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Six Sigma: Love It or Hate It?
For a technical topic, Six Sigma tends to generate a lot of strong feelings. As the author of The Six Sigma Handbook I obviously have a few of these feelings myself. Still, on balance, I’m a Six Sigma “lover.” I think that the approach is an excellent way to help organizations achieve their goals by…
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Six Sigma, Data Mining and Dead Customer Accounts
In an interview with Quality Digest, Joseph M. Juran pointed out that quality needs to “scale up” if it is to remain a viable force in the next century. In other words, quality must spread beyond its traditional manufacturing base. A major opportunity to do just that now exists, as Six Sigma enjoys a resurgence…
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Thinking Outside the Box With PCA
A common problem with SPC is that the world appears too complicated for a statistical approach to work. In complex electronics products, for example, circuit boards may have thousands of holes and microchips may have millions of transistors. Plotting control charts of each and every dimension is clearly not feasible. What can be done? To…
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Preventing Hospital Falls with Six Sigma
Hospital processes produce many things. Most of them are desirable outcomes, such as healthy newborn babies, new hip joints, cancer-free patients and blood flowing freely through once-blocked coronary arteries. In other words, happy, healthy and satisfied patients. These results are why healthcare professionals chose their field. They generate revenue that patients are happy to pay…
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When in Doubt, Get the X-Chart Out!
Phil looked at the data Joan had just handed him. Joan was a recent graduate of an SPC seminar the company had sponsored for administrative personnel and, since Phil had been the Quality Engineer who taught the classes, it was only natural that she would seek his help. She was trying her best to follow…
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Recognizing a Six Sigma Project Opportunity
Lean Six Sigma projects must help the organization achieve its goals. To accomplish this you must take action that guarantees that your project activities are directly linked to the goals specified by your leaders. Example of a CEO’s Vision Six Sigma begins with the vision of the senior leader and his or her team. The…
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How to Calculate Process Yields
Sam handed Peter a computer printout and asked, “If the yields are so high, why is my efficiency so low?” Peter, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, studied the report for a moment and then nodded. “Let me show you what’s going on,” he said as he picked up a marker and drew a diagram…
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Six Sigma Roadmap for Small Businesses
Many Six Sigma experts have expressed doubt that Six Sigma can be used effectively in small, or even in some medium-sized, organizations. However, while the approach to deployment must be modified, it is possible for small businesses to successfully implement Six Sigma. Here is how. At the outset, several givens must be in place: All…
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DMAIC and DMADV
The tools of Six Sigma are most often applied within a simple performance improvement model known as Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control, or DMAIC. DMAIC is summarized in Table 1. DMAIC is used when a project’s goal can be accomplished by improving an existing product, process, or service. The question is often asked: What is DMAIC Methodology? The chart…
