Articles

Use capability analysis to see if you are sleeping enough - My wife says I don’t sleep enough, and she is right. I tried to argue with her for years, saying
How to use candy to teach or learn Six Sigma - During our Yellow Belt (beginner Six Sigma) class, we have found lots of success teach statistical concepts using candy. It is a
Which lean event type should I do first, Value Stream Mapping or Kaizen Burst? - What type of lean event should we do first, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) or Kaizen Burst? Before we can answer
Employee engagement that will make you jealous! - One of the most difficult things for business owners and managers is to engage their employees in continuous improvements every
Combining DMAIC and lean events to maximize process improvements - The DMAIC approach for process improvement is the foundation for Six Sigma, and I have grown to appreciate it more
Split testing website marketing messages with Minitab’s Chi-Square % Defective comparison tests - Six sigma techniques have expanded beyond traditional manufacturing companies, into healthcare, movie industry, government and now online marketing. Split testing
Don’t waste time on a full Gage R&R study until the data says you are ready - We support a lot of small volume manufacturing facilities (delivering low rate, high complexity products), which presents different challenges for
What does golfing have to do with Six Sigma? - Here at BPI, we are always looking for ways to make Lean and Six Sigma concepts easier to understand for
Myths about Toyota and why this is the improvement book you must read! - Toyota Kata is one of the most popular books in the process improvement community right now (summer of 2014). I’ve
Six Sigma for Small Business – Book Review - One of the common complaints I hear about Six Sigma is that it is only for big businesses who can
Tips and tricks for more efficient and effective PFMEAs - Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) tables can be a powerful tool to identify potential failures in a process,
Which lean book is better? Toyota Way or Toyota Kata - I saw a recent interview with author Jeffrey Liker about both of these books, and I think he does a
“Six Sigma on a Budget” book review with simplified tools - One of the biggest issues with companies deploying Six Sigma is the upfront cost for training. For a company of
List of supplies for Lean Six Sigma Event Facilitators - If you are just getting started leading or facilitating lean or six sigma events, you need to be prepared with
6 resources for Six Sigma Black Belts to save time and improve effectiveness - Sigma Black Belts and Master Black Belts often have too much on their plate, especially when there aren’t many other
15 last minute tips before taking an ASQ Green or Black Belt exam - You’ve been studying for the ASQ Green or Black Belt exam. You think you’re ready, but you’re nervous that you
Adding comments that move with the data in Excel SPC control charts - When you first start out implementing Statistical Process Control (SPC), it is unlikely that your company will invest in a
How to increase the number of graphs you can display in Minitab beyond 100 - With an increasing amount of data being collected and analyzed these days, I often run into the restriction in Minitab
What if you can’t find a Green Belt project for certification? - When promoting Six Sigma certification, we rarely have difficulty getting people interested in the idea. With opportunities to increase your
Ideas for airlines on how to make lines and wait time shorter for passengers - Post updated on 8/22/16 (see below) As an avid airline passenger, I’ve flown on many different airlines (most major airlines)
Top 3 things to validate before removing test or inspection steps - A process with excellent capability usually means there is a very small probability that the natural variation of the process
How to calculate time savings after reducing distance traveled - One of the goals of a lean kaizen event is to reduce the overall lead time, from when an order
Zero defects does not mean the problem is solved - One of the common mistakes made by companies is the assumption that the lack of defects means the problem has
What do all the lines and boxes mean on a boxplot? - The Boxplot is one of simplest graphical tools to look at, and a tool I use very frequently when first
8 ways why batching is bad for your business - One of the most common questions we get when reviewing a process: “What’s wrong with batching? I can produce so
8 steps for passing the ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt exam - We have taught many students how to prepare for ASQ exams. I’ve even taken (and passed) the Certified Quality Engineer
Online statistics training from Minitab has great animation and examples - Minitab statistical software is one of the most powerful and popular programs around, especially for those in the Six Sigma
Free Green and Black Belt training? - BMGi is one of the largest process improvement consulting companies around. I’ve had some friends attend training from them, and
How many of the 50 Best Practices for Process Excellence has your company implemented? - Lee Pollock and Mark Kiemele are authors of a new book, Reversing the Culture of Waste – 50 Best Practices to
Reducing your time might seem like lean, but you can easily anger your customers - Lean is about increasing value to your customer. Often times, this requires you to eliminate waste in the process. However,
Problem solving is critical for any business - Does your company have a problem solving process, like PDCA or 8-D? If so, do people use it? How do
We don’t need any help, we are already lean! - “Lean and Six Sigma are only for manufacturing organizations!”“Our processes/company is unique, so that won’t work here!”“We’re already lean because
Simple Business Approach to Continuous Improvement - As we rolled out our Six Ideas to Improve Your Business Today, we got some feedback that businesses are looking
Six business improvement ideas you can implement today! - Sometimes us consultants get a bad reputation for making things more complicated than they need to be. We turn people
Cost savings from process improvements can be misleading - I’ve been to many conferences, and have seen lots of companies claim cost savings and metric improvements that are very
Start simple before you map your processes - We see a lot of different processes at various levels of process performance. Some are running near six sigma levels,
Annoying tourist photos have wrong business model with lots of waste! - While on vacation recently, we were overwhelmed by the number of attractions with a photographer service, who make you take
Prevention not as tough as it seems - Often times, we ask our clients what their proactive or preventative activity is. Most of the time, we get a
Don’t “check the box” with soft improvement tools - We recently were reminded of a problem that comes up every so often in regards to process improvement tools. The
New spin (literally) on an old quality tool - I love the Pareto chart. It’s one of the simplest quality tools, yet one of the most powerful, and underused

8 Ways Lean and Six Sigma Tools Can Reduce Environmental Impacts

DMAIC Project Checklist

QDIP (SQDC) Sheets

TIM WOOD – Lean Wastes Slides