SPC Methods for Quality Improvement

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement Review

SPC METHODS FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

A comprehensive, applications-oriented guide to classical and cutting-edge SPC tools and techniques

Written by a leading innovator in the field, SPC Methods for Quality Improvement provides a complete blueprint for integrating SPC methods into the manufacturing process. It explains methods for improving existing SPC systems and describes cutting-edge techniques that enable managers to develop full-fledged SPC systems in industries that traditionally were considered off-limits to this type of statistical analysis.

The only guide to SPC geared exclusively to the practical concerns of manufacturing professionals, it translates statistical/mathematical concepts into real-world applications with the help of dozens of case studies and examples drawn from a variety of industries.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement is also a superb introductory text for students and newcomers to SPC. The author patiently introduces readers to essential SPC concepts and procedures and provides methodical, step-by-step instruction in the proper use of SPC tools and techniques.

In the 1920s and 30s, Walter Shewhart of Bell Telephone Laboratories developed Statistical Process Control (SPC) as a means of analyzing manufacturing processes at the shop-floor level. Shewhart and his disciples—most notably W. Edwards Deming, father of total quality management—realized that SPC provided a sophisticated tool for assessing and improving quality at all levels. SPC, therefore, was the backbone of the quality management revolution of the 1980s and 90s. Yet, until now, there was no comprehensive, practical guide to SPC methods for engineers and managers working in manufacturing.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement fills that vacuum with complete coverage of SPC concepts, tools, and techniques geared to the practical concerns of manufacturing professionals. Dr. Charles Quesenberry introduces all statistical/mathematical essentials and carefully explains the rationale behind each concept. He employs vivid case studies to show how these concepts translate into real-world applications. Using examples drawn from a broad array of industries—from semiconductors to food processing, biomedical engineering to education—he deftly illustrates how SPC methods can streamline the manufacturing process and improve product quality.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement provides detailed, step-by-step guidance on the uses of both classical and second-generation SPC methods. Among cutting-edge methods described are those for charting processes without prior data, charting processes from start-up, and charting short runs with known false alarm rates. Readers also learn methods for studying the form of a reference distribution; how to use transformations to Q-statistics for various models; how to treat data from skewed distributions; and new ways of treating regression, multivariate, and autocorrelated data.

An excellent text/primer for students and those new to SPC, SPC Methods for Quality Improvement is also a valuable guide for industrial and production engineers and managers who wish to improve existing SPC systems or to introduce SPC methods into industries where they were once inapplicable.

Software Process and Product Measurement: International Conferences IWSM 2009 and Mensura 2009 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 4-6, 2009. ... / Programming and Software Engineering)

Software Process and Product Measurement: International Conferences IWSM 2009 and Mensura 2009 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 4-6, 2009. ... / Programming and Software Engineering) Review

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of two joint events - the International Workshop on Software Measurement, IWSM 2009 and the International Conference on Software Process and Product Measurement, Mensura 2009, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in November 2009.

The 24 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions for inclusion in the book. This book considers issues such as the applicability of measures and metrics to software, the efficiency of measurement programs in industry and the theoretical foundations of software engineering.

Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management

Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management Review

Map Your Way to Process Excellence

At last, a simple, well-written survey of process redesign that will help you transform your organization into a world-class competitor. Author Dan Madison explains the evolution of work management styles, from traditional to process-focused, and introduces the tools of process mapping, the roles and responsibilities of everyone in the organization, and a logical ten-step redesign methodology. Thirty-eight design principles allow readers to custom-fit the methodology to the particular challenges within their own organizations. Additional chapters by guest writers Jerry Talley, Ph.D., and Vic Walling, Ph.D., discuss cross-department process management and using computer simulation in redesign, respectively. Inside youÂ’ll find detailed, illustrated discussions about:
* The importance of process
* Process mapping
* Key stakeholdersÂ’ roles and responsibilities
* The ten-step process redesign methodology
* Process improvement and creating the process team
* The four lenses of analysis
* Customer report cards, benchmarking, and best practices
* Process redesign case studies
* Design principles for process redesign
* Barriers to process redesign
* Becoming a process-focused organization
* Building cross-department process management
* Using information technology in process management

The Illustrated Toyota Production System: A Process Improvement Methodology

The Illustrated Toyota Production System: A Process Improvement Methodology Review

The Toyota Production System has been studied by people eager to find its secret to success for many years. Too often we shout "Eureka!" and run off to implement the set of techniques or tools that seem to fit our situation that best. When this approach is only partially successful, we make excuses that "we are different" than Toyota. In fact, all of our businesses and processes are more similar to Toyota than we would like to admit. What Toyota does differently and better than most of us is to learn from others and from themselves, studying both failures and successes. Exploring the keys to the Toyota Production System and its success requires that we keep an open mind and seek to learn from many sources. Book 2 of The Illustrated Toyota Production System: A Process Improvement Methodology provides immediately useful ideas and tool for continuous improvement that can be applied again and again to reduce waste and improve productivity, safety, and quality.

Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart (Jossey-Bass Management)

Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart (Jossey-Bass Management) Review

Streamline the processes vital to optimum performance

With over 100,000 copies sold worldwide, Improving Performance is recognized as the book that launched the Process Improvement revolution. It was the first such approach to bridge the gap between organization strategy and the individual. Now, in this revised and expanded new edition, Rummler and Brache reflect on the key needs of organizations faced with today's challenge of managing change. With multiple charts, checklists, hands-on tools and case studies, the authors show how they implemented their Performance Improvement methodology in over 250 successful projects with clients such as Hewlett-Packard, 3M, Shell Oil, and Citibank.

Building Engaged Team Performance: Align Your Processes and People to Achieve Game-Changing Business Results

Building Engaged Team Performance: Align Your Processes and People to Achieve Game-Changing Business Results Review

Harness the Power of Your Most Valuable Resource—Your Workforce!

Process improvement approaches like Six Sigma and Lean Enterprise have worked wonders for countless organizations, but in the drive for true excellence, these approaches are only one important part of the formula.

Building Engaged Team Performance explains the next wave of business improvement: driving breakthrough gains by integrating process improvement with “the people side” of performance.

Breaking new ground in the world of organizational improvement, performance management expert Dodd Starbird teams up with Roland Cavanagh, coauthor of the bestselling The Six Sigma Way, to present a system for aligning and optimizing processes and the efforts of any organization’s most valuable asset: people.

Combining the principles from Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, Lean, and Socio-Technical Systems, Engaged Team Performance helps you harness the massive potential of human performance that is not captured by process improvements alone. Illustrated through real-life stories, Building Engaged Team Performance offers a stepby- step program that shows you how you can more than double the productivity of your business. The authors’ client examples are a diverse group of transactional and manufacturing organizations that have used Engaged Team Performance to:

• Increase employee efficiency by 50% and save millions of dollars
• Consistently deliver on critical customer requirements
• Provide visual data for instant decision making• Create realistic staffing models for sustainable capacity
• Establish standards for both team and individual performance
• Develop leadership that facilitates team ownership of execution

Building Engaged Team Performance provides the tools for building a superior system that optimizes effectiveness of outcomes for customers and efficiency of resource usage. Never before have human performance and process improvement been so closely linked in a single, sustainable method. Catch the next wave of business improvement with Engaged Team Performance.

Praise for Building Engaged Team Performance

“The Engaged Team Performance effort that we undertook has allowed us to reshape our process from start to finish and improve both productivity and the communication among multiple departments.”
Art Bacci, President & CEO, Principal Bank

“This book provides practical insights on building competencies of change leaders throughout the organization.”
Dr. William D. Trotter, Managing Director, Association of Internal Management Consultants (AIMC)

“By embedding these concepts into organizational culture, systems, and processes, a group of individuals may become a winning team.”
Dan Bell, President, Canon Information Technology Services

“When I led a division at GE during the heyday of Six Sigma, process excellence and team performance were both critical; yet they were considered different disciplines, supported by separate infrastructure. Engaged Team Performance combines and aligns the best of both, and it delivers even better results.”
C. Lewis Fain, President, Mortgage Payment Protection, Inc.

“If your strategic vision includes words like growth, customer loyalty, value creation, responsiveness, quality, expertise, partnership, accountability, efficiency, or best in class, then Building Engaged Team Performance has to be part of the foundation. Without it you’re just creating a house of cards.”
Rick Larson, CEO, VFD Technologies

IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects

IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects Review

Consistent success does not happen by chance. It occurs by having an understanding of what is happening in the environment and then having the skills to execute the necessary changes.

Ideal for project, IT, and systems development managers, IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects details the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to succeed in bringing about large-scale change. It explains how to incorporate quality methods into the change management process and outlines a holistic approach for transformation management.

Detailing time-tested project management techniques, the book examines management skills with a focus on systems thinking to offer a pragmatic look at effecting change. Its comprehensive coverage spans team building, quality, project methodology, resource allocation, process engineering, and management best practices. The material covered is validated with references to concepts and processes from such business greats as Dr. Deming, Jack Welch, and Henry Ford. Readers will learn the history behind the concepts discussed along with the contributions made by these great minds.

The text supplies an awareness of the factors that impact performance in today’s projects to supply you with the real-world insight needed to bring about large-scale change in your organization. Although it is geared around change, most of the concepts discussed can be directly applied to improve efficiencies in your day-to-day activities.

Improving Business Processes (Pocket Mentor)

Improving Business Processes (Pocket Mentor) Review

In challenging times, companies must serve their customers faster and more efficiently. This makes improving your business processes more critical than ever. In this book, you'll learn key steps for carrying out a business process improvement initiative, including how to:

-Plan a business process improvement initiative
-Analyze and redesign a current process that needs improvement
-Obtain the resources needed to change a process
-Develop a systematic approach for creating and implementing change

Software Engineering Processes: Principles and Applications

Software Engineering Processes: Principles and Applications Review

Software engineering is playing an increasingly significant role in computing and informatics, necessitated by the complexities inherent in large-scale software development. To deal with these difficulties, the conventional life-cycle approaches to software engineering are now giving way to the "process system" approach, encompassing development methods, infrastructure, organization, and management. Until now, however, no book fully addressed process-based software engineering or set forth a fundamental theory and framework of software engineering processes.
Software Engineering Processes: Principles and Applications does just that. Within a unified framework, this book presents a comparative analysis of current process models and formally describes their algorithms. It systematically enables comparison between current models, avoidance of ambiguity in application, and simplification of manipulation for practitioners.
The authors address a broad range of topics within process-based software engineering and the fundamental theories and philosophies behind them. They develop a software engineering process reference model (SEPRM) to show how to solve the problems of different process domains, orientations, structures, taxonomies, and methods. They derive a set of process benchmarks-based on a series of international surveys-that support validation of the SEPRM model. Based on their SEPRM model and the unified process theory, they demonstrate that current process models can be integrated and their assessment results can be transformed between each other.
Software development is no longer just a black art or laboratory activity. It is an industrialized process that requires the skills not just of programmers, but of organization and project managers and quality assurance specialists. Software Engineering Processes: Principles and Applications is the key to understanding, using, and improving upon effective engineering procedures for software development.

Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process

Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process Review

Managing to Learn by Toyota veteran John Shook, reveals the thinking underlying the vital A3 management process at the heart of lean management and lean leadership. Constructed as a dialogue between a manager and his boss, the book explains how A3 thinking helps managers and executives identify, frame, and then act on problems and challenges. Shook calls this approach, which is captured in the simple structure of an A3 report, the key to Toyota's entire system of developing talent and continually deepening its knowledge and capabilities. The A3 Report is a Toyota-pioneered practice of getting the problem, the analysis, the corrective actions, and the action plan down on a single sheet of large (A3) paper, often with the use of graphics. A3 paper is the international term for a large sheet of paper, roughly equivalent to the 11-by-17-inch U.S. sheet. The widespread adoption of the A3 process standardizes a methodology for innovating, planning, problem-solving, and building foundational structures for sharing a broader and deeper form of thinking that produces organizational learning deeply rooted in the work itself, says Shook. Management expert James Womack predicts Managing to Learn will have a deep impact on the way lean companies manage people. He believes readers will learn an underlying way of thinking that reframes all activities as learning activities at every level of the organization, whether it's standardized work and kaizen at the individual level, system kaizen at the managerial level, or fundamental strategic decisions at the corporate level. A unique layout puts the thoughts of a lean manager struggling to apply the A3 process to a key project on one side of the page and the probing questions of the boss who is coaching him through the process on the other side. As a result, readers learn how to write a powerful A3 - while learning why the technique is at the core of lean management and lean leadership.

Process Improvement in Quality Management Systems: A case study analyzing Carnegie Mellon's Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

Process Improvement in Quality Management Systems: A case study analyzing Carnegie Mellon's Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Review

Foreword

After more than two decades since the advent of Total Quality Management, one might thi

Software Quality Approaches: Testing, Verification, and Validation: Software Best Practice 1 (v. 1)

Software Quality Approaches: Testing, Verification, and Validation: Software Best Practice 1 (v. 1) Review

This book is a result of the European Experience Exchange (EUREX) project sponsored by the European Systems and Software Initiative for Software Best Practice in Europe. The EUREX project analyzed the industrial and economic impact and the similarities and differences between and among more than 300 Software Process Improvement Experiments sponsored by the EU. The current volume offers a variety of perspectives on software quality issues resulting from that analysis, including testing, verification and validation. This area represents one of the "great unknowns" in software development in the sense that many organisations, especially small and medium enterprises, have no purposeful process addressing these issues. As a result, this book is particularly meaningful for software practitioners in such enterprises, including both developers and line managers.

Streamlined Process Improvement

Streamlined Process Improvement Review

“The Business Process Improvement methodology established by Dr. H. James Harrington and his group brings revolutionary improvement not only in quality of products and services, but also in the business processes.”
—Professor Yoshio Kondo

The Book That Goes Beyond Six Sigma and Lean . . . The Next Evolutionary Step in Business Process Management

“Don’t design for Six Sigma—design for maximum performance.”
H. James Harrington

How would you like to streamline your operations, lower your costs, improve your quality, and increase your profits—all at the same time?

It’s not an impossible dream. It’s the next evolutionary breakthrough in process improvement that goes beyond Process Reengineering, TRIZ, Six Sigma, and Lean to deliver actual, quantifiable results. And now it’s yours.

Streamlined Process Improvement (SPI) is the powerful new program developed by H. James Harrington. After 40 years of improving processes for IBM, Ernst & Young, the Chinese government, and many other private and governmental organizations, Harrington has become the go-to leader in the field. His revolutionary guide shows you how to:

• Discover the latest process tools—to make faster, more dramatic improvements using the revolutionary PASIC improvement methodology
• Use walk-through questionnaires and checklists—to streamline your job, resulting in optimum value to your stakeholders
• Use the newest methodologies—including simulation modeling, risk analysis, Five Ss, Process Innovation, Information Technology, Lean, and Six Sigma—to take your business to the next level
• Increase innovation—to drive growth and profits for many years to come

Harrington’s groundbreaking system is organized and explained step by step to help you achieve maximum results with a minimum of stress. His simple PASIC approach shows you how to Plan, Analyze, Streamline, Implement, and Continuously Improve throughout the entire process.

He walks you through the basics of how to analyze each process, how to decide which to focus on first, and how to prepare for organizational change. You’ll be surprised by just how quickly you can make things run more efficiently and effectively.

With Harrington’s proven techniques, you can sell your products and services at a lower price, satisfy your customers, make work more enjoyable for your employees, and still earn greater profits than your competitors.

This powerful process guide is the definitive handbook for operations managers, quality consultants, Six Sigma practitioners, knowledge workers, and Lean thinkers for a new generation.

Evolutionary Operation: A Statistical Method for Process Improvement (Probability & Mathematical Statistics)

Evolutionary Operation: A Statistical Method for Process Improvement (Probability & Mathematical Statistics) Review

This book is about the philosophy and practice of Evolutionary Operation (called EVOP for short), a simple but powerful statistical tool with wide application in industry. Experience has long shown that statistical methods, sometimes quite sophisticated in character, can be of great value in improving the efficiency of laboratory and pilot-plant investigations made by specially trained chemists and engineers. What originally motivated the introduction of EVOP, however, was the idea that the widespread and daily use of simple statistical design and analysis during routine production by process operatives themselves could reap enormous additional rewards.

Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application Development

Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application Development Review

Efficient workflow throughout an organization is of vital importance in today's competitive marketplace. This hands-on book teaches you how to visually model the current workflow process to show where redesign will provide the greatest improvement. Bringing together the two disciplines of management and information technology, the methodology involves framing and identifying the business process, modeling and understanding the current process, designing and assessing improvements to the workflow process, and developing use case scenarios by describing the interactions between process workers and the system. Real-world examples, clear summaries, and project checklists are included to make this text a practical on-the-job guide for everyday use.

Mastering Lean Product Development: A Practical, Event-Driven Process for Maximizing Speed, Profits, and Quality

Mastering Lean Product Development: A Practical, Event-Driven Process for Maximizing Speed, Profits, and Quality Review

As competition in the manufacturing sector intensifies, excellence in new product development has become a mandate. Renowned author, educator, and lean product development expert Ron Mascitelli takes the reader through his Event-Driven Lean Product Development process, from its beginnings in innovation, effective problem-solving, knowledge creation, and organizational learning, through to the rapid commercialization of highly successful products. This proven and practical approach balances all aspects of market success: customer value, profitability, time-to-market, and quality. Specific topics covered in this Event-Driven Lean Product Development framework include: - Selecting and prioritizing new product opportunities that have a high probability of market success. - Optimizing the productivity of finite development resources, and arbitrating resource conflicts in a multi-project environment. - Implementation of a practical, flexible, event-driven process that ensures the highest degree of cross-functional collaboration at every stage in new product development. - Managing the day-to-day efforts of developers and project teams through Visual Workflow Management. - Capturing the voice-of-the-customer in every new product by systematically identifying and ranking differentiation opportunities. - Building a realistic project schedule that is created and owned by the developers themselves. - Proactively identifying project risks and mitigating them through systematic (A3) problem-solving. - Employing rapid cycles of learning and set-based design to close knowledge gaps and build a foundation of high-value knowledge for future projects. - Implementing the Production Process Preparation (3P) methodology to maximize the manufacturability and quality of each new product. Mastering Lean Product Development represents the definitive roadmap to achieving breakthroughs in speed, efficiency, and customer value for any firm engaged in new product development.

Six sigma projects - incremental or seismic?

Six sigma projects - incremental or seismic? Review

Six sigma, lean sigma, process improvement - you've got the jargon, you have the mandate. Now how do you decide which projects to do? Here's how.