Design of Experiments: Out of the Classroom

Teaching Design of Experiments to students is not an easy task. It is difficult to simulate the entire effort within the constraints of a classroom. You can teach the analysis with software, but this is not enough to really gain an understanding of DOE. In an effort to teach these concepts to a non-manufacturing audience, the DOE concepts were used to improve the baking of a chocolate chip cookie. You may say that is a manufacturing process and it is, but it involves all of the DOE concepts in an arena that most can understand. In this webinar we will walk through the entire process of planning, designing, running, and analyzing a factorial DOE. If you consider DOE a difficult concept and have a fear running one, this webinar is for you. By the end of the webinar, you will understand all the fractional factorial DOE concepts as well as know a few things about making chocolate chip cookies. We will even share the results of the DOE with you! Objectives: Walk through the key activities of a Design of Experiments (planning, designing, running, and analyzing ) in an area that you understand. At the end of the webinar you should feel much more comfortable in using a DOE, even outside of manufacturing.

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Enhanced Management Control System

People need to maintain control of their behaviors otherwise they might harm someone or their self. For example, people need to refrain from hitting someone when they get very upset with them. Similarly, companies need to have a control mechanism so that healthy policies and procedures are followed. If organizations don’t do this, problems can occur. We have seen the negative impacts on a global scale when companies do not have enterprise-wide control mechanisms that lead and drive healthy behaviors. This article discusses how to avoid some of this similar failures and how to create an effective business control system.

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Improved Enterprise Improvement Plan (EIP) Template

As Smarter Solutions continues to refine the Integrated Enterprise Excellence (IEE) system, we tweak certain tools to improve their use. The Enterprise Improvement Plan (EIP) has been updated in order to better title the columns so that they are clear in their intent. We have also added a fifth column as we modified the fourth column. The fourth column has been defined as the improvement being targeted, with the fifth column being the specific project or task that is linked to the improvement. We think you will find this tool to be more useful and easier to explain to others.

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Enhanced Capturing Voice of the Customer Methodology in a Business Management System

An enhanced capturing voice of the customer methodology is needed within businesses. A voice of the customer (VOC) system needs to be an integral part of an organizational overall business management system. A business’ survival depends upon effectively reacting and anticipating customer needs; however, businesses need to better answer how to effective track and improve

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Enhanced How to Conduct Hypothesis Test Roadmap

At Smarter Solutions, our Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt (BB) and Master Black Belt (MBB) courses cover analysis phase tools well beyond the new body-of-knowledge (BOK) published by ASQ. Of course we teach the standard, one variable-at-a-time tests: t-tests, f-test, chi-square test, simple regression, and one factor ANOVA. But as Lean Six Sigma has become a commodity that everyone is teaching, the BOK has become watered down. Our belt programs do not cover the non-parametric tests until you reach the MBB level training. Smarter Solutions chose to teach the distribution theory along with the one variable-at-a-time tests in order to show the belt that the non-parametric tests are not really needed. When a BB or MBB learns of these new tools, he will need an advanced tool selection diagram until he becomes familiar with the tools. This advanced tool selection diagram is attached at the end of this document. You should be able to use this decision tree to answer the questions and identify the proper analytical tool to apply. It also has the Minitab Commands needed to open the tool menus.

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Voice of the Customer Business System Integration

Business survival depends upon fulfilling the wants, needs, and desires of customers. For long-lasting success fulfilling this business requirement, an effective system is needed to capture and utilize Voice of the Customer (VOC) inputs. However, organizations often undertake this VOC task by creating a function that focuses on conducting and interpreting customer satisfaction surveys. With this approach, policies might even be established where employee compensation depends upon how well satisfaction-survey goals are met. Care needs to be exercised when capturing and using customer inputs, since the best intention can lead to playing games with the numbers and/or a VOC silo effort that is not integrated in the overall business management system. From an effectiveness point of view, one might even question whether customer satisfaction is the most important measurement to track. Why? Often customer satisfaction does not correlate as well as we might think to future customer’s buying behaviors – a critical factor. This presentation will describe an integrated business management system that effectively blends VOC needs, wants, and desires with metrics that move organizations toward achievement of the 3 Rs of business; i.e., everyone doing the Right things, and doing them Right, at the Right time.

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