Question of the month: Why are control charts so important in measuring process effectiveness?

In October, we continued the Road to Six Sigma series dealing with statistical process control in business settings. We discussed correlation and control charts—two very important concepts that enable you to understand (more…)

Question of the month: What is the difference between common cause and assignable cause?

Email articles in September discussed applying statistical process control (SPC) methods to business processes. Today many organizations have implemented a rigorous application of statistical methods called Six Sigma. However, Six Sigma is not for everyone because (more…)

Question of the month: Under what situations can training be financially justified?

The email articles in August talked about workplace training programs. Highly trained and competent employees are great assets to any company. These employees grow and change as (more…)

Question of the month: How does fear impact continuous improvement?

The past four articles were associated with Lean Thinking. It is important to have a sound understanding your metrics, flows and constraints as well as the value-add and non-value add activities. (more…)

Question of the month: What is the difference between projection goals and position goals?

The highlight of this month was the release of yet another procedures manual – the AS9100 Aerospace Policies & Procedures Manual. Our articles this month also talked about setting goals and understanding process relationships to achieve improvement. (more…)

Question of the month: Which international quality standard is applicable to organizations that operate within our food chain?

Another month is behind us. However, quality is a topic that is always in the forefront. Quality standards help you focus on your customers by aligning your operational processes to (more…)

Question of the month: How is the design flow in an organization different from the manufacturing flow?

This month, the focus of our articles was on core process flows, innovation and problem solving. A typical company has three core process flows – cash cycle, manufacturing (or fulfillment cycle) and design cycle. Your cash cycle reflects how (more…)

Question of the month: How can you benefit by converting your supply chains into value chains?

February was a short month and we focused our two main articles on supply chains. Understanding your supply chain is very important for sustained business growth. Focusing beyond your customers and suppliers to their customers and suppliers enables you to (more…)

Question of the month: How do you know if you are using the right metric(s) to measure your leadership effectiveness?

January saw the release of the newest manual in our collection—the ISO 22000 Food Safety Policies, Procedures & Forms. We also discussed leadership in January and announced the 2006 ASQ St. Louis Quality Conference. (more…)