Part 4 of a 4-Part Series

We come now to what started this “Road to Six Sigma” series in the first place, Dr. Shewhart’s simple control tool, the control chart. The control chart is really two time-based charts plotted on the same form. For simplicity’s sake, we will focus on control charts for variable individual readings because (more…)

Part 3 of a 4 part series

In the previous article we discussed how to use cause-effect diagrams and scatter diagrams to identify the causes of problems and to quantify the impact of solving those problems. I said then that we would be discussing (more…)

Part 2 of a 3 part series

Last week we talked about using Pareto analysis for organizing, simplifying, and prioritizing problem solving. This week, we’re going to introduce two simple tools which can be used together to improve the performance of business systems. In improving any process, (more…)

Part 1 of a 3 part series

In the manufacturing world, statistical process control (SPC) has been effectively used for decades. Walter A. Shewhart at Western Electric in the 1920’s introduced the concepts of “Assignable Causeâ€? and “Chance Causeâ€? each of which could be responsible for (more…)

We have discussed how to get started implementing lean thinking, Value Stream Mapping, and taking a second look. The first pass assessment is used to understand your metrics, flows, and constraints to flow. In the second pass assessment, we perform a more detailed analysis and (more…)

Last time we discussed how to start a second pass assessment where we capture a more detailed analysis of the metrics, flows, and constraints and document them in a Value Stream Map. This week we will look at how to finish the analysis so (more…)

Last time we discussed how to get started implementing lean thinking. It all started with a first pass assessment to begin to understand your metrics, flows, and constraints to flow. The critical document to the first pass assessment was producing a rough Value Stream Map to document (more…)

Interest in Lean Thinking continues to grow. Many people have attended Lean training to learn the tools used to implement lean. But one question remains for many – how or where do you start to “lean outâ€? your organization? (more…)

In the previous article, we discussed the two types of goals we can create: something we strive for ( Projection ) or something we start from ( Position ) goals. Another idea Cyndi Crother, author of Catch , presented was how the greatest (more…)

Inventive Problem Solving

Last week we discussed the how design flow differs and the principle of iteration versus replication. This week we are going to look at innovation. Where do all the good ideas come from? (more…)