Six Sigma Green Belt--BOK quiz

Tools for Design Phase

Possible Design Tools Use a QFD Matrix FMEA Failure Mode Effects Analysis TRIZ Brainstorming Pugh Taguchi Robust Design DFX - Design for X

Process Map Symbols

Process Map / Flow chart symbols: Triangle: exact decision point. Rectangle: operations process or activity. Diamond: two or 3 way decision. Hexagon: preparations tage or multiple decision point.

How to tell if a step is valuable or not?

How to tell if a step is valuable or not? Is it done right the first time, every time? Is the customer is willing to pay for it? Has the process object has physically changed?

When does Brainstroming go with Six Sigma?

In Six Sigma, brainstorming goes well with: 1) Finding root causes to issues.---->Try pairing with a Fishbone or Cause and Effect Diagram: asking people for all possible causes on each of the following 6M categories (machines, materials, methods, Mother Nature, measurement, and people.)---->Then dive deeper using the 5 Whys. 2) Creating a SIPOC - coming up with all possible Inputs & Outputs 3) Creating a Project Charter - Stakeholders & Influences 4) Creating flows for a process map--->Find the normal case then brainstorm alternative cases or exceptions. 5) Creating ways to measure data----->Not everything we want to measure is easily measured. 6) Interrelationship diagraphs (network diagrams) and Affinity Diagrams benefit from Brainstorming-----(Matrix diagrams require advanced knowledge of a subject.)

Static Vs. Dyanamic Signal-to-Nose Ratio

In some engineering problems, the signal factor is absent or it takes a fixed value. These problems are called Static problems and the corresponding S/N ratios are called static S/N ratios. The S/N ratio described in the preceding section is a static S/N ratio. In other problems, the signal and response must follow a function called the ideal function. In the cooling system example described earlier, the response (room temperature) and signal (set point) must follow a linear relationship. Such problems are called dynamic problems and the corresponding S/N ratios are called dynamic S/N ratios. Dynamic S/N ratios are very useful for technology development, which is the process of generating flexible solutions that can be used in many products.

Smaller-the-Better characteristic

In the case of Smaller-the-Better characteristic, the ideal target value is defined as zero. An example of this characteristic is minimization of heat losses in a heat exchanger. Minimizing this characteristic as much as possible would produce a more desirable product. The equation used to describe the loss function of one unit of product: L = ky^2\qquad Graph: Direct Relation Line with upward slope--->The loss is minimized as the output value is minimized.

Waste of Inventory

Inventory costs you money, every piece of product tied up in raw material, work in progress or finished goods has a cost and until it is actually sold that cost is yours. In addition to the pure cost of your inventory it adds many other costs; inventory feeds many other wastes. Inventory has to be stored, it needs space, it needs packaging and it has to be transported around. It has the chance of being damaged during transport and becoming obsolete. The waste of Inventory hides many of the other wastes in your systems.

Lean concepts and tools

Lean concepts and tools : Define and describe concepts such as value chain, flow, pull, perfection, etc., and tools commonly used to eliminate waste, including kaizen, 5S, error-proofing, value-stream mapping, etc. (Understand)

Creative Challenge

Creative Challenge Cite the issue you are brainstorming on, and then ask each of the following questions in order. Have the team talk about each one and list those items before moving on to the next. Why does this process exist? Does it have to be this way? What are the reasons it is this way? Are there alternatives?

Kaizen Benefits

Kaizen Benefits Increased employee involvement is a benefit of a Kaizen event

Order

Order is System (Concept) design, Parameter Design and Tolerance Design Portfolio Architecting Enhance technical processes to prevent design issues; uses IDEA process links design processes to technical process and then to marketing and service support functions Enhancing technical processes to prevent design issues

Pairing Down of Ideas

Paring down the ideas: Upon completion of the brainstorming session, the team may want to boil down the large list into a smaller, manageable list. One might ask, if you're trying to get to a small list, why would you ever brainstorm in the first place? If the team brainstorms 100 ideas, the probability that the best ideas are on the flipchart SOMEWHERE is high. If, the brainstorming session was skipped, the probability that the short list will be missing a key item will be greater than if the team had brainstormed the larger list first. Sticky Dots One quick way of paring down a large list is to give each team member five sticky dots. You tell the team members that each of them can put their sticky dots on five of the items on the list that they think are the most important. If a team member feels that one particular item is extremely important, that member might choose to put all of their five dots on that one item. There is a problem with this method though. It is quick and therefore minimizes the follow-on (after the brainstorming session) healthy discussions that could make the paring down process more effective.

Poisson and Time Intervals

Poisson and Time Intervals If the number of occurrences of some EVENT follows a Poisson distribution, the time between successive occurrences will follow an Exponential Distribution. In probability theory and statistics, the exponential distribution (a.k.a. radical exponential distribution) is the probability distribution that describes the time between events in a Poisson process, i.e. a process in which events occur CONTINUOUSLY and independently at a constant average rate. I

Box Plot

A box plot is a graphical tool that lets you easily visually compare variation between the data sets evaluated. Also makes comparisons quickly and easily. Median. Maximum. Minimum First quartile (0-25%) Third quartile (75%)

F-distribution

An F-distribution is used to create a ratio of two PROCESS or SAMPLE variances. The ratio between two sample variances A measure of variances. Used to test hypothesis about 2 population variances Used to test hypotheses about the equality of population variances based on sample variances Assumes both populations are normally distributed. The LARGER sample variance always goes in the numerator. Percent confident of less variation. Does this process or machine have more or less variation than the other?

Chi-Square

Chi-Square distribution is used to test whether or not two factors are independent or dependent. Chi square is a test of dependence or independence. Chi-square distribution is not bimodal or LEVEL. It seems to be a skewed bell shape. Going with skewed. As the DEGREES of freedom increase the symmetry of the graph increases. It is skewed to the right, and since the random variable on which it is based is squared, it has no negative values. As the degrees of freedom increases, the probability density function BEGINS to appear symmetrical in shape. chi square equation Chi Square and Hypothesis testing See additional NOTES on Hypothesis testing. Don't need knowledge of population variation Evaluates SAMPLE variances

XmR Chart

Control chart that tracks single-data items, with X indicating observation and mR indicating moving range. One of the most widely-used charts, the XmR chart is popular for its ability to visually depict variation when only one observation in a set period of time exists. For example, an XmR chart may be used to track the productivity of a single employee over the course of a week, month, year or longer.

DMADV

DMADV stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify. It requires a large scope and budget and requires exponential amounts of change. This kind of an event could be triggered by new research or technology breakthroughs, a mandate to leap frog the competition, radical new customer requirements, new regulations or legislation. Resources are typically allocated earlier in the cycle than regular design. Success depends on the involvement of senior management, the team retaining a customer-centric focus, fostering creative design, and executing sound project management.

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics (aka Enumerative statistics) Typically used for the whole entire population, not just a sample. Using a graph or population parameter Organize or summarize information Mean, median, mode Graphs, CHARTS & plots

Fishbone Diagram--6 categories of causes

Each cause or reason for imperfection is a source of variation. Causes are usually grouped into major categories to identify these sources of variation. The categories typically include: (Also see the 5Ms and 1P) 1)People: Anyone involved with the process 2)Methods: How the process is performed and the specific requirements for doing it, such as policies, procedures, rules, regulations and laws 3)Machines: Any equipment, computers, tools, etc. required to accomplish the job 4)Materials: Raw materials, parts, pens, paper, etc. used to produce the final product 5)Measurements: Data generated from the process that are used to evaluate its quality 6)Environment: The conditions, such as location, time, temperature, and culture in which the process operates

Effects of Eliminating Waste on Quality

Effects of Eliminating Waste on Quality Elimination of wastes like storage, transport, and handling all can help increase quality - even more so than some improvements to standard work, like standard work sheets for example. Things like set up reduction improve productivity and efficiency more than they do quality.

Types of Internal Failures? Types of External Failures?

External failures Costs:Failure costs occurring after delivery or shipment of the product — and during or after furnishing of a service — to the customer. 1) Rework 2) Reprocess 3) Scrap/ Product Recalls 4)Sorting 5) Warranties & Inspections Internal Failure Costs: ----Failure costs occurring prior to delivery or shipment of the product, or the furnishing of a service, to the customer. 1) Customer Loyality / Loss of Morale/ Customer Scorecard Impact 2)Time Value of Money 3) Scheduling Conflicts 4) Unpredictable P& L/ Lost Sales/ Buffer Inventory 5)Administrative costs & Cost of Expediting

What does the Quincunx demonstrate?

First, you can't judge the process by sampling a part every so often. That would be like dropping just one chip down the board and then speaking to how all would fall. Adjusting your process - moving where you drop the chip from - gives you a very different possible landing zone. It's for that reason that the more you adjust your process to the center (nominal), the more variation you will create in your results. If you want less variation, keep a consistent process!!! The counter to that is if you see a process generating a nice bell-shaped curve, it is probably not being influenced by outside forces like the six Ms.

Fishbone Diagram

Fishbone Diagram 1) Created by Kaoru Ishikawa (1968) that show the causes of a specific event. Common uses of the Ishikawa diagram are product design and quality defect prevention, to identify potential factors causing an overall effect. 2) Commonly used in brainstorming and in the "open" phase of root cause analysis.

Functional FMEA

Functional FMEA Known as a black box FMEA focuses on the performance of an intended portion or device rather than the characteristics of the individual parts. Ex. Does it work instead of color must be blue.

Quincux Method

The Quincunx demonstrates that adjusting a process to "correct" it to the controls actually makes a process more out of control. The Quincunx was invented by Sir Francis Galton to demonstrate the central limit theorem. In particular the Quincunx board demonstrates that the normal distribution is approximate to the binomial distribution.

Touch Time

Touch time The total time physically spent on a process. This is different than the overall time it takes to complete a process step or task in a stream from start to finish because the waste is not built in.

What is the Waste of Transportation?

Transport is the movement of materials from one location to another, this is a waste as it adds zero value to the product. Why would your customer (or you for that matter) want to pay for an operation that adds no value? Transport adds no value to the product, you as a business are paying people to move material from one location to another, a process that only costs you money and makes nothing for you. The waste of Transport can be a very high cost to your business, you need people to operate it and equipment such as trucks or fork trucks to undertake this expensive movement of materials.

Value Analysis Matrix

Value Analysis Matrix Need: Process steps types of steps cycle time touch time.

When to use the Poisson Distribution:

When to use the Poisson Distribution: Examples of seeing or hearing the word 'PER': Used in rates, frequencies, and flows The Poisson Distribution may be APPLICABLE under the following conditions: <text> The EVENTS occur at random during some interval of measure (e.g., ..per <xyz>) SAMPLEsize is at least 16 (e.g., 16 months, 100 feet, megabyte, 180 days) The population size is at least 10 times the sample size. The probability of each occurrence is less than 0.1 The occurrence of the events are independent The average NUMBER of occurrences per unit of measure is constant

When to use 5 Whys?

When we want to push a team investigating a problem to delve into more details of the root causes, the five whys can be used with brainstorming or the cause-and-effect diagram. The five hows can be used with brainstorming and the solution-and-effect diagram to develop more details of a solution to a problem under consideration. Both methods are techniques to expand the horizon of a team searching for answers. These two techniques force a team to develop a better and more detailed understanding of a problem or solution.

Taguchi Loss of Function

Where as statisticians before him focused on improving the mean outcome of a process, Taguchi recognized that in an industrial process it is vital to produce a product on target , and that the variation around the mean caused poor manufactured quality. Taguchi's key argument was that the cost of poor quality goes beyond direct costs to the manufacturer such as reworking or waste costs. Traditionally manufacturers have considered only the costs of quality up to the point of shipping out the product. Taguchi aims to quantify costs over the lifetime of the product. Long term costs to the manufacturer would include brand reputation and loss of customer satisfaction leading to declining market share. Other costs to the consumer would include costs from low durability, difficulty interfacing with other parts, or the need to build in safety margins.

Why Value Steam Map?

Why Value Steam Map? 1) Help identify business and manufacturing waste that can occur in processes 2)Once the Current State Value Stream Map is created, it becomes the baseline for improvements and aid in forming the Future State Value Stream

Why would you want your baseline sigma to be 1, 2, or 3?

Why would you want your baseline sigma to be 1, 2, or 3? You would want your baseline sigma to be 1, 2, or 3 because those are indicative of bad processes and you would like your team to be able to see an improvement in the process at the end of the project.

Organizational drivers and metrics

Recognize key drivers for business (profit, market share, customer satisfaction, efficiency, product differentiation) and how key metrics and scorecards are developed and impact the entire organization. (Understand)

Associative thinking

Associative Thinking Sort of the reverse of the affinitization methods. Go around the room for the favorite large categories on your subject. Say, the top 5. Then break the room into 5 teams and assign each one a topic and have them go deep on each.

Benefits of Robust Design

Robust Design method greatly improves productivity in generation of new knowledge by acting as an amplifier of engineering skills. With Robust Design, a company can rapidly achieve the full technological potential of their design ideas and achieve higher profits.

Round Robin Brainstorming

Round robin brainstorming is much like the popcorn variant. When you invite people to call out their ideas, you have each person in the group say one original idea in turn. If they have no ideas that have not yet been added to the board on their turn, they may pass. Stop the round-robin brainstorming when everyone passes.

Types of FMEA

Types of FMEA 1) Design FMEA 2) Process FMEA 3) 4)

Types of brainstorming

1. Free-Form Brainstorming: This is the type of brainstorming where participants express their ideas as they occur. It is described in great detail in 5 Steps to Effective Brainstorming. One of the key disadvantages of this type of brainstorming is that quieter, more self conscious members might not participate unless actively drawn in the process 2. Round Robin Brainstorming: People contribute ideas in turn, feeling free to "pass" if they have no idea to share in that round. The session is over when everyone passes. This ensures everyone participates. 3. Mind Mapping: this offers a more graphic approach to scribing responses, than simply listing ideas on a flipchart. One or two people are used as scribes for the group. The process begins by creating a large writing space, at least 4 feet by 4 feet, on a wall. Write the topic statement in circle in the center of this space. Then gather responses and scribe them as lines branching out from the center circle. Participants can either offer new ideas - scribe as new main branched around the circle; or extensions of earlier ideas - scribe as sub-branches of the appropriate main branches. The completed map thus contains a record of key associations among ideas. (Source: Tony Buzan, 1974, Using both sides of your brain. NY: Dutton) It may be a good idea to start a process with one or two rounds of round robin brainstorming, and then set the group loose into a free form continuation of the activity. This is particularly useful if the group has not worked together before, and needs some encouragement to begin opening up. 4. Pencil and Paper Brainstorming: Participants write their ideas first, and then share them, either in turn or anonymously. The advantage of this technique is that it encourages participation by people who might otherwise feel intimidated. 5. Nominal Group Technique: This is a very structured form of brainstorming that results in the generation and prioritization of ideas. It is particularly useful when a large group is involved in the brainstorming process and when there is a need to take a brainstormed list and synthesize it into several prioritized items. Another advantage is that it reduces the dominance of outspoken individuals and encourages participation by everyone. This is brainstorming technique is lengthier and much more structured than the other approaches, but well worth the effort if the group is large and the topic is complex. Click here for a step-by-step detail of the process, The Nominal Group Approach

Kano Model---3 categories of Customer Needs

3 Categories of Customer's Needs: 1) Dissatisfiers The basic requirements. aka "must be" If these are not present, the customer is not happy. 2) Satisfiers Variable requirements. aka "more is better" Ex. Personal attention by staff. 3)Delighters Also called latent requirements (Not basic, expected, but desirable and unexpected). These features go beyond the immediate needs of the consumer. What is considered a delighter today may be a requirement tomorrow.

6M Insights

6M Insights 1) When you have a bell shaped curve, none of the 5 Ms or one P are unduly influencing the process. 2) Six elements contribute to variation in a process. Those six elements - 5 Ms and on P (or 6Ms) influence variation in all processes - manufacturing or not. 3)You could also use the 6M approach as a spine on each of a fish bone diagram and then ask the 5 whys to narrow down potential root cause.

Theory of Constraints

Description Theory of constraints (TOC) represents an entire body of knowledge related to process interaction, capabilities, and the surrounding organizations. At its core, as Goldratt describes, it is an intuitive framework for managing based on continuous improvement. In continuous improvement, the participants are faced with three fundamental questions: 1. What to change 2. What to change to 3. How to cause the change There are three basic measures to be used in the evaluation of a system: 1. Throughput 2. Inventory 3. Operational expenses Benefits Very comprehensive approach Causes people to evaluate the entire process Is continuous - loops to the beginning if the process constraint changes

Phases of DMAIC

Phases of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control): D: Define M: Measure A: Analyze I: Improve C: Control

When to use Brainstorming?

When to use Brainstorming: When a broad range of options are desired. When creative ideas are desired. When participation of an entire team is desired.

FMEA

A FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis) is a tool that helps us anticipate what might go wrong with a product or process as well as identify the possible causes and probabilities of failures.

Benefits of SIPOC

Benefits Enables all team members to view the process in the same light Visually communicates the process at a high level and defines the scope of improvement efforts The first step in cause-and-effect thinking; contributes to understanding how the suppliers, inputs, process steps, and outputs affect customer(s) needs BEGINSto identify gaps such as: - Inputs we don't need but receive - Outputs that customers don't want, but receive anyway - Process steps that are completed, but add no value

Run Chart

A run CHART displays observed data as they evolve over time. Just a basic graph that displays data values in a time order. Can be useful for identifying trends or shifts in PROCESS but also allows you to test for randomness in the process. A run chart can reveal shifts and trends, but not points out of control (A run chart does not have control limits; therefore, it cannot detect out of control conditions.) You can turn a run chart into a control chart by adding upper and lower control limits. Use it to: track improvements (and determine success) display outputs to look for stability or instability

HISTORY OF ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF SIX SIGMA

Six Sigma was originally developed by Motorola - first by Bill Smith, then Mikel Harry as a general approach to measuring quality in business performance terms. Over the years, especially in the 1990s continuous improvement tools and methods were developed by Deming, Juran, Shewhart, Ishikawa, Shingo and Taguchi

Quality Loss Function for Various Quality Characteristic

There are three characteristics used to define the quality loss function: Nominal-the-Best Characteristic Smaller-the-Better Characteristic Larger-the-Better Characteristic Each of these characteristic types is defined by a different set of equations, which is differ

What is a Kaizen or 5S?

5S (HOUSEKEEPING) WORKPLACE ORGANIZATION 5S derives its name from five Japanese terms beginning with the "s" utilized to create a workplace suited for visual control and lean production. Collectively, the 5S's detail how to create a workplace that is visibly organized, free of clutter, neatly arranged, and sparkling clean. The 5S system is often a starting place for implementing lean operations

6M's of Six Sigma

6M's of Six Sigma Ishikawa states the 6 Ms (also known as the 5 Ms and 1 P) as: Man, Machine, Material, Method, Measurement, Mother Nature Method Mother Nature "Environmental" (Man) People Measurement Machine Materials

Histogram

A Histogram is a bar chart showing the frequency of an outcome. In Six Sigma, we can use a histogram to visualize what is going on. A Histogram can reflect the voice of the PROCESS

Role of Quincunx?

A Quincunx helps you to: 1) The Quincunx is a wonderful teaching too as it is a great way visually to show the concept of randomness and with enough repetition, a bell-shaped curve. Obviously it helps you see the concept of the central tendency. 2) Helps you understand the danger of adjusting your process while in the moment to the center.

Stem & Leaf Plot

A Stem and Leaf plot is a like a cross between a histogram and a check sheet but preserves the actual data. In that way it is most like a frequency distribution. Box Plots, Histograms, and Stem and Leaf plots all display the same data. There is no real advantage of using a histogram over a stem and leaf.

How do you select a tolerance range? A) Ask your consumers which products they are disatisfied with B) Find the break even point for fixing the product and the cost imparted to society from not fixing the product C) Make the tolerance as small as your equipment will allow D) Use the standard safety factor of 4

B

Bottleneck

Bottleneck The step in the process stream that has the slowest through put or cycle time.

DMADV vs DMAIC?

DMADV vs DMAIC DMADV Use when designing a new process, product or service. Creating exponential change for your business. Introduction of new technology. Uses SIPOC DMAIC Use to improve an existing process Just focus on customer

Determining Baseline Sigma

Determining Baseline Sigma Figure out the variables. (try to put these in terms of the output of the PROCESS) Unit - the item produced or processed or created. Defect - anything that causes a failure (i.e. misses the customer's requirements.) Opportunity - the NUMBER of critical to quality measures we are counting on each opportunity in defects. If there are 4 types of defects, this value is 4. Determine if Zero defects are needed or if there is partial CREDIT. If the process is only considered correct if there are no defects at all (100% correct): use the DPMU calculation (defects per million units) DPMU = (Defects / Units) * 1,000,000 If partial CREDIT is received for meeting some of the requirements: use the DPMO calculation (defects per million opportunities) DPMO = (Defects / Units * Opportunities) * Total 1,000,000

Determining Baseline Sigma Example

Ex. Commercial FLIGHT: Unit is the # FLIGHTS. (Say, 6 for this example) Defects could be late arrival, lost luggage, poor in-flight experience. (Say 4) Opportunities would be 3 (for the 3 types of defects in this example). DPMO = (Defects / Units * Opportunities) * 1,000,000 = (4 / 6*3) * 1,000,000 = 4M/18. CHECKthe chart (and determine if you want to use the 1.5 sigma shift or not)

F-test

F Test F-test - compares the population variances using SAMPLES from each. F test - testing significance in ANOVA

Free-form / Popcorn Brainstorming:

Free-form / Popcorn Brainstorming: A simple tool for groups in which everyone is comfortable speaking out. You just open the floor for ideas and take them as they come. Summarize ideas as necessary and record them on a flip chart.

Inferential Statistics

Inferential Statistic: Mathematical method that EMPLOYS probability theory for inferring the properties of a population parameter from which the sample is taken is known as inferential statistics. Inferential statistics is a set of methods used to make generalizations, estimations, or predictions. Example: Of all the drivers pulled over and issued a citation for speeding in Florida, 23% of the drivers drove red cars. The state of Florida is the population and it is virtually impossible to keep track of the whole population. Instead, we take samples. Is from the samples that we infer parameters of a population. Notice that if it is a sample, it is called a statistic. If it is a population, it is called a parameter.

Kano Model

Kano model is a way of analyzing customer requirements by diagramming user's wants across 2 axis; satisfaction with your output and how much of your goals you achieved. Depending on how you perform on those axis, your clients can be classified as delighted, neutral, or dissatisfied.

List the Classic Wastes

Mnemonic: "TIM WOODs" T=Transportation I=Inventory M=Motion (Bending, Reaching, )Searching W=Waiting O=Over-processing O=Overproducing D=Defects

Define Poission Distribution

Poisson and Time Intervals If the number of occurrences of some EVENT follows a Poisson distribution, the time between successive occurrences will follow an Exponential Distribution. In probability theory and statistics, the exponential distribution (a.k.a. radical exponential distribution) is the probability distribution that describes the time between events in a Poisson process, i.e. a process in which events occur CONTINUOUSLY and independently at a constant average rate. I

What make a good DMAIC project?

Project champion: sets the scope of the project. Select a project with needs and criteria that are appropriate for using DMAIC. If you are deploying Six Sigma for the first time within an organization, those first wave projects MUST generate results or your program may be in trouble. If you have multiple to choose from---> then Rate each project on a scale from 1-5 for each of the following categories: a) Impact on strategy b) How poor is the process performing c)Impact of the resources d)Cost savings---->Project Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA) &Cost of Poor Quality e)Chance of success Sum the scores and keep the projects that total >20.

SIPOC

SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) Diagram Skill level: Basic Description The suppliers, inputs, PROCESS, outputs, customers (SIPOC) diagram defines the scope of work for a team and identifies at a high level the potential gaps (deficiencies) between what a process expects from its suppliers and what customers expect from the process. A SIPOC diagram maps a process at a high level and identifies potential gaps between suppliers and inputs specifications and between outputs specifications and customers expectations, thus defining the scope for process improvement ACTIVITIES. Because it also identifies feedback and feed-forward loops between customers, suppliers, and the process, it jump-starts the team TO BEGIN thinking in terms of cause and effect.

Taguchi's Quality Imperatives:

Taguchi's Quality Imperatives: 1) Quality losses are a loss to society 2)Robustness is a function of product design 3)Robust products have a strong signal to noise ratio tolerances should be set prior to manufacturing

List the 5 S

The 5 Ss are: Sort,---Red tag all unnecessary items Store,----On frequency of use Shine,---Clean the work area as well as inspect the machinery The 3 phases of shine are: Daily cleanliness Cleanliness inspections Cleanliness maintenance Standardize (Hard) Sustain (Hard) They ARE in order!

What is the CTQ Linkage?

The CTQ linkage is a graphical depiction to show a clear link to the needs that are critical to quality from the perception of the customer. The chart begins with the most elementary needs and more levels are added as needed and exact metrics are not necessary at this time. The CTQ breaks down customer requirements into quantified requirements. This may include targets and upper and lower specification limits. The customer is also the company you work for. Including their requirements (ROI, cash, time schedule) is also important. Below is a very basic form of a CTQ Flowdown.

Y = f(x): Process Outcome a Result of Process Inputs

The mathematical term Y = f(x), which translates as simply "Y is a function of x," illustrates the idea that the important process outcomes (Ys) are a result of the drivers (x's) within processes. The goal of DMAIC is to identify which few process and input variables mainly influence the process output measures. Each DMAIC phase can therefore be described by how it contributes to this goal: Define: Understand the project Y and how to measure it. Measure: Prioritize potential x's and measure x's and Y. Analyze: Test x-Y relationships and verify/quantify important x's. Improve: Implement solutions to improve Y and address important x's. Control: Monitor important x's and the Y over time.

Normal Probability Plot

The normal probability plot is a graphical technique for normality testing: ASSESSING whether or not a data set is approximately normally distributed. The data are plotted against a theoretical normal distribution in such a way that the points should form an approximate straight line. Departures from this straight line indicate departures from normality. A Normal Probability Plot is a compares the values in a data set (on the vertical axis) with their associated quantile (probability) values derived from a standardized normal distribution (on the horizontal axis). The normal probability plot is a plotting of "Point percentages" If we get a straight line, we can say the PROCESS is normally distributed. Thus, a normal probability plot could be used to determine Process capability.

What is the difference between Value Stream mapping and process mapping?

VSM includes times and focuses on waste. Process mapping is a lighter version that focuses on defining borders of the process.

Why Process Mapping

1) Process Maps Help You Uncover Waste Mapping your process gives you a visual tool where you can uncover waste. I am normally not a fan of commercials but check this one out from GE (remember that GE is a renown adopter of Six Sigma to dramatically improve business results.) Here they use Process Mapping to double output speed of a manufacturing facility - a 100% increase 2) Help to Deliver on Expectations

Six Sigma's Basic Premises:

Six Sigma's Basic Premises: Six Sigma has fundamentally two focuses -variation reduction and waste reduction that ultimately lead to less defects and increased efficiency. (Also see: What is the meaning of 6 Sigma?)

6 parts of project charter: Problem Statement

1, Problem statement a. Details what this project is solving in specific, measurable, and quantifiable terms b. How long has the problem existed? c.What is the impact of the problem to the company? d.What's the gap between now and future? The problem statement describes the the gap between the current state and the desired state. Do NOT: Suggest cause, solution, or assign blame. A microproblem statement is a granular statement of the problem defined in the charter. I also like using Agile's "One Big Thing" Use SMART - Specific Measurable Actionable Relevant Timely

3 types of Histograms

Bell-Shaped Histogram If there is a bell shape, YOUR data is normally distributed and hence, no variation (or influence from other factors like the 6Ms). Histogram with Spikes If there are multiple spikes in the CHART, there is likely variation in the process. Even Histogram On the other hand, if all of the bars in the histogram are at the same level it's not likely that we are measuring the process in the correct manner.

FMEA

A FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis) is a tool that helps us anticipate what might go wrong with a product or PROCESS as well as identify the possible causes and probabilities of failures. Steps of the FMEA Recognize and evaluate potential failure modes Use Risk Priorities NUMBERS to evaluate the modes. Identify the cause of failure Identify the actions which could prevent failures DOCUMENTideas of the team Risk Priority Number (RPN) RPN is used to weight the probability and criticality of a failure occurring. Severity means the possible impact/effect to the system

How to calculate and reduce the Cost of Quality?

A better metric could be measuring the Cost of Quality as a % of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). This removes the margin variation and eliminates product "mix" influences. The first goal is to have all the cost of quality in the Appraisal and Prevention areas and zero Costs of Poor Quality. Then, work to streamline any remaining costs without sacrificing the quality. It can be challenging to standardize a calculation and many forms of the calculation exist. There are many obvious direct costs that can be categorized into one of the four areas but most of the costs are indirect and more difficult to quantify. Work with the financial representative to help quantify and validate hard and soft savings. Each company should come up with a standard with definitions for their formula. This is the same concept behind making a measurement system repeatable and reproducible. Create a set of examples to help explain the costs and where they should be allocated. Examples could be provided to controllers and financial representatives to check for reproducibility and repeatability. In other words, perform a variable data MSA on the Cost of Poor Quality measurement system to help fine tune the calculation and standard operating procedure or work instruction. Don't allow the details to interfere with going forward with a COPQ procedure. It can be refined while in use and savings could be at risk without any attention at all.

What is Value Stream Mapping?

Value Stream Mapping is a material and information flow map. It is also a wonderful tool for visualizing process areas that need improvement and focusing attention on those areas. Once the weaknesses are visible, organizations are driven to make the necessary changes to reduce waste and improve customer satisfaction.

Examples of Theory of Constraints

A technician needs to repair a mechanical device, such as a bank teller machine, copier, or air conditioner. Step 1. The repair process will be evaluated. Step 2. Key steps include dispatch of the technician to the site, diagnosis of the machine issue, and repair. Being largely mechanical, in many or even most cases, a part will be required to repair the machine. Step 3. Part availability/requisition is a very well known constraint to the repair process. There are a great many reasons for this constraint, including but not limited to technician carrying capacity, number of different types of machines the technician repairs, inventory carrying cost, manufacturing lead time, ordering lead time, stocking levels, and reorder points. Step 4. Towards exploiting the constraint, a standardized diagnostic suitcase is created. (Possibly a brainstorming session would be used to identify the approach.) The case would include all critical parts enabling a technician to restore a machine to working condition. Step 5. Everything that "feeds" into this constraint must be subordinated and synchronized. For example, the case upon return would be replenished synchronously so that it is available for the next call. Hence parts stocking and other tasks performed at the depot would be subordinated to refilling the diagnostic suitcase to ensure the constraint is optimized.

Cost of Quality: Examples of Appraisal Costs

Appraisal Costs The costs associated with measuring, evaluating or auditing products or services to assure conformance to quality standards and performance requirements. These include the costs of: Incoming and source inspection/test of purchased material In-process and final inspection/test Product, process or service audits Calibration of measuring and test equipment Associated supplies and materials

How do Taguchi's methods differ from traditional ways of calculating losses due to poor quality? A) They average losses over a 12 month period of time B) They include not only losses to the manufacturer up to the point of shipping, but also losses to society C) They put the losses in Yen instead of Dollars D) They calculate the cost per product

B 1) Manufacturers have a determined level of tolerance for deviation from the desired target specification to identify defective products (Profit loss prevention) . 2) Products that barely meet specifications are ---> losses to the manufacturer & society. The standard to fix this problem is to tighten up the tolerances. More stringent tolerances would result in fewer products failing on customers, reducing losses in the market, but they would also result in increased costs to manufacturers. 3) Before Taguchi, there was no set method for determining optimal tolerances for a given process. Since it is very difficult to quantify the loss to society for a defective product after customer purchase, Taguchi predicts the quality level. The quality loss function is the basis for determining tolerances for a process. In quality engineering, tolerance is defined as the deviation from the target, not the deviation between products. Taguchi's method determines tolerances that aim for a balance between losses to the manufacturer and the customer. To do determine these tolerances, the quality loss function can be used to determine how much it costs the manufacturer to fix the defective product before shippment, and compare that value to the cost that the defective product would have on the customer (society).

CPM?

CPM Links product performance to system parameters and then to product developmental activities Defined downward flow of requirements that are directly linked to necessary engineering functions to fulfill the requirements Cpm is one of several indices used to measures Process Capability. Cpm is called the Taguchi Capability Index. It combines variability and distance from the target into one measure and is closely related to the Taguchi 'Signal to Noise Ratio' concept:

Control Phase of DMAIC

Control: Monitor the Y and Important Xs Over Time The Control phase ensures that the new performance of the Y is sustained over time. In order to achieve this, a process management chart is developed that shows the new process flow, offers critical check points during the process, and has recommended actions in case the process does not continue on target. In a process management chart, the previously identified x's are called leading indicators (i.e., checkpoints during the process) and the Y is the lagging indicator (i.e., the final checkpoint at the end of a process cycle). Additionally, a performance measurement and monitoring system or dashboard is established that helps the process owner to measure and control the critical leading (x's) and lagging (Y) indicators on a continuous base. Control charts are again the best tool to show the performance of the Y over time. After the handover of these tools to the process owner, the project is closed by evaluating the achieved results in terms of x's that were identified and the improvement in the Y.

Cost of Poor Quality

Cost of Poor Quality is what not having your house in order costs your organization. There are 3 ways to categorize this waste: Prevention costs - incurred on prevention activities. Appraisal costs - incurred by testing, measuring, and auditing. Failure costs---->Internal failure - (prior to delivery of the product or service) + External failure - (after delivery.) Example of Cost of Poor Quality Quality assurance is everything for an organization. By incorporating Six Sigma and other Lean tools, this allows companies to decrease waste (Raw materials, Logistics costs, and unnecessary man hrs) which increases their bottom line. Ex. Imagine producing TVs and for every 1M produced 2% were damaged... That's 20,000 TVs. How many people would you have to staff to answer 20,000 calls, returns, inventory management etc.? How many for 6.8 damaged TVs? It saves companies Million/Billions!!

Define: Understand Project Y and How to Measure It

Define: Understand Project Y and How to Measure It Many projects start with a rather unspecific and undefined business or process problem. It is obvious that something has to be done, but where exactly to start and what exactly to achieve is often only poorly described. Multiple tools are used during the Define phase to get a clear understanding of the project Y (i.e., what the process problem is in measurable terms and what the project goals are). The project charter delivers the Y by clearly stating what the business or process problem is. It also expresses the Y as a measurable process metric that tells how well the process is performing today (the baseline) and how performance should be after process improvement (the goal). However, in order to reach this clear definition of the Y, the voice of the customer (VOC) and a SIPOC diagram are needed. The voice of the customer helps to define a measurable project Y by translating unspecific customer requirements into measurable critical-to-quality elements (also known as CTQs, which is another term for the Y). In addition, VOC is used to verify the importance of the Y metric and to set specifications for the Y under consideration. The SIPOC (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers) diagram clearly links the project Y to the process output. The output column of the SIPOC shows which Y is a result of the process. Since the output column usually shows multiple Ys, VOC is again needed to determine which Y should be included in the project. In the input column, the SIPOC provides a list of potential Xs. The business case finally links the project Y to the so called "Big Y." This means it shows how achieving the project Y contributes to higher-level business objectives like financial targets, customer satisfaction or strategically relevant goals (on time to market, on-time delivery, inventory level, etc.). The project team can close the Define phase when it has a measurable, clearly defined Y with set specifications that help to distinguish between desired and not desired process performance.

Deming's Chain Reaction

Deming's Chain Reaction: Improve Quality Decrease Costs Improve Productivity Capture Market Share with better quality and lower costs Stay in business Provide jobs

Descriptive VS Analytic Statistics.

Descriptive (also known as 'enumerative') statistics are used to provide information about the specific data that is being analyzed. For example the mean of the three values 4, 8 and 9 is 7. Analytical (also known as 'inferential') statistics are used to draw conclusions ('inferences') about a population based on SAMPLE data. Suppose the three values 4, 8 and 9 referred to the ages of three children SURVEYED in a toy shop. Analytical statistics would be used to infer that the mean age of all the children who frequented that toy shop was 7. Clearly it would not be wise to make that inference from such a small sample. A proper study would involve making sure that the sample size was sufficient, and that proper sampling methods were used to give confidence that the sample was representative of the population being STUDIED.

Design FMEA

Design FMEA performed at the design level to analyze how the failure modes affects the system and to minimize the failure effects. Used before products are released to the manufacturing process. All anticipated design deficiencies should be detected and corrected by the end of this process.

F-statistic

F Statistic F-statistics are always positive. The F statistic is NEVER negative. An F statistic is the ratio of the Mean Square for Treatment or Between Groups with the Mean Square for ERROR or Within Groups. If the calculated F statistic is greater than the appropriate value of the critical F (found in a table or provided in SOFTWARE), then the null hypothesis is rejected. (helpful in ANOVA) The CALCULATED F-statistic for a known source of variation is found by dividing the mean square of the known source of variation by the mean square of the unknown source of variation. I'm taking Unknown to be the variance between sets and known to be within the set. F = MS Between / MS Within

Meaning of Six Sigma?

Six Sigma starts with the view that waste is defective products, to remove waste you find the root cause of defects (using statistical or process analysis methods) then design an improvement or replace a fault so that the defects no longer occur. Using a manufacturing example, let's say you have a factory that produces widgets. The widgets are all supposed to be a certain size, shape, and weight. You sample your output and discover that out of every 1,000 widgets fifty are flawed (e.g. wrong size, shape, or weight). To correct this you could use Six-Sigma to determine what's causing the variation/defects and work to reduce them to a six-sigma level.

Nominal-Defined upper and lower boundries

For a nominal characteristic, there is a defined target value for the product which has to be achieved. There is a specified upper and lower limit, with the target specification being the middle point. Quality is in this case is defined in terms of deviation from the target value. An example of this characteristic is the thickness of a windshield in a car. The equation used to describe the loss function of one unit of product: L = k(y-m)^2\qquad Graph: "U" shape line---> As the output value (y) deviates from the target value (m) increasing the mean squared deviation, the loss (L) increases. There is no loss when the output value is equal to the target value (y = m).

History of DMAIC

History of DMAIC Michel Harry & Bill Smith created "MAIC" - the methodology that evolved to become DMAIC. Harry includes the following strategy elements in the traditional approach to six sigma: (R) Recognize the true state of your business (S) Standardize the systems that prove to be best-in-class (I) Integrate best-in-class systems into the strategic planning framework.

Improve Phase of DMAIC

Improve: Implement Solutions to Improve Y, Address Important Xs Analog to the Measure phase, the Improve phase also starts with getting a full picture. This time it is a full picture of potential solutions that - by addressing the critical few x's - can help improve the Y. Brainstorming and creativity techniques help to generate these potential solutions. In order to reduce these solutions to those that should be implemented, each solution is rated against specific criteria. Two important criteria are how much a solution contributes to improving the Y and how much it addresses specific x's. (Of course other criteria, like easiness of implementation, costs, etc., also are important.) Before starting the implementation of the improved process, a failure modes and effect analysis helps to identify ways that the process Y can fail and the potential causes (newly or previously identified x's) and how to prevent these failures from happening. At the end of the Improve phase, short-term data (e.g., from a pilot program) demonstrates that the identified solution or solution package has really improved the Y.

Loss function for one piece of product Formula?

Loss function for one piece of product: L = k(y-m)^2\qquad Where: L = Loss in Dollars y = Quality Characteristic (diameter, concentration, etc) m = Target Value for y k = Constant (defined below) The cost of the counter measure, or action taken by the customer to account for a defective product at either end of the specification range, Ao, is found by substituting y = m + Δ0 into the loss function:

Taguchi Robustness Concept

Robust Design method, also called the Taguchi Method, pioneered by Dr. Genichi Taguchi, greatly improves engineering productivity. By consciously considering the noise factors (environmental variation during the product's usage, manufacturing variation, and component deterioration) and the cost of failure in the field the Robust Design method helps ensure customer satisfaction. Robust Design focuses on improving the fundamental function of the product or process, thus facilitating flexible designs and concurrent engineering. Indeed, it is the most powerful method available to reduce product cost, improve quality, and simultaneously reduce development interval.

Scatter Diagram

Scatter plots only show correlation. They do not prove causation. The example often used is shark attacks and ice cream sales. There may be a correlation between the two, but ice cream does not cause shark attacks — the heat of the day does. In other words, more people are in the water on hot days equaling more shark attacks, and more people BUY ice cream on hot days

Measure: Prioritize Potential Xs, and Measure X's and Y

Measure: Prioritize Potential Xs, and Measure X's and Y The Measure phase usually starts with a fishbone diagram and/or a detailed process mapping. Given the clearly defined Y from the Define phase, the fishbone helps to identify all potential causes (x's) of this Y; the detailed process mapping also shows which process x's mostly influence the process Y. At the end of this step, the project team should have a full picture of potential x's that it might next have to reduce to a manageable and measurable few. The prioritization matrix or simple multi-voting techniques help to achieve this. It is always important to remember that the brainstorming, as well as the reduction of potential x's, happens based on process expertise, not yet on facts and data. As the next step, the team sets up a data collection plan that allows for measuring both x's and Y in such a way that the data collected can later be used to identify cause-and-effect (i.e., x-Y) relationships with the help of graphical and statistical tools. Of course, for all x's and Ys to be measured, an operational definition and - if possible - a gage R&R study should be conducted in order to guarantee reliable data. Having the x's and Y data collected, the team would now start identifying patterns in data. Usually control charts, time series plots, and frequency plots are used to separate common from special cause variation. X's that influence special cause variation are identified, and if they can be explained and avoided in the future, they are removed from the data set. Additionally, Pareto analyses where the Y is stratified by categories of one x help to further scope the project. The final step in the Measure phase is to determine the baseline capability of the process Y: Yield, Cpk or process sigma values indicate how well the process Y is performing today. This also sometimes leads to re-setting the initially stated goals in the project charter. The Measure phase ends with related data for the Y and the most important x's, where x's of special cause variation have already been removed from the data set.

Root Cause Analysis: Open-Narrow- Close

Open-Narrow-Close To VALIDATE root causes identified in the OPEN-Narrow-Close efforts, the team should employ three tools/techniques: Basic data collection Scatter Analysis/Regression Design of Experiments. Open phase In the open phase you want to gather as many ideas as possible. To do that you might use a cause and effect diagram. Generate as many suspects (people of interest) , Brainstorming (Cause and Effect Diagram, Fish Bone Diagram) Narrow Phase Narrow (SME of the team) - eliminate duplicates, narrow thru multi voting to get to a narrower list - 5 Ys to break biggers Xs to smaller managable X's Close Phase Close - VALIDATE using Hypothesis and convict them or set them free

P-Diagram

P-Diagram is a must for every development project. It is a way of succinctly defining the development scope. First we identify the signal (input) and response (output) associated with the design concept. For example, in designing the cooling system for a room the thermostat setting is the signal and the resulting room temperature is the response. Next consider the parameters/factors that are beyond the control of the designer. Those factors are called noise factors. Outside temperature, opening/closing of windows, and number of occupants are examples of noise factors. Parameters that can be specified by the designer are called control factors. The number of registers, their locations, size of the air conditioning unit, insulation are examples of control factors. The next step is to specify allowed deviation of the parameters from the nominal values. It involves balancing the added cost of tighter tolerances against the benefits to the customer. Similar decisions must be made regarding the selection of different grades of the subsystems and components from available alternatives. The quadratic loss function is very useful for quantifying the impact of these decisions on customers or higher-level systems. The process of balancing the cost is called Tolerance Design. The result of using parameter design followed by tolerance design is successful products at low cost.

Parameter Design

Parameter Design. Once the concept is established, the nominal values of the various dimensions and design parameters need to be set, the detail design phase of conventional engineering. Taguchi's radical insight was that the exact choice of values required is under-specified by the performance requirements of the system. In many circumstances, this allows the parameters to be chosen so as to minimize the effects on performance arising from variation in manufacture, environment and cumulative damage. This is sometimes called robustification. Robust parameter designs consider controllable and uncontrollable noise variables; they seek to exploit relationships and optimize settings that minimize the effects of the noise variables.

Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing)

Poka-yoke is error proofing. Prevent or detect errors Promote safety Prevent machine damage Improve quality. Defining requirements or ensuring continuous flow are good things but not strictly part of error-proofing.

Example of Prevention Costs?

Prevention Costs The costs of all activities specifically designed to prevent poor quality in products or services. Examples are the costs of: New product review Quality planning Supplier capability surveys Process capability evaluations Quality improvement team meetings Quality improvement projects Quality education and training

Process FMEA

Process FMEA started before or after the feasibility stage, prior to production tooling Usually after a Design FMEA, but it could be some time before production ACTIVITIES start up. Should take place before manufacturing begins. ACCOUNTSfor all manufacturing operations. If a defect does occur during manufacturing, you should CHECK to see if there is an unaccounted for failure mode occurring.

What makes a good Six Sigma DMAIC project?

Project champion: sets the scope of the project. Select a project with needs and criteria that are appropriate for using DMAIC. If you are deploying Six Sigma for the first time within an organization, those first wave projects MUST generate results or your program may be in trouble. If you have multiple to choose from Rate each project on a scale from 1-5 for each of the following categories: 1) Impact on strategy 2)How poor is the process performing 3)Impact of the resources 4)Cost savings i. Project Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA) ii. Cost of Poor Quality Chance of success ***Sum the scores and keep the projects that total >20.

Define Project Scope

Project scope: The boundaries Who else is impacted? Set by champion Battles scope creep Is NOT a timeline, but COULD be a time frame. do NOT just restate the issue

Define Quality Function Deployment

Quality Function Deployment is a planning process for products and services that starts with the voice of the customer. Basically, it enables people to think together. Using QFD allows the charting of customer wants and the technical hows which results in a better understanding of design relationships. You can also include a competitive analysis. People on your team will be better aligned and able to think together towards a solution.

Set Based Design Vs. Robust Design

Set based design ---->design methodology that incorporates concurrent engineering, taguchi robustness concepts, and convergence techniques to design solution using a broad set of possible solutions, converging to a narrow set of alternatives, and then to a final solution Robust design---->means minimize noise or make output insensitive to noise; experimentation and testing Noise factors are not controllable by the designer, for example: Weather

Objective of CTQ linkage?

Solidify the connection between the targeted metrics to achieve customer satisfaction by mapping them to the Voice of the Customer (VOC). The customer can also be the business itself, machine operators, and other stakeholders related to the business, not just the end users that are usually the thought of "customers". All of the inputs impact the process. The inputs of the process create an output, "Y". The goal is to have "Y" linked to the needs and expectations of the customer. Customer needs are in the areas of cost, delivery quality, service, and more. The Voice of the Process (VOP) is described by the Process Output Variables (POV). The VOP is a function of all the inputs: CTQ Linkage The causes are the x's. These inputs create a process output which the project strives to improve toward a target and reduce variation. These improvements must be directly linked to the critical needs of the customer. These needs are labeled as the those being Critical to Quality, however, this pertains to any type of customer need and specification. FOCUS ON the customer must-haves and needs before trying to implement delighter and surprise features or spending excess resources and money to achieve unnecessary levels of performance.

System FMEA

System FMEA Comprised of parts. all of the part LEVEL FMEAs will tie together to form the system. Lower into the system, more detail.

Systematic Design

Systematic Design - German methodology that uses 4 steps (Clarify the task, Develop a conceptual design, Refine the design, Generate the final detail design)

Taguchi

Taguchi's system: Starts with conception, through design, and into production. Discuss Taguchi's quality imperatives Discuss different approaches to loss function Learn how to use orthogonal arrays in designs Identify the goal of randomization Taguchi: Uses orthogonal (balanced) arrays, but are types of fractional factorial designs Identify Taguchi robustness concepts Learn three design considerations Discuss Signal/Noise (S/N) ratios

Cost of Quality

The Cost of Quality is made up four cumulative areas: 1) Appraisal 2) Detection 3) Internal Failure 4) External Failure The Cost of Poor Quality is the sum of just 3 & 4: COPQ = Internal Failure Costs + External Failure Costs

What is the House of Quality

The House of Quality is a voice of customer analysis tool and a key component of the Quality Functional Deployment technique. It starts with the voice of the customer. It is a tool to translate what the customer wants into products or services that meet the customer wants in terms of engineering design values by way of creating a relationship matrix. 1)Typically the first chart used in Quality Function Deployment 2) Data intensive and is capable of capturing large amounts of information. 3)Left side: has the customer's needs. 4)Ceiling: has the design features and technical requirements. 5) The Roof: a matrix describing the relationship between the design features. Used to show how the design requirements interact with each other. This can be an ordinal measurement scale. 6) Competitive Section: based primarily on the customer's perspective. 7) Lower level / Foundation: Benchmarking & target values used to rank the 'hows'. These are the actions your organization will take to satisfy your customers.

Larger-the-Better characteristic

The Larger-the-Better characteristic is just the opposite of the Smaller-the-Better characteristc. For this characteristic type, it is preferred to maximize the result, and the ideal target value is infinity. An example of this characteristic is maximizing the product yield from a process. The equation used to describe the loss function of one unit of product: L = \frac{k} {y_0 ^2}\qquad Where: k = Proportionality Constant y0 = Minimum Consumer Tolerated Output Value Graph: Inverse Line---> Loss is minimized as the output value is maximized.

Tools for Robust Design Concept

The Robustness Strategy uses five primary tools: P-Diagram is used to classify the variables associated with the product into noise, control, signal (input), and response (output) factors. Ideal Function is used to mathematically specify the ideal form of the signal-response relationship as embodied by the design concept for making the higher-level system work perfectly. Quadratic Loss Function (also known as Quality Loss Function) is used to quantify the loss incurred by the user due to deviation from target performance. Signal-to-Noise Ratio is used for predicting the field quality through laboratory experiments. Orthogonal Arrays are used for gathering dependable information about control factors (design parameters) with a small number of experiments.

Define the 5 Whys?

The five whys and five hows constitute a questioning process designed to drill down into the details of a problem or a solution and peel away the layers of symptoms. The technique was originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda. He states "that by repeating why five times, the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear." The five whys are used for drilling down into a problem and the five hows are used to develop the details of a solution to a problem. Both are designed to bring clarity and refinement to a problem statement or a potential solution and get to the root cause or root solution.

Waste of Defects

The most obvious of the seven wastes, although not always the easiest to detect before they reach your customers. Quality errors that cause defects invariably cost you far more than you expect. Every defective item requires rework or replacement, it wastes resources and materials, it creates paperwork, it can lead to lost customers. The Waste of Defects should be prevented where possible, better to prevent than to try to detect them, implementation of pokayoke systems and autonomation can help to prevent defects from occurring.

Waste of Overproduction

The most serious of all of the seven wastes; the waste of overproduction is making too much or too early. This is usually because of working with oversize batches, long lead times, poor supplier relations and a host of other reasons. Overproduction leads to high levels of inventory which mask many of the problems within your organization. The aim should be to make only what is required when it is required by the customer, the philosophy of Just in Time (JIT), however many companies work on the principle of Just in Case!

Define Process Mapping?

The process map is a tool that graphically shows the inputs, actions and outputs of a process in a clear, step-by-step map of the process. This is tollgate # 3 of Define in the DMAIC. The purpose of process mapping is to help team members and others within the process to understand the process.

Function of the Project Charter?

The project charter is a set of a documents that provide purpose and motivation for the initiative. Serves as a working document for the team and as a reference for the rest of the company. Acts as a guiding hand for the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle (Deming wheel, Shewhart wheel). Use the it as a guide to managing the project, meeting deliverables, etc Also good as a method of problem identification in the sense that it clearly documents the scope and business impact of the problem the Six Sigma team is attempting to solve. The project charter should also clearly state what the intended goals are and how success will be measured. Project Chart 6 elements= problem statement , business case, milestones, role and responsibilities of team members, and stakeholders

What will a box plot tell us?

What Can Box Plots Tell Us? 1) Skewness: By looking at a box plot you can can tell if your data distribution is skewed if the line inside the box is not centered. Ex. Stock 4's median is not centered, thus this data is skewed. 2) Extreme values: The vertical lines (whiskers) show max and min values.Ex. Stock 5 tends towards LARGER values. 3) Median: The blue horizontal line indicates the median of the group. 4) 25th & 75th Percentiles: that's the top and bottom of the box. 5) Useful in visualizing most of the spread of variation. Ex. Stock 1 typically has the least variation.

Waste of Over-processing

The waste of Overprocessing is where we use inappropriate techniques, oversize equipment, working to tolerances that are too tight, perform processes that are not required by the customer and so forth. All of these things cost us time and money. One of the biggest examples of over-processing in most companies is that of the "mega machine" that can do an operation faster than any other, but every process flow has to be routed through it causing scheduling complications, delays and so forth. In lean; small is beautiful, use small appropriate machines where they are needed in the flow, not break the flow to route through a highly expensive monstrosity that the accountants insist is kept busy!

Waste of Motion

Unnecessary motions are those movements of man or machine which are not as small or as easy to achieve as possible, by this I mean bending down to retrieve heavy objects at floor level when they could be fed at waist level to reduce stress and time to retrieve. Excessive travel between work stations, excessive machine movements from start point to work start point are all examples of the waste of Motion. All of these wasteful motions cost you time (money) and cause stress on your employees and machines, after all even robots wear out.

Why Use Robust Design Model?

Why Use Robust Design Method? 1) Six Sigma approach aimed at reducing waste during manufacturing and operations. ---> impact on the cost structure and hence on the bottom line of those companies. 2) Need for Product Development Processes to be improved--->"design directly influences more than 70% of the product life cycle cost; companies with high product development effectiveness have earnings three times the average earnings; "40% of product development costs are wasted!" 3) The Design for Six Sigma approach is focused on 1) increasing engineering productivity so that new products can be developed rapidly and at low cost, and 2) value based management. Robust Design method is central to improving engineering productivity.