Six Sigma is based on the DMAIC cycle. DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control, and is a step-by-step approach to solving large problems. Six Sigma refers to the standard deviations and is geared primarily towards reducing variation, so the output of a process fits within six standard deviations Read more…
Discrete data is data that is countable, quantitative data. It is numerical in data, stemming from a physical count or measurement, and has a limited number of possible values. The number of wheels on a vehicle would be discrete data. Discrete data has the advantage of being easy to collect. Read more…
Gut feel is the immediate response you come to about something, based on intuition. It is formed nearly instantly due to the sum of your experience and training, based upon the available information you have. The degree of accuracy varies from person to person, but the common aspect for everyone Read more…
The term “firefighting” is often used to describe solving problems in a mad scramble during a crisis. It generally means that someone comes in and handles a problem in an emergency mode. The result is normally just enough to rescue the team from its predicament, but seldom actually solves the Read more…
There’s and old joke. There are two types of people in the world. Those that know what extrapolation is, and those… If you know what extrapolation is, you get the joke. Extrapolation is the process of making an estimate of what data will look like based on the current trend. Read more…
The exact origin of the term ‘Good Idea Fairy’ is unknown, but it is generally thought to be in the US military. It is a derogatory term for leaders who come up with what is considered by the team to be crazy ideas that are seemingly plucked out of thin Read more…
SME is a non-profit organization that is geared towards helping companies with innovation and growth through the promotion of manufacturing technology. It also emphasizes training the workforce and “connecting the manufacturing industry”. Its original target audience was manufacturing engineers, but it has since rebranded itself to appeal to a wider Read more…
The Lean Enterprise Academy is the UK equivalent to the Lean Enterprise Institute. The websites share a common look and feel and sell many of the same products. The Lean Enterprise Academy is a non-profit organization that aims “to develop and disseminate knowledge of lean thinking and lean practice.” It Read more…
Bill Smith (1929-1993) is the little-known inventor of Six Sigma while working at Motorola. Reportedly, his early version of the problem-solving steps was “MAIC”, or measure, analyze, improve, control, with “Define” added later to make it the current version, “DMAIC”. As a result of Smith’s efforts, Motorola was the first Read more…
Walter Andrew Shewhart (March 18, 1891 – March 11, 1967) was an engineer, statistician, and physicist. He did a great deal of work in industrial quality with an emphasis on statistical process control. He is perhaps best known for his impact on the PDCA cycle. Deming reportedly adopted it from Read more…
Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker is one of the foremost experts on the Toyota Production System and is a prolific writer on the subject. His most famous work is The Toyota Way, but he has authored several additional books on related topics. Dr. Liker is a professor at the University of Read more…
Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa (July 13, 1915 – April 16, 1989) was a professor of engineering at the University of Tokyo. He is most widely known for his work in the field of quality. He is credited with propagating the concept of quality circles (Deming shares in recognition for the growth Read more…