testing.

Using GOAL Deployment in support of their Strategic Plan, this company was able to align goals and objectives and achieve impressive organizational improvements  The Company historically used yearly Strategic Planning to lay out its macro goals and initiatives. This was done by each functional area of the company submitting what they believed they wanted to […]

A process window index (PWI) is a quantifiable and reproducible statistical measure which indicates how a product performs relative to range limits.

Ideation brainstorming is the first stage of a formal solution development process that usually includes free-form exchange of thoughts and ideas.

The Keep it Simple and Specific principal is based on the idea that most systems work at their best if they are kept simple as opposed to being made complicated.

Activity Based Costing (ABC) is a tool to help companies understand how their products and services are being used.

Systems thinking is based upon the concept that all systems are composed of interconnected parts. These connections and interrelationships cause behavior of one part to impact another.

Entry criteria is an established set of conditions that must be met before a specific process can begin.

The Poisson distribution is a discrete probability distribution that provides the probability of a given number of events occurring in a specified interval of time or space.

S-hat is a common model used in statistics when estimating a population.

Inferential statistics consists of several statistical tools that will allow you to make an inference about the population from sample data.

Capability is the ability of your process or product to meet expectations of your customers or any internal organizational expectations, goals or targets.

Benchmarking is comparing what you do to how other organizations do it.

Businesses should have clear expectations from every procedure, activity and task that happens in their workplace. These expectations can be formalized as process design requirements, which describe the minimum acceptable results from a particular process. Overview: What are process design requirements? Active business managers don’t just let things unfold and develop on their own. Control […]

In statistics, variation is a measure of the dispersion or spread of your process data.

A covariate is a continuous variable that affects a process that is not the direct target of the study. Excluding known covariates from an investigation can lead to skewed or biased results, which can reduce the value of the analysis or even render it worthless for its intended purpose. Accounting for known covariates is crucial […]

SMED or Single Minute Exchange of Dies is a process for reducing changeover time.

Trimmed mean is defined as the mean calculated by trimming 5% data sets from the top and bottom of data sets

An analytical management tool used to develop a basic outline of core processes and help the analysts consider what may go wrong with each step.

In business, your profit will be dependent upon several variables such as material and labor costs. Other variables will also be dependent upon several other independent variables.

While you may not be familiar with the specifics of Z st, you’ve almost certainly heard of it. It’s a measure of the distance between two data points on a distribution curve, and it can be used in many different ways to enhance your understanding of how processes work.

Being able to provide your customers with quality goods and services should be a primary goal of any business. In order to be able to provide quality, inspections need to be part of your process.

Calibration is the act of testing the accuracy of measurement equipment and adjusting it to conform to an independent standard.

Fits are another term for fitted values. A fitted value is a prediction in a statistical model of a mean response value.

Have you ever noticed that, when you observe people doing their job, they may alter the way they work if they know you are looking? That sums up the essence of the Hawthorne Effect.

Change management is defined as the methodological approach a company takes in the implemental change of its internal and external processes.

For every action we take, there is an effect. Some actions may have only one or a few effects, while others can have a multitude. Having an understanding of the effects of actions, as well as what exactly causes them, helps us be mindful of which actions to take.

You might be familiar with a continuous random variable where you can measure something with an infinite number of possible values. But what if your data has only two possible values; good or bad? Maybe we can answer that with a discussion of a binomial random variable.

Knowing when your methods are not the most efficient is an important realization to have. Being willing to improve upon your processes and make them more efficient can be a deciding factor on whether your business is going to survive and thrive. Manufacturers may begin with processes that utilize a more Datsu Chaku method, but should always be working towards a more Chaku Chaku-focused mode of operations.

What is Pugh Matrix? When it comes to finding solutions and improvements in business processes, making a final decision can seem impossible. There are always multiple options for dealing with a situation or problems, which can be paralyzing for leadership. Pugh’s Controlled Convergence, also called the Pugh Matrix, is a numerical method for making tough […]

A collection of educational and research material that outlines a systemic model for companies delivering IT services.

What is a Spaghetti Diagram? A spaghetti diagram is defined as the visual representation of the flow of an activity or process utilized to identify areas that could use improvement. It is unique in that it demonstrates motion work and its associated waste and assists in the quantification of the amount of walking an operator […]

Black noise is a phenomenon that occurs during Lean Six Sigma projects. It often causes confusion and frustration for project managers and team members alike, but understanding black noise can make your projects run more smoothly and efficiently.

Sometimes you have to break something down into the smallest possible pieces before you can make it right. Process mapping is one of the first major steps when adopting six sigma, so it’s something business leaders should learn to love. Depicting workflow and processes in a visual format sets the stage for defining, understanding and […]

Sometimes you have to break something down into the smallest possible pieces before you can make it right. Process mapping is one of the first major steps when adopting six sigma, so it’s something business leaders should learn to love. Depicting workflow and processes in a visual format sets the stage for defining, understanding and […]

Overview: What is a whisker? We need to do a quick review of a box plot before discussing a whisker. The box plot, also referred to as a box and whiskers plot, was introduced in 1970 by American statistician, Dr. John Tukey.  A box plot consists of two parts, a box, and a set of […]

What is Null Hypothesis? Statistical information without context or contrast is meaningless. Anyone looking at a data set can find connections and discover patterns, but they’ll probably end up drawing all kinds of wrong conclusions. That’s why statisticians have to examine the data from two different perspectives and always consider how the information they are […]

You just did some statistical analysis, but your results don’t make sense to you. Did you capture all the variables you needed or is there something you missed? Maybe there is a lurking variable.

The three descriptors that can be used to describe the variation or dispersion of your data are the standard deviation, variance and range. The range is the easiest to calculate, but not the most useful in describing the variation of your data.

You have probably heard of the Pareto Principle and used a Pareto Chart. Since it is one of the 7 QC Tools, let’s explore this topic in a little more detail.

If you wanted to improve the gas mileage of your car, what factors would you look at to do that? How would you measure the impact or effect of those factors? Computing the main effect could answer your question.

The median strip in the road runs down the middle so half the road is on one side and the other half on the other side. Does the statistical median do the same thing? 

What is Critical To Quality? Critical to quality refers to the things necessary for a company to have in place in order to meet the needs of the customer. It is the attribute of a process or service that has a direct impact on its real or perceived quality. The Benefits of Critical To Quality […]