President John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” This was his challenge to every American citizen to contribute in some way to the public good.

It was summer camp and I was 12 years old. The game was called “Capture the Flag.” The goal is for one of two teams to capture the enemy’s flag, and return it to their base. Our battlefield was spread over a huge forest with rolling hills.

As a Master Black Belt I teach Lean Six Sigma courses and often provide definitions of common terms. One such term is “value” which I define as the ratio between quality and price (value = quality/price).

It has happened to all of us. We are inspired by a compelling idea that will drive gains in quality, only to have our bubble burst by peers that don’t share our enthusiasm. 

Statistical process control (SPC) charts are used in quality-focused facilities to monitor process output on a continual basis and alert process operators, managers and the support staff in real-time when the process is shifting towards an undesirable condition.

Discovering the underlying factors that influence compliance, product quality, production efficiency and your performance as a supplier requires greater accuracy and precision than many manufacturing metrics provide.

Although he seems like the consummate quality professional, James Bossert ended up in the quality profession by chance. Today he’s spent more than 35 years in industries from automotive to cell phones to healthcare and consulting. His career has brought him around the country, and around the world. He’s worked in Texas, Michigan, Arizona, North Carolina and New York. Along the way, he’s written two books and edited four. 

Quality sat down with Eric Hayler, past chair of ASQ and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, BMW Manufacturing, to discuss his work as ASQ’s 2017 chair and his work now as past chair.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew, and really understand the methodology before attempting a large Six Sigma project. Those are the first words of advice for a Six Sigma novice from Six Sigma Master Black Belt John Vandenbemden.

Six Sigma training produces significant pay gap between those who have it, those who don’t.