Category: Six Sigma

  • Surface Temperature Data Quality Suspect Casts Doubt on “Global Warming” Hypothesis

    The Obama administration has proposed, and the House of Representative has recently passed, sweeping legislation to deal with the problem of climate change or, more specifically, global warming. The problem is supposedly that human activity is releasing CO2 and this in turn is causing catastrophic increases in global temperatures. This hypothesis is supported in part…

  • A Quality Lexicon

    In the deployment of Six Sigma, we usually begin by defining our terms. I must admit to negligence in this regard, because I haven’t yet defined for you what I mean when I write about “quality.” As this definition is at the root of all of our discussions in one way or another, it deserves…

  • The Six Sigma Knowledge Gap

    Statistical probability should be used only when we lack knowledge of the situation and cannot obtain it at a reasonable cost. I recently attended a presentation using a control chart. The control chart showed a process in statistical control at about an 8-percent reject rate. The presenter noted that the process was stable and went…

  • Six Sigma: 5 Reasons Why Big Business Is Going Geek

    Six Sigma: 5 Reasons Why Big Business Is Going Geek

    Businesses always want to cut down on costs, improve profits, and drive the bottom line. Yet, increasingly companies are learning that the traditional practices just won’t cut it anymore. They are turning to Six Sigma, which applies statistical practices to management, to get their answers. But Six Sigma is little more than a geek’s approach…

  • P.F. Chang’s Simple Recipe for Profits

    Newsweek Voices – Daniel Gross | Newsweek.com. Newsweek reports that P.F. Chang’s has bucked the trend of other restaurants by not only opening new stores, it has also increased its profits by 38 percent compared to first quarter 2008. According to Co-CEO Rick Federico, P.F. Changs has done this by focusing its attention on identifying…

  • City Uses Six Sigma to Promote Efficiency

    Spokesman.com | City adds job to promote efficiency | May 27, 2009. Spokane, Washington has acted to be smart in its cost-cutting efforts by hiring a full time change agent to look at how Lean Six Sigma can help them make smart cuts. Lean Six Sigma is a methodology that has proven itself in countless…

  • SPC and Global Warming Part II

    On a previous post, I presented an SPC analysis of global temperature change that indicated a special cause of variation affecting the temperature data. While theories abound to explain the temperature increase, I will explore only three: urbanization, or the “heat island” effect; carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere due to human activities; and the sunspot…

  • Six Sigma Is Primarily a Management Program

    In the 1970s, Motorola learned about quality the hard way—by being consistently beaten in the competitive marketplace. When a Japanese firm took over a Motorola factory that manufactured television sets in the United States, it promptly set about making drastic operational changes. Under Japanese management, the factory was soon producing TV sets with 1/20th the…

  • SPC and Global Warming Part I

    In the world of work, people have a natural tendency to become emotionally involved in their jobs. This is vital if they are to take pride in their accomplishments and do quality work. However, this involvement also makes it difficult for most people to see problems in their work. SPC benefits users by directing attention…

  • Six Sigma Project Guidelines in Plain English

    Define the project In this phase you will select a good project and describe it in detail. A good project is one that will have an impact on something important to the organization, requires the Six Sigma skill set, and has a good chance of succeeding. To determine this you need to link your project…