Can you Six Sigma certify yourself?

The idea of self-certification comes up occasionally so I thought we’d discuss the idea of self-certification, and if it’s a real option. What we’re really taking about when we talk about certification is “proof of knowledge”.  Getting a certification shows others that you’ve proven your skills or knowledge through the use of an independent 3rd […]

DFSS Deployment Strategy

Design for Six Sigma uses a product development process which is similar to a map of the expectations of what will happen with a product throughout its life cycle. The stages are shown here, and we will elaborate on each stage below. Product/service life-cycle stages: Impetus/ideation Customer and business requirements study Concept development Product/service design/prototyping […]

DFSS and the Product Development Process

This book by Richard J. Schonberger is a fantastic book on the process improvement method, regardless of your experience level.  In the preface of the book, Mr. Schonberger discusses how he uses “carefully referenced data about best practices in process improvement”, rather than simply writing about his years of experience.  This is a good approach […]

Kaizen Events

Kaizen Events are relatively simple in format and can be used to make significant improvements when continually applied within your organization.  Each of the major components has subcomponents and parts. We will list them here then elaborate on them throughout this training so you understand and can apply each step. In the most basic form, […]

Lean Analysis Tools

Critical Path Analysis Within every workflow or production path, there are core elements that are essential to its success. These elements are critical.  When you look at the current state VSM, you need to identify those elements that are critical and highlight their interactions.  These will be the fundamental components of the production or manufacturing […]

Can I get a six sigma certification if I’m unemployed?

We recently had a customer ask us if he could get Six Sigma certified, even though he was unemployed.  He then said he was told by several people that “you need to be working on a project” to be certified.  These types of myths are common in the world of “continuous Improvement” so we thought […]

What is Design for Six Sigma (DFSS)

Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) uses the Six Sigma methodology to develop new products, services, or processes.Six Sigma and Lean typically focus on improvement of existing products, services, or processes. DFSS is somewhat of a spinoff of the existing framework, which focuses on “the voice of the customer” in the development of “new” products, creation […]

Process Capability

Process Capability This article will explore process capability and how to calculate Cp and Cpk, two essential metrics used in Six Sigma methodologies. What is Process Capability? Process capability is a fundamental concept in quality management that assesses a process’s ability to consistently produce products or services that meet customer specifications. In essence, it helps […]

Best Jobs in America and the connection to Quality

Periodically the Management and Strategy Institute updates this article with some of the newest jobs focused on QUALITY from the 100 Best Jobs list from US News.  As expected, many of the jobs in the top 100 continue to focus on quality processes.  This is why Continuous Improvement and Six Sigma certifications continue to be […]

Selecting Lean Six Sigma Projects

Lean Six Sigma projects are most often chosen by an organization through a link to the overall strategy of the organization and the return on investment for a project.  There are several methods for selection of a Six Sigma project.  Matrix diagrams are a planning tool for displaying the relationships among various data sets. During […]