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Stand-alone operations

electricalwires65287126.jpgStand-alone operations do not have dependency upon other things, allowing you to produce products in a timely manner as it is not relying upon other machines to work. What exactly does a stand-alone operation mean and does it have a positive impact upon your company?

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What does lean manufacturing provide for you?

accountant37004036.jpgIf you are like most business owners you have probably heard a lot of rage over lean manufacturing and its importance.Since reducing waste and improving productivity is important to the overall success of your company, you need to find some type of system that works. Turning to lean manufacturing is one of the easiest ways to come up with solution you need to remove unnecessary wastes and steps from your system.

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How manufacturers can keep shipping costs low

barrels41840423.jpgManufacturers are always looking, for ways to cut costs. One of the areas where they can significantly cut costs is through shipping. This is because in manufacturing, one of the costs that go into the final product price is the shipping costs. Even if a business has the customers pay shipping separately, it can still affect profits. Every company wants to ensure that their customers return for additional business, so the focus must be on keeping prices as low as possible. The bottom line is that one of the best ways to help keep any product affordable is to keep the shipping costs as low as possible. Here is what you need to know about how manufacturers can keep shipping costs low-

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Using DMADV to strengthen your manufacturing plant

manufacturing_systems.jpgThere are many different ways you can go about improving your company and building better and stronger products. Since errors have been a common problem for many manufacturing plants, it is vital to look for new ways to reduce these errors and to ensure that you have a successful company. Six Sigma was designed to reduce errors and get them down to a defect ratio of 3.4 per million items. This way when you have produced products you will be able to produce better products to hand over to your customers. As you are able to do this, you will have a better chance to generate higher sales as your customers are happy about the type of products you are providing. Not only will your customers be happier with the company and the products, your employees will also be happier with the company as well. Six Sigma helps to fix the problems with the company and helps to provide you with greater results that you need to strengthen your company. What is DMADV and what does it mean for your manufacturing plant?

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Paying attention to detail with a life cycle analysis

airplane30902462.jpgMore businesses are focusing on going green and trying to make eco-friendly products. Their plants are also receiving major overhauls to try and make them eco-friendly as well. A life cycle analysis provides you with a chance to see how the products you produce are affecting the environment. Using the life cycle analysis you will map out a few different strategies that provide you with a quality product that will not have damaging impacts on the environment.

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Understanding advanced manufacturing

accountant37004036.jpgManufacturing relies on customers to make orders and machines or employees to fulfill those orders. Advanced manufacturing can help a company keep up with the demands of the customers by introducing new technology and equipment to generate products and maintain a consistent level of efficiency. Advanced manufacturing relies on a specialized training to create such an effective working environment. You must follow a system of advanced planning and scheduling, also known as APS.

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The principles of lean manufacturing

buisnessmeeting26238539.jpgDo you want to reduce the number of errors and defects with your manufacturing processes? Lean manufacturing is one of the best ways to eliminate waste, strengthen employee morale, and generate higher profits. Lean manufacturing was originally developed by Toyota as a way to reduce waste. It is now used in thousands of companies all over the world as it allows the companies to produce better products for a lower cost.

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Trade associations

confidence30842627.jpgIf your business is in the manufacturing industry, you might be thinking about joining a trade association, which is a smart move for any industry that you work in. A trade association is an organization that was created for the sole purpose of specific businesses getting together. Trade associations were designed for specific industries to be able to join for a common purpose, which was to share information on the industry that they worked in.

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International manufacturing standards

handshakeoverflags32166713.jpgIn today's world where international trade is a must if you want to remain competitive and profitable, there becomes a need to create an even playing field, a standard that everyone can rely on.International manufacturing standards do just that.They ensure that so long as you do business with a company that values standardization as you do, you can expect to receive at least a minimum standard level of performance in quality.

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What makes lean manufacturing so different?

cabels19018341.jpgLean manufacturing combines a new way of thinking with a new process of manufacturing.In many cases the innovations that you will employ as part of a lean manufacturing implementation will be simple and logical.Lean manufacturing is all about thinking outside of the box and coming up with solutions that may not have been used before.Lean manufacturing is different from so many other manufacturing mentalities because of how it is implemented.The most difficult part of the entire lean manufacturing process is the implementation.There is no right or wrong way to implement lean practices, only general guidelines.The other factor that makes lean manufacturing so different is that you are continually implementing new ideas.There is no one place that you are trying to get to.Instead, your goal is to continually improve and look for opportunities to change the way that your business operates so that you can continue to evolve.

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The lean manufacturing concept

trash22475110.jpgLean manufacturing is a business operational type that operates with the objective of eliminating waste in its various forms.Waste is defined as an activity or material that provides no value to the end product or service being offered.Companies are interested in lean manufacturing because of the prospect that it introduces for saving more money, thereby making more money for the business.Lean manufacturing aims to take care of the waste problem from a company-wide approach.This means that everyone from upper management to employees on the manufacturing floor is affected by the lean concepts that are being applied to processes as well as materials.The term used to describe the smooth running process that lean manufactures' aim to achieve is called a value stream.A value stream refers to the continuous flow of products and materials that is not burdened by the starts, stops and delays of dealing with waste.Ideally, you want to create a stream of products and actions that consists of only essential steps, of which no step can be eliminated without dramatically affecting the end result.

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The future of custom manufacturing

architect36832024.jpgCustom manufacturing is a very important development in the technological industry of manufacturing.There are many different processes that have been developed to increase and improve efficiency and to increase profits.The future of manufacturing is bright and that of custom manufacturing is even brighter.It will continue to shape many different industries and will allow for new products to be developed.

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Process measurements and controls set up with TQM

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Total quality management (TQM) is a manufacturing process that helps companies improve their current manufacturing processes. TQM helps companies improve the quality of their products and continually fix things within the company that can help it receive positive customer feedback. There are 4 main categories that make up the TQM process measurements:

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Speeding your assembly process up


If you are in manufacturing, you know that the amount of product you produce in less time with minimal mistakes means bigger profit.Speeding your assembly process up may be what you are looking to do in order to create the profits you are looking for.But how do you increase your assembly efficiently and still produce quality products.Much of the manufacturing world has turned to a method called Lean Manufacturing.Lean manufacturing is an improvement tool that focuses on enhancing quality, cost, and delivery to the customer.As a business, speeding your assembly process up should be important as this will increase your profit right?Lean manufacturing tries to do just that, but still aims at producing a quality product.If you fall into this category but don't know where to begin then keep reading.This article will help you understand that by tacking your process flow, you can increase assembly speed.

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Best ways to improve workflow

There are lots of ways to find extra time in your day to improve your workflow by simply taking a moment to analyze all jobs that fall within your responsibilities. Take a look at some of the areas of your daily work life and determine where you can make meaningful adjustments. You will then know where to focus your attention.

One of the most important skills in any business is adequate communication. When you are talking with customers or your staff members, make sure that all communicated information is well received and understood the way you intend it to be. Making sure your request is understood can mean the difference between getting the job done the way you want and the way your staff members incorrectly perceive it to be. With communication, being understood is the key to having things done your way. You may have a very eloquent way of using English words or sentences, but the person you are talking with may not understand you well making it difficult for him to carry out the project. When communicating clearly using simple and short words, you increase your chances of having your request be understood. You can definitely save time and improve workflow by communicating effectively with your customers or your staff members by making sure they understand you well the first time.

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Why bilingual communication is important in the manufacturing field


Introducing and increasing bilingual communication in the manufacturing field is an exciting opportunity for American companies to become greater than they have ever been. Having the skill to speak and write well in a language other than English offers greater opportunities for the U. S. manufacturers to manufacture new, high quality technologies and to expand their products to more customers worldwide.

Selling globally is very tricky. You are not necessarily dealing with the same customer needs, markets, tariffs and laws as in the United States. Some people working in the manufacturing field need to be equipped with an extensive knowledge of international law, languages, culture and politics to help their companies market and sell their products all over the world. These types of people will be involved in promoting international trade, foreign investment and economic development.They do intensive research to get new business started in foreign markets. They prepare all the import and export documentation needed for shipping and transport, and make sure that all documentation is compliant with U.S. and foreign government regulations. They make sure that all advertising campaign and products fit each culture. They stay informed about any political circumstances that may influence business dealings. They send the right message about a product across the globe.

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Tips for hiring quality machine operators

Every kind of business requires different things of their employees.Some things can be trained.Some things are expected to be learned before being hired.But either way, it's important that you know that you're getting an employee who will be hard working, dedicated, and well trained for the job.This is especially true for positions involving complicated or dangerous machinery.For example, a machine operator should be a quality employee who knows about his/her machine and how to avoid accidents with it.So here are some tips for hiring a quality machine operator.

When you're looking for a new employee, be it a machine operator or a secretary, you need to know how to advertise for the position, as well as inform potential employees of the characteristics you desire in an employee.For example, let's say you own a bookstore and are looking for a new sales associate.On your "help wanted" sign you might write something like this: "Are you passionate about books?Do you spend your days longing to be surrounded by great literature?"Then when interviewing a person for the job, you ask them questions about their favorite books or what they've read recently, etc.If they are qualified and prepared for the job, but also seem excited and intrigued at the possibility of working at a book store, then you may want to seriously consider hiring him/her.The same is true of a machine operator.

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How to simplify and streamline your manufacturing process

There are a lot of different things that you can do to help your manufacturing process. If you are just getting into manufacturing you will come to realize that your manufacturing process is a very important part of your business. The better your manufacturing process is the more money you will make. Here are some tips on how to simplify and streamline your manufacturing process.

The first tip on how to simplify and streamline your manufacturing process is to find out where you down falls are in your manufacturing process. For example if you have employees that are faster on certain stations then on others you will want to make sure that you put them on the stations that they are faster at. You will also want to make sure that with your employees that they are not just fast but also accurate. It is not good to have a lot of mistakes because it will cost you money rather then make you money.

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A look at the different manufacturing theories

There are so many different types of manufacturing out there. Depending on the product will depend on the type of manufacturing that is being done. If you are looking into getting into manufacturing or are just looking into new ways to help improve your manufacturing you might want to take a look at the different manufacturing theories that are out there. There are different manufacturing theories depending on the type of manufacturing you are doing. Here is a look at the different manufacturing theories that you can take into consideration to make sure that you are getting the best out of manufacturing.

The first look at the different manufacturing theories is to know what the different manufacturing theories are. Every manufacturing company has their own theories that they use, Different theories are what helps make a manufacturing company successful or non successful.

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A look at taxonomy of manufacturing process

There are a lot of different processes that can be done when it comes to manufacturing. If you are looking into getting into manufacturing, and do not know which process would be the right route to go for your company, you will want to make sure that you look into a variety of different processes. This will help you know which one is going to benefit your manufacturing company the best and make you the most money. One thing you might want to take a look at is taxonomy of manufacturing process. If you do not know what the taxonomy of manufacturing process is here is a look at it.

What is the taxonomy of manufacturing process? The taxonomy of manufacturing process is the process of taking a few different groups and doing different studies with them to determine which way is best to manufacture different items. The studies of these different groups will vary depending on what type of manufacturing you are doing.

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How to increase efficiency while lowering costs

So many different things go in to making your company run and be successful. One thing that is very important in making your company successful is making sure that you are running your company efficiently. Running your company efficiently is a important tool but at the same time you want to make sure that you are not increasing your cost, but instead try to lower your costs. Here are some tips on how to increase efficiency while lowering cost.

The first tip on how to increase efficiency while lowering costs is to make sure that you are giving the best customer service you can. This will help you have efficiency when dealing with customers and they will want to keep coming back. You can spend a lot on advertising but if you do not have good customer service you might not get very far.

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How to set a custom manufacturing system

There are many different things that you have to take into consideration when you have a manufacturing company. One thing that you have to do is set up a manufacturing system. No two manufacturing systems are the same. Every company has a different way they like to do things. Here are a couple of hints on how to set a custom manufacturing system.

The first hint on how to set up a custom manufacturing system is to figure out a assembly line that will get you the best results when it comes to assembling your products. For example if you are trying to reach a certain quota you will want to figure a way to lay out the assembly line so that it will get every part needed for the product while taking as little time as possible. This will help guarantee the best results as far as productivity goes.

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How to implement a seven step manufacturing problem

There are so many things that go on when manufacturing is involved. You have to make sure that everything runs smoothly and that the finished product meets your expectations. But what if something goes wrong? How will it get fixed? Here is how to implement a seven step manufacturing problem that will help you iron out some of the wrinkles you might have in your manufacturing.

The first step to implement in a manufacturing problem is to find the cause for the problem. This is done by determining the problem that you might have. For example if you have a manufacturing line that you are putting something together but you are not hitting the numbers you wanted to hit. This could be considered a manufacturing problem. You will need to fins out why you are not hitting your prospected numbers. One reason might be because a person that is assembling one part might not be as fast as some one else on the same team is.

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How to focus on flow of work, not waste reduction

This might seem like a funny question to ask: How to focus on flow of work, not waste reduction. Because-not only is waste reduction all the rage these days, usually when you're reducing waste you're increasing work as well. But notice how the question was worded. It's not asking that you not think about waste, or that you focus on the amount of work being done, or the fruits of that work-it's talking about flow of work.
What is flow? Flow means continual movement. Flow means continual, smooth movement. Streams flow. Air flows. Music flows. And so on. It's this idea of an element moving on and on, unimpeded, unstoppable, and-undestructive. And that's the idea of the ideal business, right? It moves like clockwork, it's as natural as the air, it's always going forward-but it's not wasting anything, hurting anybody.
If you get too focused on waste reduction, you could begin slipping in other areas. If you think that Stan uses to much paper, and you begin focusing on how much paper Stan is using everyday, soon Stan will get so paranoid that he'll stop producing altogether. But you need Stan, Stan is useful. It's better, then, to focus on the flow of Stan's work than on how much paper he's wasting. Is it important that Sam's wasting paper? Sure it is, it's costing the company money and it's bad for the environment. It's only a question of how you approach the problem, negatively or positively. A stream, the air, music-these things are positive. They're creative, they don't harm.

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How to focus on flow of work, not waste reduction

This might seem like a funny question to ask: How to focus on flow of work, not waste reduction. Because-not only is waste reduction all the rage these days, usually when you're reducing waste you're increasing work as well. But notice how the question was worded. It's not asking that you not think about waste, or that you focus on the amount of work being done, or the fruits of that work-it's talking about flow of work.
What is flow? Flow means continual movement. Flow means continual, smooth movement. Streams flow. Air flows. Music flows. And so on. It's this idea of an element moving on and on, unimpeded, unstoppable, and-undestructive. And that's the idea of the ideal business, right? It moves like clockwork, it's as natural as the air, it's always going forward-but it's not wasting anything, hurting anybody.
If you get too focused on waste reduction, you could begin slipping in other areas. If you think that Stan uses to much paper, and you begin focusing on how much paper Stan is using everyday, soon Stan will get so paranoid that he'll stop producing altogether. But you need Stan, Stan is useful. It's better, then, to focus on the flow of Stan's work than on how much paper he's wasting. Is it important that Sam's wasting paper? Sure it is, it's costing the company money and it's bad for the environment. It's only a question of how you approach the problem, negatively or positively. A stream, the air, music-these things are positive. They're creative, they don't harm.

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Eliminating defects - key to six sigma

No matter what your place in the business world happens to be, at some point you will probably want to try new methods of improving your product and service for your customers.Perhaps you are trying to improve your customer relations.Perhaps you want to eliminate all possible defects in your company.Well, if you haven't heard of it already, there is a simple six point format that will help you to eliminate these defects in your company.This article will help you to mold your business after the "six sigma."

What is six sigma?Six sigma is a system of practices created by Motorola to eliminate defects in a company (you may be wondering what we mean by defects, but be patient.We will discuss it further on in this article.To many companies six sigma symbolizes a striving for perfection.It is a disciplined, data-driven approach towards driving six standard deviations between the mean and nearest specification limit in any process-from manufacturing to transactional, or from products to service.Six sigma is able to effectively describe how a process is performing.

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What are the elements of a team mission statement?

Your team mission statement should be packaged with power, pride, result, and a mission. Consider the following elements when creating your team mission statement.

A mission statement is an opportunity to jump-start your company in the right direction. The common mission statements are a statement or paragraph that is written by team members that will reflect the purpose identity, values and business plan.

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Teamwork skills - improving the way decisions are made

Effective decision making means you make things happen instead of letting things happen.Your team will find that making decisions are required in every activity.These decisions will take place in a situations and problems and can range from the very simple to very complex.Your team must make the right decisions to direct and guide events and actions into a planned course instead of letting events fall to chance.

Your team will need to practice making decisions just like a basketball team will practice their basketball skills.The more your team works at it the faster and better decisions will be made.

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What is a control chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?

Control charting is a tool used to monitor processes and to assure that they remain stable. The control chart is also known as the 'Shewhart chart' or the 'process-behavior chart'.It is a statistical tool often used in Six Sigma and is intended to assess the nature of variation in a process and to facilitate forecasting and management. The control chart is one of the seven basic tools of quality control, which also include the histogram, Pareto chart, check sheet, cause-and-effect diagram, flowchart, and scatter diagram.
Control charts were proposed by Walter A. Shewhart in 1924 while working for Bell Labs.They recognized the need to reduce the frequency of failures and repairs because their telephony transmission systems' amplifiers and other equipment had to be buried underground.Shewhart stressed that bringing a production process into a state of statistical control, where there is only common-cause variation and keeping it in control, is necessary to predict future output and to manage a process economically.Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times.

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What is a cause-and-effect diagram and how is it used in Six Sigma?

The Cause and Effect Diagram is also commonly known as a fishbone because of its fishbone appearance.The box and lines can be thought of as the head and spine of the fish.The box represents the effect and the lines are the causes.
One of the most difficult problems when it comes to implementing Six Sigma is that it is difficult to determine which processes are the most problematic.This is especially true when you have a team of problem solvers all trying to decide where the focus should be.Using a Cause and Effect diagram is one great way to encourage brainstorming among team members. Cause and Effect analysis helps you to think through causes of a problem thoroughly. Their major benefit is that they push you to consider all possible causes of the problem and not just the ones that are most obvious.

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What is value-added work? Non-value added work?

The concept of value-added work and non-value added work is important for anyone in the world of manufacturing to understand. The success of your business, as well as the satisfaction of your customers, is dependant upon the amount of value-added work versus the non-value added work.

Value-Added Work
Value-added work is the work that is actually valuable and results in a finished product. Keep in mind that a customer is only going to want to pay for value; if they feel that their money is being wasted as a result of insufficient processes, the customer will take his business elsewhere.

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Tracking process flow to improve production speed

Whether you are a business manager, owner, or just a worker, you have most likely been concerned with your production speed at some point in your career.All businesses are always striving to improve their production speed, because a higher production speed yields a higher profit.And every business man and woman knows that a higher profit is good for everyone.So perhaps you're looking for new ways to improve your production speed, but you're not sure where to begin.Well this article is here to tell you that in tracking your process flow you can improve your production speed.And here is how to do just that.

Let's start with an explanation of process flow.Process flow is the steps of a procedure used in making, delivering, or accomplishing a product or service, and how it impacts the layout of your facility and your decisions about technology, as well as how your company works together.Process flow is an important aspect to building a strong company with a competitive edge.A given procedure can be classified as job shop or flow shop when applying the concept of "process flow."Flow shop is not a flexible procedure and uses specialized resources.Job shop is very flexible and uses general resources.

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Six Sigma Laws - The Law of the Market

While the overall goal of six sigma is to increase a company's profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction, there are different ways to come to this goal. Lean Six Sigma focuses more on improving process flow and speed than on improving quality by combining the laws of six sigma with that of lean manufacturing. The concept of lean Six Sigma utilizes five different "laws" in order to make the process successful.

In order to fully understand the laws of lean six sigma, it's important to become familiar with the concept of six sigma as well as lean manufacturing. In a nutshell, six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company's profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

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Optimizing your equipment, procedures and controls

In a competitive business world, businesses use process optimization in order to be more cost effective. It is necessary for the company to optimize the equipment and procedures, and find control over the process, in order to become more cost effective. The best way to do this is to use quantitative tools.

How does a business optimize the equipment? What will it do for your company?

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Six Sigma Laws - the Law of Focus

What is Six Sigma?
Six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company's profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

What is Lean Manufacturing ?
Where six sigma works to improve quality via customer satisfaction and processes, lean manufacturing works to eliminate waste. The first step to eliminating waste, according to lean manufacturing, is to identify what causes the waste. As a general rule, waste is categorized in the following ways:

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Six Sigma Laws - The Law of Flexibility

Flexibility is an important trait in any business or organization. Employers like people who are flexible and willing to learn and implement various tasks. This results in increased productivity and the ability to eliminate waste.

This is where Lean Six Sigma comes into play. Lean Six Sigma focuses more on improving process flow and speed than on improving quality by combining the laws of six sigma with that of lean manufacturing. The concept of lean Six Sigma utilizes five different "laws" in order to make the process successful. The Law of Flexibility is the second law of lean six sigma. It states that the speed of a process is dependant upon the workers' ability to switch back and forth among tasks. This is important because the overall goal of six sigma is to increase a company's profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

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Six Sigma Laws - The Law of Complexity and Cost

The Law of Complexity and Cost is the last of the five laws of lean six sigma. In order to properly explain this law, however, it's useful to know what exactly lean six sigma is.

Lean Six Sigma, which combines six sigma with lean manufacturing in order to increase overall speed and customer satisfaction. It does so by focusing more on improving process flow and speed than on improving quality by combining the laws of six sigma with that of lean manufacturing. The concept of lean Six Sigma utilizes five different "laws" in order to make the process successful. The Law of Flexibility is the second law of lean six sigma. It states that the speed of a process is dependant upon the workers' ability to switch back and forth among tasks. This is important because the overall goal of six sigma is to increase a company's profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

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Improving processes through process flow

Whether you own a business yourself, are a high level executive in a national company, or just an aspiring manager, it's likely that at some point you will find yourself wanting to improve some aspect of your business.Maybe you want to increase the amount of product you put out onto the market.Maybe you want to improve the quality of your product.Or maybe you want to revamp your entire business.Regardless of what you'd like to improve in your business, one way to achieve the necessary progress is through process flow.Almost any kind of process can be improved through this method.

And what is process flow, you ask?

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How variation defines the sigma level in six sigma

You're a business owner.You manufacture things.Or maybe you're the manager of a business.Or maybe you're just an employee at a business. Either way, you're probably being encouraged on a daily basis to improve your company in every way you can.Your boss (or you as the boss) tries to help you to work as quickly, efficiently and as cost effective as possible.You're always striving to find new ways to make these improvements.And in case you're unaware, applying the principles of six sigma is an excellent way to improve your business.This article will discuss six sigma and how variation defines the sigma level in six sigma.And hopefully after reading this article you will have a better idea of how to improve your company.

Since you may or may not be familiar with six sigma, let us begin with an explanation of exactly what it is.Six sigma is a system of practices that were created by the company Motorola.The purpose is to eliminate defects in a company.By defects we mean anything outside of customer specifications.In other words, the parts of a product or service that are not part of the intended population.An example of a defect might be something like this: you do market surveys to see if people would buy chocolate scented perfume, and eventually decide that they would.So you create some chocolate scented perfume and put it on the market.After a few weeks you realize that no one is buying your product.You look back at your market surveys and realize that what the customers really wanted was vanilla scented perfume.This would be considered a defect because you were unable to realize what the customers desired.

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How to gather data to make six sigma decisions

Let's imagine that you work for a company that manufactures a product.You may be the owner, the manager, or just a regular, but valuable, employee.As a holder of any of these positions, you will need to make decisions based on your desire to improve your company and make it more profitable.One way to do this is to learn and follow the six sigma.Another necessary part of this is to gather data about what your customers are looking for in a product.This article will discuss exactly what six sigma is and how to gather this data to make six sigma decisions.

First, what is six sigma?Since you may not be an expert of six sigma, let us review.Six sigma was created by Motorola and is a system of practices to improve your company and eliminate defects.By defects, we mean anything outside of customer specifications, or the parts of a product or service that is not part of the intended population.A defect could be a product that you marketed to the public, thinking that it would do well, and then for some reason did not sell.

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Data analysis training - key to effective quality programs

Any business owner naturally wants to find any way possible to improve his/her company.Whether you are a corporate executive or a manufacturer, it is the same: you're both looking for ways to become more efficient, save money, increase productivity and profit.One way to do this is to train yourself and your employees in data analysis.This is the key to having effective quality programs.If you continue reading this article you will learn a bit more about data analysis training and how to use it to your benefit to improve quality programs.

Data analysis is the act of transforming information with the aim of retrieving useful knowledge about a topic and forming conclusions based on that knowledge.Depending on the type of data and the question this could include application of statistical methods, curve fitting, selecting or discarding certain subsets based on certain criteria or other techniques.Data analysis is intended not to discover unseen patterns hidden in the data, but to verify or disprove an existing model.

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Implementing a seven-step quality manufacturing process

Manufacturing is one of the major organs of every successful economy. Manufacturing is the process by which a company turns raw materials into finished goods. Manufacturing plays a huge role in constructing cities and keeping the inhabitants happy and healthy. Manufacturing also plays a huge role in destructing cities and making the inhabitants miserable. Whether in wartime or peacetime, manufacturing has a vital part to play in our lives.
Leaders in the manufacturing industry are always looking for ways to improve the process. Manufacturing can be tedious, expensive, time consuming, dangerous work, and these leaders are on the lookout for breakthroughs that will allow them to address each of these areas (and many more), eliminating problems where they can and making improvements along the way.
Manufacturing is a process; that is, it's not something that happens in one room when one group of people come together to do something. No, oftentimes the manufacturing of one product (say, steel) means that huge groups of people are busy with widely varying assignments all across the world. Organization, therefore, is of vital concern to the manufacturing process. The greater the organization of the manufacturing process, the greater the rewards of its toils. The quality of the manufactured item will rise immeasurably. The employees will be happy; there will be fewer accidents on the job and more benefits for working.

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Workflow management software options

You literally have thousands of options for workflow management software.Many companies have off the shelf options.Other companies offer off the shelf options than can be modified for your specific business.And still other companies offer to custom build your workflow management software.The option that is best for you will really depend on your business needs.

A workflow management software suite is a system for overseeing the process of passing information, documents, and tasks from one employee or machine within a business to another.The software will ensure proper workflow management between these employees and/or computers according to a predetermined procedure.This means that you should be able to at any point be able to determine how close each task is to completion.

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What is a customer in context of six sigma?


Whether you are a business owner or just a customer there are certain things you should be aware of about the business world.If you are a business owner you are most likely in a constant battle to improve your business and customer relations.You may be trying to eliminate all defects in your product and services so that your customers remain content.If you are a customer, you're probably trying to make your desires known so that you are able to get the products and services you need most.Well one thing that can help both business owner and customer is called "six sigma."This article will discuss what six sigma is and how it relates to a customer.

What is six sigma?Six sigma is a method of practices created by Motorola in order to eliminate defects in a company (the term "defect" will be discussed in greater length further in this article).To many companies, six sigma symbolizes a constant striving for perfection in all aspects of their businesses.It is a disciplined approach towards driving six standard deviations between the mean and nearest specification limit in any process-from manufacturing or products to service.Six sigma is a method of describing how a process in a company is performing.

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What is "Voice of the Customer" (VOC) and how does it apply to six sigma?

Whether you are a business manager, business owner, or just an employee in a business, the chances are great that you work with customers on a daily, if not hourly, basis.If this is the case, then you must be constantly working on your customer relations.It can be very difficult to keep your cool when a rude and upset customer approaches you.Or maybe you see that the market is demanding a new approach or new product that you feel is not worth your company's time and money.But you don't want to break your "six sigma." So you're willing to listen to the "voice of the customer."

Is it just me, or do you have no idea what I'm talking about? This hypothetical situation may be easier to understand if you know what the terms I'm using mean.

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What is a Pick chart and how is it used in Six Sigma?


A Pick chart is a tool used that can be used in any process evaluations when trying to pre-process raw data.It is a method used to narrow down a large quantity of raw data to get to the root problems.It is often used in the pre-processing stages of Six Sigma after data collection.
There are many useful ways for processing data.One of these is to focus on a sample and distilling the data for particular purposes.This is very valuable in the early stages of processing when the volume of raw material is great and you need to glean out the most useful information.

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What is a scatter plot and how is it used in Six Sigma?

A scatter plot is also known as a scatter diagram or scatter graph.It is a graph used to visually display and compare a possible relationship between two or more sets of related data by displaying points, each having a coordinate on a horizontal and a vertical axis. A dot in the body of the chart represents the intersection of the data on the x and y axis.
One advantage of a scatter plot is that it does not require a user to specify dependent or independent variables. Either type of variable can be plotted on either axis. Scatter plots do not imply any causation, but rather an association between two variables.Your scatter plot may show that a relationship exists, but it does not and cannot prove that one variable is causing the other. There could be a third factor involved which is causing both, some other systemic cause, or the apparent relationship could just be a fluke. Nevertheless, the scatter plot can give you a clue that two things might be related, and if so, how they move together.The two axis can generally be displayed as:

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What is a six sigma master black belt?

If you're looking to get ahead in the world of manufacturing, one way to do so is to become a six sigma master black belt. While it may sound like this has something to do with karate, it's actually a term coined by Motorola and used to identify someone who has received the highest level of technical and organizational proficiency - and it doesn't involve and kicking or punching!

What is Six Sigma?
In order to fully understand what a six sigma master black belt is, it's important to become familiar with the concept of six sigma. In a nutshell, six sigma is a method used to provide business with the necessary tools to increase their overall performance and customer satisfaction. This is done by statistically analyzing various forms of data and information, then using it to anticipate the needs of their customers. The overall goal of Six Sigma is to increase a company's profits by identifying and then eliminating factors that contribute to waste and customer dissatisfaction.

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Spanish in today's workforce, the importance of bilingual communication:

Today the Spanish speaking populations makes up fourteen percent of our society - fourteen percent! That's huge! Whether from a marketing, a political, or a general public perspective that is a large percent of people in our little Northern America who speak Spanish. It's true, there is no official language of the United States of America, but come on, a little common courtesy would say pick up the language of the country your living in. However, that's not how it is. And as it is, we have to cater to it.

As long as you're going to cater to it, go all the way.You have to know that Spanish speaking does not necessarily, Mexican. In America there are Spanish speakers that come from many different Spanish countries; we have Brazilians, Mexicans, Chileans, Argentines, Spanish, as well as many others. This is important to know because not all Spanish countries have the same culture; in fact many of the Spanish cultures are very different. Just as you wouldn't fly a British flag on Independence Day just because we speak a common language, be careful when catering to your Spanish speaking customers not to offend them in the same manner.

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Time Management on the Shop Floor

Time management on the shop floor can incorporate a number of different Lean Management techniques as well as less predictable personnel management methods to make the shop floor as efficient as possible.

Perhaps the factor most difficult to control when overseeing time management on the shop floor is the human aspect.Employees are not perfect.Human error is inevitable. Labor and time performance can be easily measured.What is more difficult is making changes to the way that people think and perform.Below are some suggestions for encouraging worker compliance and creating motivation for personal improvement:

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Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) - what it is and how to use it.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness is the overall performance of one piece of equipment or an entire factory measured through availability, performance rate, and quality rate.OEE can be used to prevent wasteful spending on unnecessary equipment.Instead the business owner can focus on improving the performance of the machinery that he already has.Another common remedy involves reducing fixed cost and the cost of making goods or the cost of goods sold (COGS).

In other words OEE is the result of dividing actual output by theoretical maximum output.Many see Overall Equipment Effectiveness as a mathematical way to evaluate process improvements.Another OEE equation would look something like this:

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