Indirect Costs

Indirect costs are those expenses that are not directly attributable to a single cost center or cost object (product line, service, etc.) Indirect costs may include shared resources or overhead. Administrative costs, website costs, IT infrastructure, and similar expenses fall into this category. One of the big challenges with indirect Read more…

Green Belt

A Green Belt is a certification that indicates a person is qualified to lead a Six Sigma project or, less frequently, a kaizen team in Lean. The Belt System Ranks Yellow Belt: Team Participant Green Belt: Team Leader Black Belt: Trainer Master Black Belt: Trains black belts; leads improvement effort Read more…

Mode

The mode is the number which appears most frequently in a set of numbers. For a finite data set, as in a sample of measurements, the mode would be the number that appears the greatest number of times. In a distribution curve, the mode is the number that corresponds to Read more…

SMART Goals

“SMART” is a commonly used mnemonic device that helps you set effective goals. SMART stands for… Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely Detailed Explanation of SMART Goals Specific: Goals should be well-defined and unambiguous. The person or group the goal is assigned to should also be specified. Measurable: There has to Read more…

Soft Savings

Soft savings are the intangible benefits of continuous improvement. Contrast this with hard savings which are those that can be directly pointed to as a line item on some sort of financial record such as a receipt or an invoice. Soft savings include things like reduced frustration, improved job satisfaction, Read more…

Hard Savings

Hard savings are those that are directly linked to reducing to an actual expense. There should be no confusion about how much was actually saved, as there is an invoice, payroll stub, bill, receipt, or the like associated with the expense. Even though there is a specific, quantifiable expense, there Read more…

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is a structured approach for assessing a project, new business venture, ongoing concern, or similar situation. By itself, SWOT analysis has limited utility. It has much more value when used with a purpose, such as a product launch, an annual Read more…