Basic Sampling Strategies: Sample vs. Population Data

Information is not readily found at a bargain price. Gathering it is costly in terms of salaries, expenses and time. Taking samples of information can help ease these costs because it is often impractical to collect all the data. Sound conclusions can often be drawn from a relatively...

Continue reading

Implementation of Six Sigma Priority Matrixes and a Tollgate Process

Working for a large multinational corporation has given me insight into, and sympathy for, the hearts and minds of department and cost center leaders. Each year they are required by company leadership to find millions of dollars using Six Sigma productivity initiatives – a subtle way of saying...

Continue reading

Understanding Process Variation

• 
• 

PrevNext

It is well established that there exist eight dimensions of quality: 1. Conformance 2. Performance 3. Features 4. Reliability 5. Durability 6. Serviceability 7. Aesthetics 8. Perceived quality Each dimension can be explicitly defined and is self-exclusive from the other dimensions of quality. A customer may rate your...

Continue reading

3 Benefits of Implementing ITSM via ITIL

• 
• 

PrevNext

While Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) is prevalent in larger organizations, other organizations are still looking at implementing ITSM and haven’t taken the plunge yet. Chances are good some of those same shops have created their own do-it-yourself (DIY) service delivery models over the years, and they don’t...

Continue reading

Ideas for Using Lean Six Sigma in the Marine Corps

The U.S. Marine Corps’ continuous process improvement (CPI) effort is aimed at enhancing all aspects of support provided to operating forces to maximize combat readiness and war fighting capability. That means the Marine Corps is emphasizing that the CPI program is for every level and every element of...

Continue reading

PRINCE2 Methodology & Advantages

Projects IN Controlled Environments or known as PRINCE2, is a methodology in project management. Which is applicable to all types of projects. It is evolved from an earlier method called Project Resource Organisation Management Planning Techniques or known as PROMPT II. In 1989 the Central Computer and Telecommunications...

Continue reading

Improving Personal Health Using Data and Six Sigma

• 
• 
• 
• 

PrevNext

Four times a year, I donate blood at a local blood bank and receive readings on my cholesterol, blood pressure and pulse. Although donating blood does not improve a person’s health, the regular readings of the vital signs, along with analysis and actions stemming from this data, can...

Continue reading

Leveraging Lean Six Sigma Tools for Strategic Planning

• 
• 

PrevNext

The Northern Regional Medical Command (NRMC) Office of the Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) is a team of high caliber military and civilian leaders tasked with deploying and supporting the use of information technology across 33 hospitals and clinics up and down the Eastern seaboard and extending as...

Continue reading

Proper Data Granularity Allows for Stronger Analysis

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

PrevNext

Can we trust the data? This is the fundamental question behind measurement system analysis (MSA). The question can come up in any data-based project. Shortcomings in a measurement system’s accuracy (bias, linearity, stability or correlation) and precision (resolution, repeatability or reproducibility) can obstruct analysis purposes. One often-overlooked aspect...

Continue reading

Key Differentiator for Six Sigma: Its Infrastructure

Some detractors of Six Sigma have said that it just borrowed tools and techniques from earlier improvement systems – chiefly total quality management (TQM) – and repackaged and marketed it under a different name. While true, there is one reason why Six Sigma is different from its predecessors...

Continue reading

Project Management vs General Management

The differences between project management and general management are actually not very distinct. However, a few differences between the two set the two apart, giving them each a unique definition. What is Project Management? Project management is comprised of organizing, planning, motivating, and controlling procedures, resources and protocols...

Continue reading

Hypothesis Testing: Fear No More

• 
• 
• 

PrevNext

When analyzing data as part of a Lean Six Sigma project, some Belts can become confused to the point of fear when their coach tells them they need to perform a hypothesis test. This fear often comes from two sources: 1) the selection of the appropriate hypothesis test...

Continue reading