ABC inventory is a method of grouping materials based on cost and usage to assign them different inventory management processes. Typically, the segmentation is done by calculating out the annual usage of the parts and labeling the top 70% of them (by total cost) as ‘A’ parts, the next 25% Read more…
The program leader faces a particularly challenging task in promoting this principle. In a nutshell, he or she will be dictating to the senior staff not only who they hire, but how they spend their time. Many senior leaders spend far too few hours of the week developing their subordinates…and Read more…
The Lean Training System is an extensive program designed to give you the tools you need to elevate your team’s performance, and your own. Individual vs. Team Team Development: We offer training materials that you can use to teach individual classes or that can be used to create a comprehensive Read more…
Our subscribers using free email services may encounter some problems with our membership process. These free services are often used as spam accounts or as ‘throwaway’ accounts for signing up on websites. As a result, these services have extremely aggressive email filters. This may result in delays or complete blocking Read more…
Control limits are lines established 3 standard deviations from the mean on a control chart. Keep in mind that the control chart depicts averages, so exhibits a normal distribution. (See Central Limit Theorem) 99.7% of all random variation (common cause) will fall within the upper and lower control limits. Outliers Read more…
When a process is said to be in control, statistically speaking, that means that all the variation can be attributed to common causes. All of the observed variation is just a function of the natural randomness built into a system or process. In a nutshell, an in control process is Read more…
A control, or control group is a tool used to confirm whether changes are actually having an effect. The control group is exposed to the same conditions as the test group with the exception of the variable that is being examined. For example, you may be experimenting whether increasing tire Read more…
Containment is an interim quality management step. When a problem is identified, the organization must take steps to prevent defects from escaping. Containment is a method of systematically identifying and quarantining all materials that are suspect until they can be confirmed not to contain defective items. Note that this is Read more…
A competitive advantage is a condition through which one organization has to spend fewer resources to get the same benefit as a competitor (or, of course, gets more benefit for spending the same amount of resources.) This advantage can be because of a perception of higher quality products, because of Read more…
Making changes can be a rather large challenge. This is especially true when you are committed to making improvements to the value stream as a whole rather than local ones for an individual process. It is common for disputes to occur, especially when a project team recognizes that there can Read more…
The central limit theorem, in layman’s terms, says that regardless of the shape of the distribution of a population, in most cases, the mean of random samples taken from that population will approximate a normal distribution. The larger the sample, or the larger the number of samples, the closer the Read more…
A Corrective Action Report (CAR) is a tool used to support a quality program. It is a written record of the investigation into the root cause of a problem and the actions that are required to permanently eliminate the underlying issue. A documented corrective action program is a requirement of Read more…