With a variety of software packages to choose from, companies embarking on the Six Sigma journey should have less trouble reaching their destination.

"In a company valued by its owners for its ability to generate cash, training is often seen as an expensive waste of capital," wrote one respondent to Quality Online's training survey.

Many manufacturers rely heavily on outside metrology laboratories to tell them that their processes are where they should be.

Many manufacturers rely heavily on outside metrology laboratories to tell them that their processes are where they should be.

A manufacturer may face stringent customer requirements that prompt the process improvement journey.

Wireless connections increase mobility on the manufacturing floor.

Manufacturers are spending big bucks on simulation programs to expand and upgrade employee training.

Gage interfaces allow the data collected from several manufacturers' gages to be manipulated and used together.