This book follows the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) Body of Knowledge exactly and is designed to walk the reader through at a medium-level of detail. Organization of the material is completely straightforward— broken down into "bite-size" chunks with the student in mind. While a plethora of books claim some relation to Six Sigma, unfortunately very few of them support the body of knowledge explicitly.The author supplies the Black Belt candidate with enough information to pursue the CSSBB examination aggressively, with the material in the book and also the ancillary works referenced. At the end of each chapter are one or two titles for further reading, works that the author owns personally and uses for both work and formal examination study.The book can serve as an intense, high-speed tutorial for the CSSBB examination, a reference for the working Black Belt, or a resource to find further reading. Trainers could use it in their Black Belt certification preparation classes.

A company with effective cost reduction activities in place will be better positioned to adapt to shifting economic conditions. In fact, it can make the difference between organizations that thrive and those that simply survive during times of economic uncertainty. Reducing Process Costs with Lean, Six Sigma, and Value Engineering Techniques covers the methods and techniques currently available for lowering the costs of products, processes, and services. Describing why cost reductions can be just as powerful as revenue increases, the book arms readers with the understanding required to select the best solution for their company’s culture and capabilities. It emphasizes home-grown techniques that do not require the implementation of any new methodologies—making it easy to apply them in any organization. The authors explain how to reduce costs through traditional Lean methods and Lean Six Sigma. They also present Six Sigma cost savings techniques from Manufacturing Six Sigma, Services Six Sigma, and Design for Six Sigma. The book also presents optimization techniques from operations research methods, design experiment, and engineering process control. Helping you determine what your organization’s value proposition is, the text explains how to improve on the existing proposition and suggests a range of tools to help you achieve this goal. The tools and techniques presented vary in complexity and capability and most chapters include a rubric at the start to help readers determine the levels of competence required to perform the tasks outlined in that chapter.

With this book, managers and decision makers are given the tools to make more informed decisions about big data purchasing initiatives. Big Data Analytics: A Practical Guide for Managers not only supplies descriptions of common tools, but also surveys the various products and vendors that supply the big data market.Comparing and contrasting the dif

Many enterprises regard system-level testing as the final piece of the development effort, rather than as a tool that should be integrated throughout the development process. As a consequence, test teams often execute critical test plans just before product launch, resulting in much of the corrective work being performed in a rush and at the last minute. Presenting combinatorial approaches for improving test coverage, Testing Complex and Embedded Systems details techniques to help you streamline testing and identify problems before they occur—including turbocharged testing using Six Sigma and exploratory testing methods. Rather than present the continuum of testing for particular products or design attributes, the text focuses on boundary conditions. Examining systems and software testing, it explains how to use simulation and emulation to complement testing. Details how to manage multiple test hardware and software deliveries Examines the contradictory perspectives of testing—including ordered/ random, structured /unstructured, bench/field, and repeatable/non repeatable Covers essential planning activities prior to testing, how to scope the work, and how to reach a successful conclusion Explains how to determine when testing is complete Where you find organizations that are successful at product development, you are likely to find groups that practice disciplined, strategic, and thorough testing. Tapping into the authors’ decades of experience managing test groups in the automotive industry, this book provides the understanding to help ensure your organization joins the likes of these groups.

This book is a desk reference and instructional aid for those individuals currently involved with, or preparing for involvement with, Six Sigma project teams. As Six Sigma team members, Green Belts help select, collect data for, and assist with the interpretation of a variety of statistical or quantitative tools within the context of the Six Sigma methodology. The second in a four-book series geared specifically for these Green Belt activities, this book provides a thorough discussion of statistical quality control (SQC) tools. These tools are introduced and discussed from the perspective of application rather than theoretical development. From this perspective, readers are taught to consider the SQC tools as statistical “alarm bells” that send signals when there are one or more problems with a particular process. Guidance is also given on the use of Minitab and JMP in doing these various SQC applications. In addition, examples and sample problems from all industries appear throughout the book to aid a Green Belt's comprehension of the material.

Recent advances in the measurement and management of customer value now make it a powerful tool for identifying and prioritizing Six Sigma projects. No longer do champions or black belts have to rely solely on costs to justify the selection of Six Sigma projects. Now the real power and potential of Six Sigma can be turned to its strategic purpose – create and sustain value differences that will translate into greater market share and enhanced profitability.This book has two objectives. The first is to provide the reader with an approach for using the voice of the customer to identify Six Sigma projects and to guide their conduct. The second objective is to show the reader how to obtain the correct voice of the customer – customer value.Customer value is not new. What is new is our ability to measure it. And with this newly discovered ability to measure customer value comes an opportunity to inform Six Sigma projects and initiatives to make them more responsive to customer needs and more responsive to the organization’s bottom line. Let the voice be heard!

Though originally introduced by the manufacturing sector, Six Sigma is rapidly gaining the attention of many companies in the service sector. From employees of health insurance providers and credit card companies to uniform service providers, this book will give them a better understanding of the flow of the Six Sigma process and what tools to use when, as well as the proper way to use each tool. Author Sam Windsor looks specifically at the tools that the Six Sigma green belt is expected to use, explains the purpose of each, and provides examples that are designed to provoke thoughts for possible application.Readers will also learn about process measures, measuring process capability, relating inputs to outputs, optimizing processes, and holding gains. Included in the appendices are a real case study of a Six Sigma project undertaken to reduce employee turnover, a brief guide to using Minitab and Excel for data analysis, a null hypothesis table, and a glossary.