Are you accomplishing your goals for your team? Have you designed an organizational structure with unnecessary competition and red tape? If you feel like your wheels are spinning fast, but you are still moving in slow motion then take time to consider what you can do to breakthrough and encourage technical service excellence.
[Audio clip: view [...]
When evaluating your current enterprise strategies, do you consider your custom product more of a hassle than a goldmine? Are you have trouble going from maybe on time to just in time? Stay the course and consider the inherent value that your made to order products deliver to your customers?
In the midst of economic opportunities, [...]
Breaking News! John Traveler of EightHourJourney.com wants you to travel light. He’s giving away an Apple Macbook Air!
Don’t miss out on your opportunity to win this ultra-light, super-sleek Apple laptop. I’m entered to win. . .Are you entered?
Well, you have no time to waste - Contest ends June 30th, 2009 at Midnight EST
Winner will be announced July [...]
Sharing online can be the source of tremendous rewards for many businesses and organizations. A blog is an excellent way to connect with people outside your facility, location, department, or division. Whether you decide to share via the internet or intranet, there is no better way to chisel away the walls of communication.
Here are four [...]
FMEA
stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. This DMAIC tool is used to evaluate risk in a process. FMEA will help to improve the quality and safety of work tasks. Using this SigmaXL template will allow you to document a baseline for improvement and provide compelling data to confirm a need for [...]
If you are following me on Twitter, you might remember that Monday I sent out a series of tweets expressing why I feel the term “efficient” is often misused and abused in regard to business process performance.
This morning the most recent entry in my Lean Six Sigma news feed was the following Spokesman Review story:
City adds job [...]
Are struggling to figure out how Twitter fits into your business model? Have you read or heard that twittering is good for your business, but you are frustrated because you are not getting the results you want?
Well, if you have had this experience I would invite you to reflect back on the reason why you joined Twitter.
Why [...]
A Run Chart
is a time-ordered series data plot used to observe the performance of a process. Run charts are often shown on daily visual management boards to track key performance indicators. Recording daily trends can help identify abnormalities or variations in your process. You will want to record data in a run [...]
As a change agent, we lead groups of cross functional teams from all levels of the organization. Soft skills training is invaluable to effective leadership. This training will enable you to direct the change adoption process. For every change there is usually some form of resistance. CAVE dweller will seem to be lurking in the shadows [...]
A Fishbone Diagram
or cause and effect diagram is a tool used during brainstorming sessions of Lean Six Sigma projects. This tool will help you drill down to root causes of defects and identify possible failure modes. You will use this graphical tool in conjunction with the Five Whys method of questioning. This tutorial demonstrates how [...]
The biggest issue that causes a stir in the lean six sigma world is CULTURE. How to develop the culture and manage the change to new lean initiatives. Sustaining improvements and avoiding the flavor of the month syndrome has been the topic of books, seminars, and forum discussions around the world. As Lean Six Sigma [...]
Takt Time
is the maximum allowable cycle time required to meet customer demands. This is a video that defines takt time and gives an example of how to calculate takt time. Takt time is important to the development and evaluation of standard work. For example, if your takt time is 5 minutes, the cycle time for [...]
Kaizen Events
can be a source of apprehension for many team members and team leaders. It’s at the beginning of the event when you want to set the tone that the team wants. . .”To Boldly Go, Where No Man has Gone Before.”
What you may find is that some of your team members may
Lack boldness
Are only [...]
How NOT to explain what you do at work. . . FUNNY!
Yesterday, I was traveling on the highway, listening to my favorite CD when I made an observation. I took note of the tractor trailers on the road and noticed the majority had tractors with single trailers. Interestingly, the UPS and FedEx tractors had double trailers. I thought to myself, “Why are UPS and FedEx using double [...]
Learn how to perform Multiple Regression analysis with SigmaXL.
Why perform a Multiple Regression Analysis?
Y = f (x1, x2, x3, . . .xn)
To detemine which input or process variables (Xs) affect your output (Y). Multiple regression helps find the source of most of your variation in the process. If you know the primary sources of variation you can [...]
The Voice of the Customer is the primary reason for engaging in continuous improvement efforts. Happy customers are critical to long term growth and profitability. As Lean Six Sigma practitioners we must always make sure the Voice of the Customer (VOC) remains paramount in the evaluation of existing processes and the design of new processes. [...]
Why use the Advanced Pareto chart function?
To help prioritize your efforts to reduce/eliminate defects. The Pareto principle indicates that approximately 80% of process defects are caused by 20% of the problems. Separate the vital few from the useful many. The SigmaXL function helps draw comparisons between similiar categories.
Used in DMAIC Phase(s). . . .
Measure
Analyze
Type of Measure
Input
Process
Output
Type [...]
Why use a Pareto chart?
To help prioritize your efforts to reduce/eliminate defects. The Pareto principle indicates that approximately 80% of process defects are caused by 20% of the problems. Separate the vital few from the useful many.
Used in DMAIC Phase(s). . . .
Measure
Analyze
Type of Measure
Input
Process
Output
Type of Data
Discrete
To learn more about Six Sigma certification or to [...]
Acuity Institute
is the gold standard for online six sigma certifications. If you are looking for a convenient way to achieve your professional development goals, you will be pleased to find that the Acuity Institute’s Six Sigma Black Belt, Green Belt, and Kaizen Workshop certification courses will exceed your expectations. The drawbacks of many traditional six [...]
