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Emergency room waiting times could be cut by over one third and patients’ length of stay by almost two-thirds, thanks to a new approach to the triage process of sorting patients for further assessment and treatment, according to research published in the International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage this month. The researchers have […]

DynCorp International today announced that Steve Gaffney will become the company’s chief executive officer and president effective August 25, 2010, the date that current CEO and president, Bill Ballhaus, has announced that he will resign.

Even after decades of success, Crown Equipment Corp, the Ohio-based manufacturer of electric lift trucks, has recently found ways to use Six Sigma strategies to improve processes, reduce scrap and gas usage and fine-tune operations. The company now has 18 certified Six Sigma Green Belts and 15 Black Belts in its North American manufacturing facilities […]

In the evolution of continuous improvement, the Six Sigma methodology began in the manufacturing sector and later spread to other transactional businesses. While many transactional companies, such as advertising agencies and other service-oriented organizations, still look to manufacturers to learn about the application of Lean Six Sigma, there are lessons that manufacturers can learn, as […]

Northwire Technical Cable, which markets, designs and manufactures technical and retractile cables, has named Mark Johnson the company’s vice president of operations. A Lean Sigma Champion, Johnson will further enhance the company’s commitment to providing quality products that exceed application requirements with fast delivery and no minimum order length or quantity requirements.

The September issue of US News & World Report has the most recent rankings of the Best Colleges. However, I think what’s interesting is the article “Is College Still Worth it?” Instead of which college to attend, the question it asks is whether to go to college, given the rising costs at as much as […]

One of the initial challenges of enhancing IT quality metrics is to manage the mountain of data produced at a typical organization. Those organizations that have not learned how to mine their existing information to find solutions tend to track their data via spreadsheets and then generate high-level reports for executive management. Often, major gaps […]

Making a seamless transition of an improved process from the project leader to the process owner is the topic of “Getting a Grip,” an article in the September/October issue of iSixSigma Magazine. Author Sean Rohen has seen firsthand how the transition can go awry; he is a Champion and Master Black Belt and has worked […]

When analyzing data as part of a Lean Six Sigma project, some Belts can become confused to the point of fear when their coach tells them they need to perform a hypothesis test. This fear often comes from two sources: 1) the selection of the appropriate hypothesis test and 2) the interpretation of the results. […]

In a recent survey, iSixSigma gathered data on how organizations communicate about their Six Sigma efforts – data that reflects a lack of communication both within and outside of Six Sigma programs. A resulting iSixSigma Magazine research report, “Spreading the Word,” examined internal communication. Externally, the flow of information – or at least the knowledge […]

Dr. John Toussaint, former CEO and president of the ThedaCare healthcare system, shares his lessons learned in applying Lean in his recent book. ThedaCare Inc., a not-for-profit system of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other services in Northeast Wisconsin, has been practicing Lean for more than seven years. Through its use of Lean principles, the […]

For patients of Virginia Mason Medical Center, trips to the hospital can actually be pleasant – or at least free of discomfort and waste. The center is a private, not-for-profit organization offering integrated health services, including a 336-bed hospital in Seattle and a network of primary and specialty care clinics throughout the Puget Sound region. […]

Seneca, a leader in innovative technology solutions, today announced the promotion of Jeff Winchell, to vice president of operations, for Seneca affiliate company, Revonate Manufacturing LLC. With this promotion, Winchell is also appointed to the Seneca senior leadership team.

CBL Group, which operates a 500-employee injection moulding and metals factory in Guangzhou, China, is being hit by both rising costs, with prices for some components rising more than 30 percent, and by continued uncertainty in its core North American market.

Considering the performance of the stock market over the past few years combined with current economic conditions, many financial institutions are analyzing their processes for improvements. Unfortunately, the majority of process improvement tools available to Six Sigma practitioners – such as cause-and-effect diagrams, Pareto charts, histograms and scatter plots – have been used for analyzing […]

Conducting experiments using marbles and toy cars is a fun way for practitioners to teach students about the use of graphical and analytical tools, and also give them a better understanding of the Six Sigma mantra to “control x, then Y will take care of itself.”

Recent news from Asia includes a move to expand Lean Six Sigma training in Singapore and building Lean factories in China. From “Singapore to Expand Continuing Education and Training System,” Gov Monitor, July 27, 2010: Singapore’s Minister of Manpower Gan Kim Yong said that the Government will increase its investment in continuing education and training […]

M7 Aerospace has named Gary Merrill as Vice President of Quality Assurance, with responsibility for all aspects of the quality assurance programs in aerostructures manufacturing; maintenance, repair and overhaul; government logistics support contracting; supply chain management; aircraft parts and engineering business segments.

Tita Jeter has been hired as the new manager of quality assurance and regulatory compliance at the Copernicus Group (CGIRB), an independent institutional review board.

Until 2005, this was the case at NCCI Holdings Inc., a workers compensation insurance carrier, based in Boca Raton, Fla., USA. The call center at NCCI is a business-to-business operation that manages 400,000 phone calls and 70,000 email interactions every year with insurance carriers and insurance agents. To help improve call center quality, NCCI took […]

Personalysis Certification Program Teaches Consultants Skills to Help Employees Work Together

Most manufacturing processes are controlled by sampling a product at some regular interval. Often, when a process is running normally, this interval is once every shift. It is not too surprising that in today’s economic climate, where cutting cost is of paramount importance, reducing sampling to save money is inviting, especially at large manufacturing facilities, […]

I was reading the USAirways in-flight magazine while flying from Philadelphia to Boston the other day. The issue’s Must Read is anexcerpt from Chapter 1 of the book Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us by Emily Yellin. I thought it was interesting as it is filled with horror stories of how Customer Service […]

iSixSigma is searching for engaging speakers to share inspirational stories, concrete examples and actionable strategies at its third annual iSixSigma Live! Summit & Awards, Feb. 7-10, 2011, in Miami, Fla., USA.

Electric car manufacturer Aptera said it used the Six Sigma process to develop lighter, stronger composite material for its latest electric vehicle, called the 2e.

A challenge facing many new CIOs, CTOs and other technology leaders is the need to change their organization’s culture and reputation. Fairly or not, technology leaders are often saddled with the perceptions (or misperceptions) that their team can’t deliver projects on time or on budget.

In June, GS1 UK, a supply-chain standards nonprofit, released the results of a six-month study with Cranfield University’s School of Management, of Bedford, England, stating that 80 percent of the product supply chain data captured by the top four grocery retailers in the U.K. were inconsistent with data used by suppliers. Of the 66 “core […]

Recently, someone asked me what I thought to be the biggest mistake of a manager. I believe that managers can get so caught up with processes that they forget about the people. People are what drives an organization. People are not machines, they are emotional. A manager needs to be able to sense the emotional […]

Hospitals in the Tampa Bay, Fla., USA, area tripled profits in 2009, largely by cutting expenses. That puts the local hospitals among a growing number of businesses nationally that are focused on controlling expenses to boost income, as the recession cut into revenue growth.

GE-certified Black Belt and Master Black Belt Eric Luftig has joined pipe joining firm Victaulic as director of marketing and communications. In this position, Luftig will lead Victaulic’s global marketing efforts, overseeing marketing research, product marketing and marketing communications.

The internet has brought us so much more information. Statistics are often used to support our opinions or views, and they show up in all types of media, including the internet. But are we more informed and educated on issues as common and important as health care? Let’s take a look at some numbers that […]

Healthcare is on everyone’s mind nowadays, from individuals to the government. Employers often try to lower healthcare expenses by sponsoring wellness programs. How effective are these programs? Not much, according to a report by the National Institute for Health Care Reform: While employer wellness programs have spread rapidly in recent years, few employers implement programs […]

It is a common scenario: A practitioner has sales data for the past several months and wants to forecast next month’s sales volume. This type of forecasting can help manufacturers and distributors ensure they have enough product to meet customer demands. But how is this forecasting done? Statistical analysis software offers two ways to plot […]

When the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was ratified in 2002, requiring strict financial reporting standards for publicly owned companies, the law was regarded by many in the business community as an administrative burden. In the eight years since SOX has been in place, however, the reporting rules have helped some companies drive continuous improvement efforts, according […]

The University of Oklahoma Lean Institute will officially launch its new Lean and Green training program for Oklahoma businesses in Fall 2010. Lean and Green teaches organizations how to identify and eliminate environmental waste from their own operations through three intensive days of training spread over 10 to 12 weeks.

Singapore’s Minister of Manpower Gan Kim Yong said that the Government will increase its investment in continuing education and training (CET) to about $2.5 billion over the next five years to help more workers across industries.

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence wrote, “The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.” After […]

Craig Shular has been the chief executive officer of Parma-based GrafTech International since 2003 and has built a team credited with taking the company from the brink of bankruptcy to profitability and growth.

Undertaking NVQ business improvement training has helped staff at St. Ives (Cambridgeshire, U.K.) based contract electronics manufacturing services provider Prism Electronics Limited become better problem solvers.

Whether you wear stripes, bars, or stars on your shirt, the environment needed for open communication begins with you. Unfortunately, it is easy to become over-directive in our management styles when burdened with deadlines and our other “important” issues. With so much going on, who has time for idle chat, right? Well, it should be […]

Everyone has experienced waiting in line, whether at a fast-food restaurant, on the phone for technical help, at the doctor’s office or in the drive-through lane of a bank. Sometimes, it is a pleasant experience, but many times it can be extremely frustrating for both the customer and the store manager. Given the intensity of […]

You may not have noticed but when you fly into Auckland International Airport your bags now reach the luggage carousel a few minutes faster.

Software and IT experts discuss the best ways that methods such as business process managment and Agile can be applied to a Lean software development program.

Airbus SAS’s head of operations, Gerald Weber, is taking lessons from his former employers in the car industry to cut production time on the A350 model and avoid the years of delay the plane maker suffered on the A380 program.

A recent ExecutiveBrief Software Development Trends Survey of more than 500 senior-level business leaders and software development professionals indicates a more optimistic outlook for business in 2010 as compared to 2009, with significant budget increases and a return to hiring.

DEK has appointed Lean Six-Sigma Black Belt, Liang Zong, as its new Business Improvement Engineer.

In statistical process control, diligent technicians and auditors conduct detailed work to gather data for quality engineers, who then crunch the data into capability studies. Typically, the repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) rates for the data are first determined for the gauges used in the capability studies. The R&R studies are completed first to establish the […]