The Truth About Control Charts

The Truth About Control Charts

Don't believe what you see; at least at first.

Many people go through a point in their lives where they question the beliefs they hold most dear. Then there are those who question the entire basis for statistical process control (SPC) once they have learned the statistical basis for them. I can’t help you with the former, but I have something to say to the latter after the break.

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New Year's Resolution

New Year's Resolution

Hang on to your integrity

As you read this you will, no doubt, have already made (and perhaps broken) your New Year’s resolutions. I’d like to propose one that we, as business leaders, have a special responsibility to follow and whose failure we hear about in the news almost every day.

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Six Sigma in Hard Economic Times

Six Sigma in Hard Economic Times

Have your cake and eat it too

What purpose, if any, does Six Sigma serve in economic downturns? Full disclosure: I teach and consult in Six Sigma and related areas, and you’re reading this article because you’re interested in Six Sigma, so we may not be the most objective people to assess this, but in this article, I will do my best to find the truth.

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Acceptable Losses?

Acceptable Losses?

More on Acceptance Sampling

By the time you read this, the amazingly long U.S. presidential election will be over. All U.S. citizens will be wandering around aimlessly bumping into objects, pressing their hands to the sides of their heads as the indignation poisons slowly leave their bodies, leaving them with a hangover-like malaise and an intermittent need to babble a mishmash of campaign slogans. So, to cheer you up, I present you with the rest of the story I began last month about acceptance sampling.

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Psst, Hey Buddy, Wanna Fix?

Psst, Hey Buddy, Wanna Fix?

Fix your business, that is

Every once in a while, people ask about acceptance sampling plans and I get all riled up. We all know (especially in this political season) that humans are addicted to their indignation high, so here’s your fix for today.

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No News is NOT Good News

No News is NOT Good News

What your complaints process never told you

In the Six Sigma world, we give a lot of lip service to the importance of the customer; we even have an official name for it—voice of the customer, or VOC. The problem is that many businesses don’t really have a good system for giving the customer what they ask for, much less one for listening to what they say. If you have been into a retail store recently, you may wonder if anyone has a good system for that. So what should a good customer quality assurance (CQA) system look like?

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Will Google Earn a Black Belt?

Will Google Earn a Black Belt?

And Make Black Belts Obsolete?

I read an article in Wired magazine the other day that got me to thinking about the relationship between statistics, engineering knowledge, and theory. The article claimed that with the era of massive data storage and analytical capabilities, the scientific concept of the “theory” was becoming obsolete. What implications does this have for people working with data to solve problems? Can we find solutions without a theory? Will Google obsolete the Black Belt?

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