Between 1987 and 1992, the most successful implementation of Six Sigma didn’t require Black Belts or Green Belts. Instead, Six Sigma initiates received training in problem solving, team work, basic quality tools, and statistical tools. However, sense of urgency, dramatic improvement, and teamwork…

An old saying has guided me through the years—“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig.” A recent article in the Wall Street Journal in the Cubicle Corner section was written by a good friend of mine, Jared Sandberg. In “Bad At Complying? You Might Just Be a…

I’ve been privileged to work in the statistical-software industry for the last 10 years, and frequently I receive phone calls from professionals who need information or guidance on statistical methods. Overwhelmingly, they call with excellent questions. Their interest and enthusiasm are exciting,…

Tushar Sathe holds a vial of dual-function beads embedded with iron oxide and 600 nanometer emission quantum dots, while Shuming Nie looks on. The other vials contain beads embedded with quantum dots that emit light at other wavelengths. photo by Gary Meek…

People in an organization usually move from one project to another, repeating the same mistakes, dealing with similar crises, despairing over underperforming team members, and more. Over and over. Some people learn informally what made one project successful and another unsuccessful, but knowledge…

I seem to be thinking about the measurement phase a lot recently. I suppose it’s because I’ve seen some teams working hard on problems that turned out to be nothing more than problems with measurement. Let me give you an example.Once upon a time, I was responsible for a product that was frequently…

Not only is the world getting flatter, it’s becoming more colorful. As globalization becomes a reality, more and more companies will employ people of every race, nationality, religious background, and age group. These people will work side by side in the same office building, others a hemisphere…

What is GD&T, anyway? The Greatest Design Tool ever, or a whole bunch of Gol-Derned Trouble? Actually, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing is both, and worth every penny. Only with the help of GD&T can we test and guarantee the functionality of parts and assemblies on the design…

Many measurements assume that a measuring device performs in the same way throughout its measuring range. In other words, a 1 mm distance measured near the center of a machine will measure 1 mm at its periphery. But will it? This column discusses some of the factors that can cause nonlinear…

Last month’s column dealt with how to effectively communicate a finding of nonconformity in an audit report. It’s pretty straightforward: Here’s the requirement; there’s the evidence. They don’t match. Observations, which are now often called opportunities for improvement (OFIs), aren’t so cut and…

Many companies view production maintenance as a necessary evil, and through the years, manufacturers have simply accepted maintenance as-is and made little little or no effort to improve it. But some forward-thinking manufacturers, committed to lean processes, and their outsourced maintenance…

Six Sigma is being implemented at more and more corporations. After a significant investment in training, corporations initiate projects. Six Sigma Champions have told me that some companies have several thousand projects in the pipeline. Managing that many projects is a major task. How many…

Since 1994, the American Customer Satisfaction Index, under the auspices of the National Quality Resource Center at the University of Michigan, has been the standard for measuring consumer satisfaction. The index measures satisfaction with 200 companies in 43 industries and is the most…

For people with impaired mobility and reduced ability to sense injury, the risk is high for pressure ulcers that can develop when they sit or recline in one position too long or wear a poorly-fitted prostheses for an extended period. Clinical data collection helps drive the researchers’…

Question: What kind of dishes are made out of lead? Answer: China Many of us in U.S. industry have forgotten the principles of our dearly departed quality guru, W. Edwards Deming, since his passing in 1993. Since then our quality levels as a country have grown only slightly. At the Society of Anti-…

There is something that will get you into trouble if you don’t know about it, and which in my experience very few Black Belts or even Master Black Belts know about. It’s only in the mind of the person doing the research, and no software program will know about it. This mysterious property is “…

There is something that will get you into trouble if you don’t know about it, and which in my experience very few Black Belts or even Master Black Belts know about. It’s only in the mind of the person doing the research, and no software program will know about it. This mysterious property is “…

For quite some time a major question has been cropping up in my mind: Is Six Sigma’s application in software development as effective as it is in the manufacturing industry?The answer is “No.” The savings and benefits that occur in the software industry due to Six Sigma and other process-…

It probably started when my favorite diner served my coffee cold three visits in a row. “Why can’t I get a hot cup of coffee?” I thought. “This is the Quality Diner.” After all, I always left a nice tip. In fact, I had become so accustomed to leaving the suggested tip, that I didn’t connect it with…

All this talk about work in past columns—and the end of summer looming—makes me think about golf. You may not discuss golf and measurement in the same breath, but there are a lot of critical measurements involved in golf. There are also a lot of variables in angle, force, and direction to be…

“Nonfulfillment of a requirement.” That’s the clear and concise definition of a nonconformity offered up by ISO 9000:2005–“Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary.” The definition leaves little room for ambiguity. A nonconformity is the identification of an incident involving either…

Not long ago, the economic outlook for small- and medium-size manufacturers in the United States looked problematic. The latest China-U.S. trade talks had ended with little progress on the key issue of the undervalued Yuan, and slow economic growth had led to a decrease in optimism among…

As I teach Six Sigma in my classes, I try to create projects for myself, and often it’s the same project over and over. This time, my project was to use Six Sigma to reduce my extra weight.In 1986 one of my clients distributed a “heart for life” goodie bag on Christmas. In the bag was a measuring…

Being confined to a hospital bed can bring more discomfort than the malady that prompted the admission. Crowded rooms with other patients in various stages of illness, tasteless meals delivered with apathy, loud announcements for lost doctors, and a staff more concerned about planning their next…

Being confined to a hospital bed can bring more discomfort than the malady that prompted the admission. Crowded rooms with other patients in various stages of illness, tasteless meals delivered with apathy, loud announcements for lost doctors, and a staff more concerned about planning their next…