Brainstorming: Brainstorming is a Phase I problem solving tool that is used to generate as many ideas as possible related to a given problem, with an emphasis on sheer quantity of ideas. Creative thinking should be encouraged during brainstorming, with no judgment or evaluation of ideas taking place during this activity. The goal is to […]
Customer Benchmark Survey: You might be wondering why the customer benchmark survey has to do with quality tools, to which I would argue that a quality system can only be effective after both measuring and understanding your customers’ needs, wants, and expectations. The KISS Principle (Keep It Simple Steve) most certainly applies to surveys; when […]
Poka-Yoke: Poka-yoke is the Japanese word for mistake-proofing, (for us ancients, the pre-politically correct term was idiot-proofing), and is not a new concept; some variation of this method has existed for as long as people have been producing products. Mistake-proofing, error-proofing, fool-proofing; whatever label that is attached to it, poka-yoke is any method that eliminates […]
Process Flowcharting: Process flowcharting is the use of a diagram, or picture, to represent the major elements of a process in sequential order that is used to determine how the process is really operating. Process flowcharting, also called a process flow diagram or simply a flowchart, will define boundaries and constraints and is the first […]
Every year I get together with a group of my good friends, Bobby, Dudley, Doug and Woody, all fellow Harley-Davidson enthusiasts, and take an epic ride to “parts unknown”. As we were sitting around the campfire one night during this year’s trip, I mentioned that I was writing a new series of articles on quality […]
Muda Muda is a Japanese word for “waste”, and don’t kid yourself into believing that your operation is so lean & mean there can’t be any significant waste going on. Waste comes in many forms; my definition of waste is simply “anything the customer is not willing to pay for’. Of course, hard wastes are […]
Tales from the Road A typical scenario for me is to be walking through a manufacturing facility and stopping at a work center manned by a highly-skilled operator. The management escort is quick to say “Stanley here is our department lead, and one of our most experienced drill operators.” When asked to see Stanley’s training records, the […]
The gemba walk provides company leaders, managers and supervisors a simple, easy means of supporting overall continuous improvement while directly engaging with the folks responsible for the key business processes. The best approach to a gemba walk is to start at the last process and work upstream. Why? This will highlight how well your process […]
Driving incremental improvement in your process is not something that can be done without intimate personal engagement; not just from the owners of the process, but also from the organization’s leadership. A hands-off approach by management will doom the effort before it begins. Management By Walking Around Tom Peters, author of the “Excellence” series of […]
Forwarded with permission SW August 19, 2015: Barbara Jorgensen – ElectronicsPurchasingStrategies. A U.S. appeals court ruled this week that the government cannot compel companies to report whether or not their products contain so-called “conflict minerals”—gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten—mined from regions in Africa. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on […]
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