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By using smaller bites from a large problem, you can quantitatively assess performance and then apply improvement changes.

While a Bolling mill machine creates uniform sheets of rubber with ease, it also poses a danger to an operator’s hands. Reducing rescue time and improving safety measures made for a successful Yellow Belt project in one lab.

The best of iSixSigma 2020 features the highlights of this year’s content – those best loved by our readers.

Business process maps are a popular continuous improvement tool. A six-layer approach elevates their usefulness.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s Lean Everyday Idea program has successfully implemented over 345 ideas as of fall 2020. But how does the word spread across an entire state?

The California High-Speed Rail Authority built their program on a foundation of disciplined process mapping. Check out their excellent best practices and up your game with this meat-and-potatoes tool.

If the Mayo Clinic can do it, so can you! Let this case study at the medical organization’s Phoenix Transplant Center be your guide to operational excellence in healthcare settings.

Don’t let the costs of poor quality eat your profits for breakfast. Learn how to stay competitive by understanding the components of TCOQ and how to optimize them – and ultimately the quality of your product or service.

How do you elevate a recruiting free-for-all into a standardized, efficient and well-respected process that gets new hires in the door faster? Hello, Lean Six Sigma!

SigmaXL Inc., a leading provider of user-friendly Excel Add-ins for Statistical and Graphical analysis, announces the release of SigmaXL Version 9.

Machine learning in operations has been gaining traction since the 2010s, and this business solution grows more powerful if you approach it through the lens of continuous improvement.

The foremost purpose of the gemba walk is people-engagement. Here are some suggestions for conducting a gemba walk in the virtual space.

A workforce with a variety of generations features a breadth of experience and knowledge that can serve any company well. Be intentional with managing your diverse team to ensure success.

In the time of a global pandemic, the ability for a company to make efficient and effective adjustments is more important than ever. Don’t let the need for physical distancing put a stop to your continuous improvement efforts. Learn how to adapt an in-person Kaizen event to a successful virtual experience.

As we consider our business response to COVID-19, take a truly Lean approach. See JIT in the context of Lean and evolve it as necessary, using the change in environment to identify waste and see new problems as opportunities for new improvements.

Planning is always easier if you know what the future will bring. You may not be able to “see” the future, but with yield modeling you can predict future yield and prioritize opportunities for improvement.

In many cases, you want to compare the means of samples. But, comparing variances can be just as important. The F test is the statistical tool you would use for that.  

As helpful as a Pareto chart is, it isn’t practical when working with reams of data and hundreds of groupings. A Pareto table, on the other hand, can analyze large data sets and point you to improvement.

In only three years, Edward Jones has realized more than a million dollars in cost avoidance through the use of bots combined with LSS.

Icebreakers can help teams to build community, promote interaction and foster empathy. Some of the go-to icebreakers I have used over the years have translated well into the virtual environment.

If not trained well in statistical analysis, Belts lose confidence as soon as a real-world scenario deviates from the classroom example. Bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical know-how with these four practices for your statistical tools training.

Why not do something novel and use the tool that is best for the job at hand independent of an acronym?

The Marshmallow Challenge can be used as more than a basic team-building exercise. Multiple rounds with changing rules increase the continuous improvement learnings.

If there’s one thing that the coronavirus pandemic has made glaringly apparent, it’s that we need to do a better job with prioritization and, ultimately, delegation, execution and communication.

Processes easily bloat over time. Through value stream mapping, a hypothetical hospital is able to identify and eliminate waste, making its processes more efficient – and profitable.

6S is the formal activity of organizing the workplace and serves as the foundation of any continuous improvement effort. Explore the 6S and learn how to implement them in your organization.

What happens if you want to do continuous improvement but don’t know where to start? What if your organization wastes too much time firefighting or operates in silos? Here are five steps any organization can embrace to get started on the right path.

Someone asked: “Why do 5S [sort, simplify, shine, standardize, sustain]? It’s just going to get dirty again.”

Improvement is like a mighty fire. You must continue to add firewood to keep the fire burning. If you stop, the fire will surely burn out. Lots of repetition builds the fire of improvement capability and culture.

We read or hear “facts” and accept them without critical thought. This article reviews a sample of the kind of facts we accept in the workplace that sometimes we should not.

Tangible benefits are the common currency of defining project success, tying the value of the project to the organization’s bottom line.

Most Lean initiatives fail. What can you do about that? Ensure your organization’s leaders are champions for the deployment who encourage failure as part of your Lean journey.

The best of iSixSigma 2019 features the highlights of this year’s content – those best loved by our readers.

There is a right way to do standard work. Ensure that your organization knows what it is, how to implement it and how to measure its success. Your company’s future may depend on it!

You’ve used Lean principles at work, but can it also work at home? One family implemented Lean in their daily lives over the course of a year with sustainable and measurable results. You can do it, too.

If you work in construction, Lean will work for you. Answer 10 questions to find out if you need Lean, learn five ways to begin Lean, and be sure you know the ONE thing that MUST happen before beginning a Lean deployment.

ReAgent Chemical Services has successfully achieved ISO 13485 accreditation. On 8th August 2019, they were awarded this international ISO standard which demonstrates that they meet the rigorous requirements of a quality management system specific to the medical devices industry.

Secondary metrics consider the overall health of the business. They help ensure that other areas do not slip when pursuing improvement of the primary metric.

It’s easy to fall into business-as-usual routines, but it’s only a matter of time before that will lead to loss of business. Use ideation to avoid stagnancy and keep your business fresh.

Who knows more about what it takes to improve digging ditches – the person holding the shovel or the executive vice president of ditch digging? Learn from a self-described Gemba nerd as he takes us behind the scenes in a Lean powerhouse.

A process map is a hierarchical method for displaying processes that illustrates how a product or transaction is processed. It is a visual representation of the workflow either within a process — or an image of the whole operation. Process mapping comprises a stream of activities that transforms a well-defined input or set of inputs into a pre-defined set of outputs.

Lean can be of great value in office environments. However, the use of complex jargon and statistics, plus a focus on manufacturing, have hindered the adoption of these tools in other settings where they can be useful.

Not an expert in Lean? No problem! Learn a few simple tools you can use in any setting, and help your organization save time and money.

What do Goldilocks and statistical analysis sample size have in common? A razor-sharp focus on “just right.” A sample size that is too big or too small leads to inaccurate data and wasted resources (although hopefully not three bears).

If your goal is control at all cost, or faster and deeper analysis, automation might be just the strategy for you. But if you need to retain and motivate your people to boost business performance, such a strategy of people avoidance is likely to come to a sticky end.

PowerPoints, spreadsheets and lectures don’t grab an audience for long. After 30 minutes, you’ve lost the attention of 25 percent of your attendees. A Lego competition teaches Lean and engages your audience.

Drinking beer can be fun, but you can also use beer as a training tool. Use this beer distribution game simulation for groups as small as four and as large as 60.

A box plot may seem like a simple tool, but as this example shows it can help reveal common and special cause variation that may not have otherwise been noticed. Be sure you’re looking below the surface to optimize your performance!

Depending upon the particular organization, quality may or may not be influential in management decision-making. Ultimately, it depends upon what is understood as quality. There may be more urgent tactical actions than those related to quality if the organization’s product or service quality is acceptable – it may not be perfect, but if it’s acceptable then that’s good enough.

Construction projects are always a challenge. Inspections are needed (often several), but if you’re trying to schedule one in Brevard County, Florida, you’re competing for the attention of 14 inspectors in a 500 square mile environment. Lean Six Sigma to the rescue!