Tag Archives: Process improvement

Common Cause Variation

Posted on November 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Every system has variation. Common cause variation is the variation due to the current system. Dr. Deming increased his estimate of variation due to the system (common cause variation) to 97% (earlier in his life he cited figures around 80%). … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Quality tools, Theory of Constraints | Tagged common cause, Data, Deming, management concepts, problem solving, Process improvement, variation | 2 Comments

What Could we do Better?

Posted on November 29, 2006 by John Hunter

At the Hunter Conference, years ago, a speaker (I forget who) talked about how to get useful feedback. He discussed how asking “how is everything” normally will get the response: “fine” (which is often that is exactly what the staff … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Popular, Quality tools | Tagged continual improvement, curiouscat, Customer focus, Deming, Process improvement, Psychology | 9 Comments

European Blackout: Human Error-Not

Posted on November 18, 2006 by John Hunter

German utility E.On says major European blackout was caused by human error [the broken link was removed] Germany utility E.On AG said Wednesday that a European-wide blackout earlier this month that left millions without power was the result of human … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Respect | Tagged blame, curiouscat, Customer focus, mistake-proofing, Process improvement, process thinking, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Evolution of the PDSA Cycle

Posted on July 17, 2006 by John Hunter

Evolution of the PDSA Cycle by Ron Moen and Cliff Norman. Another historical article that explores the growth of management improvement concepts – this time the PDSA improvement cycle. via: Deming Electronic Network [the broken link was removed] See also: … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Quality tools | Tagged Deming, Management, PDSA, Process improvement, Quality tools | Comments Off

Lean Beyond the Factory Floor

Posted on June 7, 2006 by John Hunter

Spreading the lean tonic [the broken link was removed]: One problem, says Michele Bonfiglioli, chief executive of Italian manufacturing consultancy firm Bonfiglioli Consulting, is that many manufacturers have a ‘blind spot’ when it comes to understanding just how non-lean and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement | Tagged Lean thinking, Process improvement, Six sigma | Comments Off

Better and Different

Posted on May 24, 2006 by John Hunter

Reaction to Toyota: Better or Different? and Seth Godin’s post. The answer, as I see it, is to be better and different (when necessary). In Seth’s post he talks about challenging people to find not just better solutions but different … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, quote | Tagged continual improvement, Deming, Management, Process improvement | 11 Comments

Why are you afraid of process?

Posted on April 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Why are you afraid of process? by Seth Godin I spend a lot of time railing against organizations and teams that fall in love with process at the expense of innovation. This is not a post about that. It’s about … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement | Tagged Process improvement, process thinking | 1 Comment

Using Design of Experiments

Posted on March 17, 2006 by John Hunter

How to Institute DOE in Your Company (link broken – removed) by Davis Balestracci: DOE works, but I don’t need to sell that to the readers of this newsletter. But as certain as we all are, no one can deny … Continue reading →

Posted in Design of Experiments, Management, Quality tools, Six sigma | Tagged Data, Design of Experiments, experiments, Process improvement, process thinking, Six sigma, Statistics | 6 Comments

Cease Mass Inspection for Quality

Posted on March 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Comment in response to, Re-Discovering W. Edwards Deming, a partial quote from that post: Not all of the Deming approach is part of core TPS thinking. In particular, Deming advocated a statistical sampling approach to quality inspection, while Toyota focuses … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools | Tagged Deming, inspection, management, organization as a system, Process improvement | 4 Comments

Zero Defects

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Zero Defects by Norman Bodek: Do you believe it is possible to have Zero Defects? I am not talking about six sigma at all. I believe it is possible to have zero defects (in a sense). But I do not … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Quality tools, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged defects, Deming, Innovation, poka yoke, Process improvement | 2 Comments