Quality Quiz from PQ Systems e-Line
Posted by: meikah | 10 November 2010 | 8:17 pm
PQ Systems through it’s Quality eline newsletter brings us another quality quiz by Professor Leary.
For this month’s quiz, and a chance to win a copy of Quality Quiz Classics, submit your response by November 29 to be entered in the drawing.
Here’s the quiz:
You just never know what will develop from something that begins as an exercise in using sampling techniques, especially when you put an idea on to simmer and hope that it comes to a full boil. When Russ T. Buckett’s boss, M.T. Pott, heard about Russ’ idea for developing and marketing a new exotic tea product, he was bubbling over with enthusiasm for the idea. Nonetheless, he wanted Russ to test the water, so to speak, to be sure that it represented a hot market for the new product.
Winners of last month’s quiz who will get a copy of Quality Quiz Classics DVD:
Noel Farrington (Flowserve)
Bartosz Jankowski (LG Electronics)
James Lauer (Caterpillar Inc.)
Carolyn S. Townsend (Clarian Health)
Kelly Whitehead (Ballard Power Systems)
Congratulations!
Filed under: PQ Systems eLine, Quality, Quality Quiz, Six Sigma
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Job Seekers Enroll in Lean Six Sigma Training
Posted by: meikah | 8 November 2010 | 9:16 pm
The recession in the U.S. leaves many workers unemployed. Mary Wolf-Francis, business liaison for Workforce Division of the city of Phoenix Community and Economic Development Department, calls these workers as the “unlikely unemployed” because they are people who have advanced degrees and have decades of high-level experience.
So what city administrators of Phoenix City did was to use a portion of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds to help these out-of-work professionals. They worked in partnership with the Global Outreach and Extended Education (GOEE) office of Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. The out-of-work professionals were given trainings in Lean Six Sigma. The training composed of 2 sessions of a two-week Lean Six Sigma Green Belt program and 1 session of a four-week Lean Six Sigma Black Belt program.
The administrators believe that these trainings will arm the workers with the right skills to join the American workforce.
Filed under: Economy, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Belt, Six Sigma Training
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Six Sigma Reference Feature: A Primer on Design of Experiments (DOE)
Posted by: meikah | 8 November 2010 | 8:47 pm
Six Sigma, or its DMAIC tool, is closely connected with DOE, design of experiments. In general usage, a design of experiment is any information-gathering exercises where variation is present. This system finds cause-and-effect relationships, an information you need to manage process inputs and optimize the output.
An article on iSixSigma discusses a primer of Design of Experiments. The article starts the discussion with a definition of terms to an example, and to the process.
Read: Design of Experiments – A Primer
Filed under: DMAIC, DOE, Six Sigma, Six Sigma References, iSixSigma
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Six Sigma Companies News: Southcoast Health System Saves $20M Without Layoffs
Posted by: meikah | 28 October 2010 | 12:31 am
Here’s another edition of Six Sigma Companies News.
Southcoast Health System–a three-hospital system based in New Bedford, Mass.–has saved $20 million since it began implementing Lean Six Sigma in January 2009, the New England Business Bulletin reports. The savings are “well over” the amount invested, Patrick Gannon, vice president and chief quality officer for Southcoast Hospitals Group, told the Bulletin.
Filed under: Healthcare, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, Six Sigma News, Six Sigma Organizations
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4 Qualities That Identify a Successful Six Sigma Belt Candidate
Posted by: meikah | 27 October 2010 | 11:54 pm
When you launch a Six Sigma initiative, you would survey your people and form a Six Sigma team. Of course, in so doing, you check out every employee and his potentials to carry on with a Six Sigma project.
- Learning Ability. A candidate must be able to understand instructions and underlying principles with the ability to reason and make sound decisions possessing an analytical mindset.
- Leadership. A candidate must demonstrate leadership in a team environment with the ability to mentor team members to achieve a level of knowledge that fosters cultural growth and individual project success.
- Desire. A candidate must possess the trait of motivation that has been demonstrated in past performance.
- Determination. A candidate must devote full strength and concentrate attention to achieving results in the short and long term.
Filed under: Deployment, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Jobs, Six Sigma Team
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Podcast: How Lean Six Sigma Gets Organization to Listen to its Customers
Posted by: meikah | 22 October 2010 | 1:34 am
SixSigmaiQ puts out this podcast featuring David Haigh.
About the Podcast
David Haigh, Process Excellence Manager at Johnson & Johnson, speaks about how Lean Six Sigma can get your organization to listen to its customer and separate work from waste. In addition, Haigh shares some of his dashboards knowledge that he will be presenting at the upcoming IQPC 6th Annual Lean Six Sigma and Process Improvement Summit in Toronto, Canada, from February 22-24, 2010.
Filed under: Events/Announcements, IQPC, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Podcast, Six Sigma References, Six Sigma iQ
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Lean Six Sigma Remains Strong in Manufacturing
Posted by: meikah | 22 October 2010 | 12:53 am
According to a recent study, the deployment of Lean and Six Sigma methods remains strong in the manufacturing sector.
Check out the table below.
Continuous Improvement Methods Used by Manufacturers
| Method/Tool | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| 5S | 67.6% | 69.2% |
| Six Sigma | 58.5% | 58.6% |
| Kaizen | 57.9% | 55.7% |
| Value stream mapping | 46.6% | 47.3% |
| Kanban | 43.5% | 40.6% |
| Takt time analysis | 24.6% | 22.1% |
| Other | 5.7% | 6.1% |
Source: Compdata Surveys, 2010
Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma
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DMAIC and Lean Six Sigma Buy-In
Posted by: meikah | 11 October 2010 | 3:13 am
An article on iSixSigma discusses the use of DMAIC model to overcome resistance to Lean Six Sigma implementation.
- Eliminating uncertainty. Resistance often springs from not understanding what the project is for. But at the Define stage of DMAIC, the overall purpose of the project can already be established
- Agreeing on the “As Is.” Another resistance is that people don’t understand the process itself, and how it works. This can be addressed by the Measure phase of DMAIC by presenting the “as is” picture. How the current process is working and how it can work after the improvement.
- Pointing Toward Solutions. The Analyze phase of DMAIC touches on the root cause, correlation, variation and impact of the project. This key information helps people get a clear picture of what should be done and see the potential solutions.
- Adding Options for Solutions. In the Improve phase, the solutions are seen as valuable to the organization.
- Sustaining Improvements. People often think of a new activity as a flash in the pan and thus get suspicious. But the Control phase answers this concern. This phase presents sustainability models in palce and are easy to use and explain.
Filed under: DMAIC, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma
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Quality Quiz from PQ Systems e-Line
Posted by: meikah | 23 September 2010 | 2:39 am
PQ Systems through it’s Quality eline newsletter brings us another quality quiz by Professor Leary.
For this month’s quiz, and a chance to win a copy of Quality Quiz Classics, submit your response by September 30 to be entered in the drawing.
Here’s the quiz:
Russ T. Buckett, Quinn Quip’s boss at Quince Quality Quiche, continues to demand information about the citizens of Quincy, in order to enhance the company’s marketing efforts. He asks Quinn to survey residents’ views about the economy in terms of their assessment of the effect—positive or negative—that the current economic situation has on them. In other words, he wants a mini-assessment of the local consumer confidence level, so he can frame promotional campaigns to a receptive audience.
Winners of last month’s quiz and a copy of the Quality Quiz Classics DVD:
Filed under: PQ Systems eLine, Quality Quiz, Six Sigma
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Clipper Windpower Goes Six Sigma
Posted by: meikah | 22 September 2010 | 3:44 am
Clipper Windpower is a fast growing company. It’s business is wind energy technology, wind turbine manufacturing, and wind project development
The company already got its ISO 9001 certification, but its turning point was during the winter of 2007-2008 when the winter hit hard and freezing rain and fog caused the anemometer units to fail. They were able to fix it, although temporarily. The problem recurs.
That was when Clipper Windpower decided to go Six Sigma and launched its DMAIC journey.
Learn how the company did it HERE.
