Articles

Step-by-Step Guide to Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Process Flow Diagram

Introduction In process engineering Process Flow Diagram is one popular tool to represent various segments of an ongoing process. It could be a chemical process or any engineering process taking place in a plant facilitation. PFD is essential in every submission of process engineering. PFD details about major equipment of plant facility, how such equipment […]

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How to use Kaizen in Healthcare

How to use Kaizen in Healthcare

Kaizen is a method of thinking that can be used in personal lives as well as businesses. The basic method of this line of thinking involves two things, small changes, and common sense. It has been used in thousands of businesses around the world and positive results have come from the proper use of it. […]

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Guide for evaluating MSA

Guide for evaluating MSA – Measurement System Analysis

In order to evaluate the performance of an existing system, first the performance criteria of the system must be decided upon. Once the criterion is defined, it is necessary to collect data from the system. However, collecting data with varied tools, methods and people would lead to inconsistent results which could result in incorrect conclusions. […]

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Kaizen - Key effectiveness

How Kaizen Can be The Key To Your Competitive Success

When it comes to owning a business, success should be the number one factor on the mind of the people running the company. There are a number of different ways that you can improve the quality of your company. A new emerging way to bring success to your company involves using Kaizen, which roughly translated […]

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Six Sigma RCA Training - Decision Trees

How to Create a Decision Tree for Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis is an invaluable skill to have in your Six Sigma toolkit. But how do we use Root Cause Analysis to the best effect? What tool is most helpful for this task? That would be the Decision Tree. This method involves branching between causes and outcomes to illustrate the consequences of your choices. […]

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Experience Makes Six Sigma Training Priceless

How important is work experience and on the job training when potential employers look at candidates for a particular position? You can say it is very important! Let us start with an example of two college students at rival schools. Both are exceptional students, exceptional human beings with extra-curricular activities to show that they can […]

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Step up with Six Sigma Blackbelt

What is the Career Path of a Six Sigma Black Belt?

Six Sigma Black Belts are the lynchpin of many Six Sigma projects. You may know one such person, or maybe you are that person. What about life after the project? What additional opportunities does an SSBB background grant you? Which prospects are best for your career development? Having Black Belt certification listed on your résumé […]

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Avoid complacency and leave your comfort zone!

How to Avoid Complacency and Continually Improve with Six Sigma

Complacency is an epidemic. It kills productivity and can negatively affect your performance. Studies have shown that complacency comes from a lack of engagement, and affects up to 70% of the US working population. This means around three-quarters of American employees are not fully committed to their everyday workplace tasks! As an employer, this should […]

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Know your lean from you kanban and your muda from your methodology

Six Sigma, Kaizen, or Lean? What is the Difference?

Six Sigma, Kaizen, and Lean. You might have heard of them. People throw these terms around a lot nowadays, often interchangeably. But what do they mean? What makes them different? And are they so similar? Remember, each tool solves specific, specialized problems. This article will help you get to the bottom of this mystery so you […]

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The Five Whys - Root Cause Analysis in Six Sigma

The Five Whys: Understanding the Root Cause of a Problem

Is your company using Six Sigma to improve efficiency, eliminate waste, and minimize variation? Six Sigma has been a proven success for many businesses around the world dealing with similar problems. But where do these issues come from? How do they arise? And most importantly why? Six Sigma DMAIC teaches you to Define, Measure, Analyze, […]

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Go! Manage your Six Sigma project

Go: Guide to Running a Successful Six Sigma Project

This article is the third in our three-part series to help you achieve the best results using Six Sigma. You can read the previous two articles here. Now, go! You’ve made your plans and assembled your team, but what comes next is not always as easy (or as difficult!) as it may first appear. The […]

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Green Belt - Entry Level Salaries

Six Sigma Green Belts – What is their entry level salary?

Introduction With technological advancements and innovation in business processes, there came Six Sigma a systematic methodology to defeat defects and failures. Six Sigma is described as an engineering approach to minimize defects, counter failures and minimize waste in production system. It comprehensively deals flaws of a service system. Starting from automotive industry, Six Sigma entered […]

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Make the Best Use of DoE

How to Make the Best Use of DoE (Design of Experiments)

Six Sigma represents a vast collection of tools that can be used for improving the way your company does business. One of the most popular and powerful is a DOE. Let’s take a look at how to get the most from this incredible tool. Begin with Your Factors in Mind: You can’t do a successful […]

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Vital Levels of MSA

Vital Levels of MSA – Measurement System Analysis

If you’re becoming familiar with Six Sigma, it’s only a matter of time before you learn about MSA (Measurement System Analysis). This concept is right at home finding and eliminating potential variability. As we’re going to cover in detail below, there are certain levels of MSAs. By learning them now, you’ll have a much easier […]

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Lean Process Improvement

Understanding the Basics – Lean Process Improvement

If we are to understand the basics of Lean process improvement let’s start with a review of the definition of Lean. We can define Lean as a system for developing process improvement that is continuous and has a focus on reducing and eliminating waste. Toyota developed the concept to help with their production operation and […]

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TQM - Business Benefits

Achieve Business Excellence with Total Quality Management (TQM)

If you’re ready to improve your business’ performance, it’s hard not to recommend TQM. However, if you’re unfamiliar with this business methodology, the following will help. What Is TQM? Let’s cover the basics quickly. TQM stands for total quality management. This structured approach offers a comprehensive method for organizational management that focuses on improving the […]

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Lean in with Six Sigma

Lean In: How to Gather Support for Six Sigma in Your Company

Are you prepared to advocate and fully support Lean Six Sigma? If yes, how do you know? If no, how you reach that stage? These questions can be tiresome and their answers difficult to pin down. We’re here to make things easy for you. Today we will help you get ready for Lean Six Sigma (or recognize […]

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World of Gage R & R

The World of Gage R&R (Repeatability & Reproducibility)

Introduction The most complicated thing to understand in any process is ‘variation’ as with variation there are possibilities of uncertainty to be carried in processes. The more the variation, the more uncertain is any process. In engineering and in contemporary administrative practices, the emphasis lies on minimizing variation. For such reason, initiatives are taken to […]

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5S - Beginner's Guide

Explained: 5S Framework – Beginner’s Guide

5S is a methodology that is used in workplaces across the world. The “5S” name comes from the 5 Japanese words that make up the process. The five words are seiri, sieton, seiso, seiketus, and shitsuke. Roughly translated these words stand for sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. They all describe ways in […]

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Beginner's Guide - VSM

Beginner’s Guide to Value Stream Mapping (VSM)

We look now at the Lean method of Value Stream Mapping (VSM). This is a method where you analyze a current state and design a future state where you look at events from the very beginning of the process to the very end with delivery to the customer. This can involve a product or service. […]

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