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At the iSixSigma Live! 2009 Energy Forum for Process Excellence, leaders from across the energy industry shared how they are implementing process improvement efforts at their organizations. Some common questions and lessons learned – about methodology, implementation and benefits – came up over the course of the three-day event. Here are a few highlights. Combining […]

Again and again, culture change comes up as one of the most important aspects of a successful Six Sigma deployment. Yet effecting culture change is one of the most difficult parts to master. Almost 50 percent of respondents to a 2007 iSixSigma survey said their company was far from achieving its desired culture change (“Organizational […]

“Train and hope for the best.” Acting on that tenuous proposition, a small group of Chevron Corp. employees initiated a business unit deployment of Six Sigma eight years ago. The odds that it would spread enterprise wide were not good. But fueled by proponents’ zeal and impressive results, the grassroots effort crossed national and business […]

In this case study, a manufacturer investigates customer complaints regarding welding flux used to fabricate oil, gas and water pipelines, among other products. A Pareto chart and DOE help point the way to a solution.

The Therabath paraffin therapy bath (pictured below) is a durable medical device that holds one gallon of molten paraffin wax. Sufferers of osteoarthritis use it for physical therapy. They dip their hands repeatedly in the heated bath, which helps loosen stiff joints. The wax then slowly solidifies as a glove, producing further therapeutic benefits via […]

1. Use cross-functional teams (CFT) approach to mistake proofing. 2. Selection of process for mistake proofing. During the third phase of advanced product quality planning (APQP), the CFT shall identify the processes, where, due to avoidable human errors, the rating of “occurrence” and/or “detection” have increased thereby increasing the risk priority number (RPN) for the process. Poka-yoke techniques […]

Robust Ground to Air Communication Receiver Case Study FM data demodulator is a critical part of ground to air communication receivers used in aircrafts. It should be designed to minimize the bit error rate (BER). The main concept of demodulation is to convert the received RF signal to baseband voltage signal, sample it at the […]

Vilfredo Pareto was an economist who is credited with establishing what is now widely known as the Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule. When he discovered the principle, it established that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. Later, he discovered that the pareto principle was valid in other parts […]

Purpose of a Bar Chart A bar chart is used to graphically summarize and display the differences between groups of data. How to Construct a Bar Chart A bar chart can be constructed by segmenting the range of the data into groups (also called segments, bins or classes). For example, if your data ranges from […]

Purpose of a Histogram A histogram is used to graphically summarize and display the distribution of a process data set. How to Construct a Histogram A histogram can be constructed by segmenting the range of the data into equal sized bins (also called segments, groups or classes). For example, if your data ranges from 1.1 to 1.8, […]

For the seventh straight year in a row, the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has conducted a stock performance study of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners. And for the seventh straight year in a row, the investment study has concluded that the Baldrige group stock has outperformed the S&P […]

Six Sigma is a quality methodology that can produce significant benefit to businesses and organizations. Not much text, however, has been written about the structure needed to successfully implement Six Sigma quality within your business or organization. Another article on of Six Sigma Architecture focused on roles and responsibilities of a successful Six Sigma quality […]

As geographic barriers between countries deteriorate with the continued evolution of the Internet, ISO 9000 may be one of the largest differentiators between you and your competitors. Already, ISO 9000 plays a key role in winning new customers, maintaining satisfied current customers, accessing foreign countries and dealing with the government. What is ISO 9000, 9001, […]

Smarter Solutions Inc. CEO, President and Founder Forrest Breyfogle shares his advice on starting a Six Sigma deployment.

Practitioners must learn when and how to calculate the sigma level of a process. Many people hear about the Six Sigma quality methodology and immediately want to calculate their own process sigma to determine how close (or far) they are from six sigma. My immediate response to them is twofold: Are you currently measuring your […]

Today the U.S. Army graduated its latest class of Lean Six Sigma Black Belts. See the full story. Mre details

As practitioners, we think Lean Six Sigma is an integral part of our life. But how can we help others see its value? This is a crucial step to building and sustaining a Lean Six Sigma culture. One thing I learned through the Lean Six Sigma deployment is that people have to be personally motivated […]

In a note to readers, Publisher Katie Barry introduces the redesigned iSixSigma.com and encourages users to send feedback on their experiences with the new site.

OK, so you are not Hamlet, and deciding whether to become a Six Sigma Black Belt (BB) is not a matter of life or death. But it is a major career move, and you should carefully consider the pros and cons. With a nod to David Letterman, we have created two “Top Ten” lists that […]

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states, “skepticism implies an unwillingness to believe without conclusive evidence.” Sometimes a little skepticism – or at least curiosity – can be a healthy thing. For instance, one should probably not begin taking a new medication without asking a few pertinent questions such as, “What are the side effects,” “How will this interact […]

Parts one and two of this series surveyed the work connected with several goals shared by software organizations and Six Sigma (Goals 1-3 in Table 1). We saw that reaching those goals involved establishing systems to identify defects, classify them according to type and point of origin, predict their occurrence, and assess actual defect find […]

Green Belts are employees of an organization who have been trained on the Six Sigma improvement methodology and will lead a process improvement team as part of their full-time job. While Green Belts do not need to know as much as Black Belts or Master Black Belts, there are many things a Green Belt should […]

A critical component of any successful Six Sigma project is to overcome resistance to change. The reason: Without user acceptance, any process improvement is doomed to fail. Therefore, proper anticipation and understanding the approaches to various resistance tactics is essential to success. People resist change in the workplace in many ways, but among the more […]

In an era of complexity and contradiction, many healthcare organizations are seeking bold strategies for leading and managing change. While concepts behind the balanced scorecard and core Six Sigma methodologies are not new, a powerful management tool can be crafted through the unification of these two proven strategies. An approach that combines the targeted performance […]

This article is the last of four parts. It presents a discussion of opportunities for defects (OFD), defects per million opportunities (DPMO) and Sigma levels. When comparing implementations across companies, using the common language of DPMO and Sigma levels will assist in understanding benchmarking data. Parts one, two and three followed a progression of goals […]

While Six Sigma continues to evolve, the most often cited complaint is long project cycle times. The obvious expense of eight to nine month (or longer) Black and Green Belt projects is opportunity lost. For example, a project that produces cost savings at a run rate of $30,000 per month leaves $150,000 on the table […]

Driven by nationwide technologist shortages, an industry-wide focus on quality and rising consumer demand, healthcare is feeling the pressure to deliver more with less. Given this challenging environment, some organizations have come to the conclusion that taking the path of least resistance may not be the best approach. For many, delivering quality patient care is […]

Two recent conferences on software focused on the topics of Six Sigma for the software industry and general conference for the software vertical market. There was, as one would imagine, a tremendous amount of discussion relating to the offshore outsourcing of software development work to achieve significant cost reductions. This has been an emerging trend […]

In the Measure phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) improvement methodology, data is collected and analyzed to provide a performance baseline for the process under study. Asking questions is one of the primary ways of collecting data. But as author Edward Hodnett noted, “If you don’t ask the right questions, […]

By definition, a sample of size n is random if the probability of selecting the sample is the same as the probability of selecting every other sample of size n. If the sample is not random, a bias in introduced which causes a statistical sampling or testing error by systematically favoring some outcomes over others. […]

Find answers, links and resources to all your basic Six Sigma questions.

What is clear is that Six Sigma can drive bigger improvements in patient care and cost reduction, and potentially, do it faster. In the handful of hospitals that have successfully implemented Six Sigma, the results are impressive. Hard financial savings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range per Six Sigma project have been reported. […]

Everyone knows hindsight is 20/20. A defect prevention strategy in software capitalizes on this idea, analyzing defects encountered in the past and specifying checkpoints and actions to prevent the occurrence of similar defects – and thus, increases in product costs – in the future.

Whenever I attend a Six Sigma symposium or healthcare conference, the same question comes up: “What’s the difference between Six Sigma and what we’re already doing?” Of course my response is, “Tell me more about what you’re doing so I can better answer that question.” After fielding this question for over a year, I’ve come […]

This article illustrates the Six Sigma DMAIC process using an organization that develops software packages as an example. The Six Sigma DMAIC approach to process improvement provides a powerful mechanism for improving the software process. Typical benefits will exceed costs within 6 to 12 months from initiation of a Six Sigma program for software development, […]

How often have you been truly delighted by a dining experience? Recently, a co-worker and I had the good fortune to have such an experience. We were in Arizona to deliver Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) training, and had dinner at the Macaroni Grill #135 in Phoenix. Our waiter was attentive and the […]

Bharat Gears Limited, an Indian company, with the help of Toyota, is using a concept called “Step-Up” to meet the quality levels of the rest of the world.

As one of three Six Sigma Master Black Belts at Commonwealth Health Corporation (CHC), Nick Nauman mentors 35 Green Belts. At the time of this interview, CHC’s team had a total of approximately 180 completed or ongoing Six Sigma projects throughout the institution, focused on a range of issues involving both operational and clinical improvement. […]

Finding solutions to staffing issues in the orthopedic unit at Valley Baptist Health System required a dual emphasis on productivity and quality.

How will we remember the past eighteen months? Many will remember it as a time of economic slump, with lay-offs, low spending and a war in Iraq. The economic situation is not likely to improve during the remainder of 2003, leading organizations to focus on delivering value to their customers while demonstrating hard return-on-investment. Any […]

Six Sigma is the buzzword of today. Companies big and small talk about it and numerous success stories further advertise its relevance in today’s challenging business environment. Debates on its emergence as a strategic initiative have created critics who consider it old wine in a new bottle and loyal followers willing to swear by it. […]

Using Wald’s sequential test method for process capability decisions can result in 50 percent sampling savings. Sequential testing can also be automated, enhanced and extended to the binomial, Poisson and reliability test areas.

A Master Black Belt (MBB) has been trained as a Six Sigma Black Belt and demonstrated proficiency in statistical tools and expertise in leading and teaching others. Within the healthcare organization, the MBB trains Black Belts and Green Belts, helping to select, scope and mentor projects. MBBs also guide the organization in addressing quality from […]

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that over the past decade trips to emergency departments (ED) rose 20 percent, while the number of available emergency centers fell by 15 percent. Another study from the American Hospital Association indicated that 62 percent of hospitals feel they are at or over […]

Part 1 in a series exploring Six Sigma Deployment for Software and IT Organizations Because the application of the Six Sigma methodology is relatively new to Software and IT, many of the readers of this web site may be unclear as to the methods of deploying Six Sigma into an organization successfully. From participation in […]

The fourth installment in a series of articles about the on-going research of advanced strategies and trends in deploying and team-training Six Sigma. Six Sigma Trends: Next Generation of Projects Six Sigma Trends: Upgrade for Supply Chains and Solution Providers Six Sigma Trends: Management of Six Sigma Deployments I am pleased to present another article […]

Six Sigma brings sharp focus to customer and business requirements and the defects connected with the failure to satisfy them. While the relevance of that view is clear enough to software professionals, their introduction to Six Sigma is often gets stopped short in questions about how the notions of yield, sigma level, or defects per […]

The idea of bio-marking, a technique used to follow individual molecules around in the laboratory, can also be applied to survey design. By creating one item, which captures the overall meaning or bottom line of a survey, you can examine its variance statistically as it interacts with other items and set the stage for leverage and resource allocation via multiple regression.

Making the decision to bring Six Sigma into your organization is just the first step on a long journey. Although this approach has proven successful for a variety of industries (including manufacturing, transactional and professional services), the best-laid plans may go awry if the focus is solely on the technical side, without considering the cultural […]

Ms. Collette D’Bills, patient accounting, has gathered data related to accounts receivable, entering it to an Excel spreadsheet. In fact, she has several years’ worth of data in her Excel files, but has not been able to understand what it means, except to see that accounts receivable sometimes go up and sometimes go down. At […]